Ulysses for iPad

Theres so much to like here The interface is beautiful the library is genius and the export workflow is an absolute pleasure to use But Ulysses keeps all your writing locked in a proprietary file format that cannot be accessed directly This goes flat against the design philosophy of Markdown and it should scare off anyone who writes professionally Theres not even a consistent way to get your writing out of the software The Export to Markdown function looks like it should work but because of the way The Soulmen have designed the Ulysses backend you cant actually access your writing as plain text without losing substantial content and markup Not only does this decision make your writing inaccessible to other tools incluidng for example text editors for mobile devices bibliography software or publishing platforms like LaTeX but more importantly it leaves you completely vulnerable to any bugs or questionable design decisions that The Soulmen might introduce in the future Theres not even a good way to back everything up outside of their closed system Its a devastating mistake There is an option to import local files instead of using iCloud but if you do that nearly all of the programs interesting features stop working I contacted the company about all this and they said they couldnt figure out how to make everything work without a special container document that scatters your writing over several different files Thats unfortunate since other programs that work with markdown figured out how to it Theyre not as nice to use but at least I know my writings safe     Proprietary file format is dangerous for serious writers

Unfortunately this release has a major bug it doesnt sync anything I created and sorted out in Ulysses for Mac the same release promised to work in sync with the iPad version        Please fix iCloud syncing

I love Ulysses Its is an easy to use app which is just what I was looking for Unfortunately the iCloud synch has stopped working and I can find no information about how to fix I am editing this because it appears to be an iCloud problem as Pages document in the cloud is not working either                 Great app

Ive got everything I need But after Ive invested in a bluetooth keyboard for my iPad Im DISAPPOINTED that this thing doesnt do auto conversion of straight to curly quotes meaning I will have to touch the screen to generate quotes every time I want to type a quotation mark If you guys do smart quote conversion just like you do on desktop Ill raise it to 5 stars           Smart Quote

Have the product on my desktop and MacBook Pro Will not sync with iPad so whats the point There are lots of stronger word processors markup editors out there so why bother with a cloud product that doesnt work Isnt Clouding the point        iPad Sync Stinks

I get Markdown and I get the Scrivenerstyle file management but Im sorry There just isnt twenty bucks worth of utility here Unlike the Mac version the iPad version of Ulysses wont let you alter or define styles You can add them from the online collection but you cant define your own Markdown support is a mixed bag thats the problem when you use a markup language that a isnt standardized so therefore file export is hit or miss Images that disappear odd line breaks etc I realize that not everything is destined for print these days but if youre going to support print formats seems like you could do it right General operation of the app is slow too Keystrokes lag just a bit before they register as do menu items Theres too much here that either doesnt work very well or is just not that easy to use in comparison to conventional word processors Im thinking that much of the distractionfree writing app movement is just the emperors new clothes I guess Ill be labeled as hopelessly unhip for saying so but stick with Pages or Word        Im not feeling it

Ulysses is powerful polished easy to start using and wonderfully flexible Its great for working on just a few pieces or managing multiple projects or going even bigger Support has been responsive and helpful for my handful of questions Ulysses is well worth the price get it                 Fantastic editor for real work

Wow expand and collapse docx format This is just the best Well done                 Great App gets a great update

Ulysses is by far the best mobile writing solution available for iPad I travel frequently and between the clean use of markdown export formatting and iCloud syncing this is a superior offering than the other competition out there                 By far the best writing app for portable writing

Love the main app for Mac Was dreaming I could sync it to my iPad so I could write when I go out to bars dinner etc Unfortunately just a dream Cant believe they can release this app with such a HUGE hole in it Day One Pages and other apps sync pretty well Worked for an hour on this and read their FAQ regarding syncing and nogo Twice just clicking around in the app I had FULL REBOOTS of my iPad meaning reloading software etc I have a brand new iPad Air and newish iMac with all the software up to date NEVER had this happen from any other app Sure apps close but this was serious crashing Wasted 20 on it but dont really care whats frustrating is that I cant just sync and go you would humbly think Developer would have their act together If you read other reviews youll see the same reports of inability to sync via iCloud From my perspective it would have been better to wait to release iCloud sync until it was 100 vs releasing a broken app and making existing users distrust your product Peace     Meh Crashed my whole iPad

