Estimated Release Date for Scrivener on iOS?

[PINSKO]

I know a lot has been said about this, and I'll gladly remain patient (i.e., not make thinly-veiled threats or feign hyperbole), but it would save me some time in having to check the announcements page for news every day if we could get en estimated release date, or an indication from L&L that a notification will be emailed to existing customers when Scrivener on iOS is available for purchase. Forgive me if this has been suggested before.

Keith, Amber, et al., do I ask too much, or have I missed something altogether?


With warm regards,
Patrick

[marcoiac]

How about you subscribe to the RSS feed? You won't miss it for sure. I bet there will be many posts celebrating the event.

These guys can't give you an estimated release date until the release date is so close that it doesn't really matter to get the estimated release date

[AmberV]

We aren't really near a point where publishing a precise date would be helpful to anyone. Right now we're saying early 2013. Really the best thing to do is either favourite our Twitter or Facebook accounts, or sign up for the newsletter. That will be the best way to keep up to date on stuff without having to check back frequently.

[PINSKO]

OK, I've signed up for the newsletter. Thanks for your replies!

Kindly,
Patrick

P.S. Awaiting for Scrivener on iOS has become my adult way of experiencing the giddy anticipation of Christmas or a birthday as a child all over again. I can hardly wait!

[KB]

We ran into some more serious snags than we had hoped, so it's taking longer than we wanted. Apple included a rich text system out of the box with iOS 6.0, and initial tests suggested we would be able to use it which would have been a real boon. However, when we came to implement it, it turned out that the iOS 6.0 rich text system is so strewn with bugs that it is virtually unusable. (Change a font and you lose your line spacing; tail indents are completely ignored; custom attributes such as are required by footnotes and suchlike are not possible.) Thus, poor Jen is now in the midst of untangling the open source OmniGroup framework's rich text features and customising them for our needs. (We've pretty much had to build all of the main controls from scratch.) It is progressing, though, and I'm really happy with how it is turning out. Thanks for your patience!
All the best,
Keith

[temporalranger]

I know it's probably too early, but any posibility on a ballpark on the price? Just wondering because, as a student with limited funds, I can probably afford it out of pocket if it's in the $10-15 range, but if it's going to be closer to the desktop price then I'd like to start putting money aside so I can snag it as soon as it's out, rather than having to wait.

[KB]

Your hoped-for price range will be about right.

[PINSKO]

Sorry to hear about the setbacks. I develop software by day, and I know how frustrating it can be to rely on a third party product, particularly when it doesn't work as advertised. Best wishes for your ongoing efforts; I'm sure it will be a stellar product by the time you release it!

Warm regards and Merry Christmas!
Patrick

[Patti]

I'm looking to purchase either an iPad or iPad mini.

Just wondering if you've tested the iOS version on the mini yet. If so, how does it compare to the larger iPad.

[AmberV]

Yup! In fact Keith has a Mini and is doing his testing on that form factor. The nice thing about the Mini is that it has the same exact number of pixels as the iPad 2, they are just compacted into a smaller area (so the resolution is crisper). This means UI development is easier since iPad 2 will be supported as well.

[Patti]

Thanks, Amber. Question: if you were purchasing a tablet to run Scrivener on, which would you personally buy? Does the mini seem too small to navigate around in Scrivener?

[jsschley]

I bought an iPad over every other tablet almost entirely because Scrivener iOS is in development. Everything else I could do on a cheaper android tablet, but man, if I can use Scrivener on my tablet, not only is it worth the money for Scrivener, it's worth the extra money for the iPad.

Can't wait!

[AmberV]

It's hard to give advice on something that is almost an aesthetic choice. I would say the decision should come down more to how you anticipate using it. For myself, I think I would prefer the Mini because I do not use my iPad for sit-down tasks. I do a little light reading, catching up on the news, have it play podcasts, that kind of stuff. Occasionally I'll use it to proofread if I'm not using my Kindle for that. So I probably have a more casual use of the iPad than the people who are interested in writing on it for any duration of time. If you're going to be writing with it, the normal one is probably going to work best for you. It will have a more ergonomically comfortable shape standing up on the desk with a keyboard below, and the extra weight and size won't be a problem because you are already toting around extra equipment to use with it anyway.

[Patti]

My anticipated usage would be (mainly) to be able to throw it in my purse and catch a few words while I'm waiting for appointments, car repairs, etc. I like the smaller size/weight of the mini for those reasons, but I think the size of the touchscreen would work better on the full size iPad.

I cut out a cardboard mockup of the ipad and the ipad mini. The iPad actually would fit in my purse.

So, basically, still confused.

[AmberV]

Do you have an Apple store (or a reseller) around you? That's really going to be the best thing to do. If you can hold these things, try typing on them, and how heavy they really are you'll have a better idea. The iPad is pretty heavy (about as heavy as the MBA 11") so that is something to take into consideration if you intend to carry it on your shoulder. I've heard that typing on the Mini is fine, not much different than the standard iPad.