There should be plans for an Android app. Here’s why:
Thoughts and ideas are highly perishable.
Capturing those thoughts and ideas is critical to any creative endeavor.
Thoughts and ideas frequently occur when a computer is not available.
The best way to capture those thoughts and ideas is with a phone, and Scrivener is currently limited to Apple phones.
From the point of view of an Android user, lack of an app represents a significant drawback. Providing an Android app would significantly improve the user experience for Android users.
I’m a long-time lurker and I created an account just to respond to this. Literature & Latte has officially promised to begin work on the Android version after Scrivener 3 for Windows was released. This was posted in the blog on this site, on a Facebook thread, and I was told this directly from the Twitter Scrivener account. For at least two years, the Scrivener for Android version has been officially announced as a planned release for Android, so I’m confused. Perhaps you mean something different by “plans,” i.e., how the app will be designed?
My android phone is getting old. I use Scrivener. I am considering going to Apple for my next phone, only because my phone is always with me and I would like to be able to make notes in Scrivener. But the move would be very disruptive in every other way.
Could you perhaps, without suggesting a release date, let us know if people are actually currently working on the Android development, or if it is merely still part of the plan.
The folks who created the Windows 3 version did a fantastic job. They deserve to live without the pressure of a deadline, for a while at least. Nonetheless, it helps others make decisions if knowledge of the situation is as public as possible, without creating problems for you.
Thanks, Shelly
Part of the plan is better than not I guess, but ‘being worked’ on would be comforting. I’m getting back into editing on my PC all these drafts I have from past NoNoWriMo’s, and have a new Samsung pad I’d like to loop into the process somehow.
I come back to the website every 6momths or so in the hope for an android version. Year after year I leave disappointed and the scrivener crew get more and more tired of people asking.
It’s impossible for any of us to understand the complexities and priorities of a company we don’t run ourselves, but I’ll admit I’m ever surprised that this particular gap in the product isn’t seen to be more important given that a huge majority of peope dont even own a computer because they just use their smart phone and over 70% of smart phones are android and that doesn’t even include tablets or other devices.
After windows version 3… or once the IOS version is perfect… in my humble opinion, releasing an android version was more important than either of these things
I absolutely love scrivener but even I find myself shopping for other software just so I can run it on my phone.
You have to wonder how many sales are lost for the same reason.
Difficult to say, I don’t have all the information, I’m sure they have their reasons. I’m not angry or anything, I’m just impatient.
I’ll be back in 6 months
if it,s that important to you – you can get a brand new iphone se for just 389pounds or a better mobile scrivener experience on a new ipad for the even cheaper 319pounds. of course you,ll get an even better deal on a secondhand device if you look around.
so save just over 12pound a week between now and when you come back in 6 months and you,ll be able to afford a second mobile device just to use for scrivener on the go. not your first choice, of course, but much more likely than there being an android version ready to go by then.
I too would appreciate an Android version of scrivener.
Scrivener not being available on Android has been cause for me to investigate other applications; I’m still considering dropping scrivener if something comes by that is:
As stable as Scrivener
Doesn’t eat my story
Isn’t extremely expensive
I saw one which was available on both Windows and Android, which was cloud based (LivingWriter(monthly fee, but acceptable)). However, it ended up eating my documents (or, more accurate, part of my documents).
So, I’m back at scrivener, and would truly appreciate an Android version.
L&L got burned for annoucing the prospect of an iOS version and then the app appeared years later. Yes I know the reasons for the delay — I was one of the burners. I suspect that L&L don’t want to go through that again with an Android version until they have something that is in late beta or ready to release.
The problem with Android is what version of it does one write for? Huge technical differences between “Android” that some potential users will be disappointed that an Android Scrivener does not run on their specific device. For myself I am still running Scrivener for iOS on my iPhone 5S (2016 vintage) but it is unlikely than any Android version would run on a phone that old.
I’ve used Scrivener for more than 10 years, off and on. I’ve recommended it to more people than I can count.
But I’m at a crossroads. I’m busy, I rarely sit down to write at a computer anymore, I can’t. I write on my phone in between meetings, on flights, at swim practice for the kid, in place of doomscrolling in bed at night, etc.
At this stage, Scrivener is holding me back and slowing me down. And it’s so annoying because I prefer this product over anything else on the market, and I want it in my pocket, but it just isn’t there.
I know iOS tends to be a more profitable app marketplace, I get it. But please, please, please consider throwing your loyal Android base a bone (or a phone) here and just get this thing out the door. It would be the delight of my heart to test an alpha or beta. I will pay you $100. I will leave a 5-star review. I will tell all my friends. I’m begging here.
A new scrivener user here and also very sad to see there seems to be no commitment to an Android version. Please, it doesn’t need all the features, just something that can read the files and do basic editing would be better than nothing.
I guess I am the latest person to create an account for the single purpose of begging for an Android version of Scrivener! I love Scrivener – such wonderful software for writers. And I also want to write using e-ink devices, which mostly run on Android’s app store, to minimize distractions.
Is there an Alpha or Beta test group somewhere? Please let me be part of it…
And me. I´ve used Scrivener for years, I love it and really want to be able to keep using it, but the lack of an Android version is getting to be a crucial problem. Would be perfectly fine with only rudimentary functionality, no need for everything, just basic access and editing would be fine! Please!
Well, yes, a change to iOS is not something that I want to do, certainly not for the sake of only one program regardless of how much I like it (i e Scrivener). I personally much prefer Android and my devices are all Android.
(And sorry, not a native English speaker and I probably used the wrong word when i said “crucial” - it is not life threatening or anything to be unable to use Scrivener on Android but it is becoming a very annoying issue to only be able to use it on my computer).
As kewms has noted in the past, one option for writing on an Android device and sharing that work is to use an external, synchronized folder.
§14.3 of the Scrivener 3 manual explains how to set up that folder and share documents to it. A PDF of the manual can be accessed from Scrivener’s Help menu.
Ruth, I appreciate you noting that and sharing a potential solution. Katherine’s solution is indeed a viable option. I think, though, that it is satisfying for folks who anticipate only rarely using their Android devices. In my case – and, it seems, many people on this thread – our Android devices (like an e-ink Tablet, regular Android tablet, or phone) are going to be primary devices for writing. With Katherine’s solution and our Android-centric tech set-up, we would have to use another software as our primary writing software. I really would love to just stick with Scrivener…
@RuthS would you happen to have any updates on when an Android app might be released? A general time horizon? Truly, even if it is years away, that is helpful knowledge.
but it is becoming a very annoying issue to only be able to use it on my computer).