A nicelooking app with a slick interface that I really appreciated but with some some real drawbacks that led me to delete it after a day or so of experimentation problematic iCloud syncing no DropBox support and sluggish keyboard responsivity especially with larger files Why is this worth 20        Nope

Ive been using Ulysses for about 18 months on my MacBook Pro The latest update for OSX and the new iOS version have taken it to another level In short I love them both My use of Daedalus has gone to zero The iPad app is that good Syncing works well although there is a little lag with it Highly recommended                 Better than ever

This is the best writing app there is The feature parity between the iPad and Mac versions makes it so easy to go back and forth Support is top notch as well These developers are attentive friendly and funny too Very likable If you are a serious writer you need to give it a try Youll be hard pressed to find anything better                 The best writing app

Wont sync between macs and ipad Flaky at best doesnt sync some icloud folders at all This is why I bought the app Hope it gets fixed soon        Sync Broken

Ive been waiting patiently for something that would let me do serious work read I need to work with footnotes in long documents of fifty pages or more in multiple languages on my MacBook and iPad syncing as I go Ive been waiting for Scrivener for an eternity to release its iPad app But Ive also used Ulysses since the beginning when it was an expensive app priced in euros I like its clean lines and now that the Ulysses for iPad app is out Ive moved everything from Scrivener to Ulysses losing some formatting in the process but who cares I can work on the go Except that I couldnt until now It turns out like almost everyone suspected that the syncing issues were because of iCloud the developers recently sent an email saying that the syncing should be working now that iCloud was well fixed Sure enough it works flawlessly just with the usual short iCloud delay Still given a total dependance on iCloud for syncing it would be a nice step forward to allow the use of different cloud solutions like Dropbox or even OneDrive for easy syncing and backups Maybe in the future I guess For now this app is a dream come true and lets me work whenever I need to and want to Total freedom                 App Great Sync Now its great too

For the purposes of simplicity Im going to review both the Mac and iPad versions of Ulysses together These two pieces of software function in unison and are sort of a package deal despite being sold separately For many users the compatibility between these two pieces of software is a major selling point and well get to that later Let me begin by saying what is in my mind a simple truth Ulysses is a work of art Ive played with quite a few and Ulysses is by far the best text editor I have ever come across Lines and layout are simple and smooth and for the most part even the computer illiterate will find their way around the software easily This is partly because the software is just that welldesigned but also because like most text editors there just isnt that much there to clutter things up Despite my warm fuzzy feelings for Ulysses there is one rather irritating caveat that needs to be fixed There is no way to maintain formatting when exporting this document to a word processor So unless youre writing for a webpage or publishing directly from Ulysses youre just sort of out of luck I would really like to be able to bring this document into Pages for additional formatting prior to printing or publishing I have spoken with the Devs on the matter and this is certainly an issue theyre focused on Hopefully they get it banged out soon Between the two versions the Mac version easily shines above and beyond its iPad counterpart but this likely has less to do with the software itself and more to do with the fact that Ulysses for iPad is brandnew The website clearly states that many features are yet to be implemented However there is one conspicuous absence that truly hobbles the iPad version The inability to minimize groups While frustrating the Dev has explained that this is one of the first features that they intend to add with the next update Now we cant talk about Ulysses without discussing the syncing problems Since the release of the iPad version thereve been constant syncing issues During the first week of the Ulysses for iPad release iCloud Drive completely collapsed It is still unclear whether this was an issue caused by Ulysses or if it was a more general issue with iCloud Drive Admittedly it did affect all apps that utilize iCloud Drive but the only other person I know who was affected had also purchased Ulysses While that issue was repaired Ulysses continues to have syncing problems Most of them can be fixed locally by the user I frequently have to restart my computer to get the app to synch correctly Once again the Devs are aware of the problem and working hard to fix it That said this is an unfortunate problem within ant type of productivity app In short Ulysses is a fantastic piece of software with great customer support There are just some things that need addressing              Getting There

