¶ Byword for iOS | Review

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If there is one genre of app that I have more than my fair share of, it’s text editors. Since launching techēse, I have been seeking the perfect writing environment that gives me the least resistance to getting words written. I started with OS X’s TextEdit, and eventually found myself doing my long form writing in TextMate after I began writing in Markdown.

TextMate worked for a time. It is very much a coding environment. And even though Markdown is a syntax that relates to code, it is very much a writer’s syntax versus a coder’s syntax. TextMate is great for coding. But it has never satiated the writer in me.

I started using Byword just about a year ago on my Mac, when it added Markdown syntax highlighting and declared its focus to be the best Markdown editor for writers — which it most definitely is. In fact, nearly every article here has been written in Byword.

Byword is great on the Mac. But often I want to write on my iPad, and even sometimes, though rarely, on my iPhone. I’ve used Dropbox to sync and either Elements or iA Writer, which are both fine writing apps. But I have long wished for Byword on my iOS devices.

Today, the wait is over. Byword for iOS is here.

I’ve been beta testing Byword for iOS since early December last year. It’s a universal app with iCloud and Dropbox support.

Byword for iOS also has a handy keyboard accessory which shows word and character counts (tap it to switch between the two or show both simultaneously). The accessory can also. Be swiped to show quick cursor arrows and common syntax used when writing in Markdown. There are two different parts of the accessory for Markdown, pictured below.

Byword Keyboard Accessory
Byword Keyboard Accessory

Byword also allows you to preview Markdown, export as HTML, send as an email, and print. It also includes TextExpander support.

Byword for iOS doesn’t yet have the dark theme like the Mac version, but it is coming in a future update.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the update to the Mac version, which now has iCloud integration. iCloud on the Mac is still pretty clunky when it comes to setting up files to be synced. That’s definitely a limitation of OS X Lion, which should be alleviated this summer by OS X Mountain Lion’s revamp of the Open/Save dialog.

First, on the Mac, you have to save the file locally. Then, while the file is open in Byword, you click the File menu and then click Move to iCloud. Once the file is in iCloud, everything becomes pretty seamless. Setting up a file within iCloud on iOS is straightforward. Just click the + button from the file list and give it a name.

In fact, you can have the same iCloud file open on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, then type on one device and watch it appear on the other two a moment later. It really feels like magic.

Byword for iOS is a fantastic, well-designed app that gets out of your way and let’s you write. It also has the best Markdown-optimized keyboard accessory I have seen on iOS yet, making it hands-down the best tool for a writer using Markdown.

If you are a serious writer, you need Byword.

Byword for iOS is being introduced at $2.99 $4.99 on the iOS App Store, and Byword for Mac is $9.99 on the Mac App Store.

P.S. This entire review was mainly written on the iPad, with a little bit on the iPhone and Mac, kept in sync the entire time with iCloud.

¶ iPad Neue

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The New iPad. Plain and simple. To the point. This is not a name that is inappropriate, as iPad HD would have implied — HD doesn’t do the chief quality of the new device justice. This is also not a name implying succession, as iPad 3 would have.

No, this name has a distinct purpose. Not to merely be the next in an already established lineage, but to set a new standard for the forthcoming lineage. The New iPad.

There is — usually — a lot of thought that goes into a name. My wife and I, when she was pregnant with our son, chose a name with purpose. We wanted him to know that great care and meticulous detail was put into his name. I hope the meaning of his name serves as a guide for him throughout his life.

Many people have been complaining about the name Apple chose for the latest iPad yesterday — that it is simply “iPad” or, if you will, “the new iPad”. Well, much like my wife and I thought long and hard about the character and message we wanted our son’s name to impress upon him as he ages, I have to believe the people at Apple took the same care with naming something so dear to their hearts. Why do I think this? It’s what Tim Cook said in his closing at yesterday’s event (strong emphasis is mine):

“Only Apple could deliver this kind of innovation, in such a beautiful, integrated, and easy-to-use way. It’s what we love to do. It’s what we stand for. And across the year, you’re going to see a lot more of this kind of innovation. We are just getting started.”

