Its no secret that I find writing difficult. It takes me more time than most to write something, and then get it into a state that I am happy with before posting it to my blog. Recently however I have found a tool to help me with my writing, called iA Writer (Website).
iA Writer is a MacOS, iOS and Android writing app with some nifty features to help you write.
Markdown
The first thing is that it uses Markdown. If you know me, or read some of my other stuff you will know I am a big fan of Markdown. I first came across it in the world of coding but now use it for most writing tasks. I find that markdown helps me concentrate on my content and not worry too much about the presentation. This is important because I don’t need to deal with the presentation until I enter the post into WordPress. This allows me to concentrate on my ideas and what I want to say. In Markdown you can hint at some formatting, using a simple syntax. I won’t go to much into detail about markdown but you can read about it on wikipedia or read the syntax. Having an app that I can write markdown straight into is really useful. There are other applications that support markdown, these are mainly coding tools like Atom, Sublime, IntelliJ and many others. These applications though are not really set up for writing, and so lack some basic tool support like spelling and grammar checking and correction.This is a simple markup syntax that can be easily converted to various formats; iA Writer can export files in HTML, RTF, PDF, or Microsoft Word formats. IA Writer 3 displays Markdown formatted. A step to step tutorial on how to share your documents on Wordpress via iA Writer. First, iA Writer for Mac. If you are configuring a self-hosted WordPress site, be sure to install. Apr 26, 2016 A step to step tutorial on how to share your documents on Wordpress via iA Writer. First, iA Writer for Mac. If you are configuring a self-hosted WordPress site, be sure to install.
Fullscreen
iA Writer supports MacOS native fullscreen mode, although this isn’t unusual in MacOS apps these days it is a big help. MacOS added fullscreen mode a while ago and as the name implies it allows you to make an app fill an entire space, i.e makes it full screen. The latest MacOS update El Capitan went one step further and allowed you to split the screen showing multiple apps together. I have found that this has helped me concentrate on what I am writing without been distracted by other things. The new snap feature on MacOS also helps me as when needed I can snap iA Writer and a Web browser for research into a single space. The fact that iA Writer fully supports the native MacOS tools is an important feature for me.
iA Writer – Focus Mode
Focus Mode
Another feature that helps me concentrate on what I am writing, and getting my ideas down is called Focus Mode. Focus Mode is part of iA Writer and basically fades out everything but the current section your working on. In iA Writer you can decide what you want to use as the focus in focus mode. You can select ether the current sentence or the current paragraph. I leave mine set to the default of the current sentence as that is the one I personally find the most useful.
Night Mode
iA Writer also includes a dark theme called Night Mode. Dark themes are popular in the development community where you are staring at lines of text all day in the form of code. As the name suggests Night Mode uses a darker colour scheme. In iA Writer this takes the form of white text on a dark blue/black background. The main advantage of this is that is easier on your eyes when staring at blocks of text for a long time. Been a developer I have become use to editing large blocks of text using a dark theme. This for me makes iA Writer easier and nicer to use as I can carry that through into my writing.
iA Writer – Syntax Hinting
Writing Features
As you would expect iA Writer features all the normal writing tools that you would suspect from any writing focused application these days. It integrates nicely with the default MacOS grammar and spell checkers which is alway useful in hinting and catching mistakes. It also features character, word and sentence counters. As well as these basic stats iA Writer also has an average reading time counter. These tools are of course useful for tailoring and managing the length of my blog posts. Something else that iA Writer has, which is as far as I am aware is unique, is sentence syntax highlighting. When enabled this highlights the sentence structure to help guide you in structuring your sentences better. It highlights each of the important word types in a sentence in different colours such as verbs, nouns, Adjectives etc.
Integration
The last important thing for me when it comes to writing blog posts, which is currently what I mostly use iA Writer for is that it has built in integration with WordPress and iCloud. The WordPress Integration means that when I have finished my blog post content I can simply “push” it to my WordPress blog. This is much more reliable than the copy and paste method which can often have problems. Unfortunately it uses WordPress.com to be able to push the blog post. If like me you self host you can always install the Jetpack plugin from Automatic. Jetpack integrates your self hosted blog with WordPress.com’s control panel. This allows you to use a lot of the tools that are targeted at WordPress.com on your own self hosted blog.