Are you a writer Tired of waiting for Scrivener for iPad Stop waiting Buy this app and its Mac version and get back to work Ive written 17 novels using everything from pen and paper to Ulysses I wrote several books in Scrivener syncing to the Notebooks app on iPad I missed all my reference material which didnt sync and I couldnt shuffle the structure on iPad the way I could in Scrivener I tried the iPad and Mac versions of Storyist which almost worked but not quite They were buggy and lacked flexibility although I did write two books using them Then I found Ulysses Ive written my last three novels in Ulysses Ulysses does it all You can sit down and start working Its that simple Create a folder Group in Ulysses for each chapter and a sheet for each scene Want to add reference material Create a folder and paste in your photos PDFs etc Want character sheets No problem Switch from Mac to iPad Its seamless Finished Export your work using one of the provided style sheets or edit them to meet your requirements Push a button and you have a DOCX file or EPUB or text or PDF                 Given up waiting on Scrivener for iPad Get Ulysses

I love this app or at least the idea of it But potential buyers should know it does not output MS Word formats doc and docx This is a show stopper for submission to many deadtree magazines that have relatively antiquated automated submission processes           No doc no docx

On honestly purchased this on accident What a wonderful accident Ive used so many appsIm a syndicated blogger travel writer and have written over 1800 columns short stories music poems brochures copy technical business manuals and am finishing two novels I write a lot And its vitally important for me to be able to write any thing any where and have all the tools I need to edit proof onthefly save a back up in the cloud including iCloud GoogleDrive OneDrive and Dropbox and quickly send it off to editors and collaborators At this moment Im very happy with my accidental purchase Theres a few issues but Im sure theyll be worked out Great job guys Well done Cheers Sam                 Its Exactly What It ClaimsWhich is a breath of fresh air

I love Ulysses on the desktop and I cannot wait until the iOS version gets the kinks out but for the moment syncing especially for anything but icloud seems pretty glitchy The actual writing part seems fantastic to me but until syncing is reliable that is simply not much help to me so for the moment its a lovely piece of chrome I cant wait for that to change though        Not Quite There

After waiting too long for Scrivner to make an iPad port I turned to this After reading some reviews I decided to give it a try and it took some getting used to but I eventually fell in love with it Its such a great writing tool for whatever your writing needs are I am using it help write and organize my manuscript I really have no complaints I am just waiting on the iPhone version of this app so I can be even more flexible with when and how I write on the go Its a great app                 Beautiful

This program paired with the Mac version is like finding the holy grail of writing environments It is wonderful I have read a couple reviews that suggests some iCloud syncing issues So far my experience syncing has been flawless And I have really tried to test that out very thoroughly Hopefully those are isolated issues My experience thus far has been perfect                 Incredible

Ive loved Scrivener and love this app too Like another rater Ive waited so long for Scrivener to bring me an iPad app This app is brilliant Best Ive used on the iPad Id rate it 5 stars if the MaciPad sync worked The sync is terrible and rebooting logging out etc have not made it work I assume theyll fix it soon           Beautiful introduction to Markdown

After rewriting my review I needed to type my password again which is fine I mistyped it Im human so sue me When I retyped it correctly your store software threw all my update away That is a serious defect Also if you look up a word in the dictionary there isnt a way to exit it to get back to the text Why is Apples own software so bad                 Apple

