Ulysses App Gains New Mojave-Ready Dark Mode, Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12, and More

[MacRumors]

Popular writing app Ulysses is being updated to coincide with the release of macOS Mojave and iOS 12, introducing support for new features in Apple's latest desktop and mobile operating systems.

With macOS Mojave, Apple has introduced a new system-wide Dark Mode, which means many third-party apps will need updating with a similar color scheme. Since its initial release, a Dark Mode has been part of Ulysses, but the new update introduces a reworked and fine-tuned version to fit with the new system requirements.

Ulysses users will be able to have Dark or Light Mode auto-switch according to the system preferences, or continue to switch manually between the two from within the app. In addition, a new editor theme for Ulysses is available -- D14 -- with colors optimized for the new Dark Mode.

Elsewhere, Ulysses for Mac is getting a redesigned sheet list (the column displaying an overview of divided texts in a group) with bigger tiles and a lighter appearance for clarity and legibility. There's also a new share extension that lets users send links, texts and images from Safari and many other apps directly to Ulysses.

Meanwhile, in other improvements:
[*]Command-clicking a link in the editor now opens the link in the default browser.
[*]Four spaces are no longer replaced with tabs.
[*]Comment blocks no longer add to paragraph count.
[*]Double-pressing arrow keys in editor no longer switches between sheets.
[*]Improved reliability when editing goals.
Over on iPad and iPhone, the Ulysses update brings support for the new Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12. Users can now assign voice commands to a number of Ulysses actions, including creating new sheets and opening existing sheets and groups. Siri will also make recommendations based on most-used Ulysses actions. All of Ulysses' actions are available in Apple's new Shortcuts app, ready for integrating into complex workflows.

The release of the new Ulysses versions is expected to match the release of Apple's new operating systems - in fact the mobile update is already rolling out for iOS 12, which Apple is launching today. The launch date for macOS Mojave is September 24, so expect Ulysses for Mac to be updated then or thereabouts.

Ulysses can be downloaded for free on the App Store and the Mac App Store. 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 App Gains New Mojave-Ready Dark Mode, Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12, and More

 

[T-Bob]

Tried the pre sub app, and seems to not work properly on iOS 12 (editing). Oh well, out of life now anyway.

 

[drumcat]

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.

 

[CristianM]

Maybe this has some advantages for pro writers that I can't understand but it seems very overpriced seeing how it can't do anything (to my eyes at last) that other much cheaper Markdown editors can't.

 

[jozef]

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.

Don't forget to send complain to Netflix, Spotify, Apple and many others. I don't think subscription model specifies ownership. Prove me wrong.

Also Agenda is refering to their business model as "Cash Cow", not Subscription.

 

[CristianM]

Don't forget to send complain to Netflix, Spotify, Apple and many others. I don't think subscription model specifies ownership. Prove me wrong.

Also Agenda is refering to their business model as "Cash Cow", not Subscription.

With Spotify and Netflix you have a choice, you can buy the same music and TV shows for a bigger upfront sum and then own them forever. So everyone gets the model they prefer. Personally I'm happy to subscribe to Spotify, on one hand because it means I can always have any music I want, I don't have to worry about having to buy a song just to listen to it once or twice, but mostly because they found ways to add value on top of that with their suggestion algorithms, social stuff (see what your friends are listening to), etc. Ulysses doesn't give you a choice between buying it and owning it forever (I actually bought the iOS version for £18 back before the subscription and it was a poor experience) and a subscription and they do little to justify paying for it every month. Spotify gives me fresh songs twice a week so I have a reason to keep paying.

 

[jozef]

With Spotify and Netflix you have a choice, you can buy the same music and TV shows for a bigger upfront sum and then own them forever. So everyone gets the model they prefer. Personally I'm happy to subscribe to Spotify, on one hand because it means I can always have any music I want, I don't have to worry about having to buy a song just to listen to it once or twice, but mostly because they found ways to add value on top of that with their suggestion algorithms, social stuff (see what your friends are listening to), etc. Ulysses doesn't give you a choice between buying it and owning it forever (I actually bought the iOS version for £18 back before the subscription and it was a poor experience) and a subscription and they do little to justify paying for it every month. Spotify gives me fresh songs twice a week so I have a reason to keep paying.

