IA Writer 4

Zen and the art of focused writing. $14.99 | IA.NET

This app was one of the first to offer a distractionfree writing space, and it remains one of the best. Its ‘you can choose any font you like as long as it’s this one’ approach is all about getting you to focus on what you’re writing rather than faffing around with themes and preferences.

It offers all the essentials: great export options, iCloud sync as well as Markdown formatting, and it can also help you spot language abuse such as overuse of nouns, adjectives, verbs and more.

Version 4 keeps the same minimalist interface as in previous editions, but adds some powerful new features. You can now embed images with a simple forward slash and filename, and you can do the same with text files or CSV tables. That means you can create master documents containing multiple text files (a book, say, or a lengthy report), or pull in text blocks you’ve saved previously. CSV embedding means your Markdown text can include properly formatted tables, which is really handy.

However, because it doesn’t give you access to your Mac’s file system, you need to drag images or external files to its sidebar before you can add them with a slash. That’s a minor niggle; the embedding is a welcome addition to a great app.