Introducing iA Writer

Microsoft Word is an incredibly powerful application. It has a feature for just about every situation and aims to be the one stop shop for all of your writing needs. This is great and I definitely could not live without Word, however sometimes (in fact, most of the time) I don't need all of these power features, instead I just need somewhere to write. 

In this scenario I'm looking for a simple application that has basic writing features, such as spell check and formatting. What I don't need is SmartArt, Wingdings or the ability to integrate music, all of which adds clutter and complexity to the application, and inevitably just acts as a distraction.

This is where I use iA Writer for the Mac. The world's most beautiful writing application that has no buttons, clutter or complexity, instead it focuses on your content, offering just the most basic of writing features. If you don't believe me just check out the differences between Word and iA Writer below:

As you can see iA Writer could not be simpler, you just write, distraction free!

However, hidden behind that minimal (non-existent) user interface are a number of useful features, for example iA Writer supports full screen mode, auto-markdown, spell check and word count, it's also fully iCloud compatible, meaning you can easily share your documents at the touch of a button.

iA Writer also has a few unique features, such as "focus mode" (very cool) which is highlighted in the promotion video below: 

Is iA Writer perfect for all your writing needs? No, if you are about to write your University dissertation or a formal document then you should absolutely use Microsoft Word. However, for the majority of other cases, I constantly find myself falling back to iA Writer for a more satisfying writing experience.

iA Writer is available for £5.99 (limited time) on the Mac App Store and also has an iOS application (sold separately). Both are fantastic and are easily worth the asking price. For more details head over to the iA Writer website.