Alternatives to Scrivener for iPad

Since Scrivener is not yet available for the I-Pad, what writing software currently available on I-Pad would you recommend?

I think I tried most of them, although I haven’t tried Storyist, which is the app that cannot be named around here, apparently. :smiley: (Just kidding…You can check another thread, with some recent posts, if you want to learn more about it)

The biggie is whether you want to retain rich text format, or you are fine with markdown/plain text. If the former, there aren’t many options. Storyist is one (I can’t say much about it, never tried). Textilus is another one. It does the job, but it never really impressed me. Now there is also Scrivo, but it looks like Textilus to me, just with a different name (also others commented on this issue in the same thread that mentions Storyist)

If you are happy to sync with external folder in plain text format, you got plenty of choices. Editorial is still my favorite, 1Writer and Byword are good too

The bottom line is that you can certainly work on your scrivener project on an iPad. I never felt it was entirely satisfying, this is why I am not doing it much lately. But if you have to, it’s doable, and you have options

EDIT: I should add Write among the markdown/plain text options, which is pretty good too

Moderator’s note: Moved to “Software by Other Folk” since the thread is asking for alternatives to Scrivener and competitor software is being discussed.

Ulysses for iPad is a great app. I would give it a look:

ulyssesapp.com/ipad/

Yeah, Ulysses is nice (actually , it does look nicer than it is, but, never mind that!), and soon there will be a universal iOS Ulysses. However, there is no seamless way to use Scrivener on the Mac, and Ulysses on the iOS on the same project. Not that I know of, at least

Yaaarp - at least not until Ulysses get their iOS act together with Dropbox support.

I’m using Texxtilus at the moment. But while they add new features there are also regression errors appearing at the same time. (That’s bugs that reappear or new features that disappear in a subsequent release.) There is never any response from their support team — other than an occasional mention of a fix in the release notes (but then that fix can disappear as a regression error).

It’s adequate for on-the-move (long) single notes but not much else.

When Scrivener for iOS appears I will be switching from Textilus the instant it appears on the App Store.

I have tried Simplenote, Textilus, Indexcard, Storyist, and a few more… but I have come to the conclusion that right now there is no way to replace Scrivener when I really want to work on already written text (adding, editing, re-shuffling, etc). So I bring my 12" Macbook instead of the iPad. It’s quite as portable and I have the full Scrivener version all the time. My Macbook is my alternative to Scrivener for iPad. :slight_smile:

… with one exception: Drafts 4. When I get new ideas, or want to write a new paragraph, or in any other way start from fresh, on the go, then I use Drafts and send the finished text to Scrivener’s Scratch Pad.
Super easy!

I agree with you. MB 12" is the new portable alternative, better than any existing iOS app. I also tried them all except Storyist. How do you send from Drafts to Scrivener’s Scratch Pad? I think you posted it already somewhere, but I can’t remember how to do it anymore

EDIT: never mind, found it in the forum, thanks

Apologies for jumping in, but I make this Drafts -> Scratch Pad transfer all the time too: it needs the Scratch Pad files to been a folder on Dropbox, then the Drafts action to send to it is just a couple of steps.

yes, thanks, just found it in the forum too

Thanks to all who replied. You have some good ideas, one of which is to simply use Scrivener on my MB Air. I think I will go with that one until Scrivener becomes available on I-Pad.

Thanks again.

The elusive Scrivener for iPad! When if ever?

In the meantime, plenty of work arounds, none of which are perfect

I just saw Scrivo and Scrivo Pro in the iPad app store. Obviously aimed at the Scrivener community. Has anyone tried this?

I got it, set up a folder-sync folder on Dropbox for one of my projects. Scrivo Pro connected to it. I then added a new document to the project using my MBA … Scrivo Pro didn’t find it and I couldn’t find any way to get it to update its view of that folder to find the new document. So I have given up.

There are others on the forum who: (a) were equally disappointed for various reasons; (b) have previously tried Textilus and given up, and who say that Scrivo Pro is essentially Textilus under another name, produced by the same people under a different company name.

I haven’t yet deleted it from my iPad, but it’s sitting there unused. I may perhaps find a use for it, though I suspect it will join the list of other apps I’ve bought but which I have no intention of ever re-installing.

But that’s just my ½p.

Mr X

EDIT: Oh, and you might like to read

macnn.com/articles/16/01/28/ … er.132221/

That link doesn’t appear to work, but I think I found the article in question:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/16/01/28/the.history.and.the.future.of.software.including.the.much.awaited.ios.scrivener.132221/

Sorry, my fault; I copied the link from a thread in the “And Now for that Latte” forum and it was originally split over two lines. When I recombined it, I didn’t check to see if the link worked.

:blush:

Mr X

“So after years of really trying to make sure we got another developer doing it rather than me doing everything, as I’ve been trying to focus on 3.0, I just got rid of everybody else, cleared the decks and worked on it myself” Keith in that interview. :smiley: I totally relate to that feeling (I am not a developer, I think it’s a recurrent issue in many activities)

With the latest update (v. 2.5) Scrivo Pro is now syncing nicely with a medium sized project I have on Mac/Dropbox. The interface is fairly basic, ie a full Binder view not just of the Draft folder, also for the first time you can swap to card view. Editing of text files is straightforward, and the Scrivo Pro editing window/keyboard is quite well equipped. One disappointment is that I could not edit documents in the Binder which have been saved as folders, only those saved as text - I tend to convert documents to folders whenever I have another level beneath them so maybe will need to change that.
My overall impression of Scrivo Pro now is that it is a solid IOS Scrivener editor - it reads and syncs to the .scriv file on Dropbox directly so you don’t need to do anything on the Mac by way of external sync. Also the developers are responsive to queries - I pointed out to them 8 weeks or so ago that Scriv annotations and footnotes were being corrupted in Scrivo Pro and they had a new update that fixed it within five days. They have been releasing updates regularly for a while now and each time it gets more useable.
Like everyone else - waiting to get my hands on iScriv but in the meantime I think Scrivo Pro has pretty much nailed it.

I generally don’t use Apple devices, but just out of curiosity: Why are there a gazillion posts on Scrivener for iOS (apparently starting only a short time after invention of the wheel and also probably going on to an indeterminate future :wink: ), when there is an app which already does it? Given that the Scrivener file format remains stable for years, because major updates are only infrequent, and furthermore it being based on open standards like XML and RTF, there is also not much L&L can do to prevent competitors from coming up with their own apps. How come this hype on Scrivener for iOS then? Is it because Scrivener users form such a loyal fan base?

FWIW, the author of a recent support request was sufficiently disappointed with Scrivo Pro to ask me to post the following Official Clarification:

Scrivo Pro is not a Literature & Latte product, and is not the iOS version of Scrivener. In fact, Literature & Latte has no connection with the product or the company. Any claims or implications to the contrary are mistaken.

Katherine