1Writer Review

Text editing apps are fairly commonplace on the App Store, but every now and then one will come along that clicks that bit more easily than the last. 1 Writer is one such app. Simple to use but reasonably powerful as well, it's the kind of text editor that works just as well for taking notes quickly as it is for more powerful markdown-based work.

A quick tap on the plus sign guides you straight into things. You can choose to just type away as normal or opt to throw in links, bold, italics, lists, and even images. Along the way, 1 Writer can upload it all to Dropbox and generate the relevant markdown syntax for you. A cursory swipe to the right takes you to a built-in web browser, lending itself well to research purposes.

That's 1 Writer at its simplest, but it can go further than that. It offers up TextExpander Touch support for snippets, the ability to add custom URL actions such as inserting a document template, or even looking up synonyms. JavaScripting support means you can even use it to manipulate text, interact with your clipboard, and numerous other activities all based upon your skills with JavaScript. Such flexibility is a huge benefit to 1 Writer.

Being so potentially powerful but never overwhelmingly so is 1 Writer's greatest strength. Throw in widget support, checklist support, an extensive tagging feature, and iCloud Drive and Dropbox support, and it should be the ideal text editing app for all. It's as simple as you need it to be, while still enabling you to do more than the majority of text editing apps already out there.

The perfect test for it is trying to think of something essential that 1 Writer lacks. Good luck trying to find what that could be. I haven't managed it.