The journey to finding the perfect writing app

Since I have been extensively writing about my reasoning and my preferences around text editors, I am afraid that I have to write a new blog post on the matter today.

First, I want to highlight the fact that when I say “text editor”, I mean the main app I use for writing new blog posts in Markdown on my Mac, which may or may not be a “real” text editor but rather a “word processor.” Also, I use this app solely to write new drafts, not to edit existing posts. I now prefer to compartmentalise, mostly to avoid saving a file in Dropbox by mistake and end up publishing a new post.

To edit existing text files — I guess that would be where a real “text editor” is needed, I am not looking for the same set of features; I’m mostly using the excellent CotEditor for this task, which doubles as a neat HTML and CSS editor when I need to tweak my website’s design, like I just did this week.¹

For the main writing app, I decided to stop using The Archive. It’s a great app, it really is, and probably the best NValt replacement one can find today. It is fast, simple, reliable, and it has a great icon (yes, it counts). But the biggest features of the app, namely the whole Zettelkasten method thing, the links between notes, and the search-centric UI, are not really useful to me.

I love the concept of Zettelkasten: jot down ideas, thoughts, quotes, links, and comments into one big file cabinet and let it simmer until you need it. Connect these notes together, and you end up with something valuable.² In theory, it’s a great tool. In practice, it doesn’t work for me.

I could have kept using The Archive despite not using its main core features. But, you see, the only thing I like more than using a minimal, bare-bones app like The Archive is to use all the core features of an app. When I don’t, when the main features of an app are left unexploited — however great the app is at doing what I need it to do — I hear a voice in my head that screams that this is not the right app for the task. A little like if I were using a GoPro as a still camera or driving an all-terrain buggy to go to the supermarket: it feels wasteful. This is mainly why I also stopped using the great Drafts app a few years ago.³

Now I am wondering what to do. For a few days, I used Tot. It works great. Sure, it could use little improvements here and there, but it’s fast, it is gorgeous to look at, and it’s simple. I don’t need to give a title to new drafts. The switch between rich and plain text view can be used as a simple preview mode. I use all the core features of the app; it’s almost perfect. And using Tot, Cot, and Blot together does sound cool. But Tot lacks features I’m looking for, like proper Markdown syntax highlighting for example.

After juggling between a few apps, I realised that none of them was checking all the boxes for me. It basically goes like this:

Like I said, The Archive’s core features are not useful to me, which is a shame because the rest is fantastic.

Tot has the polish and the speed, but it lacks a few more advanced features.

uFocus lacks some polish and refinements (settings are not grouped in a settings panel, and the icon doesn’t look good at all).

iA Writer has all the features I want and need, and just the right amount of them. It is a little heavy though, and for those like me who still use an Intel-based Mac, this lack of performance is palpable: the app doesn’t feel as snappy or instant as the others on this list.

In the end, I have to choose between polish, performance, and the right amount of features. Right now I’m still hesitating. I am writing this on the delightful iA Writer. After all, my writing app doesn’t need to be as snappy as others, but it would be nice. We will see where this is going.

I realised that my “writing app” journey went from the best apps (iA Writer or Drafts), to only Mac pre-installed apps (TextEdit, Stickies), to only one app for writing and editing (CotEditor, uFocus), and finally to bare-bones apps (The Archive, Tot). Now it feels like the cycle is complete and I’m looking for more refined and feature-rich apps for some specific needs (BBEdit, iA Writer).

I know that I’m asking myself a lot of questions about writing apps, but I actually love these moments. I love to discover how problems are solved by the teams behind these apps, what decisions were taken. I like to see the craftsmanship of software development. I love software like some people like Swiss watches or vintage cars. Maybe I should collect apps? Suggestions welcome.

UPDATE: I have found my favourite Markdown editor, again