Focuswriter
Version: 1.6.7 Web: www.gottcode.org/focuswriter
There are some categories of Linux applications that are hard to write about. A good example are text editors: a very overcrowded field where everything has already been invented and implemented. Another one is a group of simple, lovely looking apps that complement elementaryOS. We love that distro and its ecosystem, but a typical elementary app is so simple and minimalistic that it’s hard to write more words about it.
At first glance Focuswriter didn’t look too promising: it was a text editor with a fullscreen mode by default and no visible controls. Just a plain virtual sheet of paper laying over a woodenlike background ( it’sprobablyadesk– Ed). But we were completely wrong once we tried to write something.
Focuswriter creates magic out of nowhere, thanks to its zero-distraction approach. Once you launch the app, just start typing your thoughts or ideas. Under the hood Focuswriter has all necessary means for text formatting and also some productivity tools. Start by making your text bold (Ctrl+B), underlined (Ctrl+U) or italic (Ctrl+I), proceed with aligning a paragraph using Ctrl plus { , | or }, and don’t forget about finding (Ctrl+F) and replacing (Ctrl+R) certain parts of your text.
Yet Focuswriter would just be another simple text editor with a bunch of certain shortcuts if it didn’t have something more up its sleeve. Exploring the app’s menu that shows up on mouse hover revealed more great features such as picturesque themes, optional typewriter sounds and a great alarm tool. Set a period of time that you wish to write for, select a stylish layout and start working before a notification pops up to inform you that it’s time to take a break.
If you are fond of non-distractive writing, you’ll find Focuswriter very useful. It combines a text editor with a Pomodoro- like technique, adds lovely graphics and can even save your work as an ODT file. It couldn’t be better!
“It adds lovely graphics and can even save your work as an ODT file”