But once you stop paying, you will loose access (which I believe was the original complain). Justifying price is different issue and it's very relative to everyone.

To be fair: I know Spotify has a free tier, but having 3 commercials each 3 songs is a way of payment to them.

I'm not taking their side. I don't care about their software. If I would need it (ie: work related), I would consider paying. As a developer I can relate. It's like when Tower switch to subscription as well. But its a software that I use multiple times every single day. And personally, even that I could live without it, I don't have problem to pay them as it saves me time.

 

[bwintx]

Happy subscriber here. Just wanted to get in a positive word to (try to) balance out the people who always leap into any discussion of Ulysses with unrelated complaints about the subscription policy that is now over a year old. I am glad to see these updates coming, and continue to find this app indispensable — and definitely worth the price, even on a subscription basis.

 

[ulyssesric]

Don't forget to send complain to Netflix, Spotify, Apple and many others. I don't think subscription model specifies ownership. Prove me wrong.

Evernote.

Evernote ask you to be their cash cow by restricting your uploading data flow and number of extra terminals you can use, but not associating the subscription to uploaded data.When your premium subscription ends you still have access to your data.

Q.E.D.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Happy subscriber here. Just wanted to get in a positive word to (try to) balance out the people who always leap into any discussion of Ulysses with unrelated complaints about the subscription policy that is now over a year old. I am glad to see these updates coming, and continue to find this app indispensable — and definitely worth the price, even on a subscription basis.

nice try, hahah
everyone gets what he deserves ...

 

[jozef]

Evernote.

Evernote ask you to be their cash cow by restricting your uploading data flow and number of extra terminals you can use, but not associating the subscription to uploaded data.When your premium subscription ends you still have access to your data.

Q.E.D.

Thats slightly different model. Evernote app is free. You only pay subscription for sync (over quota). I get the point that if you stop paying, you still have access to data. I think this is valid complain against "app rental" subscription.

On the other side, how is it different then Photoshop CC? (or how is that online subscription version called).

 

[gaanee]

That's a good point. For software/apps, you should be able to keep the version you bought, you may not get new features but still can use you paid for.
Subscription model makes more sense where new content is made available like music, news. In the case of software/apps, you create the content (documents) using the app and the biggest problem with software subscription is that you get locked-in, if you stop the subscription, all your content documents are inaccessible even the ones when you were paying, in the current model you don't get to retain that old content.

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.

 

[giebe]

Well again they are shipping useless updates. Still waiting for table support. Dark Mode was already available and Siri Shortcuts since first Shortcuts Beta too. So what's new exactly? Never upgraded since they switched to Subscription model and the updates weren't worth it. They released four minor updates since they switched the business model in over a year. That's a joke, as they were promising more frequent updates.

 

[triton100]

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.

You still have everything you wrote in the app and can view it. Just like your magazines

 

[artfossil]

Happy subscriber here. Just wanted to get in a positive word to (try to) balance out the people who always leap into any discussion of Ulysses with unrelated complaints about the subscription policy that is now over a year old. I am glad to see these updates coming, and continue to find this app indispensable — and definitely worth the price, even on a subscription basis.

Ulysses is one of my favorite—and most used—apps, that continues to get better. It's indispensable for me and I'm happy to pay 29.99 a year to use it and to support its development.

By the way, one does not lose access to one's content after a subscription ends. From ulysses.app:

What happens after my subscription or trial ends? Can I still access my texts?
Definitely. Ulysses is in read-only mode, meaning you can still access all your sheets and export them using any export format.

 

[triton100]

With Spotify and Netflix you have a choice, you can buy the same music and TV shows for a bigger upfront sum and then own them forever. So everyone gets the model they prefer. Personally I'm happy to subscribe to Spotify, on one hand because it means I can always have any music I want, I don't have to worry about having to buy a song just to listen to it once or twice, but mostly because they found ways to add value on top of that with their suggestion algorithms, social stuff (see what your friends are listening to), etc. Ulysses doesn't give you a choice between buying it and owning it forever (I actually bought the iOS version for £18 back before the subscription and it was a poor experience) and a subscription and they do little to justify paying for it every month. Spotify gives me fresh songs twice a week so I have a reason to keep paying.

