If you're not willing to shell out $4.99 a month indefinitely, try the similar Bear first. And the best part, the scratchpad syncs* perfectly with the one in iOS app. Support for cloud allows you to have all this in one place. It doesn't matter if you're a student spending long nights on your big paper, a journalist writing up your latest scoop, or a novelist furiously typing away on your next opus — there's an app for you on the Mac. Ulysses isn't WYSIWYG; you can download themes to change up its color scheme at the Ulysses Style Exchange, but you can't view the effects of your formatting until you preview or export it. Its voluminous list of export formats includes all the usual suspects, plus ePubs, Final Draft screenplay files, and even Kindle books. I would like to receive mail from Future partners. Adding images or links is easy with a special panel. You can share collaborative documents publicly or with specific users, see who is in the document at any given time, and follow their cursors as they edit the project. Apple's AirPods Pro are just $190 for a limited time only. Your documents sync between Mac, iPhone, and iPad using iCloud Drive, though you can also store them in … You can also perform some basic photo editing, cropping and resizing photos, and even adding effects and filters. You can also export your work in Markdown, PDF, HTML, and Microsoft Word. They're squeezed into the same small space as iA Writer's Format and Syntax menus, which can format text or quickly highlight all the nouns, adverbs, adjectives, or other parts of speech in your document — a nifty feature undercut by lackluster interface design. Word count and other stats are crammed into a tiny menu at the bottom of the window, and you can't set goals for any of those parameters. The Mac is a great tool for writers, with a plethora of software available for any kind of writing. Apple's IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for both Mac and iOS apps is Xcode. There are even templates for items like business cards and flyers. Scrivener is nothing short of a full-featured suite of tools for writers. It won't replace Final Draft, but if you want to have fun writing a cinematic masterpiece about Dominic Toretto battling Dracula, you'll end up with a decently formatted final product. You can even select only specific chapters or files to compile and export — handy when you've got multiple drafts of a novel in a given file, but only want to create a PDF of the most recent one. The app also recently added support for Touch ID to keep your documents safe. It's actually hard to encapsulate just how many options Scrivener gives you. Like Bear and Ulysses, iA Writer offers downloadable export templates, and its help files include instructions to make your own with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Keep your work segmented for easier organization and edition, while maintaining its structure with the Binder. iPhone iPad Description. Save big on these VPN services ahead of Black Friday. You can also post what you've written to blogging services such as Medium, WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogger, or you could send your document to Evernote. Apple's HomePod mini is now available in two more countries, but a third will have to wait a little while longer. Open up Blogo and sign in to your WordPress, Blogger, or Medium account and start writing those hot takes. Want to export your note or publish it as a web page? macOS Big Sur takes the most advanced operating system in the world to a whole new level of power and beauty, making your apps look better than ever on an all-new interface. Have an epic holiday light display that you always forget to turn on? This app is easy to pick up and start using but offers a wide array of customization options for everything from writing to exporting. *requires iCloud. All the buttons and options fade out gently as you begin typing. At the opposite end of the spectrum from its spartan rivals, Scrivener is a jumbo-sized Swiss army knife stuffed with a sometimes overwhelming array of fun and useful tools. Its stark black-and-white interface makes Ulysses look colorful. You can also secure documents with Touch ID if you have one of Apple's 2016 MacBook Pros with Touch Bar. Writing Swift code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and Swift includes modern features developers love. He lives with his family in bucolic Crozet, Va. Apple's AirPods Pro are just $190 for a limited time only, Free to download, $1.99/month or $14.99/year Bear Plus subscription -. If you turn phrases for fun and/or profit, your best option for a Mac writing app depends on what you want to write, and how. Nearly everything Ulysses does, Bear does just as well, in an arguably prettier package. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? Let us know in the comments. But despite this complexity, Scrivener does a good job of getting out of your way. All tags will be automatically saved to Maverick's Finder. Flighty has been updated to give fliers the tools they need this COVID-filled holiday season. Tags are automatically synced with the iOS app over iCloud. Notes + Recordings + Photos + Reminders Perfect for Writing books, stories, poems, reports, novels, and more. Favourite Files - A super fast way to access your most important notes! Sign up now to get the latest news, deals & more from iMore! But if you just want to start writing without worrying about its bells and whistles, you won't have a problem. All are either Essentials or Editors' Choices in the Mac App Store. And its subscription model means that your monthly $4.99 fee unlocks the app on both the Mac and iOS. However, to match Ulysses's features, you'll need to subscribe to Bear Plus, for $1.49 a month or $14.99 a year. Its learning curve is steeper, but its powerful features make that climb worthwhile. The Perfect App For Writers. I would like to receive news and offers from other Future brands. Choose from set of 8 handpicked fonts or go ahead and use your own font. Their witty writing allows you to learn the program while you're using it. No worries — a handy cheat sheet of syntax waits behind a button at the top of the program. When it comes to publishing, you've got options for PDF and HTML. Even after years of using Scrivener, I still sometimes find myself hunting through its menus in search of that one command I need. Syntax Control breaks down your writing to show you the structure, highlighting adjectives, nouns, conjunctions, and more. That subscription gets you features like iCloud synching, ePub export, and customizable export themes, all of which Ulysses includes right out of the box. It's a minimalist app with only a few settings to fuss with, and Byword really only cares about getting you writing. He's been using Apple computers since 1985, and writing about Macs and their software for more than a decade. You can also check out Scrivener for iPhone and iPad, which lets you work on your Scrivener projects no matter where you are. You may not ever need its advanced features, which would give you a terrific writing app for free. iA Writer is inexpensive -- just a one-time $15 fee -- and it packs a reasonably robust feature set. All are either Essentials or Editors' Choices in the Mac App Store. The first three apps on this list all take a similar no-frills approach to writing. Like other apps on this list, iA Writer lets you publish to blogs, in this case, WordPress and Medium. Choose how to sort your documents, pick a theme, pick your font, and even control fine-grain details such as font size, line height and width, and paragraph spacing. Unified Tags - Any tags you add via Write for iOS or Mac will be listed here. Follow @WriteForMac Got any favorite apps we haven't mentioned here? Ulysses comes with built-in iCloud support to hand off documents between its Mac and iOS versions. Learn more. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. New widget features and the new widget gallery help you deliver more value to your users. For $45, you'll definitely get your money's worth. A lot of sharing options! Its lean, efficient Help files explain the program well, but after Ulysses and Bear's gentler tutorials, iA Writer's lack of frills can feel jarring. Highly optimized scrolling performance so no matter how large your document is, it'll be super smooth. I was also impressed with Bear's ability to share a note to any program you've added to your Mac's Sharing menu, including Facebook, Twitter, and Reminders. Do you use one of these or something else? Link to other documents in iA Writer to combine them into a single project, or link to images or spreadsheet files to see them in iA Writer's Preview screen in a number of different templates. Silicon will tell you and it won't cost you a penny. Ulysses offers a full array of tools for writers of any kind. iCloud sharing and synching with its iOS sibling is built in, as is WordPress and Medium support.