United StatesThe Simplest Writing App for Mac, iPad and iPhone There are many writing apps for you to choose from today, so why bother with yet another one? Because Simpletext is simpler. It’s single-minded commitment to simplicity means you’ll get a no-frills writing app that works well and looks great, forever. Simpletext started as a passion project because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Most apps were trying to do too much and ended up bloated with features I don’t need. So I built Simpletext based on a simple premise — what if there’s an app that refuses to do more, choosing instead to do just one thing, and do it well? For Simpletext, that one thing is writing. Why Simpletext? Most people would say Simpletext is lacking in features, and they’re right. In fact, Simpletext began the opposite way — by listing down everything I didn’t want in a writing app. The idea is to create a dumbed-down writing app that inspires you to do nothing else but write. In order to achieve this, Simpletext is designed around four cornerstone principles: 1. Zero Clutter Simpletext is unobtrusive. It provides a blank canvas to write with absolutely nothing to distract you from writing. There’s no visual clutter — the intent is to create a quiet space that helps you connect with your voice and get into the flow. 2. Beautiful Typography Simpletext comes with three professional fonts for you to choose from, handpicked to provide the finest writing experience. They are: (1) Akkurat Mono by Lineto (Monospaced); (2) Graphik by Commercial Type (Sans Serif); and (3) Valkyrie by MB Type (Serif). If you have a personal favourite font, you can also use it in Simpletext. 3. Plain Text Simpletext supports only plain text, which is lightweight and platform independent. It will never have rich text formatting, images, tables, etc — the focus is solely on writing, not formatting. Plain text also ensures your words are always accessible on every device, now and in the future. 4. Fully Native Simpletext is a fully native app developed in Swift and runs natively on Apple silicon. It uses only Apple’s framework and UI components, the way they’re designed to be used without any custom workarounds. This means less code, less bugs and better overall performance. Here's What Others Have to Say "I just wanted to thank you for developing Simpletext. It’s perfect. I’ve enjoyed its simplicity and smoothness for quite some time, but now that I can use my favourite font in it (Sina Nova, free on Fontspring) it has truly become not just the best app to write in, but my favourite app period. Thank you for creating and maintaining it." - Bart “This app does everything it says on the tin. It is not meant to do a lot, but what it does it does very well. It is well designed and suits well those who want to focus on writing and avoid dealing with formatting, proprietary file types and hidden saving locations. It produces and edits .txt files, which will probably be around for as long as there are computers, and saves them in plain sight. Five stars.” - Fernando “I’ve tried all sorts of writing apps but Simpletext is definitely the best of all. So grateful for your dedication and those productivity tips in the blog post are so good. Simpletext is such a joy to use.” - LWL Art Studio “A writing app that is as simple as stated, beautiful to write with and opens and closes wherever you want. Simple tweaks are easily accessible, if required, and only add to the minimalistic perfection. Good job.” - Tuntle Go Back to Basics With Simpletext In a world full of feature-rich, subscription-based apps, I wanted to create something that goes back to basics — but better. Everything about Simpletext is designed to make the simple act of writing enjoyable again. It’s an app I personally used, every single day. I hope you will too. Best wishes, Yeow Jin P.S. Simpletext comes with a promise — find out more at simpletext.app/promise
It’s simple all right, simply awful
If you just want to write something and save a digital copy, this is your app. The developer does admit that you should not expect to care what it looks like. If you want to do anything else with it, forget it. I got the app because I wanted to paste some text and print it from my iPad. Lo and behold there is no print function. I wanted something simple, but not something that looks like a homework project in an introductory app development project, especially for 10 bucks.
United StatesSimple and good
Thank you for this gorgeous app. It's really hard to find a minimal plain text editor for iOS that has native integration with the file system, beautiful design, and user experience. And this editor checks all the boxes.
United StatesClean, relaxed, focused
I have been using Byword since 2017 for my day-to-day stuff on my iPhone, but recently noticed that it had not been updated for three years, which helped explain why it looked kinda wonky on my phone. So after spending way too long looking for an alternative, I finally found Simpletext, and I am very much in love with it. I even put it on my Mac, even tho I usually use Nisus on my Mac for text because of GREP. On my Mac, iPhone & iPad, the simpletext interface is clean with lovely typefaces. The responsiveness on screen on my new M2 macbook and my iPhone has that lovely relaxed, somehow cushioned, pace you have always seen on Macs vs Windows machines. I do miss in-line markdown formatting in simpletext, but I can live with that and it’s hardly fatal to my use case.
