There is a reason perfecting ones style and achieving voice takes decades. It is the most subjective of the writing crafts and that makes it the most challenging to teach.
With regard to AI Writer. I got seduced by the syntax highlighting but quickly found the act of using it as a writing tool just didn’t gel with me. Found this to be true of Causality as well. Both are just “odd” to me.
I use IA Writer for the Syntax Highlighting tool. I don’t actually use it to review syntax, but having the colour variety whilst I’m drafting or editing shorter works (<3k-ish) helps me stay focused. It enhances readability for me. Maybe an ADHD thing.
If I’m struggling to stay focused in Scriv I will sometimes take the scene to IA Writer for that reason until I’m back into good flow.
(I also use their fonts in Scrivener)
Version 8 is out on the Mac now. They’ve refreshed the UI to match Tahoe, and finally (FINALLY!), they’ve added a way to show an outline of a larger document and jump between headings. The app has gone back up in my estimation. Whilst it still doesn’t challenge Scrivener (and never will), I think it definitely makes it a viable alternative to Ulysses if you don’t want to pay a sub.
I’ve moved in the other direction, to be honest. Version 8 felt pretty meh to me. The outline uses the search function, yes it has two ways to search the document (which is kind of annoying). This version of the search picks up on the markdown elements, so it’s not really a proper document outline that you can do anything useful with, like spend time working out the structure of your document. It’s more of a way to jump between elements in a long doc, which you could already do in the other search box by searching for ‘# 3’ or whatever… so this works more like a bookmark feature. And when you click back in your text, the search box (which is a pop-up) disappears! The visual refresh is okay, but with an already minimalist user interface it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Not a game changer in my opinion.
Each to their own, I guess. I do agree that a pop-up isn’t ideal. They seem reluctant (a bit like the developers of Bear) to add a fixed fourth column where an outline could go. For me, being able to hop around through headings with two mouse clicks is pretty much good enough for now.
Their app is famously about what they cut out as much as what they include. Simplicity. So it’s not unexpected. They managed the nav with the Win version (but I never enjoyed using the Win version). They mentioned in a blog post that they wanted each platform to reflect the character of the OS. So either they made a choice, or they kinda gave up on the Mac version… and fudged it with the search function! It works better on an iPhone screen than a 27 inch screen. And, sadly, the keyboard shortcut uses keys right across the keyboard, so not that convenient. Fingers crossed for the ‘next big thing’ from L&L! 