IA Writer 5.5.4 MAS + iCloud Categories: Software » Mac iA Writer (was iA Writer Pro) is a professional writing suite that gives you full control over your notes, drafts and edits. Five years ago this month we released iA Writer for iPad. We built apps for Mac, iPhone, Android, and a whole new iA Writer Pro branch. People who use iA Writer enjoy the experience of writing with it, they love its purity. We released iA Writer 3, the third generation of our writing machine, as a free upgrade to iA Writer.
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. Deck set 2 0 1 – simple presentation creator download.
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 firstIn the broader scheme of iA Writer’s development, version 5.4 is a relatively minor update, though it does reinforce why the app was chosen as the MacStories Selects App of the Year. IA Writer has been a category-leading text editor for years, but it continues to receive regular updates that incorporate the latest technologies on every platform in ways that refine the experience for users. Description of iA Writer 5.4.2. IA Writer 5.4.2 (was iA Writer Pro) is a professional writing suite that gives you full control over your notes, drafts and edits. Features – Workflow states – Custom typefaces, carefully set for optimal readability – In-app preview – Reading time, plus sentence, word, and character count – Real-time. The Teacher passes from Appeal to Warning: Against Evil Companions. Proverbs 1:10-19 10. Sinners The warning points to a state of society of which indications are to be found not only in the unsettled times “when the Judges ruled” and before the monarchy was firmly established, when “vain” and “discontented” men banded together to lead the life of the outlaw and the.
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 doOne 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 5.4Earlier 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 cloudThe 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.
MarkdownWe’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 viewerThe 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 5.6We’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. Things 3 3 4 2.
Good housekeepingThe 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.
Ia Writer 5 4 4 Commentary Matthew HenryCompared 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. Scrutiny 8 1 21 – suite of web optimization tools. 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.
CriticsYou’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.
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. ↩︎
iA Writer Pro is a professional writing suite that gives you full control over your notes, drafts and edits.
Unmatched Writing Experience
iA Writer is designed to provide the best digital writing experience: Keep your hands on the keyboard and your mind in the text.
Swipe Right to Library
iA Writer now comes with an integrated library for all your documents. With a swipe to the right you have easy access to all your texts in one place.
Swipe Left to Preview
With synchronized scrolling Preview, iA Writer consciously separates form and content. It optimizes plain text writing while offering stellar formatted export—with world class typography.
Focus Mode and Syntax Control
iA Writer is famous for offering a deeper focus on your text. Its unique tools improve your writing style by honing your concentration: One sentence at a time, or by highlighting different parts of speech.
All Your Documents on All Your Devices
With seamless Dropbox and iCloud sync, iA Writer keeps your documents safe and at hand on whatever device you are using when inspiration strikes. Nch prism plus 6 00 plus.
Features
- Integrated document Library
- Synchronized scrolling Markdown Preview
- Beautiful Preview templates with curated fonts
- Focus Mode fades all but the current sentence, for maximum concentration
- Convert formatting to Microsoft® Word .docx, and back again
- Also export formatting to HTML and beautifully styled PDF
- Auto Markdown formats text on-screen
- Night Mode
- Real-time iCloud and Dropbox sync
- Reading Time; plus sentence, word, and character count
- Customized for Retina displays
- Handoff support
- Full screen for total immersion in the text
Compatibility: OS X 10.11 or later, 64-bit processor
Homepagehttps://apps.apple.com/us/app/ia-writer-pro/id775737590
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.
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. ↩︎
iA Writer Pro is a professional writing suite that gives you full control over your notes, drafts and edits.
Unmatched Writing Experience
iA Writer is designed to provide the best digital writing experience: Keep your hands on the keyboard and your mind in the text.
Swipe Right to Library
iA Writer now comes with an integrated library for all your documents. With a swipe to the right you have easy access to all your texts in one place.
Swipe Left to Preview
With synchronized scrolling Preview, iA Writer consciously separates form and content. It optimizes plain text writing while offering stellar formatted export—with world class typography.
Focus Mode and Syntax Control
iA Writer is famous for offering a deeper focus on your text. Its unique tools improve your writing style by honing your concentration: One sentence at a time, or by highlighting different parts of speech.
All Your Documents on All Your Devices
With seamless Dropbox and iCloud sync, iA Writer keeps your documents safe and at hand on whatever device you are using when inspiration strikes. Nch prism plus 6 00 plus.
Features
- Integrated document Library
- Synchronized scrolling Markdown Preview
- Beautiful Preview templates with curated fonts
- Focus Mode fades all but the current sentence, for maximum concentration
- Convert formatting to Microsoft® Word .docx, and back again
- Also export formatting to HTML and beautifully styled PDF
- Auto Markdown formats text on-screen
- Night Mode
- Real-time iCloud and Dropbox sync
- Reading Time; plus sentence, word, and character count
- Customized for Retina displays
- Handoff support
- Full screen for total immersion in the text
Compatibility: OS X 10.11 or later, 64-bit processor
Homepagehttps://apps.apple.com/us/app/ia-writer-pro/id775737590
