We all know how limited iOS can be for power users. When I say power users, I’m not talking about people who spend all their time customizing the look of their devices instead of using the actual devices. Apps like Editorial, Drafts, and Launch Center Pro give you hope. Editorial by Ole Zorn is probably the most powerful text editing app ever. Its automation abilities surpass anything I ever thought possible on iOS and even as just a markdown editor, it makes things very easy.
Editorial just hit v1.1 (free update) and this brings an updated look and feel to the app to make it feel right at home on iOS 7 and is now a Universal app, as the update introduced an iPhone version too. At the earlier price of $4.99, the app was an absolute steal. The visual overhaul Editorial just received gets rid of the textures and drop shadows present in the earlier version. The font used in the app is now Source Sans Pro. Other notable visual additions are new icon glyphs for actions & workflows, and the ability to assign colour labels to workflow actions. The app sports a dark theme option which is really nice, particularly on the iPhone. Fitting the complex interface in some views into the iPhone screen has led to some compromises. Some actions require a few additional taps and swiping to the left from the main editor brings you the view with a Preview, Console, Help and Browser mode. Switching between these modes on the iPad involves tapping the mode name in the segmented control. On the iPhone you tap on the button on the top left to reveal a thumbnail view that has all 4 modes visible on the screen in different corners. There’s no bookmarks bar on the iPhone app, but tapping and holding the Wrench brings up a search or filter for your workflows.
One of my favourite changes in Editorial 1.1 is the ability to enable a swipe from anywhere on the screen to switch views as opposed to the edge swipe that is standard in most iOS 7 apps. Edge swiping is nice, but sometimes it feels like you have to do more effort to reach to the edge than tap a button to go back. Apps like Riposte, Unread and now Editorial are making switching views a more comfortable experience. Editorial 1.1 also brings a superb new custom interface mode that lets you actually create interfaces using UIKit elements and interact with these interfaces in your workflows. I still can’t believe it isn’t butter that this is even possible on iOS. Editorial is available on the App Store as a Universal app at the absolutely low price of just $6.99. It is easily worth ten times that amount.
When it comes to reviews, for OS X, I look forward to reading Siracusa’s comprehensive review each year. For hardware, Anandtech is my go to site. When it comes to automation and just about anything power user related on iOS, Viticci absolutely nails it with his reviews. Do yourself a favour and read his in depth post on the new features in Editorial 1.1.