Ulysses has become my favorite writing software It works well on my iPad and syncs almost seamlessly with the OS X client It helps me keep my writing organized and provides a cozy editor for actually tackling the work The markup is fine but if it isnt your cup of tea you can ignore it and draft in straight plain text I suspect however that if you start using the markup you will begin to enjoy it Being able to insert notes and comments to yourself is very handy Work exports easily and cleanly So yes I am impressed At last my iPad is a writing tool                 Excellent writing environment

I have Ulysses both on a MacBook and on Ipad Its a fantastic writing tool hitting the sweet spot of distraction free Writer and features BUT and its a MAJOR ISSUE Cloud sync simply does not work on ipad It works fine on Mac On the Ipad I tried everything Too often I lost ipad documents when restarting cloud or ipad Some stay there for days never uploaded with a cute little cloud on top of the document just staying there and doing nothing Until I need the document on the mac and try to sync And may lose it No writing tool should make me lost my writing ever        not usable in real life due to cloud sync

I wanted to give it three stars but know that it IS a markup writer and therefor will work like a mark up So thats my stuff Outside of that the program itself is really good A bit pricey especially if you plan to buy the desktop version as well The iCloud synch has been fixed and now works wonderfully The flexibility of the programs is great as well The lack of a star comes from not being able to select more than one document like you can in the desktop version This isnt a fault of the programers well not entirely it is a fault of the device and its Os If you are looking for a clean distraction free writer that has tremendous organizing features then this is your program Best thing outside of scriviner whom ive given up on              Great app

Undo is a huge part of a writing App and there is no other way than lift and shake my iPad to undo Breaking the workflow all the time All other Apps have a undo redo button for this purpose 1 until this is fixed     Shake to undo seriously

Ive been helping beta test Ulysses for iPad and have a couple of months of prerelease experience The meticulous care the Soulmen put into crafting Ulysses for iPad was evident the moment I started using it Now the gaggle of writingword processing apps on my iPad are fading memories Markup was new to me and I started out wondering about it but markup allows seamless export to different formats HTML ePub RTF and text your call iCloud synchronization was bumpy at first but Ive not lost any writing and Ulysses iPadMac integration makes the experience of writing on different devices seamless almost miraculous as text is instantly made available across devices From its minimalist presentation free of all the distractions of conventional word processors to its nearmagical integration with iCloud to its markup exportability Ulysses makes the transition of wordsinmyhead to wordsonthepage as seamless as I can imagine Seamless is the word From head to page seamless Its a dream of a writing tool Uh oh Trouble in Paradise iCloud syncing is off as noted by others Changing the text say by adding the word test on one device or the other will get Mac iPad to sync It is still the best writing tool Ive seen Down kto four stars until sync is fixed Sync is fixed so back to five stars Six if it were possible                 A dream of a writing tool

I like this polished app but its usefulness is seriously reduced by Apples unreliable iCloud syncing When I get the problem fixed its always missing files in the iPad it returns on a Ulysses update And there comes a point when I dont want to troubleshoot anymore because that costs more effort than the productivity gains realized through this app Yes this seems to have much to do wit iCloud not the app but the app requires iCloud to use core features That is a choice the developers made              Good app bad syncing

This app came highly recommended to me by a friend of mine who is a professional author I was skeptical mostly because of the price tag but I decided to give it a try anyway After using it for a few weeks I have found it is worth the money for anyone who writes be it novels blogs or school papers The interface is clean and brilliantly done Exporting to other formats is simple and the formatting choices are excellent and easily modifiable My issues with this app are caused more by iCloud which the Soulmen have no control over than anything within the App itself                 Incredible Writing App

I love Ulysses on the Mac and Daedalus on the iPad They work so nicely together I had hoped this would be a sweet replacement for Daedalus This hope was shot down Ulysses on iPad does not sync with Ulysses on The Mac Because I am rarely at home I write more on the iPad My Ulysses files are on Daedalus Ulysses on iPad will not sync with this I cried Until the soulmen fix this bug I cannot use it I paid 2000 for a program which is useless to me I hope they read these critiques I enjoy Ulysses on the Mac and use it for most of my writing Now it just sits on the iPad I found it The key or at least I think it is the one anyway to make this work in its current state I experimented with a stack in Daedalus physically picking it up and dragging it into the icloud inbox where I dropped the stack Now suddenly Ulysses works like a beauty with icloud and I am back on it again Sweet Am digging it              Just sits thereupdate Alive

