Ulysses – The Ultimate Writing App App Reviews

All this enthousiasm about Markdown — we had TeX for ages already … and for scientific texts, subscripts and superscripts, not to talk of greek characters or even formula are painfull, much worse than in LaTeX Beside that, there’s a serious flaw with the iCloud sync. In either direction Mac-iPad it sometimes does not work, sometimes without warning (such that you continue writing into an outdated version of a document, a nightmare!), even erasing/reinstalling the iPad App does not help, only the erasing and reinstallation of the Mac version eventually did for me, but I guess that’s not the way … In those troubles, it would be good to have a good old-fashioned FILE you can share, you can exchange, you can open elsewhere, you can check its date, its size. With the obscure “no files” organisation, one looses the overview, if not everything … For the moment it costed me far more pain, effort, time and money than it helped me writing my documents, therefore one star — until the problems are solved!

I was sceptical first, but wow what a great update that is. It is not only visually modernized, but much more overseeable. And now even live preview. So many neat little thinks Thx!

I am a professional, produced screenwriter who has used pretty much everything there is and here is what I have to say: in Ulysses you write in a clean environment and yet has powerful material organization tool. Thats really great. Only one app beats it as a writing tool, and that is Scrivener, but only if you have a very, VERY complex material including a mix of research stuff. Otherwise, Ulysses does the job like nothing else. Eu sou um roteirista profissional, que já usou praticamente todos os programas existentes, e este é o meu depoimento: com Ulysses você escreve numa interface perfeitamente limpa e ainda assim tem à mão ferramentas de organização de material tão simples quanto poderosas. Muito bom. Só conheço um outro app para escritores melhor, o Scrivener, mas mesmo assim apenas se você está trabalhando em algo muito, mas muito complexo em termos de materiais, mix de fontes de pesquisa etc. Se não, Ullysses resolve como nenhum outro.

As long as the sync between Mac and IPad doesn’t function, this App is not worth the money. When will the makers react to this unacceptable problem?

Excellent piece of application, no doubt about it. The dark mode is a delight to use – one can spend hours using the app and not even notice time passing by. However, there are major design flaws in this latest version. The transparency thing totally ruins the overall minimalist spirit of the interface. Also, the sheet pane ends up being distracting – too much information showing up. Also, in the dark mode, the white font over the dark background (again, in the sheet pane) creates a rather unpleasant mood for those who spend the whole looking at it. Good designers would use a light grey font over a dark background – but never a white font over a dark background, given that the high constrast effect is disgusting and should be avoided. Another weird thing: every document starts with a “@:” synbol. It’s OK, but that’s totally unnecessary. It’s not what one would expect while facing a distraction-free environment. Ulysses is definitely going to be my default writing application when the team improve these downsides. And Ulysses would become the world’s best writing app ever when it (a) incorporates the syntax features of iA Writer Pro; and (b) incorporates a design similar to that of Write (in the dark mode).

Exquisitely crafted, modern, 64 Bit, OS X app for plain text. Less than a day in, Ive already concluded that Ulysses III will be my primary writing environment going forward.

Below was my initial review, and although not having an import function from Ulysses 2 is a real pain, I find I dont mind going through the headache of copy & paste from U2 to U3. To be clear, in U2 I didnt take advantage of everything so its not overly hard/hassle to do the copy and paste, just a bunch of time to complete. Having said, this, and spending about 6 hours straight with U3, Im once again in love with what these guys do and will likley and equally enjoy as the product evolves. Ive changed my 2 star to a 5, as a seperate product, and understanding more is to come, it is everything I want and does what I need. 03-April-2013 -- It may be my own fault for not checking it out, but right/wrong I assumed I could import previous work done in Ulysses 2.1 and up to this point (15 minutes play with the app) I found not way to do this, which for me, is a major draw back to using U3. Although for new content I am appreciating the work done, but again for the old stuff I have, I need to bring it forward, or remain on U2.1 which is ok, just disappointed that a clear process to import to the new U3 isnt, well, clear for me. If it wasnt for this, I would give this a 5 star, but because of it, I cant use it so I rate it as a two. If in fact it is true you cant import from prior U2.1, it should clearly spell this out somewhere.