These people are not just software and hardware engineers. No, they are artists, and aluminum, silicon, glass, bits, and pixels are the vehicle through which they express their craft.

The new iPad improves upon the past in the field of vision, and it does this primarily in two ways. The improved optics of the camera, putting on par with the iPhone, and the Retina display. It can capture what you see, and show it to you in a way that will move you to wonderment.

Everything else the new iPad brings — super-fast mobile data, faster graphics, more efficient Bluetooth, — that’s all on the inside. It’s impressive to some, but many will not think of these things.

What we see is what we will remember. This is the new foundation Apple will build upon.

¶ iPad 3 Event Predictions for Fun and Profit

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Some quick and dirty educated guesses for tomorrow’s event:

  • A new iPad with a retina display. Probably will have a lot of other neat stuff, but I’m stopping at retina display because that is the only thing I am truly positive about.
  • iPhoto for iPad. Heck, maybe for iPhone and iPod, too. It’s the missing piece to complement iMovie and GarageBand.
  • iOS 5.1 with easier access to the camera from the lock screen, plus other goodies.
  • A new Apple TV set-top box that does 1080p, still at $99.
  • Not sure on this, but I’d love to see an Apple universal remote with a touchscreen that could control all my home entertainment crap.

I think it is quite a modest list, and I’m feeling pretty confident on everything but the remote. See you all tomorrow.

Marco Arment on the iPad 3 "Disappointment" Factor

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Marco:

Knowing no more than you do right now, I can guarantee you: the iPad 3 will disappoint a lot of armchair tech commentators, “analysts”, and anyone who gets paid by the pageview. (How convenient.)

[…]

The iPad 2 was the combination of many minor or moderate improvements. Most of them, individually, seemed underwhelming.

But the sum of those minor improvements was a significantly improved product. If you’ve used an iPad 2 for a while, go pick up an original iPad to see what I mean. Just pick it up. Then do anything on it. See?

Let’s keep all of this in mind when we react to the new iPad tomorrow.

Because even if the only upgrade is a Retina screen, that’s a hell of an upgrade.

I can clearly remember the iPad 2 being a night and day difference from the first iPad in person — in just about every way.

¶ The Disappearing Home Button Caper

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As is natural with Apple press invitations for events, folks like to look for hidden meaning in them. Many have noticed that yesterday’s invitation for next week’s iPad event doesn’t show a home button on the iPad’s bezel.

And people have lost their minds over it.

My Twitter timeline has been filled with people thinking Apple is going to kill off the home button next week. Conversing with some folks, I’ve heard that the multitouch gestures that can be enabled in Settings on an iPad running iOS 5 were the beta test for getting rid of the home button.

So many seem to think Apple will either rely on gestures, or introduce a capacitive home button. One even suggested that there may be a capacitive home button on each side, so the iPad will become orientation agnostic.

I have some arguments for why I think Apple will not be saying goodbye to the home button as we know it.

The Argument Against Gestures-Only

iOS 5 introduced the ability to turn on multitouch gestures to control quickly changing between apps, revealing or hiding the multitask bar, and closing an app. These are all accomplished by swiping four or five fingers right or left, up, down, and doing a full hand pinch, respectively.

I can’t remember if the multitouch gestures are enabled by default or not on iOS 5, but let’s say they are, since they would have to be if the iPad dropped a home button of any sort. How many people do you think actually know they exist? I seriously doubt my mom knows about them. I am certain my father-in-law doesn’t. And you know why? They aren’t obvious.

The home button is right there, on the front of the device, beckoning to be pushed. It doesn’t take much to figure out its primary function — closing an app and taking you home. The button even has the rounded square outline of an app on it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the gestures to switch apps and close an app quickly without having to tap the home button. I use them all the time. But you know what else I use all the time on my Mac? Keyboard shortcuts.

Complex multitouch gestures are the keyboard shortcuts of an iPad.