You don’t own music from Spotify. You pay for a license to be able to play it.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I tried out Ulysses … what bothered me the most was, if I made an ordered numbered list and decided later I wanted to add something in the middle of the list, I had to manually renumber everything. I sent a message to support (who promptly replied saying it was on their list of things to do). 2-3 updates later, not fixed. I'm moving on. It's a nice app and works really well with any cloud service. But since I deal with numbered lists a lot, that just bugged me too much.

Love the dark mode, especially since I write a lot in dark areas with little light.

The subscription thing annoys me, and makes it that much easier to decide I don't need to pay for it.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Maybe this has some advantages for pro writers that I can't understand but it seems very overpriced seeing how it can't do anything (to my eyes at last) that other much cheaper Markdown editors can't.

Especially when there are RTF editors like Scrivener, which don’t require a subscription also...
[doublepost=1537203879][/doublepost]

You still have everything you wrote in the app and can view it. Just like your magazines

Just hope you don’t find a typo.

 

[macintoshmac]

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.

True. That is actual subscription, and I like Agenda for that model. However, I have tried to get my head around it a couple times, and couldn't figure what to do with it, when I have the excellent Bear Notes app that I love.

 

[Hildegerd]

The old version of Ulysses can't be downloaded anymore?

 

[bwintx]

The old version of Ulysses can't be downloaded anymore?

See item #3 in:
http://ulysses.app/blog/2017/08/ulysses-switches-to-subscription/#more-8700

 

[CristianM]

The old version of Ulysses can't be downloaded anymore?

You can only get those if you purchased them in the past, and they will receive no further updates, otherwise buying them is no longer an option.

 

[artfossil]

I tried out Ulysses … what bothered me the most was, if I made an ordered numbered list and decided later I wanted to add something in the middle of the list, I had to manually renumber everything. I sent a message to support (who promptly replied saying it was on their list of things to do). 2-3 updates later, not fixed. I'm moving on. It's a nice app and works really well with any cloud service. But since I deal with numbered lists a lot, that just bugged me too much.

You don't have to manually renumber your list. Just select it, Clear Markup and then apply the Add Ordered List to your selected list. I agree that isn't elegant and should be corrected.

 

[drumcat]

I didn't want to offer this up at the top, but I'm quite happy with Typora, and Atom. It's all native. I tried Agenda, and it's not for me. I've tried Quiver, and it was not for me. I've tried everything that comes down the pipe, and all of the ones that have to convert things in and out of markdown into and out of json objects always leaves me disappointed.

But from an ownership perspective, I understand that it's all "read-only" after the subscription. But that forces me to take it out of json and export. It's much better to just use native GFM markdown.

- Typora for Mac
- 1Writer for iOS
- Dropbox
- Atom for the occasionally nerdy stuff

Staying in plaintext/.md is a big advantage because there is never any lock-in. I'm hoping that the standard increases to add tagging with @tag or enforce strict headers and do #tag, but that's a GitHub call. Otherwise, codefencing works just fine, and there's no benefit to throwing all this stuff into json just because that's the indexer. Use the OS, and it works very well.

I gave Ulysses a good shot, and it looks a hell of a lot like Quiver anyhow. I would have probably purchased it had it been a non-rental agreement. But that's a business decision, and I would have probably ended up in this place anyhow with a license to spare. But I never gave them (or Bear) much thought specifically because of the monetary setup.

Final thought... I love paying for software, and I'm really ok with things being eventually EOL'd. However, the Agenda "Cash Cow" model (great name) is the only fair way for consumers to go. EOL a year after you end paying, etc., but ya.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

That's a good point. For software/apps, you should be able to keep the version you bought, you may not get new features but still can use you paid for.
Subscription model makes more sense where new content is made available like music, news. In the case of software/apps, you create the content (documents) using the app and the biggest problem with software subscription is that you get locked-in, if you stop the subscription, all your content documents are inaccessible even the ones when you were paying, in the current model you don't get to retain that old content.

Not really. Most content created with Adobe Creative Suite and Office can be opened in other apps. Even some project files can be imported.