WriteFreely for iOS
This summer we largely took a break from major work on WriteFreely to turn our focus to something new: native apps for the Apple ecosystem. Now, after developing in the open, building a Swift library, writing about our adventures with SwiftUI, and opening the app to beta testers, we're excited to finally release WriteFreely for iOS v1.0!
You can buy it now for $14.99 on the App Store (requires iOS 14 or later), and find the GPL-licensed source code on GitHub.
WriteFreely is a minimalist platform for both distraction-free writing and seamless web publishing. So we wanted to create a native experience on iOS and (soon) macOS that focused only on these core parts of the platform.
First, we centered the app around writing, so launching the app always goes straight to the editor. From there, you can instantly pick up your last draft, publish, or start composing a new thought.
Next, we created a simple way to view all of your posts and the status that each one is in — local and un-published (kept offline on your device), published (online), or published with some not-yet-published changes.
Finally, we added support for logging into your account and syncing it to your device, so you can access your posts anywhere, even offline and across devices. WriteFreely for iOS supports blogs hosted on Write.as, plus all self-hosted blogs on WriteFreely v0.1 or later. To get started, check out our how-to guide.
Buy once, write forever
As an open source project backed by a small, independent company, we spend a lot of time focused on building free, privacy-focused software sustainably. To do this, we've settled on an old-fashioned business model where our users are also our customers — and the only people we answer to.
We've built this app with such sustainability in mind. Rather than limiting it with in-app purchases or requiring a locked-down subscription, we're giving everyone a simple way to support our work and get a great app in return, with a one-time purchase to install the app. It's just $14.99 to write and publish on both your iPhone and iPad, with completely free updates and improvements to the app for life.
With this paid model, we hope to continue building our sustainable open source platform while giving you a simple, reliable way to publish your writing to the web.
Questions? Want to talk more? Join us on our discussion forum!