Bicycle For Your Mind
How Well Is the Mac App Store Curating?
Apps for Writers
The Mac App Store has a ton of applications. Unless you know about an application, it is very difficult to wade through all of the choices and make an informed, intelligent choice. This process is helped by the special sections Apple curates to help the customer along the process of decision making. This is a responsibility Apple should take seriously, they are the authority providing the direction. Their credibility and trust are on the line. I wanted to see how well Apple is doing.
I decided to look at the special section called Apps for Writers. Primarily because this is the category I know best in the store. The section is broken up into four categories:
- Manuscript Makers
- Distraction-Free Writing
- Journaling & Blogging
- Notes & Clippings
I would have liked another section. Aid to Writers. This would include tools which make the process of writing easier and better. This would include Pomodoro timers, grammar checkers, Markdown previewers and the like.
Manuscript Makers
| Product | Last Updated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | May 10, 2016 | Great |
| iBooks Author | Mar 29, 2016 | Great |
| Ulysses | Apr 20, 2016 | Great |
| Scrivener | Sept 30, 2015 | Great |
| iA Writer | Apr 22, 2016 | Fits better in Distraction-Free Writing, Great |
| Final Draft 9 | Sept 18, 2015 | Industry Standard |
| Storyist | Dec 10, 2015 | Meh |
| Mellel | Apr 13, 2016 | Great |
| MovieDraft | Feb 07, 2012 | Old |
| Slugline | Feb 17, 2016 | Great |
I am not certain iA Writer fits in this category. Distraction-Free Writing is the better category for it. iA Writer has broadened its scope through support of file directories but it is still a single document centric application. You can read a review here.
MovieDraft hasn't had an update for more than four years now. Is this still a viable product?
This list doesn't seem to be an attempt to pick the best of breed. Ulysses, Scrivener and Storyist, are all playing in the same space. Final Draft 9 and Slugline though fundamentally different products are catering to the same audience, the screenwriter. So, it is not a best of breed exercise. It is a list of the notables. In that case, it makes sense to visit the word-processor category.
Besides Pages, Mellel is the only word-processor in the list. Wouldn't it make sense to include Nisus Writer Pro also in this list? It is being continuously developed, has an absolutely fanatic bunch of users, and is very competent at what it does, process words.
Distraction-Free Writing
| Product | Last Updated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Byword | Mar 24, 2016 | Good |
| Rough Draft | Mar 24, 2016 | Gimmicky |
| Flowstate | Feb 08, 2016 | Gimmicky |
| Paragraphs | Feb 18, 2016 | Meh |
| Write | Dec 14, 2014 | Developer classifies as abandonware. |
| Ommwriter Dana II | Dec 31, 2012 | Old and Gimmicky |
| WriteRoom | Aug 08, 2012 | Old |
| Macchiato | Aug 24, 2011 | Old |
| MachWrite | Mar 24, 2015 | Good |
iA Writer should be in this section.
I think Rough Draft, Flowstate, and Ommwriter Dana II are just too gimmicky. I would never use them. But I understand that gimmicks sell. So, I am not going to bitch too much about the choice of these products.
Write is classified as abandonware by the developer. Why is it on this list? WriteRoom? Almost four years without an update? The last update was to make it compatible with Lion! Macchiato? That is a product which last got updated five years ago? Really? That is the best available in the App Store?
What about Focused? What about Writed Pro. There are alternatives which are more current than the ones listed. You cannot tell me that there is no better product in the App Store than the one last updated in 2011.
Journaling & Blogging
| Product | Last Updated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Day One | Apr 25, 2016 | Good |
| Desk PM | Apr 07, 2016 | Good |
| MarsEdit | Apr 14, 2016 | Great |
| Blogo | May 21, 2016 | Good |
| My Wonderful Days | Apr 07, 2015 | I don't know this one |
| Memories | Mar 11, 2016 | I don't know this one |
| Memoires | Apr 01, 2011 | Old |
This is a shorter category. I don't have any gripe about the choices, except for Memoires which is 5 years old. I also don't know anything about two of the choices.
Notes & Clippings
| Product | Last Updated | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Evernote | Apr 22, 2016 | Good |
| Notability | Mar 17, 2016 | Meh |
| Notefile | Sep 01, 2015 | Meh |
| Ember | Oct 23, 2015 | Aid |
| Simplenote | Jan 26, 2016 | Great |
| 1Checker | Apr 28, 2015 | Aid |
| MindNode | May 17, 2016 | Great |
| OmniOutliner Pro | May 17, 2016 | Great |
| Together 3 | May 19, 2016 | Good |
| Scapple | Oct 21, 2014 | Good |
| Scribe - Intuitive Outliner | Dec 02, 2014 | Meh |
Ember and 1Checker shouldn't be in this section. They are aids to writing/thinking. They are not involved in notes or clippings. They belong to the Writing Aids section Apple should add to this list. There are however, some glaring omisions in this list. I think Quiver should be in this list, so should TextNut. I think OmniOutliner Pro is a great choice, but Scribe has a lot more competitors in its price range, and OutlineEdit, Tree 2 and Outlinely all deserve consideration. Likewise Together 3 is a great product but Growly Notes deserves some attention too. Notability and Notefile have iOS counterparts, and if that is a consideration Notebooks should be on this list.
Aids to Writing
This is the section that is not present.
This can include the following products:
| Product | What it does |
|---|---|
| Noizio | Provides background noise |
| WordService | Provides commands for working with selected text |
| Marked 2 | Previewer for text markup languages. |
| Focus - Productivity Timer | A pomodoro timer |
| Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary | A good dictionary. |
Conclusion
So how did Apple do?
A mixed bag really. Some sensible suggestions, but some howlers too. There should be a cut-off date for old products. For instance, if a product has not been updated for the last two OS revisions, it doesn't deserve inclusion in any curated list. I think the Aids to Writing would improve this list.
I am going to keep a lookout on updates to this and other curated lists for future coverage.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie
Curating Mac App Store Writing