iA Writer for iPad

Writer is a $4.99 writing app for the iPad by Oliver Reichenstein of Information Architects. It brings a typewriter feel to a writing app with additional keyboard functions laid on top of the standard iPad keyboard. It’s a straightforward app designed to keep you focused on your writing.

Writer supports text and text only. No images, no attachments, no formatting, nothing that would distract you from making sure you keep writing. This is why a lot of writers tend to prefer simple, no frills apps as their weapon of choice such as TextEdit on the Mac or perhaps WriteRoom.

At a glance, there’s little to differentiate Writer from most other writing apps including the iPad’s own built in Notes app except perhaps the questionable use of typography in Notes, which will be slightly improved in the next iOS version to include Helvetica as an option.

However Writer has a few helpful features. One is the keyboard extension bar above the standard keyboard. Some of the keys laid out on the additional bar are actually duplicates of the existing keys which can normally be activated by hitting the .?123 key but instead of having them hidden, Writer actually makes them readily available to reduce the chances of the writer stopping to look for the hidden keys.

Typography is an aspect that iA deems so crucial that it commissioned its own typeface for the app from Bold Monday. it uses a monospaced font called Nitti Light which features plenty of white space and designed to make you read the text at a slower pace.

When you type, Writer grays out all the text except for the past three lines to make sure the writer stays focused on current thoughts and continue on from there. The experience is much like using a typewriter (without the clickety clack of the mechanical keys) as there is not even a spell checker or autocorrection ability.

Writer has a character count on the top bar to help you along your writing and also a time count they call Reading Time which refers to the time needed to read through the document. There is also Cursor Time at the side of the text to display.

When time comes to save your document, in addition to saving it locally to the iPad, Writer offers Dropbox synchronization to save the writer from having to sync documents using iTunes.

Dropbox provides 2GB of free online storage space which should be plenty for most users although there is a premium option for those who wish for more. Files in Dropbox can be accessed from many other apps as well as from a browser on the traditional computer.

While many text editors try to cram as many features as possible, Writer follows another path where lack of features is a highlight of the product. It’s light, affordable, straightforward, and offers unique features for writers to keep writing.