


I’ve been using Byword since its debut last spring. I write mostly in Menlo at medium width, and it seems I flip between light or dark mode depending on the weather or time of day. You choose a typeface and size, a column width, and decide on light or dark. On the Mac, Byword’s settings pane looks like this: However, compared to your standard-issue text editor or word processor, Byword is slim in this area. The only option you have in Writer is to use the app or not.īyword, by comparison, is rich with preferences.
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Writer, on the other hand, is famously free from any and all settings. But even still, Byword usually wins my writing attention due to its basic typographic options. I love that big blue cursor and the elegant way it stylizes my Markdown-riddled writing. I like it so much, in fact, that it tied for my favorite new Mac app of 2011. As water naturally flows downward, it seems that I naturally gravitate toward Byword. Preferring Byword over other similar apps is not to objurgate or even criticize them. Over time, the writing apps that have stuck for me are: Writing is my job, and it behooves me greatly to find the best possible writing app that I am comfortable in and that keeps me moving the cursor to the right. Off the top of my head I can think of half a dozen or so minimalistic writing apps, and I’ve tried them all. What I find so compelling about these simple writing applications is that they are custom tailored for writing, especially if you’re writing for the Web. Sure, you can scribble something down on the back of a cocktail napkin using a mechanical pencil, but why torture yourself like that? If you do a lot of writing, I see no reason not to find an application that has been built to best suit your needs as a writer. You can’t throw a rock at the iTunes and Mac App Stores without hitting a minimalistic writing app.
