Ulysses text editor series#

The program completes extensive, timestamped backups automatically, which you can then restore at will. Ulysses is also very, very good with version control. I feel like I can type anything and everything in Ulysses. You can even publish directly from Ulysses to Medium, WordPress, and Ghost, if you’re into blogging or any other self-publishing on the internet. I can organize a novel into chapters, set a target word count goal for each day, and work on it across any of my devices. I can type posts for Input and easily export them in whatever format I please. I can make grocery lists that sync with my phone. This can take some getting used to at first, but it also has the distinct potential to streamline your writing process.

Ulysses text editor series#

Assigning heading levels is as easy as using a series of hashes bolding text uses asterisks italicizing text uses underscores. The same goes for highlighting (: :), creating hyperlinks ( ), adding meta-comments (+ +), and block quotes (>), just to name a few. Rather than lifting my fingers off the keyboard to choose the strikethrough tool, I can just put “| |” on either side of a word or phrase. Markdown is sort of like a streamlined version of HTML made with word-processing in mind. One of Ulysses’ flagship features is its use of Markdown, a way of formatting text without the use of buttons on a menu bar. Or if my laptop is acting up - as it tends to at the worst times - Ulysses lets me pick right back up on my iPad instead. I can open the Ulysses app on my iPhone while I’m waiting for my curbside grocery pickup and jot down a few more lines of a piece while it’s fresh in my mind. This happens automatically in the background without a hitch. Ulysses syncs files effortlessly through iCloud and includes options to do the same with files on your Google Drive, Dropbox, or even your hard drive. Ulysses also understands that you’re not always going to be completing your work on the same computer. This is, in general, Ulysses’ philosophy: we’re living in a world where the internet rules more supreme with every passing day, and it’s time to act like it. You’re typing into a window, and it’s one that can be re-sized however you like. You’re not constricted by the boundaries of paper. The typing experience is freeing for this reason. Much like Word, the bulk of the app is a blank canvas for writing unlike Word, Ulysses recognizes that a ton of contemporary writing isn’t done with the goal of eventually printing it to a piece of 8.5”x11” paper. The basic premise of Ulysses is one of simplicity for the sake of focus.