I switched back to Ulysses and refined the Writing homescreen on my iPad. I have no idea how long this particular setup will last considering the short time spent since I previously discussed this, but it feels stable, all my writing can live in a single app, and I can drop the dance I’d tried with iCloud to make iA Writer work across all my devices.
Homescreen
I use my iPad for specific tasks, each of which has its own Focus Mode and hence its own homescreen with a selection of apps for said task.
There’s Ulysses, which is now the only writing app I use on my iPad. There’s also the Merriam-Webster Dictionary; Notability and Notes (each used in various capacities for notes and copy-editing drafts); and the Books app which is by far the simplest PDF reader for iPad.1I keep a few PDFS of writing books in there for reference.
Then there are three practical widgets. The top Todoist widget is a filter view on my Blog project that shows me a list of upcoming blogs I’ve scheduled. I keep the Fantastical view available as a quick reference for the dates of upcoming Mondays.2In iOS/iPadOS 17, Fantastical removed their 2-month calendar view widget which I, and many others, feel is total bogus. The top-right Todoist widget is a quick way to add an idea I have for a blog.
I don’t spend much time on this homescreen—most of my Todoist usage is on my phone or computers—but I like to have simple ways to interact with those tasks wherever I am. Having all these tools on-hand with nothing else visually available helps keep me focused on writing.
Switching Modes
To switch focus modes I use a shortcut in the dock that presents me with a list of options. Depending on what I select, it’ll change to that mode and open any key apps for the activity at hand. For Writing, it will open Ulysses as the main app and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a slideover app. This streamlines the initial interaction when I go to my iPad to get something done, and mostly ensures I’ll begin whatever I intended.
This is something I’ve somewhat copied on my MacBook: I don’t worry about focus modes, but I do have shortcuts to open apps for a few activities. It’s helpful to minimize the friction between an intention and action.
Editing and Publishing
Ulysses has some excellent copy-editing features, but they are reserved for their proprietary “Markdown XL” format which is not compatible with Dropbox folders. So, I stick with regular Markdown for my blogs.3I do have a few prose projects fully in the Ulysses project system that lets me use all the bells and whistles. If I ever commit to a big project I will need to regularly get versions of those files copied over to Dropbox.
For longer posts, I will export a PDF to Notability4I am considering switching to Apple Notes for this, but haven’t given it a shot yet. I don’t actively pay for Notability and have years of momentum using it, so there’s not a strong reason to switch beyond curiosity. using one of the excellent templates offered by Ulysses, mark it up, then split-screen with Ulysses to make any edits.
Ulysses directly connects to my WordPress blog so publishing is easy. I fill in the details of the post and have it open up the web editor so I can make any final tweaks.5I use a couple weird plugins that don’t jive with Markdown drafting. It’s a small clean-up task that takes a minute and also encourages me to double-check the entire article. Ulysses keeps track of drafts that have been sent for publishing, which is a nice touch.
This setup is not particularly ambitious, but can scale to any future aspirations I may have for my writing. Ulysses is a well-maintained application that works everywhere, is great for blogging and long-form prose, and has a particular polish that I enjoy. I’d like to keep writing on my iPad because I feel I’ve done some of my best work on this focused platform, so taking a little time to reflect and improve on how I use it seems worthwhile.
- 1I keep a few PDFS of writing books in there for reference.
- 2In iOS/iPadOS 17, Fantastical removed their 2-month calendar view widget which I, and many others, feel is total bogus.
- 3I do have a few prose projects fully in the Ulysses project system that lets me use all the bells and whistles. If I ever commit to a big project I will need to regularly get versions of those files copied over to Dropbox.
- 4I am considering switching to Apple Notes for this, but haven’t given it a shot yet. I don’t actively pay for Notability and have years of momentum using it, so there’s not a strong reason to switch beyond curiosity.
- 5I use a couple weird plugins that don’t jive with Markdown drafting. It’s a small clean-up task that takes a minute and also encourages me to double-check the entire article.