Writie Blog

Writie 1.1 update

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:18:00 -0400

The 1.1 update of Writie has been approved.

New features:

Added TextExpander support.
Added a new theme using the amazing Solarized color palette developed by Ethan Schoonover.

The update is available on the App Store now. Get it here.

Solarized

Wed, 25 May 2011 06:16:00 -0400

Just applied the Solarized theme to Writie and it looked really great, especially the Instapaper bookmarks.

With this, Writie might become my preferred way to read Instapaper bookmarks.

Writie 1.0 submitted

Mon, 16 May 2011 05:57:25 -0400

Writie 1.0 has been submitted to the App Store, and I can not wait to see how the market will react to it. I have started Writie expecting it will create a better writing environment for everybody with the integration of Instapaper and Web browser. But honestly, I do not know if it will be better than the status quo. I will have to wait until the app is approved to know but I really hope that it will be better. At least it is already better for me.

If the market reaction is good, my immediate plan for Writie is:

Integrate with TextExpander.
Improve the typography: I am not sure what is missing, but I am not really satisfied with the current use of fonts in Writie. I will need to study on this a lot. However, creating Writie has made me feel interested in typography.
Create Writie for Mac: I think that the best platform for Writie will be Mac OS X Lion, leveraging on the new fullscreen capability. If Writie for iPad is widely accepted, my next project will be Writie for Mac.

The First Post

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 05:18:00 -0400

This is the first post that I write on Writie itself using the Markdown syntax. The major features in version 1.0 will be:

The documents will be organized into one-level-deep folders. This structure is similar to Instapaper and similar to the app folders in iOS also. It has been proved to be enough for organizing things while prevent users from creating complex, hard-to-manage folder hierarchies. Users who prefer a flat file structure like the built-in Notes app or Simplenote can ignore the folders altogether.
A document can be “linked” with several web pages and Instapaper bookmark. Users can access the “linked” materials easily when editing a document. A web browser and an Instapaper browser, which can work offline, will be available for users to access the Internet and their Instapaper bookmarks and “link” related material to the document.
Syncing will be done using Dropbox. Syncing is an essential requirement these days, and Dropbox is doing great on this.

The project is progressing very well. One thing that I am worrying is whether the integration with a web browser and Instapaper will really help users to write better on the iPad. Since I do not write a lot, I am creating the writing environment based on my little experience when writing my undergraduate thesis and papers. Well, the best way to know is releasing the app and see the feedbacks. Should they be positive or not, I have no regret since this is the thing I really want to do.

The core feature

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:40:00 -0400

So the most important feature in Writie will be making it easy to access reference material while writing. I have then realized that the most natural way to do this was integrating Writie with Instapaper. The reasons were:

For a writing environment, the iPad screen size is limited. Instapaper bookmarks are mostly-text versions of the web page, so adjusting them for the small screen size is easier.
The bookmarks being mostly-text also help users to be more concentrated while writing.
From various posts and articles I read, many bloggers and writers are already using Instapaper.

I have already apply for the full Instapaper API. The application was approved in less than a day and I have had no problem with the API so far.

The integration is well under way, and I am very excited on this.

The state of blogging on the iPad

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:48:00 -0400

The iPad is a great productivity tool. But after one year since its debut I see few use the iPad as the only tool for writing due to several reasons:

The touch keyboard: obviously, the iPad keyboard can not be as convenient as a real one.
Formatting and editing is tedious: in the iPad text editor, it’s not easy to move text around or apply custom style.
It’s hard to refer to reference material: consciously switching back and forth between the writing app and the reference material is distracting and annoying. It’s also unnecessarily hard to create hyperlinks to the materials.

Easing up on any of them makes writing on the iPad much more pleasing.

The start of Writie

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:35:16 -0400

It all started with this post on multitasking:

The fact that the iPad only lets me see one app at a time often does not help me focus. Instead, it forces me to switch between apps constantly, thus preventing me from focusing on my task. Every time I have to deal with the iPad’s task switching, I’m interrupted.

It is clear that there is demand for an app that helps writers to focus on their work by providing easy access to reference materials while writing.

There is no such app yet.