OT: (very long shot) anyone using iA Writer for Mac Air?

Climb01742 · #1 03-21-2015, 07:22 AM

I'm looking for a writing app for my MacBook Air. Has anyone tried this one:

https://ia.net/writer/mac/

Or any good suggestions beyond MS Word or Apple's Page? Thanks!

pmac · #2 03-21-2015, 07:36 AM

Haven't tried that one. I use Nisus Writer Pro, which is closer to Word or Pages (ie full featured) but isn't nearly as annoying as Word and seems more mature and better thought out than Pages.

ceolwulf · #3 03-21-2015, 08:27 AM

Depending on what you want but, for many purposes Scrivener is the gold standard.

HenryA · #4 03-21-2015, 08:31 AM

I sometimes use iA Writer on an iPad. Its OK, but Pages seems to be better for me in that use.

I sometimes use Bean on Macs:

http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

Bean is no longer being actively developed but still available for download. Its not bad. I tend to use it more on older machines that lack resources to run Word quickly.

Once I got a new Mac with a SS drive, I tend to use Word more as the faster machine overcomes the bloated feeling of Word. I still pretty much dislike Word, but it is the default for most of the world and once you turn off enough of the automatic "features" its tolerable on a new fast machine.

Climb01742 · #5 03-21-2015, 08:36 AM

Thanks for the replies.

The ease with which others can read your docs is the big advantage Word has, but damn, giving MS money for creating such bloated, annoying products is frustrating. iA Writer says you can save files as Word docs, which could help, but does it become a pain after awhile? Aaargh. Just don't wanna reward Redmond for mediocrity.

Gsinill · #6 03-21-2015, 08:59 AM

http://www.libreoffice.org

FlashUNC · #7 03-21-2015, 09:39 AM

OmniWriter. Love the ability to shut out everything else and just get to it. And you can save in whatever file format you want.

Google Docs in a pinch.

Pastashop · #8 03-21-2015, 09:40 AM

Look up Mellel. Very fast, very stable, great support, takes very little memory or process power to run. Pages used to be better before the last major revision, ATMO.

1happygirl · #9 03-21-2015, 03:23 PM

Wow. Lots new I hadn't heard of (incl iA writer)

As someone suggested, marinersoftware.com, their Omniwriter and /or MacJournal

Openoffice.org , Open Office is free.

stairalas · #10 03-21-2015, 03:31 PM

I am a fan of iA Writer, but there are quite a few other apps that offer nearly identical functionality and also have decent ui.

If you are a Markdown user, I would definitely give iA Writer a shot, as well as Byword, both of which are available on the App Store.

If you are not tied to Markdown, then that opens up the world quite a bit. If you are looking for simple non-formattted text editors, i would give the following coding mainstays a look as well:
sublime text
atom (built by the github peeps)
textwrangler

Tony T · #11 03-21-2015, 04:29 PM

For short/simple documents don't rule out TextEdit that's on your MacBook Air.
It has decent formatting options and can save in Word 2007 format (.docx)

1happygirl · #12 03-22-2015, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceolwulf

Depending on what you want but, for many purposes Scrivener is the gold standard.

Hey, CW!
Just looked at this product you mentioned myself. Free trial.
This thing is cool. As is the Paceline for learning' me up.

Climb01742 · #13 03-22-2015, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1happygirl

Hey, CW!
Just looked at this product you mentioned myself. Free trial.
This thing is cool. As is the Paceline for learning' me up.

Further digging has helped me find 'Storyist 3'. It's a full featured writing app/software that seems to do much of what Scrivener does but is a bit more focused and streamlined...and for Mac only. Depending on what you're writing, 1happygirl, that might be worth a look too. Scrivener is very well liked, with only two peeves from users: no app for pads/phones and maybe over-featured? Both products seem quite good.

ceolwulf · #14 03-22-2015, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Climb01742

Further digging has helped me find 'Storyist 3'. It's a full featured writing app/software that seems to do much of what Scrivener does but is a bit more focused and streamlined...and for Mac only. Depending on what you're writing, 1happygirl, that might be worth a look too. Scrivener is very well liked, with only two peeves from users: no app for pads/phones and maybe over-featured? Both products seem quite good.

I didn't realize Storyist had a Mac option, thought it was iOS only. That would make it a very good choice. Scrivener has been working on* an iOS version for lo these many moons now but not a peep of a release yet.

*supposedly

Climb01742 · #15 03-22-2015, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceolwulf

I didn't realize Storyist had a Mac option, thought it was iOS only. That would make it a very good choice. Scrivener has been working on* an iOS version for lo these many moons now but not a peep of a release yet.

*supposedly

It's funny, every review of Scrivener I read expressed frustration at how long an iOS version had been promised. Users seem to love Scrivener and don't want to leave it but no iOS could be its Achilles heel. For my needs, the more focused nature of Storyist seems ideal. Scrivener seems better for folks who write all sorts of things in many formats for many platforms.