Scrivener for iOS - What Do You Want? [PLEASE READ FIRST]

You certainly could, and Siri is pretty good (not 100% but good), I’ve been using it to add Christmas tasks things to the reminders app.

Siri did create a reminder to “Buy rucksack” which was strange as I didn’t make a note to do this and as already about twenty rucksacks* which means I’ll be in real trouble at home if I buy any more!

It was “Buy Christmas Crackers” I’d said.

*My handbag is a rucksack. I have small rucksacks and bigger rucksacks; rucksacks for running short runs, running long runs, short walks, long walks and very long walks; rainproof rucksacks and waterproof rucksacks; rucksacks for climbing at the gyn, climbing real mountains and climbing even bigger mountains; for using on my bike and for using when I’m out with my twins (No rucksack is ever quite big enough for that task!).

I even have rucksacks for carrying rucksacks**

**Actually I don’t, but I suspect if they made one I’d queue up for it.

I currently use Nebulous Notes as my iPad remote Scrivener, and using that as a starting point I’d be happy with just two additional features on top of it, for Scrivener iPad:

1. Nebulous is currently closely tied to Dropbox. Keep the Dropbox sync, of course, but where Nebulous currently has just a hierarchical list of “Local Files,” I want to see my Binder.

2. RTF editing. Currently, having to go back and check to see if there’s any formatting that’s been lost in the sync is a PITA.

I haven’t done any iPad development, but it’s my understanding that designing an app to do RTF editing is a chore. Apple doesn’t have any built-in RTF API on iOS. That’s why there aren’t any iPad apps which do it. So you could easily spend all your dev time just trying to get RTF to work.

Perhaps if you supported just a subset of RTF. Boldface, italics, comments and footnotes would be enough for me.

Cobbling together what I have read and adding my own bits I see this:

A hierarchy that can be re-arranged somehow (by folder or tag?) and viewed
The ability to compile these as far as the order of the documents

Both the Draft and Research folders

Notecards

Preservation of any formatting

*Seamless integration with the desktop

Comments, annotations, footnotes available somehow, maybe as separate folders or parts of the app
It would be cool if these were as flexible as documents in Scrivener

The ability to view a PDF

Saves writing and editing in RTF

Saves a ZIP backup file to Dropbox

Hi,
The same level of support for right to left lenguages that is found on the Mac version would be a great feature, especially since there is, currently, no program that offers adequate support for writing in these languages.
Thanks,
Noory

Great news about the iOS version for Scrivener. I predict I would use it routinely on the iPad. I have three suggestions:

1. I want to second the suggestion to ensure use of footnotes (and comments). For academics in the Scrivener fan club, these features are indispensable.

2. I use iThoughtsHD on my iPad, and then I export the mind maps out as opml files into Scrivener. It would be cool to be able to import opml files into the iOS version of Scrivener as well. Then we can see the transfer from mind map to text-based (or index card) Scrivenings without switching devices.

3. As with many other comments so far, my vote is for tidy and clear use of a sync feature. I use Dropbox already for all my Scrivener files, so that I can work between laptop and desktop without worry. To bring this seamless sync security to an iPad would be wonderful.

Good luck! Please give us routine updates, via Twitter and/or facebook.

Sincerely,
@kopyor

The only reason why I don’t already have an iPad is because Scrivener was not available for it. Thanks a lot, now I’m out $500. (Kidding, of course, this was the best news I’ve heard all month.)

Knowing how hard it is to have RTF text editing in iOS, I feel like the task I’m about to ask of you is Herculean. But the most desired feature, for me, after auto-syncing, is Scriptwriting mode.

I know Scriptwriting has always been a more secondary feature of Scrivener, but myself and most of the people I know use it for Script and Playwriting.

Please include Scriptwriting mode. It would be the best.

Number one: [blockquote] Bullet proof sync! I have tried all the sync options I could find for use with my (aging) iPod touch and they all had one thing in common: the sync process could easily wipe out a file or a project. Special file names or headers are poison; if they are needed, they should be invisible to the user and fail-proof.

Sure, I may be an ignoramus, but as soon as a program wipes out something I am working on, it goes in the trash bin. I don’t need a fourth career as a Scrivener hacker.

As far as what I need (using an iPod Touch) is note taking, either as separate new files or appending to existing files[/blockquote]

Number two:[blockquote]
Record audio notes? Add photos?

Think of it as crazy free form research.

I kind of try to do this with Evernote already.
[/blockquote]

Ok. That’s it for now.

• Jeff -

I second the request for a Scriptiwriting mode. Writing scripts is a highly collaborative task, and the iPad would be great for collective writing sessions.

Paolo

Make sure to enable landscape (as well as portrait) mode. Apple’s refusal to make landscape available in Pages (for the iPhone) makes it virtually useless. Please don’t make the same mistake.

I agree. What a joke having Pages on the iPhone only in portrait mode!

The best christmaspresent I could get. I’m an IPad user, but had thoughts of buying a MacBook Air. Just because I missed Scriv on my mobile device.
You saved me a lot off money.

Fred from Holland

Please don’t use the standard iPadkeyboard; I want some cursor movements made possible with the keyboard, like in iA Witer.