On its own merits as a desktop text-editing package, Id probably give this 5 stars. But as someone who needs to work on *the same files* in mobile too, Im not sure I can even use this. To be clear, the Daedalus Touch iOS integration simply allows you to use Ulysses as a desktop Daedalus interface, sans many of Ulysses more advanced features. The Daedalus files are *separate* from your other (full-featured) Ulysses text items, which Daedalus cant even see. :( Mobile aside, its a nice editor. One bug Ive noticed though is that it tends to mess up pasted URLs that include underscores - for instance, turning "home/game_archive" into "home/game_archive," which of course breaks the link.

Its a good start, Im enjoying using it so far. I love that heading markers (##) are outdented to the left, into the column. This is a small thing, but is a better approach than other markdown editors – it gives the headings the visual prominence they ought to have. Things Id like to see added/improved: - Universal search (at the moment you can only search within individual docs). - Better source-list icons, dont like them too much. - A more integrated iOS companion app; at the moment Daedalus acts more like a brain dump/inbox tool for text that you can move over into Ulysses proper later. My first sync with Daedalus touch resulted in multiple duplications of existing files, and it was a mess to clean up. Im happy to blame that on iCloud, but it still forms part of the experience (it did not affect Ulysses files, Daedalus is a separate document bucket within the app). Im going to use Ulysses as a central writing tool for awhile and see if it can truly be a good hub. I think its worth a try.

Where are all these five-star reviews coming from? My copy of this app, on a new MacBook Pro Retina running OSX 10.8.3, crashes constantly. Even the crash reporter crashes. If this is due to the adding of Dropbox to the sidebar, its still unacceptable … please fix as soon as possible. This is abject.

Ive been using this app heavily for about a day—so take this for what its worth—but I can say, after 1 day of heavy writing/use, that Ulysses 3 has already improved my workflow, speed, organization, and concentration. The apps features are incredibly well thought out, and integrate with a full-screen or distraction free writing environment perfectly. Support for multiple types of markdown and a handy cheatsheet drawer makes it extremely easy to get into the habit of writing using markdown syntax (Im an especially big fan of the notes feature thats integrated into markdown XL). Although the export feature could use more custimization options, it is extremely fast. In fact, the whole app seems pretty speedy and lightweight. This is helped by a set of extremely handy workflow-oriented keyboard shortcuts that are baked into the app that allow you to do everything from attach notes to navigate the interface. The UI is beautiful, and highly customizable (eg. font/colors on your screen). Im a big proponent of design in applications so this was huge for me. All in all, this app is very well designed and a pleasure to use. For somebody who rarely spends more then 1.99 on an app, I can honestly say that I am happy to pay the 20$ pricetag for this. If you do a lot of writing, I highly recommend this.

As an editor on its own; its minimalist and straight forward editor. Where it really shines is when you combine it with your mobile platformas via Daedalus. Its takes a little experimentation to discover how this integration is suppose to work (its not obvious) but when you catch on its sheer genius! There is nothing like editing a document with your iPad at your elbow and watch it update in near realtime..... Are you going to write your next best seller on this; probably not, but I bet once you figure out how to leverage the simplicity of the integration and unique workflow it offers youll be tempted to do so.

After years of trying various different products or ways of using products (mainly MS Word) to help me focus better and write reports, I just stumbled on this. the wring proces should not be confused with the layout proces or some such quote really stood out to me. Of course! This app makes it really easy to focus on content and really easy not to be distracted by layout. It has a simple, elegant layout which appeals. I;ve only been using it an hour but already Im hooked.

I love the clean user inferface for writing. It really does help me to think more clearly. One important shortcoming for me has been the lack of integration via iCloud between Ulysses and Daedalus. They are supposed to allow me to work on a document in iCloud on either device. But no dice. I can see the Daedalus documents on Ulysses, but not vice-versa. This would be a deal killer for me if I could get my money back, but I cant. Im very disappointed at the lack of integration.

