hi all,
is it only me or the iOS (iPad mostly) app, is not very satisfying…?
are there maybe other iOS writing apps compatible with Scrivener (with the desktop version)?
thanks
It is not just you. I use the app on my iPad but I find the experience somewhat limiting and compressed in some way. As I understand there is a new product (app as well I hope) that will be somewhat more streamlined with not all the features of Scrivner but enough to make it useful. I am very eager to see it. I tried Ulysses and while it works okay I do not want to have a subscription to use it.
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Yeah, I tried Ulysses as well, but I don’t like it, I neither like IA Writer, Storyist, and others out there. Storyist iOS version actually seems not too bad: simple, elegant and kind of usable, but I don’t like at all the desktop version. We just need a well made version of Scrivener for iOS, the current one is truly frustrating.
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If you want to play the slightly longer game, you can see mention of a new writing app for Mac/Win/iOS on this site and a call for beta testers (You’d have to ask Keith if there’s any spots available still if you were really interested).
We’re not allowed to comment beyond that here, but 
if you get my drift.
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Thanks for the info mate.
A new desktop app is very very welcome (the official one doesn’t get a renewal since too long).
But I really and urgently need is a usable one for iOS and iPadOS
What specifically isn’t satisfying about it? That would be helpful to know to suggest other things that may be more in line with what you’re looking for.
In general, iOS/iPadOS apps in this type of category tend to be fairly limited, which is silly because you have a pretty powerful computer in your pocket. On the iPad, especially, I wish Apple would just get on with it and make it a proper OS and not saddle it with mobile limitations.
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Well so many things are frustrating about it. The windows management is one for sure. The way inspector is displayed is another. These are only the first that come to mind. It seems to me that they tried to replicate the desktop app while it could not be obviously done. They had to conceive a totally different and way more simple app imho. Simple but practical.
I’m not in development, but I think it would be very challenging (and likely confusing) to have iOS and desktop applications with the same core functions but totally different designs. I do agree there are improvements to be made, though!
I do have times when I want to get an idea down but don’t want to take the time to figure out where it belongs in my project, worry about syncing, etc. and then I just pop it in my Notes app, usually, out of sheer laziness, and copy/paste it over properly on my computer, but I’m a big write-on-the-computer person and not fussy about where I jot down notes.
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I must admit I find the IOS version very useful. It is not my main writing machine (the mac is) but I use it when travelling/ in bed etc.
Different from the desktop version - yes. But still very useable. I love the screen layout showing all your projects. Also the syncing.
The only shortcoming I personally find limiting is that of tables (not that I use them often). You have to incorporate them into your document on the desktop version. It then syncs across and usable on the iPad.
I’m just glad I have the basis of the same program working between my ipad and mac.
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I agree! I mostly pop a thought in the Notes app when I’m too tired or in too big of a hurry to trust myself with rummaging around a project file. There have been point in my life when the only way I could write was on my phone while breastfeeding—I just didn’t have another spare chunk of time—and the mobile app is absolutely perfect for those types of situations. I’ve also sat in the car between appointments plenty of time and fit a few minutes in. I’m pretty reliant on Inspector notes, so I wouldn’t be able to get on with a simpler app.
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I don’t know. I find the iOS app frankly messy. I always get lost among my tons of files and notes and chapters and scenes which are pretty well organized in the desktop
Version.
That is odd. I see structure exactly the same on both iOS and macOS when fully synced
Perhaps you can show some screenshots here to demonstrate specifically what you see.
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Hi RMS, thanks for your help,
I Guess that what i see is exactly the same as what you guys see, no differences there.
But while on the desktop version you can arrange your windows as you prefer, here you cannot, binder takes A LOT of space and cannot be reduced, and Inspector, when summoned, oddly pops up covering all the page! This is not nice. This is not now I expect a writing tool to behave, (besides many many other things, not to talk about the total lack of Apple Pencil support, what’s the point in designing a writing a tool for tablets with NO pencil support, crazy).
Here it is, I tried to elaborate a bit more how the mobile app disappoints me.
Not how it works for me. I use Apple Pencil all the time with iOS iPad Scivener. I do my best editing on iPad with the Apple Pencil.
When I want the Binder to go away, I use my Apple Pencil (or finger) to press on the little icon with arrows pointing to upper left and lower right.
Talk with Apple to make the iOS system just like macOS. Better use of your time.
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Whoa, good for you
I knew that. I didn’t say I want it to go away, I want it smaller.
iOS is perfect for my general needs and with other apps.
This specific app instead could be way better in my humble opinion.
Thanks.
I tried for two generations to integrate iPad Pros into my workflow, but in the end without success. This was not only due to Scrivener – but also to the general use case of the iPads, the cumbersome synchronisation via Dropbox, the lack of feature parity with the Mac version, the small screen and the somewhat cluttered interface compared to the Mac.
I then said goodbye to iPads in productive mobile use and went back to the MacBook, which is definitely the better and more suitable device for me (this may be different for other professions).
If the new writing app that has been announced can also use the iCloud, then I’ll be absolutely happy.
I might be wrong but it seems to me that in the latest versions the Dropbox synchro issue that used to plague the app has been kind of solved.
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is it a desktop ora mobile app?
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Both. Check it out under “Announcements”.
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Did you ever work through the tutorial on the iPad? I don’t ask that to be impertinent. I found going through that helped me to understand the interface a lot better and to get around more efficiently.
Like a few others have posted here, I like and use the iPad (and iPhone app). I will be the first to admit that I’d love it to have as close to feature parity as possible with its desktop sibling. The absence of that feature parity has not resulted in the iPad app being non-functional, messy, confusing, or useless. I wrote an entire article for publication in an uber using Scrivener on my iPhone.
Here is my tip, find an aspect of your writing that you can do on your iPad. Just use that subset on your iPad. Then when ideas pop into your mind of things that you’d like to do, but can’t on your ipad, make a note in the inspector or with a comment. Then when you are editing the project on your desktop, you can attend to those things.
I know that it’s frustrating that iPad Scrivener is not exactly equal to desktop Scrivener. But it’s still a capable app. If you are willing to try some more, give it some time.
Hopefully, the chorus of iPad users will convince @KB that if he gives us even more power, we promise to use it to the full. (But maybe it’s the OS designers who we need to convince and not KB.)
By the way, I wrote my manifesto of my iPadOS wishlist back in 2022. Here it is for your reading pleasure:
I use my Apple Pencil a lot in iPad Scrivener for navigation, highlighting, and the like. Are you saying that you use the Apple Pencil for actual writing – i.e., using Scribble or something? Can you explain more, because I’d be delighted to use mine for actual composing. I just haven’t gotten that great at Scribble (assuming that’s the feature that you are using for editing) for longer compositions.