Integration with iCloud on the other hand is very useful, when used with the iOS app. The iOS apps work both on iPhone and iPad (it may also work on iPod Touch but I have never owned one to test it). Although I don’t write on my iPhone as it isn’t really any good as a writing tool, apart from quick notes. Having my blog content on iOS is a great help for proof reading. It also adds the extra security of having my content backed up to the cloud, and be accessible from any Mac that I access.
So
I have been using iA Writer for a while now, and as a writing tool I have found invaluable. It helps me to write, and get my ideas out there in a clear and clean manor. It has many advantages over other tools that I have used. Previously I was using Evernote, but that lacks basic writing tools such as word count and spelling/grammar checking integration. I have also tried Apple’s own writing tool, Pages but that is a full blown word processor and doesn’t suite the idea of getting structured content down easily and fast. For anyone that does a lot of writing where content is more important than presentation, or where presentation can be handled later Ai Writer is a great tool. If you struggle with writing then it can also be a good tool to use, with focus mode and sentence highlighting allowing you to focus on your content. iA Writer has some other useful features for more general writing tasks, I choose not to cover these as I wanted to highlight how I use it.
IA Writer is a text editor. A stripped back, race-tuned greyhound of a writing app. There’s nothing fancy or complicated. That is its attraction.
You can start putting words together within minutes of installing the software.
Ia Writer Syntax Highlight
It is the most productive writing tool I’ve used since learning to type on manual typewriters. It could be the software you are looking for.
You can keep your fancy, feature-rich word processors. They have their place, but they are not always the most productive tools.
I keep a copy of Microsoft Word on my Mac to stay compatible with clients and co-workers. That way there’s no chance of anything slipping between the cracks in a complex editing job.
iA Writer first
Yet when it comes to writing a newspaper feature, a blog post or commercial copy, iA Writer is my first choice. Every time.
That’s because iA Writer’s minimalist approach gets out of the way. There’s no temptation to mess around choosing the right font for this communication. You won’t wonder if the crosshead typeface you’ve chosen is a good fit with the body.
You don’t have choices. There’s nothing to tinker with. Or, at least, not much.
Instead you can focus on your words.
Over the years iA Writer has evolved. It does more today than it did when I started using it about five years ago. Yet you couldn’t accuse it of feature bloat. It remains simple.
Works everywhere you do
One advantage of keeping the software simple is that you get a near-identical experience whether you are writing on a large screen desktop Mac, an iPad or an iPhone.
For years iA Writer was an Apple experience. Today you can get versions for Windows or Android. The cross platform experience is almost as smooth as staying in Apple’s walled garden. This makes it an excellent choice for people moving between Apple, Microsoft and Android.
Text editors in general tend to be a form of lowest common denominator. IA Writer has this to a T.
iA Writer 5.4
Earlier this year iA Writer moved to version 5.4. That added features such as local storage, new export options and context menus.
If this was an ordinary product review, at this point I’d run through how these feature work in practice. But I won’t because I find I never use them all. My understanding of them is abstract. I’ve tested them and seen they work as advertised, but they don’t get a second glance in the heat of battle.
You can do something complex with blocks of copy, which you can insert as content blocks in your document. Again, I’ve tested, but never needed this. It may be the feature you’ve been looking for.
Made for cloud
The new feature that I do use is the ability to make local copies. In normal use iA Writer stores documents in your iCloud account. Because each document is tiny, files are tiny. You won’t chew through iCloud storage the way you might with word processor documents.
For a while iCloud integration was buggy. At times you couldn’t be sure they document was where it should be. Having local backups meant you never faced losing an afternoon’s writing brilliance.
In May iA Writer moved to version 5.5. In part the upgrade brought the software in line with the new features in iPadOS. You can now use a trackpad or mouse with the software on an iPad. Not that I’d want to do that.
