iA Writer
IA Writer is a multifaceted writing app with an assortment of simple, yet ingenious features creating a seamless writing experience on your iPhone or iPad. It boasts several features that will be familiar to anyone who has ever opened Microsoft Word, including full-text search, in-document find-and-replace, and the ever-important sentence, word, and character count. Thanks to a pair of unique tools called Focus Mode and Syntax Control, you can concentrate on particular sentences one at a time, or highlight different parts of speech to make sure that every word is where it needs to be and that you weed out the redundant adjectives. IA Writer has a customizable keyboard bar for your comfort, easily converts documents to and from .docx, exports formatting to both HTML and eye-pleasing PDFs, contains curated fonts and well-designed templates, and last not least Night Mode, which comes in handy when highlighting different parts of speech. IA Writer syncs with both Dropbox and iCloud, guaranteeing that your documents are safe and are accessible from all your Apple devices. IA Writer costs $3.99, and is worth every cent.
Editorial
Editorial is a not-so-plain plain text editor bursting with features and automation tools that all wordsmiths will truly appreciate regardless of their preferred genre or the exact nature of their occupation. Editorial’s extended keyboard was designed for writing Markdown, and delivers all the special characters you need. Thanks to a selection of more than 50 text-processing actions, you can customize your workflow. Talking of customization, Editorial makes your writing life a whole lot easier with snippets, i.e. frequently-used pieces of text you can insert by typing abbreviations. Syntax highlighting allows you to see your document’s formatting while typing the text at hand, and the in-app browser brings research several taps closer, significantly accelerating your work process. As you would expect from a writing app, Editorial syncs with Dropbox with a customizable folder so that you can access and edit your documents with other apps. Editorial has a price tag of approximately $11, which will feel like a bargain when you discover the entire range of its features.
Pages
Pages is among App Store’s essentials for a reason. Designed specifically for portable Apple products, Pages supports Smart Zoom and Multi-Touch gestures, creating a smooth workflow experience. Thanks to more than 60 Apple-designed templates, getting started in Pages is easier than experimenting with sanity-threatening drug combinations was for Hunter S. Thompson. You can add images and videos to your documents, spruce up the data you display with interactive charts, and make use of advanced writing tools such as change tracking. The most crucial formatting options are right at your fingertips, while a cavalcade of styles, fonts, and textures guarantee that your document will be spectacular both in form and content. Immediately share your work with your colleagues or friends using AirDrop, turn on iCloud to make your documents available on other Apple devices, or export your documents in PC-friendly formats. Due to a beta release of fresh collaboration features, working together in Pages has become as easy as pie, especially because PC users can now take part in the fun by using Pages for iCloud. Pages has the same $11 price tag as Editorial, and is a surefire investment that will pay dividends for those earning their living in the business of words.
Werdsmith
Werdsmith is a wonderfully designed app that turns your iPhone or iPad into a personalized writing studio that fits right into your pocket or your backpack. Werdsmith’s best features are its motivational tools, which enable you to set word goals and writing rituals so that you can get better every single day and finish your projects on time. Werdsmith protects your priceless works by backing up your documents in iCloud, which only you can access with your Touch ID. In case you feel like it’s time to show off your wordsmithery to a wider audience, you can opt for either Facebook or Twitter, or go with the more stylish option of creating your own portfolio. Werdsmith is free to use, though it offers a trio of in-app purchases. A one-off Upgrade for $2.99 allowing you to work on as many project at once as your heart desires, and a Dark Theme-Sepia Theme duo, each for $1.99, with the latter tailor-made for night owls. Werdsmith is a fun little app to use even if you’ve only just stepped on the treacherous path of the writer, and is a useful companion in the latter stages of this lifelong journey.
