WriteRoom – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Jesse Grosjean
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2008-09-08
Developer:
Price: 4.99
User Rating:
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I do most of my writing with my Mac looking just like this. WriteRoom and MacJournal are among the applications that offer distraction-free writing with a black screen and bright lettering.
If it sounds purposeless or silly to you my suggestion- don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I didn’t understand the purpose until, on a whim, I started using it. Now I won’t write any other way.
When I saw the release of WriteRoom for the iPhone or iPod Touch yesterday I jumped. I downloaded it and have been using it to do a bit of writing. WriteRoom offers the same distraction-free visual as the desktop. It blacks out the screen and offers the lettering in a bright white. It works fine but on a small screen doesn’t offer the same degree of impact.
Despite that I love this app!!! Why? A few reasons-
A. You can use WriteRoom in either portrait or landscape. This is a huge deal since typing with the iPhone or iPod Touch held in landscape is far far faster and easier. It is amazing what a difference the larger keyboard can make for comfort, accuracy AND speed!
B. It quickly and easily connects with your Safari browser and shows you the actual text on the screen. You can add text on the computer and then easily have it show up on the iPhone or iPod Touch
It is a bit cumbersome but once you get the hang of it, it works beautifully. After following the instructions in the apps first note you will see an iPhone in the Safari Browser with whatever notes or text are on your device. You can then add or change text on your desktop/notebook screen. To save them, and this is the key- you click the "Done" Button at the top BEFORE you refresh the browser. Do that and the changes are saved.
To show changes made on the iPhone IN the browser, you simply refresh the browser page.
It is an amazing way to write an iPhone/Touch note even more easily AND, thanks to the Mac’s cut and paste, quickly add notes on your desktop to the iPhone.
Between landscape and the Safari interface I can see myself using this this quite a bit.
Quick Take
Value: Medium
Would I Buy Again: yes
Learning Curve: low
Who is it for: anyone who writes on their iPhone
What I like: Landscape! Desktop Writing!
What I Don’t: Little ability to format
Final Statement: I like WriteRoom. The landscape mode is enough for me to keep it on my iPhone
- Clean black and white look.
- Standard fonts and simple black background.
- Use a bigger keyboard in horizontal orientation.
- Access your documents from your computer over Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi access to your notes is an optional feature that is disabled by default. When enabled you can browse and edit your documents from your local computer in Safari. This feature is not currently password protected. When you enable document sharing anyone on your local network can access you WriteRoom iPhone documents. WriteRoom for the iPhone is inspired by my WriteRoom for OS X application, but functionally WriteRoom for the iPhone is more similar to the default Notes application. When you purchase WriteRoom for the iPhone you will also get a 5$ off coupon that can be used when purchasing either of my Mac OS X desktop applications. WriteRoom or TaskPaper.
O U R T A K E . . .
