There are definite advantages to using Dropbox instead of iCloud (and I’m not just talking about Byword here), but the latter is new and still feels novel. And so, in a way, an app becomes a silo of my work. However, what I don’t like about using iCloud syncing is that it is application-specific. I’ve found that apps which sync their documents through iCloud are quicker and more reliable. The iCloud integration is, as with most other apps, painless and quick. With the new iOS apps, Byword now ships out of the box with the ability to sync all your documents via iCloud or Dropbox. What’s new in Byword for Mac is little more than integrated iCloud support. Today the Mac app I write from so frequently was updated to accompany the launch of the its iPhone and iPad siblings. What’s important is that whatever article I’m writing be available to me on my Air, my iPad, and my iPhone. But this is a bigger issue than just needing a text editor - the iPad is not in want for writing apps. The linchpin for me to use the iPad for work is the ability to write from it. And so my time at Macworld, working almost solely from my iPhone, was a bit of an eye opener for me. But it is another thing entirely to actually put that into practice. It’s one thing to look at a spec sheet, nod in agreement and say that yes the iPad has most of the tools I need in order to do my day-to-day job. And the rest of the reading and writing I did was on my iPad. Nearly all of the reading, writing, linking, emailing, and tweeting I did was via my iPhone. For the first time I can recall, I didn’t even use the Air. I think that could change, and I think I could be the better for it.įor my trip to Macworld this past January, I took the Apple nerd’s three standard-issue gadgets: my MacBook Air, my iPad, and my iPhone. If I need to get “serious” work done I rarely turn to my iPad. More and more I have been wanting to promote my iPad to a stronger work device. Therefore, with the advent of Byword for iOS and its iCloud document syncing, I’ve decided it’s time to evaluate and upgrade my writing workflow. However, a good audit of one’s workflow is often in order and I’d like to start using a single text editor for my article drafts rather than spreading them out across multiple apps and folders. But for any and all documents which I want to have available on my iPad or iPhone I’ve used the nerd’s common Simplenote+nvALT combo of apps. I’ve been using Byword since its debut last spring. I write mostly in Menlo at medium width, and it seems I flip between light or dark mode depending on the weather or time of day. You choose a typeface and size, a column width, and decide on light or dark. On the Mac, Byword’s settings pane looks like this: However, compared to your standard-issue text editor or word processor, Byword is slim in this area. The only option you have in Writer is to use the app or not.īyword, by comparison, is rich with preferences. Writer, on the other hand, is famously free from any and all settings. But even still, Byword usually wins my writing attention due to its basic typographic options. I love that big blue cursor and the elegant way it stylizes my Markdown-riddled writing. I like it so much, in fact, that it tied for my favorite new Mac app of 2011. As water naturally flows downward, it seems that I naturally gravitate toward Byword. Preferring Byword over other similar apps is not to objurgate or even criticize them. Over time, the writing apps that have stuck for me are: Writing is my job, and it behooves me greatly to find the best possible writing app that I am comfortable in and that keeps me moving the cursor to the right. Off the top of my head I can think of half a dozen or so minimalistic writing apps, and I’ve tried them all. What I find so compelling about these simple writing applications is that they are custom tailored for writing, especially if you’re writing for the Web. Sure, you can scribble something down on the back of a cocktail napkin using a mechanical pencil, but why torture yourself like that? If you do a lot of writing, I see no reason not to find an application that has been built to best suit your needs as a writer. You can’t throw a rock at the iTunes and Mac App Stores without hitting a minimalistic writing app.
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