Ulysses App Now Lets Writers Organize Their Work into Projects

[MacRumors]

Popular writing app and markdown editor Ulysses has gained a new Projects feature that's aimed at users who tend to work on larger projects, such as books, a thesis, or a blog.

New to the app in version 29, the Projects feature only shows what's relevant to the current project and hides everything else in the app's sidebar to improve focus.

The writing goal and deadline for the project is shown in prominently in the sidebar, where there are dedicated sections for content as well as additional silos for research material, while keywords for each project are managed separately.

The interface for projects has been designed to make content easily exportable, and each project can have separate settings, such as export style and file format.

In addition, Ulysses 29 overhauls the dashboard and Revision mode toolbars on Mac and the menus on iOS, and fixes a bug where italics would fail to show in the editor. The whole process of moving groups and sheets has also been reworked, so that Ulysses drag-and-drop interactions finally work as they should.

Ulysses can be downloaded for free on the App Store. After a 14-day trial period, a subscription is required to unlock the app on all devices. A monthly subscription costs $5.99, while a yearly subscription is $39.99.

Students can use Ulysses at a discounted price of $10.99 per six months. The discount is granted from within the app. Ulysses is also included in Setapp, the subscription-based service for Mac applications created by MacPaw.

Article Link: Ulysses App Now Lets Writers Organize Their Work into Projects

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

Scrivener is cheaper and more widely respected and multi platform.

 

[msackey]

Scrivener is cheaper and more widely respected and multi platform.

Plus, Scrivener is not tied to a subscription fee! I'm happy to pay for perpetual license, and happy to pay to upgrade when major versions come out. There was a time when I used Ulysses before the subscription model. As soon as they turned to subscription, I ditched them and never looked back.

 

[tubomac]

Plus, Scrivener is not tied to a subscription fee! I'm happy to pay for perpetual license, and happy to pay to upgrade when major versions come out. There was a time when I used Ulysses before the subscription model. As soon as they turned to subscription, I ditched them and never looked back.

Subscription is something to avoid as hell! never ever again! I don’t agree with the stupid motto they say somewhere: “you will own nothing, and you will be happy”.
I believe in owning things as the best expression of freedom.

 

[ignatius345]

Scrivener is cheaper and more widely respected and multi platform.

Every time I’ve checked out Scrivener, the sync process seems so fraught and weird that I immediately turn away.

It’s a shame, because I would welcome a really polished competitor to Ulysses.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

Plus, Scrivener is not tied to a subscription fee! I'm happy to pay for perpetual license, and happy to pay to upgrade when major versions come out. There was a time when I used Ulysses before the subscription model. As soon as they turned to subscription, I ditched them and never looked back.

I can only understand the concept of subscription if there is a very complex app that costs a lot of money to maintain, has regular ‘Big Feature updates’ and suffers badly from piracy. Things like Autodesk, Foundry and Adobe had to go the sub route.

But a text processor isn’t sub worthy. Scrivener is very feature rich and have maintained compatibility with each macOS and Windows update for free. That means I spent only about $170 on version 1, 2 and 3 since 2007.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

Every time I’ve checked out Scrivener, the sync process seems so fraught and weird that I immediately turn away.

It’s a shame, because I would welcome a really polished competitor to Ulysses.

Should be as simple as linked your Dropbox, etc.

There is the issue that the Windows version is often behind the Mac version. Also that the Mac project files are package files, which appear unpackaged on Windows. That’s not an issue though if the versions are in sync.

 

[Gnik Nus]

I use both Scrivener and Ulysses, and I think they complement each other. They address different needs. And I don't have a problem whatsoever with a subscription model if the value is good. Ulysses offers good value as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Gnik Nus]

Every time I’ve checked out Scrivener, the sync process seems so fraught and weird that I immediately turn away.

It's a shame that there is no iCloud sync on Scrivener. I admit that. The only option is Dropbox. But if you set it up right, it does work as a charm. I've been using it for years on huge projects, moving back and forth between Mac and iPad without a single issue.