Longtime Scrivener user but Ulysses almost flawless integration of Mac and iPad apps converted me A giant leap forward for writers The iCloud sync occasionally stalls on a sheet or two but Im anticipating The Soulmen will correct shortly Absolutely love the interface and theme skins The King is dead long live The King                 Outstanding

Update Sync is working better and is reliable I still dont trust iCloud but thats not Ulysses fault The relationship between the iPad and Mac apps is stunning I use both everyday And for the first time theres no drop off between platforms Consistency is important For the first time I actually enjoy writing on the iPad even lengthy documents There are many wonderful minimalist writing apps available but I tired of the handoff between platforms or if there were no issues ultimately the writing experience felt bland and limited Not with Ulysses Writer tools like comment blocks and inline comments may seem distracting at first but are indispensable I cant recall using a fullfeatured app with such a refined UI Kudos to Soulmen I am not going to take away stars because the iCloud syncing is horrible Its is and be warned It may not work for you on the iPad or Mac You often need to close out of the app or even reboot your iPad Its terrible Until its fixed you need to use a work around In this scenario Id give it one star and complain like everybody else But that doesnt negate the fact that Ulysses is an amazing app the first true word processor for the iPad Its not Word or Pages thankfully and its not limited minimalism of iA Writer Byword or that ilk Ulysses is stunning how good it is minus the stunningly bad sync with iCloud Support is swamped with the new Mac update and with the iPad version launch but I did get an email that they are working on a fix I hope its soon Even with its issues my mobile writing loop is almost closed                 Wonderful App But Be Warned

For users concerned with Accessibility this app is not friendly to the visually impaired Unlike Pages which allows you to set whatever font size you like Ulysses limits you to only 40 characters per line as their biggest font size they dont use a number system This means that the smaller your screen the smaller your text I use Ulysses on an iPad Air and its barely legible for me max is equivalent to 20pt font size on Pages I dont think Id be able to use it with an iPad Mini I do have extremely poor vision when it comes to distance though since I have Retinitis Pigmentosa so this wont matter to most people Im a bit upset that Ulysses would alienate any group of people in such an oversight but then again they may not care about the visually impaired who like to write on their iPads UPDATE Ive tweeted with Ulysses and theyre willing to address these issues in the future Fingers crossed its soon This is still a favorite writing app of mine and I use it every day But I cant use it for more than 23 hours at a time due to the eyestrain from the toosmall font size           Lacks Accessibility

Ive tried them allByword IA Writer Editorial 1Writer and others They all have their strengths Byword is clean and intuitive Editorial is a powerhouse 1Writer offers innovative features and IA Writerwellit has litigious developers That being said Ulysses has the perfect blend of everythingexcept litigious developers Its powerful clean intuitive innovative and is supported by fair and responsive developers                 The text editor to end all editors

Last update lost a handful of sheets on one of my projects probably due to yet another iCloud issue I decided to switch to iA Writer Pro until they fully embrace Dropbox GDrive or any other alternative If you cannot trust the program it becomes useless Writer Pro is not Ulysses by any stretch of the imagination but it works and it is reliable it can also copy formatted text from markdown to the clipboard something Ulysses cannot yet Old review I love and hate Ulysses but I made it my default writing app on the mac nonetheless I can now access all my documents directly on my iPadfantastic In my wish list 1 Global search 2 Full Dropbox or GDrive integration iCould is simply not reliable 3 Speed there is an unbearable lag between typing letters showing up If you type fast then there will be keystrokes missing 3 Minimizecollapse sheet groups in the library view 4 Preview math     Lost sheets for the third time

