Ulysses Gains Native iPad Editor Split View and Ghost Publishing Support

[MacRumors]

Ulysses is due to receive an update today that brings two key features to the popular universal app for writers - Ghost publishing support and a native split view on iPad.

The ability to display two texts next to each other is handy when comparing two versions of a document or keeping an eye on your reference notes while writing, and Ulysses recently improved the experience on Mac by introducing its own native split view function with the ability to view two sheets in the writing window.

With this version, split view editing comes to iPad, enabling Ulysses users to not just display and edit two texts at a time, scroll both texts simultaneously, and apportion the available screen space between the two editors. With a split view containing two app windows, they can also navigate and show an export preview next to an editor, to see what the finished article is going to look like when they write.

Today's other big addition to Ulysses is in its publishing function. To date, Ulysses has offered users direct uploading of texts - including images, links, tags, and so on - to WordPress and Medium. With this new release, writers can also upload their work straight to the Ghost platform, which specializes in blogs and online publications.

Elsewhere in this release, the developers have added syntax highlighting for more programming languages, including Mathematica, Vimscript, Smalltalk, GraphQL, and Handlebars. Shared sheets are also now exported in a compressed format, which fixes a multitude of sharing issues, while the first launch experience has been updated to make it easier for new users to get to know the app. Lastly, this version brings a number of performance improvements and bug fixes for both iOS and Mac apps.

Ulysses can be downloaded for free on the App Store and the Mac App Store, with version 16 rolling out to users on Monday. After a 14-day trial period, a subscription is required to unlock the app on all devices. A monthly subscription costs $4.99, while a yearly subscription is $39.99. Students can use Ulysses at a discounted price of $11.99 per six months. The discount is granted from within the app.

Article Link: Ulysses Gains Native iPad Editor Split View and Ghost Publishing Support

 

[-DMN-]

Not a big fan of subscription models... Hard Pass

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Ulysses is the App of a german Company which most disgustingly adopted apples rip off scheme.
I even dumped my bought version of it!

 

[StanceHurst]

Super excited. Split view on my iPad was one of the main features I was waiting for. It will get a lot of use.

 

[Wildkraut]

Ulysses is the App of a german Company which most disgustingly adopted apples rip off scheme.
I even dumped my bought version of it!

Yeah same here... I’m not going to continue supporting these greedy <insert_here> , using iA Writer now. Works like a charm, does all what I need.

 

[Traverse]

I've grown very fond of Ulysses over the years. Simple UI, fast sync via iCloud (so I don't have to manage folders on Dropbox), and most importantly: extensive Shortcut support. I have various shortcuts such as a journaling one that in one tap creates a new sheet in the whatever group the current month is (May, June, etc.) with a pre-created title and a small text at the bottom that has a summary of that day's weather. With one tap of a button in the widget I have an entry ready to go.

I'm not a fan of subscriptions, but mine is only $30 a year and given the hundreds of entries I've made I don't mind paying that. Heck, I pay $15 a month for Netflix and haven't opened Netflix in like 3 months.

 

[AppleInLVX]

Yeah, another update with things I won't really use. I know that it's impossible to please everyone all the time, and I really don't expect every update to have things I'd use, but to be honest, the updates that do come aren't worth the subscription price. last year I paid the fee for coloured tags. Whee. I was a longtime user before the changeover to subscription, so I have a whole lot in this system making it hard to leave. Each of these silly updates nudges me closer though.

 

[T-Bob]

It's too cheap. My coffees cost at least $5 now, so I expect my subscriptions to keep pace.

 

[drumcat]

As an alternative, and not the same, there is also 1Writer for iOS, as well as FSNotes.

Really hoping for Typora on iPad soon.

 

[artfossil]

It's too cheap. My coffees cost at least $5 now, so I expect my subscriptions to keep pace.

Seriously. Only $2.50 per month? Those slackers.
________________
Meanwhile, I'm excited by split screen editing on the iPad. I'm grateful every day for the ways Ulysses supports my productivity and my creative practice.

 

[pokrface]

Used to love this app. Dumped them when they went subscription. To hell with that. I am not some company's perpetual revenue stream. I buy apps, and if I can't buy them, I don't use them. Period.

 

[Bustycat]

It's too cheap. My coffees cost at least $5 now, so I expect my subscriptions to keep pace.

My coffee costs at least $0.8 now.

 

[acgmph]

A monthly subscription costs $4.99

...for a notes taking app? Wow

 

[MacBH928]

I hate the subscription method like everyone else and I hate the commitment, but in the constant update world, the developers got to eat they can't make a product and sell it once. One suggested method was for the user to keep the latest version he paid for on subscription and not receive further updates once the subscription is turned off.

Or maybe offer 1 low subscription and 1 higher priced pay once option, 1password does this. Choose whatever pleases you. I am not sure how many license app developers sell so I don't know if the pay-once method is enough for them.

 

[T-Bob]

I hate the subscription method like everyone else and I hate the commitment, but in the constant update world, the developers got to eat they can't make a product and sell it once. One suggested method was for the user to keep the latest version he paid for on subscription and not receive further updates once the subscription is turned off.

Or maybe offer 1 low subscription and 1 higher priced pay once option, 1password does this. Choose whatever pleases you. I am not sure how many license app developers sell so I don't know if the pay-once method is enough for them.

Like this: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/agenda/id1370289240

Supported for 12 months, your choice after that.

 

[drumcat]

I hate the subscription method like everyone else and I hate the commitment, but in the constant update world, the developers got to eat they can't make a product and sell it once. One suggested method was for the user to keep the latest version he paid for on subscription and not receive further updates once the subscription is turned off.

Or maybe offer 1 low subscription and 1 higher priced pay once option, 1password does this. Choose whatever pleases you. I am not sure how many license app developers sell so I don't know if the pay-once method is enough for them.

Agenda does this. You pay *once*, and you get the software, and updates a year. You keep those features permanently. If you want new features later, you pay again, but only if you want to. THAT is a subscription. This per month or lose it is RENTING.

I don't rent software.

I fired this off, and didn't even see @T-Bob. Exactly.

 

[extrachrispy]

Used to love this app. Dumped them when they went subscription. To hell with that. I am not some company's perpetual revenue stream. I buy apps, and if I can't buy them, I don't use them. Period.

But you're willing to be part of their perpetual expense stream, right?

Delivering bug fixes and new features costs money.

 

[AppleInLVX]

But you're willing to be part of their perpetual expense stream, right?

Delivering bug fixes and new features costs money.

Sure, but why would I pay to have someone install a spoiler on your car? I don't need or even like those. That's a little how I felt with their enhancements for code a while back. The problem is, you don't actually get what you pay for. While it's true that any software you buy is likely to have some things about it you won't use, the difference is, at time of purchase, you know what those things are and can decide if it's worth it for you. I'd be happy if they had a pittance charge of something like a dollar a month to ensure what I have keeps working, and then I get to decide if these new features, which I assume are the lion's share of what my subscription fee funds by way of software development, are actually worth it to me as a customer. This subscription crap doesn't make sense to anyone but the development shops. It's customer hostile in subtle jab-when-you're-not-looking ways. It's also shady in the ways it auto-renews. I think the default should be more like a month before your renewal, you're asked explicitly (at least as much as you're asked to subscribe when you download the "free" version) to actively resubscribe or your subscription will lapse, leaving you with only the functionality you have at that point. No data hostage-taking.

It's a flawed system.