 

[al256]

No matter how much money I make, I can never justify the cost of that app. But I admit from my trial, I like it. I really like the app. I hope whoever is behind it, is swimming Scrooge-McDuck style in a vault of money for the amount being charged for a text editor.

 

[philcourage]

Scrivener is cheaper and more widely respected and multi platform.

Agreed.

Does anyone know if they fixed the syncing problem with Dropbox?

I actually like using Drafts for this, it lets me make my own toolbars and buttons and run macros in my text. Also free for most of the app.

 

[philcourage]

It's a shame that there is no iCloud sync on Scrivener. I admit that. The only option is Dropbox. But if you set it up right, it does work as a charm. I've been using it for years on huge projects, moving back and forth between Mac and iPad without a single issue.

This is what drove me away years ago. A shame indeed.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

No matter how much money I make, I can never justify the cost of that app. But I admit from my trial, I like it. I really like the app. I hope whoever is behind it, is swimming Scrooge-McDuck style in a vault of money for the amount being charged for a text editor.

It's not just "a text editor" though, it's a whole project binder and management system for lengthy and complex pieces of work. If it was easy to do this kind of thing in TextEdit, then no one would be paying for Ulysses or Scrivener.

 

[philcourage]

No matter how much money I make, I can never justify the cost of that app. But I admit from my trial, I like it. I really like the app. I hope whoever is behind it, is swimming Scrooge-McDuck style in a vault of money for the amount being charged for a text editor.

Text editors were always expensive. You might want to check out Text Wrangler, is basically BBEdit but free. I don't know if they keep updating it though.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

Agreed.

Does anyone know if they fixed the syncing problem with Dropbox?

I actually like using Drafts for this, it lets me make my own toolbars and buttons and run macros in my text. Also free for most of the app.

At the risk of sounding ‘backwards’ 😂 I don’t sync documents for any apps I use. I still transfer with an SSD from machine to machine. The reason why is because almost all cloud services scrape text and image files and sell the metadata to partners. No thanks.

I only use cloud when we work in teams and have private content management systems.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

Does anyone know if they fixed the syncing problem with Dropbox?

Is "the syncing problem with Dropbox" that you can only use Dropbox to sync? If so, then I don't think so. It's a frustration for sure, but when I was using Scrivener regularly it wasn't anything that made me desperate to leave and start paying a monthly/annual fee to Ulysses for. I could live with it.

 

[msackey]

I can only understand the concept of subscription if there is a very complex app that costs a lot of money to maintain, has regular ‘Big Feature updates’ and suffers badly from piracy. Things like Autodesk, Foundry and Adobe had to go the sub route.

But a text processor isn’t sub worthy. Scrivener is very feature rich and have maintained compatibility with each macOS and Windows update for free. That means I spent only about $170 on version 1, 2 and 3 since 2007.

I partly agree. I don't think Adobe has to take the subscription route. Sure, if you used the non-desktop versions of things like some of the Cloud services they offer for Adobe PDF and some such, I can kinda see subscription route for that. Adobe Photoshop and other creative applications they make did not use the subscription model for a very, very long time. I don't buy that they had to go the subscription route. Rather, it was a business model decision that had nothing to do with necessity.

 

[msackey]

Should be as simple as linked your Dropbox, etc.

There is the issue that the Windows version is often behind the Mac version. Also that the Mac project files are package files, which appear unpackaged on Windows. That’s not an issue though if the versions are in sync.

I use both the Windows and Mac version synced through Dropbox and have no issues, really. I open Scrivener files from within the application and don't bother opening it from Finder or Windows Explorer so the issue of package or not package doesn't bother me.

By the way, the issue with package is not just a Scrivener thing. It's a fundamental issues between Mac and Windows but typically doesn't cause a problem.

 

[msackey]

It's a shame that there is no iCloud sync on Scrivener. I admit that. The only option is Dropbox. But if you set it up right, it does work as a charm. I've been using it for years on huge projects, moving back and forth between Mac and iPad without a single issue.

Agreed! I move back and forth between iPad, Mac, and Windows and don't have problems. Well, the only "problem" I have is if I save any webpages in Web Archive format in Mac (can't be read in Windows) or whatever the equivalent is called in Windows (can't be read on Macs). I've found workarounds which basically is saving those pages in other formats.