1. Single file shared by both iPad and desktop stored in iCloud.
   Extra sync steps that are time consuming and confusing should be eliminated. You just work off the same file whether on iPad or desktop.

2. Clean and compact interface.

Scrivener for iOS? Awesome!

Thinking about how I really use iOS devices, here are a couple of ideas/suggestions!

1. When I get an idea, I’d just like to write it down on plain paper. I get to decide how it can be expanded and where it will go in to any work etc later on. Along these lines, if Scrivener can just start up with a blank page (have an option to set this behaviour?) for me to write on…

2. Ideas come at times you can’t predict, many times when you are on the move. Most of the times though you are not on the move without your mobile phone (iOS or Android – hint… hint…). And sometimes you can’t really write things down. So if only Scrivener could just hear me out and type that into a blank note (using Siri or something else!)…

Thx.

Cheers…
Ishie…

As a UX designer and writer, I’d like to see the following:

iPad Version

1. Automatically sync with the desktop version.
Never lose anything when moving between versions!
(Storing the actual files in iCloud / Dropbox might be a good solution here.)

2. Easy way to read/edit text with Binders open on the side.
This could be done like folders in Mail: in horizontal orientation the Binder can be persistent, whereas in vertical orientation the Binder slides on/off to allow for more editing space. The tricky part that I foresee is mimicking multi-select in the Binder. I would recommend against trying that, as it could easily become too clunky.

3. Easy, distraction-free full-screen edit mode.
Since I’m more likely to do editing on the iPad rather than actual heavy writing, I would focus on editing features like adding Comments, highlighting, and making minor textual changes.

4. Basic Outline view
I think we can do without custom columns, but it would be nice to be able to see the status and labels on everything, including the ability to expand and contract folders.

5. Basic Corkboard view
I think the most important thing is to be able to edit the text on these corkboards very easily and without leaving the Corkboard view.

iPhone Version

(Automatic sync definitely applies here too, but I didn’t want to repeat it.)

1. Binder View
As it’s own screen. It would be impossible to fit both the text and the Binder view on an iPhone.

2. Edit Single Scrivening
We should be able to edit the text of a single Scrivening. No need for any formatting on the iPhone version, but it should fit the format of the text before or after what you enter.

3. Create New Scrivening
The ability to create a new scrivening is very important for taking notes when inspiration hits, then we can organize them into the manuscript from the Desktop.

4. Inspect Single Scrivening
The ability to update status, label, etc of a single Scrivening would be helpful.

All Versions
A project should be shareable with an editor/collaborator and worked on by two or more people at the same time, in the same way Google Docs handle it. If that functionality existed, I would pretty much drop all other writing tools for a couple of my projects and work solely with Scrivener.

**NOTE: By far the most important issue to me is Sync that works seamlessly and doesn’t make me wonder whether I’ve lost anything in transfer. If you get that write, and only give me the ability to edit a single scrivening at a time, I will be happy. If you get that wrong - all the advanced functionality in the world wouldn’t make me trust it, and since my project is the most important thing in my life, I wouldn’t risk it by editing it from multiple devices.

For me the big win would be a live sync feature, like with google docs. I love the way I can sync to applications on the iPad using dropbox, but I always forget to export. If I could have my writing available without having to remember to sync, that would make this a huge app from my perspective.

So do I hold off buying index card for iPad for fiddling with outlines etc? given that I guess scrivener iOS will have the cork lard and the ability to do what I’d intended to do in index card…

This is the scenario. I’m writing with Scrivener on my Mac. I have to go out, so I shut down Scrivener-Mac, Dropbox syncs the file. I walk out the door with only my iPad (iPhone). While on the road I open up the file on iPad (iPhone) and do some edits. Back home, I first allow Dropbox to sync, then I open up Scrivener-Mac, and keep going. It has to be that simple.

For the current Scrivener-Mac, I watched the tutorial videos on how to sync via SimpleNote, and concluded it wasn’t so simple, so I didn’t bother.

Sync-clashes: when there are Dropbox sync clashes, e.g. simultaneously editing the Mac and iPad files, without first syncing, can there be a way of merging the two, or interactively guiding the user to decide what edits are added or even merged? No doubt the Dropbox sync will be a top-requested feature, but the issue needs to be addressed when the user does not properly sync the files before editing.

For an iPhone version, I’d be happy if it had a “crippled” subset of features, since I’d only see myself using the iPhone for idea capture when on the run - and no way would anyone use the iPhone for extensive writing. But it has to have the above seamless syncing.

I’d vote for auto sync, which is fine, as long as you remember to close your file on your Mac.

I like a lot of the ideas posted already, and won’t waste time repeating them.

For me, I have one feature in an iPad writing app that I can’t seem to find anywhere, and would singlehandedly revolutionize my writing process. I want a draft revision mode, where I can make annotations on the fly. Imagine looking at your draft as a digital manuscript. Then, when looking over it, you want to make a note, or take out a paragraph. You simply whip out your stylus and write the note in the margin like you would with a paper draft. I can’t tell you how much money I would pay for an app that had this feature solidly and reliably built in.

Even if you guys made the revision mode into a separate app, I would fall to my knees and thank you for this.