iA Writer App Reviews

I really like the idea behind the app: simple, distraction free writing with seamless sync between all devices. The implementation is however lacking. Frequent crashes (luckily without data loss), disappearing folders (files are *usually* still accessible via search), and other minor annoyances. If developer is serious about improving the quality of the app, it has a great potential. With addition of search in replace (which confusingly doesnt open in read mode!) the app has all essential functionality that care about, all wrapped in a nice package.

iA have been improving this application with each point release. The last few updates have really made this a solid markdown editor. Better support for markdown lists is a welcome improvement in v1.5. This application sits on my home screen and I continue to use it everyday to do almost all my writing. Its indispensable to me now. — Version 1.1 brought back all the sharing options I missed from iA Writer. The live formatting of markdown is a big improvement over the previous version of the application. Displaying text rendered with all its styling when in Read mode is an obvious improvement Im glad to see they have made. Most of my sentiment from my original review still applies: I use this application all the time and love it, but find a lot of the marketing around it hyperbolic and obnoxious. (I still find the various writing modes lacking.) - I am writing this in Writer Pro. I love the original iA Writer. I have used it more or less since it originally launched in the AppStore. I bought Writer Pro the moment it came out. I sincerely felt I didn’t need to wait for any reviews. And now I have been using Writer Pro since its launch: it has replaced the original Writer for me. This switch only worked because I was already syncing documents between my iPad, iPhone and Mac using iCloud. If I was using Dropbox with iA Writer this upgrade would have been a big step backwards: Writer Pro doesnt work with Dropbox at all. I understand Dropbox syncing is “coming soon” so this may quickly be a moot point. Beyond that Writer Pro is an improvement to the original in almost every way. The question is how much of an improvement. The first and most obvious change is the addition of a writing workflow. Your text can move between 4 states: note, write, edit, read. The various workflows change the font and colour scheme of what you are working on. They help demarcate how you think about your writing, but that’s really it. Gushing reviews of this feature in particular frustrate me. I am left feeling like either I am a moron for not “getting it”, or there is some amount of “the emperors new clothes” going on here. I will have to revisit my thoughts on this topic after further using the application, but there needs to be more here before we can call this some sort of revolution in writing. The new syntax mode feature is quite neat, something I didn’t know I wanted. With a toggle Writer Pro will highlight all the adverbs in your writing. Or all your prepositions, conjunctions, verbs, nouns, and adjectives. There former focus mode is now another type of syntax highlighting. I wish the applications documentation or FAQ better explained how to use the various highlighting modes effectively. What else should I be looking for besides repetition or poor word choice? The rest of Writer Pro is much the same as iA Writer, with subtle improvements that no doubt took much time and a serious attention to detail. This is what makes the application worth using. Like the original, Writer is beautiful. It is unrivaled when it comes to typography. The new fonts for the notes mode and the editing / reading mode are excellent choices. Again, I didn’t know I wanted the font I use when editing text to be different than the one I use while writing. I really like Writer Pro. It shows so much promise. I have no regrets about buying it. $40 ($20 for the Mac app and $20 for the iOS app) is far from a steep price to pay for something I use everyday. There seems to be a lot of hype around this product right now, much of it coming from the team behind the product. Initial early reviews also feel needlessly gushing, glossing over the obvious limits to the application. Reviews in the AppStore are currently quite poor, I suspect because of how the application was originally presented. Still, there is nothing I enjoy writing in more than Writer Pro.

I absolutely love this app! I use it on a daily basis to take notes, manage finances, save important documents with copy/paste, input photos, etc. It would be nice if there were a pen tool and if we were able to change the font style, but Im still satisfied with the apps usefulness!

The best and cleanest text app I have used to date. Better still on the iPad!

This is a great app as I use it a lot. It is an essential part of my workflow. Helps me keep organized and focused.

Love the night mode!

