Plaintext may not be the most flashy, customisable or in depth productivity app on the iPad, but what it lacks in complexity, it makes up for in sheer simplicity and usefulness.
Many people see the iPad as a consumer device, primarily to browse the Internet, play games, and generally procrastinate without achieving anything. While there are scores of apps that are adding more and more functionality every day, they can often add more confusing options, some of which may never be utilised by the average user. Plaintext takes the opposite approach, sacrificing depth for speed and ease of use.
Plaintext is a text editor created by Jesse Grosjean of Hogbay Software, programmer of the similarly stripped-down app for iPhone and Mac, “Writeroom“. Unlike fully featured word processors like Pages, Plaintext concentrates on the most important part of writing; the act of writing itself.
There are only 4 action buttons in Plaintext (aside from the keyboard): settings, create a folder, create a new document and fullscreen. With no options for formatting, this leaves the user free to concentrate on the important task of writing (as I am, using Plaintext to review itself).
This simplicity really helps create an uncluttered and attractive workspace, especially in fullscreen mode. The app automatically saves any work, so there are no worries if you quickly exit the app.
Aside from the simple formatting of the text and folders, the other standout feature (apart from the price – free!) is the Dropbox integration built in. I won’t go on too much about DropBox itself, suffice to say that it’s another free service that everyone should have… If you want to find out more, visit the DropBox website. You should.
Using DropBox built into Plaintext, every document that you create is automatically synced to the cloud via Wifi or 3G, accessible from any computer, iPad, iPhone, Android device, and probably your toaster soon enough. You can edit and save from any device that you can access your DropBox from, keeping a permanent version stored online as well as your on-device copy, without even having to think about it.
With a much classier interface and better syncing options than the standard Notes app, there’s no excuse to leave it out of your download queue, especially at the grand price of free. Plaintext, while not the most glamourously named or fully functional productivity app, does something that many others fail to – it actually makes you productive and lets you concentrate on crafting those all important words.
Get it
Why?
- Free
- DropBox integration
- Simple, no frills
Why not?
- No Google Docs integration
- Not great for anyone looking for a fully featured word processor
Price – Free
If you like this try – iAWriter
Words and images by Mark Fletcher
