The developers behind minimalist writing app iA Writer have rolled out its latest update, which adds iCloud integration to sync documents between the iPad and Mac OS X. This is the first time iCloud has been baked into an application released by somebody other Apple, according to iA Writer founder Oliver Reichenstein. Update: iA Writer is just the latest third party app to get iCloud integration, but it is not the first, as previously reported.
iA Writer is a popular desktop and iOS app for writers that is designed to maximize focus on long-form writing. It does this mostly through a minimalist design and enabling a full-screen mode to eliminate distractions on the desktop. It’s one of several distraction-free writing apps of this nature.
Some of these apps offer native syncing or allow users to plug in their Dropbox account to sync content that way. With this update, iA Writer users can just use their iCloud storage, much as they would with contacts, calendars and other data.
iA Writer has an especially stripped-down interface, offering very few options other than to write. To enhance focus, it highlights the line of text you’re working on and grays out everything else. To further simplify things, the app has solid support for Markdown, the rich-formatting shorthand syntax created by Daring Fireball author John Gruber and beloved by bloggers everywhere.
To promote the latest version of iA Writer, Reichenstein has cut the price of both the iPad and Mac apps.
