Press Release: Hog Bay Software releases WriteRoom for the iPhone

by Eric March on September 9, 2008 at 9:45 am

The built-in notepad is decent, but it’s lacking features.  Most egregiously is landscape support — a complaint that can be said about a couple of the iPhone’s built-in apps.  Perhaps more importantly, however, is synchronization with your computer; there really needs to be a way to keep a backup of your notes without having to shell out for MobileMe or sign up for Funambol; that functionality ought to have been built-in to iTunes (and may well be on 8.0, for all I know, but I’m not holding my breath).  (Yes, I realize this isn’t a sync app, but since you can read from and write to documents on your home PC, it amounts to something similar.) Fortunately there some people on the case — take Hog Bay, for instance, and the release of WriteRoom.iPhone:

Bangor, Maine – Hog Bay Software is delighted to announce WriteRoom for the iPhone. WriteRoom.iPhone is for people who want a simple place to read and write notes on their phone. The functionality is similar to the default notes app, but in a richer and cleaner package. Unlike Notes, WriteRoom also provides optional Wi-Fi access to your documents.

* Clean black and white look.

* Standard fonts and simple black background.

* Use a bigger keyboard in horizontal orientation.

* Access your documents from your computer over Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi access to your notes is an optional feature. When enabled you can browse to and edit your notes from your local computer in Safari. This feature is not currently password protected. When you enable document sharing anyone on your local network can access your WriteRoom iPhone documents.

This isn’t a sync solution, because your notes are always stored on your phone. But this solution does make it easy to quickly get text into and out of your phone, and unlike sync solutions it’s very simple. You don’t need to install any special software on your computer, you don’t need to sign up for any online services, and it will easily work on any computer, not just the computer that’s synched to your iPhone.

WriteRoom for the iPhone is inspired by my WriteRoom for OS X application, but functionally WriteRoom for the iPhone is more similar to the default Notes application. When you purchase WriteRoom for the iPhone you will also get a $5 off coupon that can be used when purchasing either of my Mac OS X desktop applications; WriteRoom or TaskPaper.

System Requirements:

* Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch

* Requires iPhone 2.0 Software Update

* Wi-Fi support requires access to wireless network

Pricing and Availability:

WriteRoom.iPhone may be purchased from the iTunes App Store for $4.99 USD.

Hog Bay Software
WriteRoom.iPhone

Located in Bangor, Maine, Hog Bay Software was founded in 2001 by Jesse Grosjean. Hog Bay Software is also the creator of WriteRoom and TaskPaper for the Mac, and of Bubbles for the iPhone. Copyright 2001-2008 Hog Bay Software. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Okay, so: Landscape mode?  Cool.  Remote access to your documents folder?  Excellent.  The “clean” look I can take or leave — I rather like the whimsy of the built-in notepad, but it’s not important, and font switching is nice.  I can’t decide if this thing is worth a fiver though.  Remote access to documents is excellent.  But it’s a plain notepad.  Maybe if it had some extra features — a bit of text formatting, maybe a few basic word processing features like bulleted/numbered lists, inline font changes, bold/italic, that would probably push me over the edge for being good value for the money, but as it is, WriteRoom technically worth the $5, but you’re getting exactly what you pay for and not a justification button more.  (Once again, I realise that WriteRoom’s entire mission statement is to be as uncluttered and feature-free as possible, but I’m not convinced that this is a good thing on a mobile device that is inherently all about features.)

Decide for yourself of course, but I think I might wait until something a little more intermediate comes along.

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Posted in App Store, Application Related, Press Release