Hanx Writer

Loveable superstar Tom Hanks turns app developer with the retro-keyboard equivalent of Hipstamatic

App of the month

Tom Hanks – actor, writer, producer, director… and app creator? You’d better believe it. Hanx Writer comes direct from the man himself, and aims to turn your usually mundane iPad keyboard into a delightfully clackety typewriter.

Er, why? Well, aside from being a celebrated thesp, Tom is also a manual typewriter fanatic – he’s written about them for the New York Times and everything. Now, he wants to make your iPad into one, and to that end, the free app gives you the Hanx Prime Select, a classic big desk typewriter. When you tire of its charms, there are two others available as in-app purchases: the Hanx 707 and the Hanx Golden Touch. Each feels different, with slightly different sounds, key placement and typefaces, and the purchasable ’writers also come with support for multiple documents, text alignment, title page and picture. You get a decent chunk of settings too. Turn off the modern delete and Hanx Writer will X out your mistakes instead of erasing them. Does it serve any purpose? No. But it makes for pretty decent pub ammo… Free, iOS 7.0+ iPad only, hitcents.com