Apple’s application of these rules have proven to be somewhat broad and fluid. There is no way of knowing whether you will get through until you actually submit the app.
Should a one man band stake his livelihood (and that of his best mate) on such a system?
I certainly wouldn’t.
For those of you who do end up getting an iPad and would like to see your Scrivener files on it, you may want to look into VNC clients. VNC clients basically give you remote access to your Mac or PC - you can see your desktop and interact with it right from your iPhone. There are already a number of VNC clients for the iPhone.
It might not be the ideal solution for long writing sessions (it probably eats up a lot of bandwidth, and speed may vary), but it’s worth trying out.
This sounds kind of cool. And maybe it will be possible one day. But for now maybe it would be easier to paste all or some of the text from your Scrivener project into a Pages for iPad document and edit it there?
This is actually the kind of thing that I would most want to be able to do with an iPad. If I could “Back-To-My-Mac” screen-share with it, that would suddenly turn it from a big iPod Touch into a real tablet. A thin client, to be sure, but something with real utility.
Thanks so much for this great list. Manuscript looks great. After browsing through the Customers Also Bought… section I ended up buying Tag Cards, which is only ¥115. It offers the ability to add text and pictures to cards, color them, add tags, and then browse through them by tag or in one long stream, and backup the whole lot to iDisk or any webdav server.
Having just purchased an iPhone 3Gs I’m somewhat bemused by people who seriously want to write on these things. Having tried to use it for a while now I can’t possibly see how this is a realistic proposition. Compared to writing in my moleskine the iPhone is a tad cumbersome and slow to say the least. The Notes function seems to be about the only application with a direct-to-desktop sync capabilty. Other than that it appears I have to email myself, which seems a tad strange, or upload to someone else’s server for later retrieval. 
Maybe there’s some applications I’m missing but with all the drivel I have to pore through on the iTunes site the search for such an application becomes somewhat tiresome. At least Chambers do a nice dictionary and Thesaurus, so maybe in that area it’ll help with my writing. Besides that I don’t yet see it as a workable option.
WriteRoom comes with its own little web server, which can let you get your writings off of the device using a computer and a browser. If you put in a password for the application, it will require that when accessing the web server, too. The only drawback to this method is that it requires both machines to be on a wireless network, which isn’t always feasible.
My problem exactly Amber. My mac is not connected to the net and it’s not something I plan to change. To me direct sync capabilities seem such a fundamental feature I’m surprised by the distinct lack of it. Reading up on Documents To Go it seems they may have that function but having read others have thought that of other applications only to find it’s not quite as advertised puts me off.
It always struck me as a massive backwards step to disable the iPod Touch’s functionality to act as a storage device. Older iPods could be loaded up in the Finder and you could store files on them just like a regular hard drive, but this wasn’t allowed with the Touch (and therefore presumably the iPhone also). To me it seems somewhat crippling to have to e-mail files to your computer, or to sync over a network. You charge the iPod Touch by plugging it into your computer via USB, but can’t access any files you’ve created on it that way… It seems really stupid to me. But hey, I’m old-school I guess.
I totally agree Keith. I still have my first generation iPod on which I stored my Scrivener documents and other such files. I could even use it as a boot disk if my mac should go down with some problem. Then there’s my Palm. 10.6 put that to rest but it still had far more integration than the iPhone/Touch. Coming late to the iPhone party I’m finding it somewhat difficult to find what everyone is raving about when Apple seem so keen on restricting my usage in so many key areas.
My only guess with the mass storage device issue is that Apple sees it as a way to get unsigned code onto the device. Seems they could have still made just part of the storage visible, for random files that won’t get touched by applications, but oh well.
As for a Scrivener iPad edition, while it would be cool to have, I can totally understand why it won’t be developed. And honestly, while some aspects of the software might work well, I’m not really convinced it’s necessary. If I ever get an iPad (and I’m leaning towards one because of iBooks; it’s only a bit more expensive than the Kindle DX, after all, and does more), and if I ever want to do writing on it (that’s two 'if’s!), then I’ll probably just get Pages or WriteRoom. I can see editing single documents on the thing, but not lots of composition. Leave that to the Mac.