Not to mention that complex gestures involving four or five fingers would really suck if you were missing a couple fingers. And if you take a stroll through the accessibility settings on OS X or iOS, you’ll quickly realize that Apple greatly caters to folks with disabilities.

Also, if Apple exiles the home button from the iPad, it would make sense to do the same with the next iPhone. How in the world would you easily achieve a complex gesture on a 3.5-inch screen in order to go home? And how would you do that with one hand?

The Argument Against a Capacitive Home Button

This is where the people vouching for a capacitive home button come in. The home button is still there, it’s just not a moving part, and may be nearly invisible to the eye until you touch the target area.

Apple tried doing capacitive buttons on the iPod back in 2003. The third-generation iPod was fully capacitive. I had one. It was okay. It was awful trying to do anything while in the car, say, trying to pause the music. You don’t want to take your eyes off the road, so you fumble your hand on the iPod, and before you know it you’ve gone forward three tracks instead of pausing it because there wasn’t tactile feedback.

This was solved with the click-wheel, which has remained unchanged throughout the years on any iPod that didn’t go touchscreen, or the iPod shuffle, which never had a click-wheel.

Maybe a capacitive home button would work with today’s devices. It is only one button that more or less performs one primary function, and its secondary functions could be replicated easily.

But what about accidentally turning on the screen? I wake my iPhone by tapping the home button far more than I do my clicking the sleep/wake button. If the home button went capacitive, wouldn’t the screen on an iPhone activate in pockets? You can control a touchscreen through your t-shirt with your finger, so why couldn’t a capacitive home button activate against your leg through your pocket?

The solution would be to remove the ability of the home button to activate the screen. That’d be awful.

I definitely think the home button could use some work. It doesn’t feel like it was designed to withstand so many clicks for a couple years or more.

I don’t think the solution lies with making the home button touch sensitive nor removing it entirely for non-obvious complex gestures.

I think the home button is here to stay for some time.

iPad Event Set for March 7

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iPad Event Invitation

Looks like we’ll be seeing a new iPad next week. An event has been scheduled for March 7 at 10:00 am Pacific in San Francisco.

I’d be shocked if the new iPad didn’t have a retina display.

¶ A Big Day for Tweetbot

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Tweetbot 2.0

Tapbots released Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone and iPod touch today. What was already a really well polished Twitter client is now at a high gloss. My biggest pet peeve has been fixed in the timeline. You used to need to tap twice on an account name or link to activate it, and now it is a single tap.

I also really enjoy how Tapbots has relocated the retweeted by icon and text. Direct messages have been overhauled and display much like the Messages app in iOS 5, but with Tapbots’ signature style.

The coolest little touch is the redesigned notification of how many new tweets have loaded. It sticks to the top of the tweet list, and as you scroll it counts down the number of remaining new tweets. Like I said, it’s a nice touch.

Tweetbot for iPad

But that wasn’t all Tapbots was up to today. They also released Tweetbot for iPad, which is a separate app from its smaller-screened sibling.

Tweetbot for iPad is really impressive. Tapbots has paid a lot of attention to detail in the interface and interaction. The layout and flow of the app was designed brilliantly.

If you miss what once was Tweetie, and abhor what Twitter has done with it since acquiring it, you should give Tweetbot a shot. It’s the kind of “everything and the kitchen sink” client that Tweetie was. The iPad experience is fantastic. Most of all, Tweetbot’s polish on both devices makes it feel like a precision instrument.

For $2.99 each, you can buy Tweetbot for iPhone/iPod touch and iPad on the App Store.

I am a huge Twitterrific advocate. Not only is Twitterrific a universal app, it has a Mac version, and offers the same experience across the board. However, in recent months, Twitterrific has tended to fall behind on the feature list when compared to the competition. I still love Twitterrific and it is my go-to app, mainly because the mindset of its design gels with me. And, after years of using it, I have found that when it starts to lag behind in comparison, it means it is on the verge of a giant update to lap the competition.

Skitch for iPad

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I’ve been a long time user of Skitch on the Mac. It was created by plasq, which pretty much left it in indefinite beta (though it never felt like a beta to me). The app was recently sold to Evernote,which has expanded the product from being on just the Mac to Android, with the promise of Skitch coming to iOS.