I used to love this app for writing. Best keyboard Ive found. But now every time the app loses Internet connection it hides my keyboard and gives me a pop up with a Document error. Totally unusable.

Not too shabby, for an update. As another customer pointed out though, some features are error timed out when offline or lost Internet connection. However, I do believe that this is a Dropbox and iA problem, since it seems to edit the file from within Dropbox itself (no local copy, only a listing of what was previously scanned). iCloud files on the other hand work offline without a problem. Most apps now a days have the iPad/iPhone merged/same with the iCloud. Allowing a local copy when offline, and an almost instantly sync copy while online.

After the recent update sometimes documents I try to open no long appear. In some cases the text is completely gone, and eventually it looks as though the entire file has been deleted. Not very impressed with that.

Currently the best writing app. The earlier free version (now unavailable) had a much simpler layout and therefore a more elegant feel. For instance, the text of the main page menu looks like poorly executed Letraset. Sub-folder creation was disabled in the free version. It is enabled in this version. A warning: If you should delete this app from your device for whatever reason, say to clear up disk space, when you reinstall it none of your documents will have survived unless you elected to use cloud storage. Some writers are persnickety about where they keep their stuff; none of us appreciate losing it. A warning would have been appropriate. None-the-less this new "pro" version is well worth the cost. Im sure future updates will be cleaner and hopefully more forthcoming and perhaps less presumptuous.

First and foremost, some of the best features of iA Writer Pro and the original iA Writer have been removed. Please bring them back. Also, it says the app requires 8.2, but it crashes upon startup on my iPhone 5s, which is on 8.2

I have IA Writer classic. Have been using it for well over 3 years. Recently upgraded my iDevice and couldnt find it, so bought this one. No functional difference between either, except this one is more annoying. You had a good product before, its more annoying to use now. I doubt the IA Writer classic and Im going back. Dont waste your time or money.

This is a well-designed and very polished app, and it does what it does very well. However, I just dont see the need for it. If Im not misunderstanding, this app is trying to let the user focus on writing without worrying about clunky UI like MS Office. But the controls and syntax can take some time getting used to, which I think defeats its original purpose. To make matters worse, sometimes Ive had trouble making bulleted and numbered lists look the way I want them to. The bottom line: If I want to write down something simple, I can just use the built-in Notes app. If I want to create a long document, Ill use Google Docs. Both are free, and I think both are just as simple.

The developers are working hard to solve issues and improve the experience and that is a big plus from me. Problems that I had with iA Writer before were fixed with this latest update. This app helps me stay insanely productive by removing all the unnecessary clutter while remaining a powerful interface for writing. Fully recommended!

Ive lost so many files because of back-up and sync issues. Manupulating data either within a document or from folder to folder is just cumbersome. Im sure theyll get it right, but as of today I cant recommend iA Writer to casual or pro writers

I am not prone to five-star reviews. iA deserves it for going above and beyond in order to understand the mind of writers, their challenges, and the tacit things to ennoble them to do their best work. That is good design. The empathy and compassion to help people overcome what they struggle with. Do yourself a favour and make this purchase.

Update 2016 03 04: Huh? Apparently iA Writer basic (about which I have had only nice things to say) has now merged into the Pro edition ... and its asking me to "upgrade" though Ive licensed both and the upgrade button just brings me to this App Store listing ... As reflected in many reviews, this whole "Pro" thing seems a bizarre flight of fancy aside from a competent core text editor. Original review (Pro): The same functionality as their basic Writer with interface tweaks in service of an unusual scheme of workflow organization. Their basic Writer remains an essential iOS staple, but I am baffled to imagine the audience for this implementation.

This is my favorite app on iOS and OS X. Its great for taking notes, technical articles with code samples, and for long form articles. Dropbox and iCloud integration is awesome too.

On writing, press enter key and then texts will invisible except first row.

IA writer pro is the best writing app of all the time! Now it supports handoff so you can continue your unfinished contents right on iPhone on your Mac.