 

[ignatius345]

Should be as simple as linked your Dropbox, etc.

What throws me off is that there's somehow no iCloud syncing. So you're apparently left to install third-party software like Dropbox or Google Drive, which I'm really not into. And even then, there are dire warnings about manually closing projects or risking sync conflicts or corruption. As much as I dislike Ulysses' subscription model, it's absolutely seamless when it comes to syncing and frankly I think that's table stakes in 2022. Ulysses' UI is also still incredibly smooth and nice to work with. So, I take the hit once a year and keep my eyes open for good alternatives. I keep an eye on Scrivener, though, and if they ever get syncing sorted properly I'd be happy to pay up and give it a whirl.

 

[msackey]

Subscription is something to avoid as hell! never ever again! I don’t agree with the stupid motto they say somewhere: “you will own nothing, and you will be happy”.
I believe in owning things as the best expression of freedom.

I have a somewhat different thinking. I don't necessarily feel like "ownership" is an issue for me, but rather that I pay a one-time fee to use the product given that the product and the company isn't providing active support nor do most programs have features requiring constant maintenance and troubleshooting from the company. For instance, I'm happy to pay a subscription fee for Cloud storage because I'm basically paying to use their hardware, software, and labour continually. But for a program that sits on my computer that has no such active elements? Why am I paying a subscription fee? It's like, why should one pay a subscription fee for heated seats in a BMW that one owns? Nonsense!

At the risk of sounding ‘backwards’ 😂 I don’t sync documents for any apps I use. I still transfer with an SSD from machine to machine. The reason why is because almost all cloud services scrape text and image files and sell the metadata to partners. No thanks.

I only use cloud when we work in teams and have private content management systems.

I hear ya. The way Capitalism just makes products and monetization out of humans is terrible.

 

[Razorpit]

Text editors were always expensive. You might want to check out Text Wrangler, is basically BBEdit but free. I don't know if they keep updating it though.

They sort of killed Text Wrangler. BBEdit basically becomes Text Wrangler after the trial period.

Bare Bones Software | BBEdit Comparison Chart

 

[philcourage]

I use a combination of Notion (for planning the book and researching) and Drafts (for writing).

 

[anakin44011]

At the risk of sounding ‘backwards’ 😂 I don’t sync documents for any apps I use. I still transfer with an SSD from machine to machine. The reason why is because almost all cloud services scrape text and image files and sell the metadata to partners. No thanks.

I only use cloud when we work in teams and have private content management systems.

It all matters what you do and how much you use various tools.

For me, syncing with my iPhone is huge and Ulysses never fails me.

I used Drafts for a while and found it too cumbersome because nearly everything I put in there eventually had to go to Ulysses or Omnifocus. So using Drafts was just an extra step.

That said, Drafts is completely useful to others and totally worth $20...for those who use it to its fullest.

Ulysses is totally worth the $40/year that I pay.

Much like Microsoft 365 is totally worth the subscription at my business. I throw up every time I pay the bill (is Bill Gates still getting some of that?), but I get high ROI.

And yet I avoid Adobe suite (I use FCP, Rapidweaver, and Affinity instead).

Everyone's mileage varies.

 

[philcourage]

It all matters what you do and how much you use various tools.

For me, syncing with my iPhone is huge and Ulysses never fails me.

I used Drafts for a while and found it too cumbersome because nearly everything I put in there eventually had to go to Ulysses or Omnifocus. So using Drafts was just an extra step.

That said, Drafts is completely useful to others and totally worth $20...for those who use it to its fullest.

Ulysses is totally worth the $40/year that I pay.

Much like Microsoft 365 is totally worth the subscription at my business. I throw up every time I pay the bill (is Bill Gates still getting some of that?), but I get high ROI.

And yet I avoid Adobe suite (I use FCP, Rapidweaver, and Affinity instead).

Everyone's mileage varies.

Yeah. To me I only pay for the pro features of Drafts if I need them and that month only. The changes stay on the app after the subscription ended. It is a great value to me since I can still use it for free most of the time in the year.