Wow, I’m amazed! First I ponied up for Pages for iPad, an excellent app that I’m still using, and then Simplenote got a huge update making it the de facto standard writing app for yours truly when it comes to hammering out stuff in English on the go. The update was truly remarkable and I was really happy with the app, only problem was that it was syncing with Simplenote where everything else I do end up in Dropbox.
What I really did, however, was wait for WriteRoom for the iPad. I’m a huge fan as you all probably know, and before the Simplenote app update, which also pimps the iPhone version, I used WriteRoom for iPhone a lot.
So Simplenote rocked in its new form. Sweet.
Then Hog Bay Software made me a happy author by releasing Plaintext, an excellent yet simple writing app that synchs with Dropbox.
Oh my.
Plaintext is like WriteRoom but for the masses, ad supported (which you can fix with a $4.99 in-app purchase) and nicely designed. I gave it a shot, loved it, and suddenly Simplenote – still great – wasn’t as hot anymore.
Then iA Writer came along.
iA Writer has got the Dropbox sync, just like Plaintext. I love the typography and the focus mode, which blurs out the part of the text you’re not working on, is pretty sweet. The killer though is he extra line of keys just above the keyboard. There you have some common symbols, colon, apostrophes and such, as well as arrow keys for navigation within your document. This is briliant, to put it frankly.
So here’s my, and everyone who’s addicted to writing with an iPad, dilemma: Which writing app should I use?
Right now, as I’m typing away on this post, iA Writer is on top for dedicated fiction writing. Simplenote wound up second thanks to the Dropbox sync that premium users can have, and the fact that they support lists now. Plaintext, while still great, is behind because frankly the other apps are better.
Oh the choices. It’s a good time to be a writer with an iPad, that’s for sure!