Well, half of that promise was fulfilled today with Skitch for iPad. It’s a fantastic little app for marking up a screenshot, website, map, or photo. It exports directly to Evernote, the iPad’s camera roll, email, or Twitter via iOS 5’s Tweet Sheet.

Most often, I want to share a Skitch markup on Twitter, so this is great for me. Especially since I use Twitter mostly on iOS. The iPad version is great, but I really can’t wait to have Skitch on my iPhone.

Preparing for iOS 5 and iCloud

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Tomorrow Apple will undertake what is likely the most ambitious software launch in the company’s history. Tomorrow will see the release of iOS 5, OS X Lion 10.7.2, updates to various supporting apps, and the biggest thing since iTunes — iCloud.

It would be prudent to make some preparations for all of this. First, let’s talk iPhones, iPads, & iPods.

iOS 5

iOS 5 is Apple’s latest software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It has loads of new features that you’ll want. Best of all, it’s free.

The first thing you’ll need for putting iOS 5 on your device is iTunes 10.5, which was released earlier today. I would sync each of your devices before upgrading to iOS 5, as that will create a backup. And just for kicks, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to import your camera roll to your computer, as part of iCloud will include significant changes to how photos are handled within iOS. More on that in a bit.

Also, make sure you check for updates to your apps and install them. Apple is approving app updates like gangbusters right now because developers are adding iOS 5 compatibility. If you have an update for an app that lists fixes for iOS 5 and you don’t install them, don’t complain if the app breaks. Install the updates, okay?

Okay, after all that is done, get a good night’s sleep and plug your device in tomorrow afternoon, wait for it to show up in iTunes, then select the device in the sidebar, and click the big Check for Updates button. Then let iTunes update your device while you get a snack.

After you’re all updated, you can enjoy never having to physically plug your iPhone to your computer for syncing again, as long as you have Wi-Fi. From now on you can sync over your home Wi-Fi, backups happen wirelessly with iCloud, and future iOS updates will be pushed over the air to your device.

iCloud

Where iTunes was the digital hub for the past decade, iCloud is the hub for the next decade or so. iCloud will hold onto copies of your purchased music, TV shows, apps, & books, device backups, contacts, calendars, notes, reminders, documents, photos, and email.

You get a free @me.com email address, which is ad-free to boot. Apps that take advantage of iCloud will be able to sync their data between your devices, as well. iCloud also features location services such as being able to find and lock down a lost device, and even find family & friends that have given you permission to see their location. All in all, iCloud is Apple’s big new amazing technology that will make us feel like we live in the future.

After you update to iOS 5, you will be able to set up iCloud and all its nifty services from the Settings app.

OS X Lion 10.7.2

Ah yes, the Macintosh. The original digital hub. With the advent of iCloud, the Mac has been “demoted” to just another device, and OS X Lion 10.7.2 will bring all the advantages of iCloud with it — including that ability to find and lock down a lost Mac.

The Mac is known for its iLife suite, and part of that will see a little upgrade tomorrow, too. iPhoto 9.2 will include iCloud’s Photo Stream. Take a picture with your iPhone, it shows up in mere moments on your Mac.

A Note for MobileMe Users

If you are a MobileMe user, you’ve probably heard that iCloud is succeeding MobileMe. You’ll still get email, and syncing for calendars, contacts, & bookmarks. You still get Find my iPhone. But a few things aren’t making it. iDisk and Gallery are going away. They are sort of being replaced by Documents in the Cloud and Photo Stream, respectively. And if you’re a multi-Mac user who used MobileMe to keep dock items, Dashboard widgets, and keychains in sync — well, those are going away, too.

But honestly, things like iDisk, and the syncing for dock, Dashboard, & keychains — they never really worked well. So, when you migrate to iCloud, be prepared. On the bright side, iCloud is likely to work much more effectively, and hey, it’s free. Enjoy it.

Tomorrow is a big day. Things are about to get a lot more awesome.