This is a beautifully executed writing program and I have tried most of them from Storyist to Editorial Its a pleasure to use and functions as promised I find Ulysses has the best balance of best features when comes to writing long pieces on an iPad And I write books Yes the iCloud sync is problematic but only because iCloud is such a dog It syncs so far without problem but is painfully slow              First rate

I was astounded to discover that this highly regarded app for writing and writing books no less does not allow you to write on a full screen without the toolbar remaining visible at the bottom of the screen This a true fullscreen view free of widgets and bars really needs to be an option for the user           no fullscreen option

Like many others I had problems initially with iCloud sync Was very frustrated Those days are gone It works flawlessly Am now convinced that this is the most perfect writing experience currently available It may take a little while to get used to it but once you do youll wonder why youd use anything else                 Nothing now like it

So glad to finally have a no compromise writing environment on my iPad                 Finally

Seems to have been an iCloud issue with everyone having synch problems I received an email from Soulmen support that the issue seemed to be resolved for most people and after several tests I can confirm that it was for me The synch between my iPad and MacBook was almost instant Now I will say that I can begin using the app and will come back with another review after I have used it for awhile However this is what I was hoping for Writing on the go and picking up on it when I got home Cool Thanks Soulmen                 Synch Working

I have been using the Mac version of this app for most of a year and am so pleased to see an iPad version Ulysses lets me write in long sections or sheets rearrange them tag them with keywords add notes and attachments and exports them individually or as a whole in a variety of styles and formats Syncing text via iCloud is fairly quick and smooth Uses Markdown allows for goal setting and includes word counters and estimated reading time Ulysses also connects to an online user supported repository of themes Its interface is clean and features are tucked away to avoid distraction Its very well donewellsuited for academic writing drafts not citation management as well as creative writing                 Excellent for writers

This is a great tool for writing longer pieces in your iPad As MacSparky has said elsewhere up to about 5000 words a simple text editor like Byword will be fine But writing a novel you need a way of separating chapters for drafting and then an easy way to combine them to create a manuscript you need to be able to associate notes and reminders with the text Ulysses does all this I just hope the developers can add some features from the Mac version soon the ability to set daily goals and the ability to navigate via headings within a file But its already a solid product                 Cant wait for more features goals navigation

Fast efficient and very customizable                 Great Tool

This is perfect for assembling lots of scribblings into a monograph                 Wonderful

I like the iPad version of Ulysses so much that Ive begun using it instead of my Mac for nearly all my writing And with the features they just added in this recent update I like it even more This is perhaps the best app I own                 terrific

I write a lot and have tested most of the serious writing apps for iPad I hardly ever uses anything but an iPad for serious writing For pure writing Ulysses beats out all the other editors iA Writer Nebulous OneNote Elements Byword Pages Textilewriter and Daedalus The interface is easy to use the environment is clutterfree it is easy importexport and to incorporate footnotes etc The more fancy and less often used functions such as table of contents etc can be generated in the end by moving it to Pages It is liberating to take my focus off the formatting and all the popups in the oldschool Ulysses also has an app for Mac which makes it even easier to do crossplatform writing Only thing missing is an app for iPhone                 Best writing app for the iPad

Dont forget to add the rest of the features from the Mac app goals splitting and merging sheets theme editor etc Thanks for the amazing app Great start              Still missing some things

Usually when a developer ports their app to mobileit looses many many many features However this is not the case with Ulysses for iPad All features are present and iCloud syncing has improved dramatically since the app debut a month ago Now instead of text disappearing in the the cloud it takes fifteen or twenty seconds to transfer from your computer to the cloud and then from the cloud to your iPad or vice versa I would doubtlessly put this app up there with pages and word as one of the best text editors on the App Store An added benefit is the app being apple to export in rtf and txt as well as pdf hank and ePub Buy this app and you will not regret it                 Everything you want it to be