Posts Tagged
writing
I’m always on the hunt for good plain text editors. I use them for just about everything now: I write in plain text for every one of my clients and for my own personal website. I even use Fountain, a Markdown-inspired plain text plain text syntax, to write movies. On my Mac, I’ve got a bunch of different apps that handle this kind of thing, but I’m not always on my Mac when inspiration hits. I’m not necessarily on my iPhone or iPad or Android devices either. Sometimes, I’m at a library.
So what then? I’ve been looking for a great plaintext/Markdown/Fountain editor that can handle all my needs that exists on the web. I haven’t found the perfect one yet (and really, what is perfect?), but Scribbler is so close that it’s nearly frustrating. Read on to find out why I think you might want to bookmark Scribbler. (more…)
If you’re looking for a great markdown-powered plain-text writing app, there’s dozens of apps out there — native apps for your device, or web apps that’ll run anywhere. There’s awesomely minimalist writing apps like Typewriter, or newer apps like Draft that make it easy to track your document’s revisions and get others to check your work.
But even if you love web apps, and need something that’ll work on any platform, sometimes apps that run online aren’t the best option. And native apps … well, chances are they won’t run on all the computers you use.
How about something that combines the best of both worlds? That’s exactly what Textdown — an offline Markdown writing app for Chrome — is. Spoiler: it’s really great, too.
In the past couple of years, my writing workflow has evolved to accommodate my changing habits, which now include working from wherever I am, thanks to my handy smartphone and physical-keyboard-and-tablet combo. I use them to jot down notes at events and conferences, take screenshots to illustrate points and of late, I’ve begun to record voice notes and calls for interviews, which greatly reduces the time I spend preparing content for articles.
There’s just one problem with recorded notes though: you have to convert them into editable text yourself. Transcribing requires you to listen, pause, type, and repeat until you’re done — and I had not come across a way to do this elegantly, until recently when I stumbled upon Transcribe Pro. This clever app combines robust audio playback control and note-taking for a simple web-based solution to your transcription woes. Today I’d like to show you how I get my work done, and how you can get the most out of Transcribe Pro.
Over the years, AppStorm has reviewed a number of writing tools. For writers, these apps can have special meaning, as many of us earn our livings by using these apps. A good web-based word editor can be indispensable in daily life, both for us and for many of our readers as well.
Whenever I stumble upon a new one I can not help but try it out. So was the case recently when I happened upon WriteApp, which bills itself as a “distraction-free editor”. It boasts support for markdown, live preview, public notes, post by email, and much more. Plus it is free to use, though you need to register for an account. It was something I knew I’d have to check out. (more…)
Continuing from where we left off with my lists of tiny, free and useful apps for designers and developers, we’ve put together a list of 10 simple yet terribly useful apps for freelancers.
If you are a freelancer, you already know the pains of wearing a bunch of hats all at the same time. Unlike with teams and bigger organizations, there aren’t people assigned to take care of certain tasks while others focus on what they do best. Nope, you’re alone and most probably taking care of everything from your finances and communication to day-to-day project work all by yourself.
What follows is a list of apps that can ease that pressure a bit — they’ll take care of some of those menial tasks while you spend your valuable time and energies on keeping your clients happy.
Ever find you’d like to share a bit more than your Facebook status update or Tweet will let you? Perhaps you’d be interested in writing more long-form content, or sharing more context with your images, but you don’t want to go to the trouble of setting up a blog. You have a story to tell, and you don’t want to have to figure out 50 thousand settings to just write and share what you wrote with your social network friends. And if you discover other great stories from other people in the process, that’s great.
Sounds like you need Storylane. It’s the latest twist on an almost-blog app that feels more like a social network. Similar to Tumblr, but even simpler, it lets you have the space to tell your full story, not just 140 characters of it. And it’s rather fun to use, too.
If you’re a writer of some sort, you’ll have no doubt come across the often cluttered and distracting interfaces of some word processing applications. But it’s 2012 — web apps are popping up left and right to ensure that we can manage our documents online without having to worry about losing them or endure the slow update process of traditional desktop apps. However, even some of these apps contain over-designed and clunky interfaces that make it near impossible to just sit down and get some writing done. We often see simple, uncluttered writing apps for Macs, so surely there’s a new and better way to write and manage documents online?
Quabel just might be that better way. It’s a new and promising distraction-free writing web app that weilds several interesting features that are sure to set it apart. It ensures that writers can get on with what they do best and not have to worry about getting easily distracted. Keep reading to find out more!
There’s dozens of writing apps out there, ranging from the basic plain text editors built into your OS to advanced note apps that can store all your text notes, as well as PDFs and a zillion other things. Even if you’re looking for a minimalist writing app, there’s so many right now, it’s hard to choose the best one.
A native app for plain text writing will usually let you edit any plain text file on your computer, and save new or edited files in any folder as you’d expect. You can then copy the file onto a flash drive, edit it in another app, post it on your website, or anything else you want. That’s the beauty of plain text: it works anywhere, and you’ll never have to worry about losing what you wrote as long as you have the files.
Most writing apps online, however, store your text in their own database, making it hard to save what you’ve written as a plain text file and almost impossible to sync to your computer and edit in other apps without resorting to copy and paste. TextDrop is a new web app that turns this totally around, letting you edit and create plain text files in your Dropbox account, right in your browser. All your files are safe and synced with Dropbox, and you’ve got all the benefits of a minimalist writing app in your browser. It’s like a writer’s dream come true.
It’s always exciting to come across a new tool that actually becomes a part of your daily workflow. I try out new apps all the time, and minimalist writing apps are a particular favorite of mine. Most fail to make the writing experience perfectly smooth, and usually have too many features while missing the very quite writing experience I’m looking for.
That’s why I find Typerighter exciting. After trying it out and reviewing it at the beginning of the month, it’s become one of the apps I use daily. Most of my articles this month have been originally been written in Typerighter, and I’ve increasingly enjoyed using it.
I was excited to have the chance to interview Typerighter’s developer, Garrick van Buren, this past week, and find out what inspired him to make Typerighter and how he made it feel so perfect for writing. Here’s our interview for your reading pleasure.
Writing from your browser doesn’t have to be difficult, confusing, or cluttered. Actually, writing online should be much simpler, since all you need is a browser and Internet connection, and your writing isn’t tied down to an app or device. If you’re writing in a native app, you’d better remember to sync your files, or otherwise you won’t have your writings anytime you need them.
There’s no need for that trouble, when you could use a writing app that just worked everywhere without fiddling with files. That’s where Typerighter comes in. It’s an elegantly designed clean writing app that can work from any platform and keep your text ready for you when you need it. Let’s take a look.
