MacFormat UK – September 2019

How

do they

compare?

Each of the apps here

has something that

appeals. I really like the

look of Bear, Byword

and iA Writer. Scrivener

certainly offers the full

package in terms of

formatting and

exporting options,

but Ulysses has an

extensive feature set,

is very versatile and is

easy to get started with.

Jo says...

Writing apps APPLE CHOICE

That’s where Ulysses comes in. It’s ideal

for scribbling ideas, taking notes in meetings

and producing work for all kinds

of platforms: online content

management systems, personal

blogs, print publications, brochures

and books. Its extensive export

options, easy organisation and

impressive f lexibility all combine to make

it the go-to app for almost everything that

isn’t Scrivener-sized.

SEPTEMBER 2019 | MACFORMAT | 91

T

hese apps are all wonderful,

but they’re also suited to very

different kinds of writing and

different kinds of writers.

We think Byword and iA Writer cater

for the pros-in-a-hurry crowd, Bear feels

like a cute, super-powered notes app and

blog creator, and Scrivener sometimes feels

like we’re driving a tank to the corner shop.

Scrivener is incredibly powerful, much

more so than the other apps here, but it often

feels too big and unwieldy when we’re in a

hurry. It’s a fantastic app for academic writing

and huge book projects, especially non-fiction

ones, but it’s a bit of ‘truck’ when sometimes

you just want a nippy little car.

Different strokes

for different folks

These apps are all wonderful, but

Ulysses is our go-to app for almost

everything that isn’t Scrivener-sized

THE WINNER

Ulysses

Note: The final verdict scores reflect the overall opinion of a product and are not necessarily an average of the criteria listed in the table.

Ulysses can be as simple and fast as a Notes app, but it’s

powerful enough to make light work of larger projects too.

> SPECS > Bear > Byword > iA Writer > Scrivener > Ulysses

PRICE £13.99/year £10.99 £28.99 £43.99 £35.99/year

WEBSITE bear.app bywordapp.com ia.net literatureandlatte.com ulysses.app

IOS VERSION? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

SYNTAX

HIGHLIGHTING

Code,

formatting

Code,

formatting

Code, formatting,

grammar

Dialogue Code,

formatting

TYPEWRITER MODE No Yes Yes Yes Yes

GLOBAL SEARCH Yes No Yes Current project Yes

EXPORT FORMATS Text, Markdown, ePub,

DOCX, HTML, PDF, JPG

Text, HTML, PDF DOCX, HTML, Markdown DOC, DOCX, ePub, Final

Draft, Fountain, HTML,

Markdown, .mobi, ODT, PDF

Text, Markdown, DOCX,

ePub, HTML, PDF

SYNC iCloud iCloud, Dropbox iCloud, Dropbox Dropbox iCloud, sync folders

ONLINE PUBLISHING N/A Blogger, Evernote, Medium,

Tumblr, Wordpress

Ghost, Medium, WordPress N/A Ghost, Medium, WordPress

WRITING +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++

FORMATTING +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++

FILE MANAGEMENT +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++

EXPORT OPTIONS +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++

TOTAL +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++

Image credits (top to bottom, left to right): Ulysses,

Shiny Frog, Metaclassy, iA, Literature and Latte, Ulysses