In the last few months, Ive moved on from my usual writing work of proposal writing, documentation, meeting debriefs and business e-mails to more complex projects. Now Im writing long-form articles, book-length manuscripts, content for interactive fiction, and copy for entire Web sites. Much like how different graphic design programs have their strengths, writing tools have their nuances beyond broad definitions like "page layout" and "word processing" applications. For quick capture, I rely on Notational Velocity. For complex, large-scale projects, I reach for Scrivener. Ulysses III fills the space between these extremes in the most comfortable way possible. In the last few weeks Ive used it extensively for writing articles, proposals, course outlines and game design documents. And like a comfortable writing implement, favourite journal or warmly illuminating lamp, Ulysses III gently inspires by doing its job effortlessly and transparently. I particularly like the Markdown implementation and the ease in which you can export/copy text in various Web-ready formats. With a lot of other applications, these features require a lot of menu navigation and fussing around—Ulysses III just works beautifully. Two things to keep in mind when you purchase (and you really should purchase if you write more than an e-mail or two a day): 1. Ulysses manages your documents within the application. There is a lot of flexibility here, but the onus is on you to create a system that works. It will take a few attempts to organize both generally and in terms of structure for larger works. It works well, but you will fuss with it at first. 2. The excellent iOS companion to Ulysses III, Daedalus, currently syncs as a specific data source for your work; a directory exclusive to the rest of the files stored within the application. This can be a useful part of your workflow or something that will slow down your adoption of Ulysses III as a one-stop shop for all of your planned/on-the-go writing needs. Fantastic work, Soulmen!

Have tried lots of writing apps since becoming a "Mac convert" in 2011, and none of them compare to Ulysses III which Ive been using to keep my story ideas, stories, articles, etc, all in one place. Ive noticed a definite spike in my productivity and have no complaints about this excellent app. I do however have a suggestion, and that would be to add Fountain support. Definitely worth the price.

Great update for my favourite writing app, and excellent support from the team as well.

I searched for a long time for a simple and well-designed writing program that also would allow me to organize files and notes for law school. I was sick and tired of having hundreds of word documents organized in folder and subfolders in my finder, and I also realized I was spending too much time formatting my notes, essays, factums, and legal memos. Instead, I needed to just focus on writing. I’m still learning everthing Ulysses can do, but so far it has allowed me to take notes easily. The interface is beautiful, and the type clear and crisp. It has also been reliable and stable for over two weeks now with constant use, so I’m a happy camper. Thanks Soulmen!

I’m going to keep this reveiw short: if you write any significant amount, be it for school, a hobby or a business, you need to give Ulysses III a try. Ulysses, better than any other application I have ever used, will empower you to manage all your writing, to organize documents large and small into groups that make sense to you, to focus on the writing without having to worry about anything else and to, in the end, produce beautiful documents in any format you could want that utilize either built-in styles or user-created styles available on Ulysses’ new Style Exchange website. The price may be steep if you’re used to $1 iOS apps, but there is absolutely no denying the horsepower under the hood and the dedication of the team over at The Soulmen on creating the best writing tool available. The 1.2 update has brought a significant number of improvements to creating and managing documents and providing structure and features to achieve your writing goals. The style exchange is an excellent resource that I can’t wait to see grow; you can easily download new color themes for the writing environment within Ulysses as well as document styles for HTML, PDF and ePub export. It’s set to be a great resource to help you find the voice for your finished documents. As someone who’s now written nearly 100,000 words for blog posts, the improved keyword display and management features are a welcome addition. The Soulmen were planning blog integration in this version, but some complications have pushed it back to the next release. I look forward to seeing where Ulysses continues to go, but it’s already become my absolute #1 favourite environment for doing any kind of writing, from short notes to long-form articles. From the time saved thanks to the enhanced markdown syntax and customizable export styles and the ease of managing hundreds of documents, Ulysses has proven it’s worth several times over.

I have been looking for an app that can keep my notes in one place, without the need to reorganize my file structure. The external sources in Ulysses does that exactly. I have added the folders where I usually keep my notes, and now all my nots are in my finger tips. The simple interface of this app lets you focus on the writing, and the rich set of features does not disappoint.