Scrivener 4+

I was exuberant to see Scrivener materialize with an ipad version. I have head a lot about it. I am a relatively new scrivener, just learning it, and involved in a lengthy writing project. I write mostly on iPads because I am rarely home and they are easier than laptops to lug around. I have the new ipad, 10.5, 256gb, and was looking forward to using scrivener on it.

Unfortunately, the Dropbox syncing is maddening. Today, for instance, it refused to sync and kept shutting down. After the first time, I got it back and backed up everything I was working on, and I was lucky I had the foresight to do that for Scrivener kept crashing. When I returned to the desktop, it wanted to sync with the ipad. This it did, but with the older version of the chapter that I was editing and I thanked the gods for that back-up I had stored elsewhere. I ended up deleting the chapter and starting over with the back-up I had emailed to myself.

I do not know what to say here. Not sure if the recent update will solve the infuriating Dropbox problems. I will give it another try and see what comes of that. If it continues, I will just have to use scrivener on the desktop, writing on another program with the ipad and copying it over to scrivener later on. Ultimately, I think Scrivener has to be taken out of Dropbox and put onto the cloud.

I love to write. Like a weirdo, I write the most on my phone. I struggled for years with a novel text editor, and all my research notes in another app. It was disorganized and I lost many important notes I needed due to the lack of ability to organize. No more. Now I keep everything in nice sub folders in my “binder” and I can still save photos, notes, lists, and more! Everything is color coded and iconized for quick reference. Really, functionality wise, they have thought of everything. I even reached out to their CS once to request a feature. Low and behold it already existed! I just hadn’t found the setting. And let me tell you, they have a LOT of settings.

My one wish would be for a web portal I could access from a computer. Every once in a while I’m sitting at a computer with enough time to work on my writing. So it’d be nice to just pop onto the website and pull up my work. It’s not an option right now, though they do have computer software you can also purchase. That’s not an option for me because I can’t install software onto my work computer, but I could access via a web portal. Not a deal breaker, but a big wish of mine.

If you’ve been struggling to find somewhere to write and keep all your notes together, you really can’t go wrong with this app. I know the upfront cost seems like a lot, but compared to any subscription based platform it’s only pennies in comparison.

When you are typing on this app in screenwriting mode the app will choose certain words where when you attempt to type them, the app will freeze and then you have to completely shut down the app. The words are completely indiscriminate. Whenever I attempt to type the character name SUPERINTENDENT, the app freezes. When I try to write a scene heading using the word APARTMENT, the app freezes. There have been other examples and I never know which word in which screenwriting section is going to set it off. What happens is that you will get halfway through typing the word and the app becomes unresponsive. I have contacted the app developer and they have seemed disinterested in assisting me with this issue. I understand that I am completely unimportant and that they have already received my money. There are other writing apps available for the iPad, and many are free, or very inexpensive. I would URGE you to try those out before making the purchase for Scrivener. The features with this app are very useful, but for all the frustration you will get from not being able to simply TYPE WORDS INTO THE APP it may not be worth it. Also, Scrivener was developed mainly for the Mac and, like most other app developers making serious productivity app, the mindset that is professionals don’t really use the iPad to get work done, so we won’t work on it too much. (Eh, but let’s do bump the price up a bit because, hey, it’s Scrivener!)