There are quite a range of writing apps, which can vary in terms of their purpose. Some writing apps are mainly for note-taking, whilst others are for novel-writing.
Depending on your needs, you’ll be seeking out different types of writing apps. These apps can help us organise our thoughts, or simply give us an easy interface for writing whatever we wish.
Digital writing interfaces are easier to keep organised, and neat. They also make writing quicker and more efficient to do.
Best Writing Apps for Mobile – Our top 4
Most writing apps usually cost money in some regard, despite their varying purposes. The prices can greatly vary as well.
Paying for a writing app can seem quite daunting or difficult to decide on, since you can write for free if you so wish. There are also other writing apps like Scrivener and Hemingway that we like, but to get the best out of them you really need to pay for premium – so they’re not mentioned here.
That’s why, in this article, we’ll focus on free writing apps you can use. These apps will be free to download and use for an unlimited amount of time. We’ll also be focusing primarily on apps for novel-writing, creative writing projects and more.
#4 – MyStory.today
Mystory.today is free to download and use. However, some features are locked unless you purchase the premium version.
Fortunately, most features are available, and the important features are all available. The locked features are mostly just additional features, such as adding images. Therefore, using the app as a free user doesn’t limit your writing freedom.
MyStory.today is available on iOS, Android, and online, meaning users can access it on any device.
The app is designed for story-writing; and offers a folder system for organising books, chapters, and scenes.
You can also use MyStory.today online, using their website. You just need to login into your account to retrieve all your data.
This is very useful, as it doesn’t require downloading the app. Some users may wish to save on storage space, or can’t download the app for other reasons. In these cases, they can still have access to the service and their work.
The app’s UI is fairly neat, and seems to be specialised for story-organisation. You can create multiple scenes under one chapter, and order them to your liking. The app is great for those with trouble organising their work or stories.
The app allows you to edit the word format, and also provides undo and redo buttons. This is makes it easy to erase mistakes on mobile, which increases writing efficiency.
Overall, MyStory.today is a great writing app for story-organising and story-writing. There are limited customisation options available, but you can alter word formatting.
The app offers a good interface for keeping story-writing neat and orderly, so it’s especially useful for longer or more complicated writing projects.
#3 – Just Write
Just Write is a completely free iOS writing app. The app is very simple, and minimalistic in nature. If you’re looking for an easy, simplistic writing app; this may just be the app for you.
Just Write has no text customisation options, and serves mostly as a pseudo-typewriter. The default font is a typewriter font, and the keyboard interface has a row of shortcuts for different punctuation. It also has undo and redo buttons, to make for an efficient writing experience.
The app also has an option for manually saving your work at any time. It autosaves your work when you exit a document, but it’s good that it also allows you the freedom to manually save whilst writing.
You can also view details about your work; including the character amount, the reading time, when you last opened it, and when it was last saved. This is useful information for evaluating your writing progress.
The app also has a folder system for organising your work. You can create folders, and move documents into them. This is useful for keeping your writing organised in a simple manner.
Overall, the app is great for those wishing for a simple writing app. Just Write has the vital and basic writing app features, with little to no unnecessary features.
The UI is very minimalistic, which makes for non-disruptive writing experience.
#2 – Pages
Pages is the default writing app for iOS. The app is automatically downloaded on iOS devices, so it’s essentially a free writing app. The app is completely free, with no purchases available.
Pages is basically an iOS version of Microsoft Word, and shares a lot of similar features with the program.
There are many features available in Pages, such as extensive text customisation, page templates, and media inserts.
Pages offers 12 text types, 8 text styles, over 50 fonts, and over 50 text colours. You can also edit word formats, and text size in increments of 1.
There’s also a gradient feature, where you can create a gradient using two colours, and apply it to text.
You can also add different forms of media, including photos, videos, and audio.
Furthermore, you can insert tables, graphs, and bar charts; in both 2D and 3D.
There are also options for inserting various shapes, ranging from circles to animal shapes.
Overall, there is a large amount of customisation available in Pages, which makes it a multi-use app. You can edit and customise the text and page to a high extent, allowing users full control over the appearance of their work.
For those who want the ability to customise their writing, Pages is a great choice (for iOS users). It’s also a solid choice if you’re looking for a distraction free writing app that allows you to just get things done.
#1 – Google Docs
Google Docs, similar to Pages, is essentially Google’s version of Microsoft Word. However, unlike Word or Pages, Google Doc is completely free and available on all devices.
You can either download the app on iOS or Android, or access it online. This makes the service accessible from any device, which is convenient when you want full-time access to your writing. It’s also useful that you can access the service online, since it wouldn’t require an app download.
For those wanting to save on storage space, or are unable to download the app for other reasons, Google Docs is ideal.
Google Docs has many features, including page templates, text customisation, and media inserts.
The app offers 90 text colours, 90 highlight colours, 9 text styles, and 24 fonts.
You can also edit word formatting, line-spacing, and changer text size in increments of 1.
Furthermore, you can add other users to your documents, and allow them to edit or add to your work.
You can also add comments to certain sections of the writing, either as a note to yourself or another user. These features are all very convenient when collaborating on writing projects.
Overall, Google Docs is a great free writing app, for those who wish to write in collaboration with others. The app has various features that support collaborative writing, and is simple to use.
Google Docs also offers many other features for free, such as extensive text customisation, and can be accessed from any device. This makes the service a great free alternative to more costly writing apps.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many writing apps available, especially for the purpose of story-writing (or just writing in general).
Whilst many cost money to use fully, there are also a great deal of good writing apps available for free.
Depending on your purpose, a free writing app may be the more preferable choice when it comes to choosing a writing app. Unless you’re looking for a specific kind of writing app, try taking advantage of the free writing apps before splurging on an expensive one.
