Understand that using iA Writer may require a change in the way you write, and maybe even a fundamental change in your writing philosophy. Less is definitely more in this case, because iA Writer’s lack of features makes it about as close as one can get to typing on a typewriter, and that’s a good thing. I’ve been using iA Writer for about a week now, tapping out everything from complete article text, including the text for this review, to chapters of a book I’m working on and I’ve concluded that a writer can get a lot done with this app. The big question is: does all of this minimalism work? Can a writer accomplish more in the iA Writer environment than he or she might using another, more feature rich word processor? Both are small enough to go unnoticed until you need them. There’s also a word counter and a meter that estimate how long it would take a person to read what you’ve written. Files are saved in plain text format, which is readable by any modern word processor. You can email and sync your missives in iTunes as well.Ĭreating a new document is as easy as hitting the big “+” icon in the upper left corner of the screen, and you can rename your document simply by typing the new title in the header. Unfortunately it’s not automagic, but your document is auto-saved on your iPad every ten seconds. I mentioned that there is Dropbox syncing available. The few remaining attributes are concerned with document handling. Basically a “Do Not Disturb” for your writing environment. While in the Focus Mode, no spell-checking or other automatic and distracting features are allowed, letting you zero in on what’s important: your writing. The only concession to the inclusion of features is Focus Mode, where, at the touch of the lock icon in the upper right corner of the screen, all but the three lines of text you are currently typing on are slightly obscured so that you can concentrate on those three lines only. The font was specially designed to reduce reading fatigue, and spacing around text allows for optimum eye comfort. This is by design, according the Information Architects. The text that appears on the screen is large and well spaced. For instance, iA Writer includes an additional row of keys for punctuation and cursor control - handy and something I’ve always wish Apple had done. If you use a Bluetooth keyboard you get to use the full iPad screen, but the virtual keyboard in iA Writer offers a few neat tricks of its own. Type and your text appears on a large screen. If you’ve used any word processor in the last 10 years then you’ll understand how to use the editing and file functions in iA Writer. What you get is a clean sheet of virtual paper, basic editing and file functions (undo, save, new document, Dropbox sync), and a small handful of informational features that you might find useful. There are no graphic options, no formatting menus, not even a set of fonts to pick from. Information Architects, the makers of iA Writer, reduced the app’s feature set the barest minimum. IA Writer was designed specifically for the iPad to be a very simple, very clean, and very satisfying writing environment. IA Writer in all its minimllistic glory, sans the virtual keyboard. I had tried several other writing apps, but none gave me a writing environment as unobtrusive as Bean does on my iMac. Unfortunately, no writing application can help me with my oft-made technical mistakes, but at least I can get my thoughts down, and that’s the important thing. Bean gives me a wonderful full screen mode that inhibits distractions and lets me concentrate on what I’m writing. I used to use TextEdit, but found that it was a bit too simplistic. When I write on my iMac I use Bean, an open source word processor that is simple to use, has a clean interface, does not distract me from my writing, and it’s free.
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