Flowstate 4+

I think the idea behind the app is great. But I wish there were some additional options, or at least greater transparency. For example: it's OK that the text disappears after a set period of time if you don't keep typing. But I'm an old guy with slower reaction times, and I'd like the option to increase that to 7, 8 or maybe even 10 seconds to better suit my own pace. I like the fact that sessions are stored automatically in iCloud, but I'm not crazy about the fact that they are (apparently) stored in the Flowstate sandbox where I can't see them. It appears that the only way I can access them as text files is by exporting them from the app. Once a session has been saved, I would prefer an option that let me access the file directly.

I guess what I'm saying is that in some ways it's a little TOO stripped down for my taste. But I can see the value of the discipline, and I'm going to keep using it for awhile and see what happens.

Review is coming from a Mac mini late 2012 running Yosemite with a SSD drive running macOS Sierra GM Beta. Since this only works with EL Cap and higher I’m using Flowstate on my external SSD running the Sierra GM Beta.

The app runs so smooth. Love the different times and fonts you can choose. When typing I played with the text disappearing to the point where it was ‘almost’ totally gone, and resume typing to bring the text back in a-nick-of-time. It’s fun to play around with how long you have before the text actually is gone.

I like the way you can save your work as well as the different ways it can be saved, for example, by name, by date, etc. For testing, I did a bunch of text returns to get me to the bottom of the page and kept on hitting return so it’s good to know that you will never run out of a page to type on.

One thing, when the time is up there’s no feedback, maybe that’s a good thing. The timer turns into a button that you click on to end the writing session, or if you prefer, just keep on writing (the good thing).

This app really forces you to write. My problem is I still find myself doing spelling edits. To stop that, when I make a spelling mistake I try to either retype it or if my fingers become all thumbs I hit return and start a new line.

I believe if I use this app ‘everyday’, it will help me become a better writer.

I’ll start by saying that I love this app. It’s exactly what writers need to put aside their ego and get cracking.

The problem? It hasn’t been updated in years and it’s starting to show its age. Yesterday, on a long flow, it deleted all my work suddenly even though I was still typing. One second there, the next second gone. No fading. Luckily, I was only about ten minutes into it, but it was still a loss. I suspect there are compatibility problems with the newer Mac OS.

Unfortunately, this means that I won’t be able to use this app until I see some evidence of an update. I can’t risk writing for 45 minutes and having it all disappear. (Seriously, Flowstate. I love you! Please fix your problems.)