Markdown
We’re 600 words into this post and there has not yet been any mention of Markdown. This is a simple markup language that lets you format your text. Type a * symbol either side of a word and it will show up in italics. Put two * around a word and it is in bold.
There are a handful of these Markdown commands to memorise. It doesn’t take long and it means you can keep your hands on the keys without reaching for the mouse or trackpad.
That way you can type faster. It’s more efficient. As a bonus, you are less likely to get a repetitive strain injury. The commands soon become hardwired in your fingertips. Yet I must confess there are times I have to look up the more obscure ones.
In iA Writer 5.5, there’s a new Markdown code. Two equals signs around a word will highlight it. That’s like the yellow marker you find in word processors. It’s hard to miss.
You’re either going to love Markdown or hate it. It works for me. I recommend giving it a try before deciding. There are free trial versions of iA Writer 5.6.
PDF viewer
The other 5.5 upgrade was the addition of a PDF viewer. When I write for my website1 I can publish text direct to WordPress. All the formatting comes with the words. If I work for a client who needs a Word document, yes that is almost every client, I can save my iA Writer document in a docx format.
Adding the ability to save in PDF format takes this further. Yet, like many new features, I don’t use it. Or, more accurately, I haven’t used it yet.
That’s not the point. Each feature upgrade expands the software’s reach to users who need more than basic text editing but not as much as a word processor. IA Writer rolls out a few new features every year, but you couldn’t say the software is bloated or even on the road to bloated.
iA Writer 5.6
We’re now at iA Writer 5.6. It’s been around now for a month. The latest version adds a style checker. It could help improve your writing. The checker looks for cliches, fillers and redundancies. When they appear in your text, they are grey.
You can choose to edit them if you wish.
I don’t always agree with the software style decisions. Journalism relies on short simple language. While that can get hackneyed, it’s a way of getting a message over fast.
And there are words iA Writer 5.6 doesn’t approve of, like also or too, that are useful for journalism.
Good housekeeping
The remaining updates in iA Writer 5.6 are all background housekeeping things that developers do and casual users may not notice. Files now open faster, but that was never an issue for me. The noticeable background update is that huge iA Writer files don’t slow down.
IA Writer’s price has climbed over the years. When I first bought the software I paid NZ$3. It was a promotional price. Today the software costs US$30 for the Mac and $9 for the iPad or iPhone. You can get it from the relevant app store. There are free trial versions.
You have to buy both if you plan to use the software on a Mac and an iOS device. I don’t begrudge it.
Compared with the alternatives it’s a bargain. You have to pay roughly four times that amount every year to use Microsoft Word.
Other word processors can cost more. This is important. Journalists and others who write for a living get paid in ways that make it hard to budget for a regular subscription. A flat one-off fee is better. You know where you are and you know for certain there will never be a month where you face not paying the software subscription or skipping a meal.
Critics
You’ll see critics complain that iA Writer doesn’t have collaboration tools. In part that’s because the idea of collaboration doesn’t sit well with distraction-free writing. Nothing is more distracting than someone jumping it with an annoying, pedantic edit while you are crafting your next perfect piece of prose.
Collaboration is important. It is not the be all and end all of working with others.
The upside is that it’s easy for iA Writer to work in with collaboration tools. At times when I’m asked to work with, say, Google Docs, I will write first in iA Writer, then load the text into a shared Doc for the editing party to begin. I’ve been known to pull paragraphs or sections from the shared document, paste them into iA Writer, make my edits and return the text.
IA Writer isn’t for everyone. Many people feel they need the handholding they get from a product like Word. Or they feel comfortable using the same thing as everyone else. There are companies, clients and individual managers who will insist you use Word.
Ia Writer Spell Check
When I was thinking about this idea earlier, it occurred to me there is an analogy with music. IA Writer is to a word processor what, say, a fretless string instrument is to a guitar or keyboard. If you are on top of your writing game and confident, you can get better results without the guiding baggage. If that’s not you, then fine. You have alternatives.
- As an aside, I’m using iA Writer 5.6 now and there’s a neat set of Markdown codes for creating footnotes. ↩︎