This is the third article in the series Online Blogging Platforms series.
A Small Introduction
You’ve never heard of Write.app? That’s ok, neither had I until I started to research this project! They tout themselves as a private, secure journal. I’m no security expert, but the resident contributors have verified that it is indeed secure, though not extraordinarily so. Their front page claims “256-bit SSL encryption with HSTS enabled” which is slightly above a standard security connection, but I do like the fact that it does take that step. Can’t be too careful these days! Let’s check it out.
Pros Right Off the Bat
- Security- Since they mention security, I’ll mention security. The internet is abuzz with talks of security, especially after the Heartbleed vulnerability. While I’ve never had any breaches myself, I know people who have, and it’s terrifying. You’ll always find me approving an added layer of security if it’s not obtrusive to the point of, well, unusability.
- Distraction Free Mode- No matter what editor I’m typing in, I’m usually in some kind of distraction free mode. Even if it means blowing my tab up fullscreen, I’ve always found a personal benefit to using these modes. Write.app’s mode get’s everything out of the way to let you focus on your writing. Could you ask for more?
- On the Go- Write.app seems to have done a good job at creating a site that is responsive, even when you’re editing. I was able to open the editor up on both my Moto X and Nexus 7 and things scaled fairly well. In a time when ideas can come at you from any direction, it’s always a plus to be able to jot down your writings on the fly.
Some Glaring Cons
- Punctuation Problems- After typing a few paragraphs, I started to notice that every time I would enter a single or double quote, it would automatically place a second one after my cursor. I think this is a huge inconvenience. I would think a text editor would be able to handle the base use case with no flaws whatsoever. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here.
- Saving Issues- The first thing I noticed when I started writing was a Save button. I’m not used to a Save button since I do much of my writing in the near instant save platforms of Google Drive and Evernote. But it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. However, when I would use said save button, I wouldn’t be able to find my notes anywhere. It took three test runs before it actually saved my work. A big problem if you’re writing with a spotty wifi connection or crashy computer.
- Incomplete Website- Their website looks and works nice for the most part, but start digging and you’ll get errors consistently. Many pages I tried to navigate to weren’t up and running. Hopefully they can get that fixed in the near future.
All in All
I’m walking away from Write.app wishing it performed well. I feel like I would be able to recommend it to you guys if the punctuation and save issues weren’t present. But they are. I’ll hope that the issues get fixed as time goes on, but until then, you may want to do your typing on another platform. You can check out my other reviews of Writer and OneDrive by following the links.
As a final word, I will mention that their lifetime premium service is being offered for free right now, so even if you know you won’t use it now, you may want to create an account and take advantage of that. Premium unlocks Two Factor Authentication, Email and Text to post, and their mobile editors.
How about you? What matters to you when you write? A clean environment? Instant saves? Conversely, what makes you tick?
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