iA Writer in the Apptest: The best app for writing texts?
A TEST REPORT from David Haydl 
on August 16, 2018, 13:56 pm | Write a comment
As an editor at TechnikNews I had been thinking about getting a dedicated app for writing my posts for a long time. I have now done that and got myself a writer in general. My apptest.
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Simple interface
The interface of iA Writer is very minimalistic, which I welcomed very much. After all, when writing, you want to be as focused as possible on your new masterpiece without being distracted by any buttons on an app. Among other things, the minimalist design is made possible by the fact that all buttons of the app are automatically hidden when writing.
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- Practical: All control elements are ... (Screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
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- ... retracted while writing (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
Depending on your taste, you can choose between a white and black theme. The latter is particularly suitable for working at night or in dark surroundings. Plus, it's the theme that I've been using most of the time.
Write in Markdown
Documents that are written with iA are saved in a special file format: Markdown. This makes it possible to easily transfer the written files to other formats because Markdown is a neutral file format.
Some are probably wondering where the formatting buttons are. There is no such thing. Formatting is achieved by placing certain characters around a word or a passage of text. And headings? This can be obtained by inserting diamonds at the beginning of a paragraph. There is also the option of inserting tables, tables of contents, images and other files and checklists. But I never really needed that. What I found rather annoying about the writing experience was that after entering Enter, no line spacing was added to the next paragraph. So I have to upload it TechnikNews make all paragraphs new.
iA Writer saves files in Markdown format (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
Of course there is also an optional spelling correction and a word counter. The so-called focus mode makes it possible to gray out text passages that you are not currently writing. I quickly turned this feature off because I found it very confusing.
Export and sync files
Finished texts can easily be saved in Markdown format and later saved again with iA Writer or another Program that supports this format. However, you also have the option of exporting PDF and HTML versions of your writing. The PDF file is particularly suitable for printing, the HTML version can be integrated into a website with a few clicks if desired.
There is an integrated file explorer on Android, iOS and macOS (screenshot: TechnikNews, 2018)
Texts can be done without Proautomatically save problems locally while writing, and synchronization using cloud services is also possible. On all platforms except Windows. This can be avoided Proproblem with tools like Google's Backup&Sync. Too bad. Incidentally, there is also no integrated file explorer, which is already available in the app for macOS, Android and iOS. With a future update, however, this point of criticism could be eliminated.
It is also practical that the written texts can be uploaded directly to WordPress or Medium via the smartphone. To do this, however, you have to log into the iA Writer app with the respective account.
Prices, availability and conclusion
All in all, I really enjoy using iA Writer. I will definitely continue to use this app. I particularly liked the minimalist interface, as it helps a lot to concentrate on your work. However, I hope that iA Writer on Windows will soon see a built-in file explorer with Google Drive and Dropbox support.
iA Writer is available on every platform you could want. The app for Android is free, but the same for iOS currently costs € 5,50. For the Windows app you have to shell out a full € 20, for the macOS app you have to pay almost € 50. Some will find it overpriced, I definitely don't regret buying it.
