iCloud

To use Writer with iCloud, simply add an iCloud account to your device: in iOS 5.0+ tap Settings ➤ iCloud. Once your device can access your iCloud account, Writer will automatically recognize iCloud, and ask if you want to use it.

If you chose to use iCloud, it stores all your Writer documents and makes them available in Writer on all your devices. Any Writer documents stored on your device will be safely moved to iCloud. Any Writer documents already in iCloud will become available. Finally, the Documents storage will have a Cloud icon beside it.

If you choose not to use iCloud, documents are stored on your device only, and can be manually backed up via iTunes. Your iCloud documents remain untouched, but you will not be able to access them without going to Apple’s Settings ➤ iA Writer, and changing “Use iCloud” to ON.

Documents are saved automatically, and are synced regularly with iCloud whenever your device has an internet connection. Changes to synced documents are also pushed to Writer on other devices using the same iCloud account automatically. You can still use iCloud even if you don’t have internet access — all documents are cached locally for offline editing.

If you have any problems using iCloud in Writer, please read our knowledge base article “iCloud won’t work. What’s wrong?”

Dropbox

To use Dropbox with Writer for iPhone, first link your Dropbox account: tap on Documents ➤ iA Writer ➤ Link Dropbox, then enter your details (or create an account if necessary). Your Dropbox storage will appear in Documents ➤ iA Writer.

Document changes are automatically saved to Dropbox regularly whenever your device has an internet connection, and you can tap a document’s Sync icon in the Menu bar to manually do this. Synced changes to documents are accessed the next time a document is opened.

Currently Dropbox documents aren’t cached for offline use. If you edit a Dropbox document in Writer for iPhone while offline, Writer will save a copy in Documents storage if necessary and inform you. If offline editing is important, we recommend using iCloud, or temporarily moving the files you’d like to edit offline to the Documents storage.

We recommend using Dropbox to sync documents between Writer for iPhone and a Windows PC. Writer uses UTF-8 encoding, so make sure to use a UTF-8-compatible text editor, and to save as UTF-8 (not ASCII) on your PC, to avoid encoding errors (Chinese or Japanese-looking text).

Undo/Redo in Writer for iPhone

iOS comes with several built-in ways to undo the most recent typing:

• Tap the page and choose Undo from the popup menu — you can also Redo from the same menu.
• Shake the device side-to-side to display an “Undo Typing” dialog.

Writer also includes Undo and Redo actions — use two-finger swipes to the left to undo, or to the right to redo.

Apple’s spell checking and text tools

In Writer for iPhone spell checking, and other text options like auto-capitalization and auto-correction, can be turned on or off under Settings ➤ General ➤ Keyboard. Look up words in Apple’s dictionary by selecting a word, tapping ➤ in the popup, then tapping Define. You can add words to Apple’s dictionary by adding them as shortcuts under Settings ➤ General ➤ Keyboard ➤ Shortcuts. If auto-correction starts remembering your mistakes, you can reset the previously used word list under Settings ➤ General ➤ Reset ➤ Reset Keyboard Dictionary.

Multiple languages support in iOS

You can add additional keyboards under Settings ➤ General ➤ Keyboard ➤ International Keyboards. If you have two or more you’ll get an extra Globe button on Apple’s keyboard to change between them. Currently Writer only supports Latin-based languages, Greek, and Russian.

iOS also lets you type diacritics by tapping and holding relevant keys, for example tap and hold U to get access to ü and other characters. Depending on the keyboard language, common diacritics can be added by “flicking up” on the relevant key. For example, flick upward on the U key when using the German keyboard to add ü.

“Night mode”

At present Writer doesn’t have an inverted, white-on-black color scheme. However, you can approximate this using Apple’s accessibility tools. In iOS: Settings ➤ General ➤ Accessibility ➤ Triple-click Home ➤ Toggle White on Black.

Using a Bluetooth external keyboard with Writer for iPhone

Writer for iPhone becomes a tiny, focussed display when you use an external keyboard. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to pair with your device. The on-screen keyboard and Writer’s keyboard bar will both be hidden, as you can type the keyboard bar punctuation directly. For example, on a U.S. keyboard “smart” quotes are:

• “ = Option-[
• ” = Shift-Option-[
• ‘ = Option-]
• ’ = Shift-Option-]