Based on recommendations from this thread on Micro.blog I’ve been using iA Writer for the last week for my Markdown writing on Windows.

For a couple days I used Sublime Text with Markdown Extended and Monokai Extended, rounded out with WordCount so I can see character count. It worked until I realized that I wanted something that was quick to open and start typing, which is exactly what iA Writer does best. It reminds me of Drafts on iOS in that regard.

My favorite features in iA Writer are the character count that can be shown all the time while hiding the menu bar, as well as the ability to have typewriter scrolling turned on. I like to focus on the text I am currently writing instead of having to scroll to get the current line to the middle of the screen.

Adding links is quick and easy using Ctrl+K if you have the URL on the clipboard it pastes it in then focuses on the title section. Indenting lists is a bit peculiar when you hit Tab it moves one space which looks odd to see the indent being on almost the same level as preceding line.

Feature Requests

I do have a few feature requests that I think would improve the experience.

  • More view options

    • I’m not a fan of the overly large margins, therefore giving margin sizing options would be great.
    • Font Options are needed.

  • Library

    • Another feature I am missing but is in beta is the library that exists on the Mac version. I would love to be able to click a post in my Drafts folder within iA Writer and start typing as the Mac does.

  • Auto Save

    • The ability to autosave would be much appreciated or keep the text in the editor. I’ve lost a couple of short posts due to closing the file or opening another file, and this could either be solved with an autosave option, keep the text in the editor, or open files in a new window option. I prefer opening the second file in a separate window as well as an autosave option.

Overall iA Writer is a great Markdown application, and I will keep with it for the foreseeable future. I’m looking forward to the Library feature being release as well as more customizable preferences.