United StatesLovely, clean and focused
I have been using Byword since 2017 for my day-to-day stuff on my iPhone, but recently noticed that it had not been updated for three years, which helped explain why it looked kinda wonky on my phone. So after spending way too long looking for an alternative, I finally found Simpletext, and I am very much in love with it. I even put it on my Mac, even tho I usually use Nisus on my Mac for text because of GREP. On my Mac, iPhone & iPad, the simpletext interface is clean with lovely typefaces. The responsiveness on screen on my new M2 macbook and my iPhone has that lovely relaxed, somehow cushioned, pace you have always seen on Macs vs Windows machines. I do miss in-line markdown formatting in simpletext, but I can live with that and it’s hardly fatal to my use case.
United StatesFinally!
I used WriteRoom for years, but his hasn't been updated and has a few glitches. I have tried many of the "simple" distraction-free editors over the years, and never found one with the simplicity of WriteRoom. Indeed, the distraction free editors are now competing with each other by adding features which are, well, distracting. Well, I think I now have found the best true distraction-free text editor. Simpletext is great. Only comment is that it took a bit of tweaking to get the font size and colors right. White text on pure black background is a bit jarring, the text width is weirdly narrow, and the default font is verrryyyy small. But don't let these defaults put you off -- these can be adjusted. I am using the apple colors aluminum on lead, I think, with a readable font size. Memorize fn-F for full screen and you are off. Tweaking of defaults needed, but highly recommended.
United StatesTextual perfection!
I've tried a few distraction-free editors in the past couple weeks, trying to find one that clicked with me, but to no avail. They either tried to do too much (and thus counter-intuitively adding distractions) or they were saddled with hefty subscription fees that rival that of Office 365. Simpletext, on the other hand, does exactly what it says on the tin and is a one-time purchase of US$5 for all of the major Apple devices. There aren't many features there, but that's not to say that zero thought went into it. Every time I use it I'm floored by how the editor gets out of my way and *stays* out of my way. In the age of constant notifications, extreme feature creep, aggressive auto-updates, and constant pointless UI/UX refreshes, this feels like a breath of fresh air. Typewriter mode also deserves a huge round of applause. It's one of those features that I didn't know I needed until I used it. The best part about it is that unlike the old DOS editors, you can just as easily flip back to your desktop if you need to look something up, pop on some tunes, or send a quick message. Simpletext also does a fantastic job at leveraging the built-in macOS/iOS services. Unsure about the spelling of a word? You can use the OS level spellchecker with a quick ⌘;. Want to make sure you're using the right word? Right-click and "look up" or just tap ^⌘D. The truly best part about Simpletext is that its compiled code (which, mind you, supports two different CPU architectures) and its bundled fonts can fit on a high density floppy disk with room to spare. Simply magnificent. I think the only thing I'd like to see at some point are a couple more "line width" options. With the font size I like to use wide doesn't feel quite wide enough (particularly on smaller devices like my iPad). EDIT (2022-05-15): As promised in this review's initial response, Yeow Jin added additional line length and spacing settings. The "Ultra Wide" width setting works perfectly across all my devices when using my preferred font settings. Thank you! 😁
United StatesTextual perfection!
I've tried a few distraction-free editors in the past couple weeks, trying to find one that clicked with me, but to no avail. They either tried to do too much (and thus counter-intuitively adding distractions) or they were saddled with hefty subscription fees that rival that of Office 365. Simpletext, on the other hand, does exactly what it says on the tin and is a one-time purchase of US$5 for all of the major Apple devices. There aren't many features there, but that's not to say that zero thought went into it. Every time I use it I'm floored by how the editor gets out of my way and *stays* out of my way. In the age of constant notifications, extreme feature creep, aggressive auto-updates, and constant pointless UI/UX refreshes, this feels like a breath of fresh air. Typewriter mode also deserves a huge round of applause. It's one of those features that I didn't know I needed until I used it. The best part about it is that unlike the old DOS editors, you can just as easily flip back to your desktop if you need to look something up, pop on some tunes, or send a quick message. Simpletext also does a fantastic job at leveraging the built-in macOS/iOS services. Unsure about the spelling of a word? You can use the OS level spellchecker with a quick ⌘;. Want to make sure you're using the right word? Right-click and "look up" or just tap ^⌘D. The truly best part about Simpletext is that its compiled code (which, mind you, supports two different CPU architectures) and its bundled fonts can fit on a high density floppy disk with room to spare. Simply magnificent. I think the only thing I'd like to see at some point are a couple more "line width" options. With the font size I like to use wide doesn't feel quite wide enough (particularly on smaller devices like my iPad).
United States
Minor fixes and performance improvements.
Subscribe our newsletter and get useful information every week.
Publisher's Other Apps
Other Productivity Apps
Similar Apps