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8 best apps for writers on iOS

From Apple’s complete word processing software to a mind-mapper for creatives, here's our rundown of clever apps for all writers, students or professionals, to use

Max Wallis

Friday 06 June 2014 12:47 BST

No longer are writers shackled to their notebook or desk. Nowadays its more likely to be the phone in our pocket or the tablet in our bag.

From apps that help to focus the mind editing, taking you through line by line, to cloud services that mean you can access your work anywhere, we showcase the 10 must-have apps for any budding writer using iOS devices.

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Show all 8

1/88 best apps for writers for IOS

8 best apps for writers for IOS

iA Writer

A simple text editor for iPads and iPhones. The main attraction here is iA Writer’s approach to pared-back writing and editing. It features a 'focus mode' on the iPad version which helps you concentrate on the current three lines you’re working on, blocking out the rest of the text. Plus, it syncs everything through iCloud so you can access it on your phone, tablet, PC or Mac wherever you are. £2.99, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Pages

The new updates to Pages make it a much more refined tool with much improved ePub export and better placement of inserted images. The easy, mercifully logical, interface and a deep feature-set means that any budding Tolkien can write and edit whole novels with ease, be it on your iPhone, tablet or through their online version of Pages. A must-have for iPhone users. £6.99, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Evernote

Evernote is a series of digital notebooks which run, hand-in-hand, totally in synch, across all your devices. Update a piece in your notebook on your phone and when you get home it will have already have updated on your PC. Really useful as a modern-day scrapbook and available on all smartphones and computers. free, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

iBooks

iBooks isn’t solely for reading Dickens on the train. You can export digital ‘book versions’ of your works-in-progress and, in turn, open them in Apple’s reading app, so you can experience them as a new reader would. Books support highlighting, notes and comments, too. free, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Mindly

Mindly is a mind-mapping app that’s great for the first baby step of novel plot development. You can attach notes, images or icons to any ‘blob’ on the map, building up a whole world-within-an-app. Then you can export everything as a PDF to send to whoever is helping you with the creative process. Only available on iOS systems. free, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Dropbox

One of the most important and widely used cloud storage programmes. It’s like having your own, ready-to-access bank vault in the sky. Most apps use it in some way, flinging your words to its servers. The free version, adequate for light users, comes with 2GB of storage. free, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Writing Aid

This reverse-dictionary is particularly useful for students. You put in a phrase that is similar to the word that is on the tip of your tongue -- say, ‘greeny blue’ -- and it flings out its suggestions like ‘turquoise’ or ‘aquamarine’. £0.69, itunes.apple.com

8 best apps for writers for IOS

Creative Writer

An original app this one, and a fun way to get over writer’s block. The app shows a list of words, which you tap and drag to create sentences. Select from a list of writing styles (poetry, emotional, direct speech, fiction etc) which will tailor-pick the words on offer. £0.69, itunes.apple.com

Verdict

In terms of mastering writing on the go there's nothing better than Apple's homegrown app, Pages. But for creative exploration, Mindly definitely helps in plotting out characters and their arcs.

Buy now

7. Writing Aid, £0.69

8. Creative Writer, £0.69