Byword is a word, a Mac app for the generation of words, and, as of yesterday, also an iOS app for the mobile generation of words. Byword is exemplary of how to make a writing app on the iPhone and iPad. That’s certainly high praise, but well deserved. Byword for iOS features excellent Markdown support, automatically […]
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Quick Look: Byword for iPhone and iPad

Mar 15th 2012 by

Byword is a word, a Mac app for the generation of words, and, as of yesterday, also an iOS app for the mobile generation of words. Byword is exemplary of how to make a writing app on the iPhone and iPad. That’s certainly high praise, but well deserved.

Byword for iOS features excellent Markdown support, automatically helping you along with bullet points, allowing you to export your HTML, preview your Markdown, and even copy the raw HTML to the clipboard (score!). A flexible bar at the bottom of the screen plays the part of character and word counter and extended keyboard, which is a very interesting approach – though the buttons could probably stand to be a bit bigger. The iPad app boasts a good full screen mode, and both the iPad and iPhone support a really great gesture to quickly move back to list view (swipe right).

Syncing options include iCloud and Dropbox, and I opted for the latter. Dropbox sync happens very quickly, but it’s a little different than expected. Much like the Evernote app, Byword simply pulls down a list and quick previews of each of your notes. Only when you tap on a note will the full version be downloaded to your device, so don’t be surprised if you load Byword up and find far fewer files in the list – it probably means you’re offline.

Typewriter Scrolling 🙁

The only thing from the desktop Byword app that I miss so far is typewriter scrolling. I think it makes a lot more sense to have the text stay centered on screen, instead of constantly peering down towards the bottom of the screen as I type.

vs. iA Writer

  • Dropbox support in iA Writer isn’t quite as good as in Byword, especially since you get kicked to the main level (/Dropbox) of your directory every time you load the app up fresh
  • iA Writer still has the excellent focus mode and the accompanying typewriter scrolling going for it
  • iA Writer’s Nitti Light font is still the most legible thing since, well, ever
  • the lack of settings in iA Writer are as annoying as they are awesome – if you hate fiddling, iA Writer is still the app to go to
  • Copy Text: iA Writer has a great two-tap solution for copying all of the text you’ve written within the app, so that you can paste it into another.

vs. WriteRoom

  • WriteRoom is still one of the best when it comes to syncing all of your files completely and having them available on-device, regardless of your online status
  • WriteRoom could learn a thing or two from Byword about going full-screen
  • WriteRoom doesn’t support Markdown in any significant way
  • WriteRoom does, however, have an insane number of settings for typeface, word and line spacing, and an excellent working scrollbar so you can zip up and down documents with ease

Shawn Blanc recently wrote in his own Byword review that “You can’t throw a rock at the iTunes and Mac App Stores without hitting a minimalistic writing app.”, and he was right. However, Byword isn’t just another one for the pile. It may be just a 1.0 release, but I think it’s already one of the top five iOS writing apps out there in terms of features, feel, and finish. Byword is undoubtedly worth the $2.99 for the iPhone and iPad versions.

Byword was purchased by the author for review on iSource. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.

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