Also, Keith, I read your comments on the lack of a rich text system in the iPhone SDK. Are you part of the developer beta? I’m curious if such a subsystem has been added to the iPad side of things, but then I suppose you’d be under a silly NDA and wouldn’t tell us anyways.
If that was their concern, originally, it shouldn’t be one any longer. People have been installing third-party applications onto the iPhone since long before there was even an official way of doing so. Restricting access to the hardware isn’t stopping those who want to do it.
I agree that extended typing on an iPhone is difficult and probably not a good use of one’s time. I also agree that the App Store isn’t as friendly as we’d like it to be for finding apps that might be useful (hence the value of comments like druid’s). I find that creating a simple mindmap, using single words or very short phrases for each node, is a useful way to move my writing projects forward, or to launch a new one, when I only have my iPod touch with me. I use SimpleMindX, which is free and sends mindmaps to iPhoto when you sync.
Thanks Rickdude, I’ll give it a go.
Getting back to the ability to directly sync to desktop, I downloaded a midi keyboard for the iPhone which allows me to play synths within Garageband. This application requires it’s own server app on the mac. Low and behold, in case some people don’t have access to the internet on their desktop, or iphone/Touch, the kind developers give you an IP address to enter in Safari, which then accesses the iPhone itself and downloads the integrated server app. Is it me, or is this a feature other developers could use to allow users access to their work? (Or perhaps it’s something apple frown upon, in which case don’t say I mentioned this. 
)
Another Application I downloaded required a desktop preferences app. This one wasn’t integrated, requiring me to access the internet to download this tiny addition. So there I am, armed with my new iPhone. Hmmmm, okay, putting that aside I dig out my old, rather cheap, Sony Ericsson. Quickly I navigate to the site using Opera Mini. I use the download link only for the Sony Ericsson to inform me this download won’t work on my phone! 
But very nicely offers to download it for me anyway. 
Application downloaded I (this bit is to show off and make a point) control the mac’s cursor, via the Sony Ericsson, hitting the ‘browse device’ tab. A window for my Phones contents opens on my mac. 8) Dragging the app from my phone onto my desktop is now a breeze and I’m ready to go. Now where did I just plonk my iPhone?
Couple of comments, if they are any use:
Presumably, both those will work on the iPad.
Mark
Cheers. I eventually went for Quickoffice. Similar to what you suggest Quickoffice allows you to place and remove files using a browser via an Ad hoc network. Means I can use it on any computer without need of the internet. I looked at Documents to go but although they claim to be able to do the same you actually need a server application on your desktop. That’s fine except you can only download an installer which then requires internet access from the desktop it’s on. Rather defeats the object I thought. I did email them asking if there was a direct link but with no reply four days later Quickoffice got my money. Not bad either for just under £5. Still can’t see myself using it for more than brief notes but the ability to export from Scrivener and review my documents is helpful.
I’m not sure what the problem is with this syncing over USB and violation of agreements. But seems Omni has worked around this with their OmniFocus application. They simply use the MobileMe service and my desktop version of OmniFocus sync’s automatically with my desktop version of MobileMe. I know many people get riled up about paying for such service, but to me, it’s valuable and worth every penny I spend every year.
Also, I know that 1Password using a similar scheme to keep the two apps sync’d. So there’s a way. Just not using USB.
You don’t even need MobileMe if you already have a web site. Chances are your host lets you set up a WebDAV folder, and that is all you need to get OmniFocus up and running.
even better! but i hate to admit; I do like the syncing with mail, calendar and all the other MM services!
I too agree that writing is about…well…writing. This means using a real keyboard. If a writer needs to get some serious work done, this is the only way. Tapping glass won’t cut it. The iPad looks great for consuming e-books or whatever, but composing? No way!
What Keith mentioned about Scrivener 2.0 being epub compatible is incredible! And it seems to me to be just what the iPad would be good for: a mobile solution for when your computer is not around, to mark up the draft, etc. (once a third-party app comes out with some decent annotation features).
Cannot wait for the 2.0 release! Keep up the awe-inspiring work guys. L&L, you guys rock! :mrgreen:
Best,
M