Notwithstanding bad experiences with syncing, I’ve decided to give Ulysses another short-term trial. I’m doing so because Ulysses recently released two extremely valuable updates: table of contents creation and tables. I’m impressed so far. Here is a screenshot of a blog article I’m writing on Lighthouse parenting in Ulysses:
I don’t know if I am willing to stick with Ulysses, given my prior experiences and the modest subscription, but this update motivated me to at least give it another try.
FYI, I had given up on Ulyssses, both because of the propriety database (unless I want to sacrifice functionality), and very frustrating sync issues on devices that I haven’t run the app in more than a few weeks.
But I went back to it because I just love the interface so much. So clean and easy, and customizable. I think I’m back for a good bit as well.
Yes, it is frustrating to lose functionality if one exports sheets, but I can export my work as TextPack files and import into DT. From there I can convert them to a variety of other formats.
Exported TextPack to DT:
Same. I can use external files, but then I lose the ability to use any proprietary formatting that is not supported by the standard markdown format. I don’t know why they won’t let that be an option? I would be very happy to have “markdown” files that displayed a little bit of unreadable code mixed in if opened in a standard markdown reader.
I realize that this may not be technically possible, but if Ulysses and iA Writer had a baby, that would probably be the ideal app. 
We are you friends here Barrett, and this is an intervention.
We all know that you would then be torn in 3 directions!
I suspect that you’re just like me: we play with these “important” things for fun, because it’s a nice distraction from proper work!
I can be as guilty as anyone, but generally, it’s not so much a distraction from proper work as taking a break. I get up extremely early in the morning (4:30) and often have evening meetings. So, experimenting with an app related to my writing sometimes gives me a bit of a mental break. seriously, I’ve been using IA Writer and Pages predominantly. I’m giving Ulysses a short second chance because I’m very impressed with the table of contents and table feature. I don’t know that that is enough to keep me using Ulysses, but I want to try it at least.
Perhaps that baby is already on the way? Help Us Test Our New Writing App - Literature & Latte; and Something New: Beta Testers Needed - Literature & Latte. I am not on the beta and don’t know if they will make the release date of ‘before end 2024’, but I’ve been waiting with excitement.
That sounds fantastic! I attempted to register for the beta, but they’re not accepting any more beta testers. I suppose one could use this new app to write and then import the writing into Scrivener for more intricate work—at least, I hope so. Regardless, I find the description of the new app intriguing, and I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing the link. I had heard rumors about the new app, but I hadn’t read any details about it.
It’s likely to be into 2025 now, AIUI. The last I heard they are waiting for the Windows version to be ready so they can release both at the same time.
Beta testers aren’t allowed to speak about the details, but the two pages you linked to give a good summary of what is available. The simpler feature set and the iCloud synching will appeal to a lot of people who find Scrivener too complex for their needs – though it’s still a powerful program in its own right – and / or don’t like subscriptions.
The new Scrivener and a possible full Panda editor release (from the Bear notes folks) are my two most anticipated apps for 2025. (For now, I turn to iWriter or Sublime Text.)
I’ve used Ulysses for several years now, and am still very pleased with it. It has folder organization set up for my blog post workflow, a highly modifiable interface (I like the iOS theme), and does a great job directly uploading my blog posts (that I draft in Ulysses) into my WordPress site.
I’ve looked around at some other of the popular options but always go back to Ulysses.
You’re not supposed to ask. 
Seriously, I reached out to Shawn Blanc, who has an excellent course on Ulysses. Shawn has been using Ulysses for years for all his writing endeavors.
He was kind enough to respond immediately to my inquiry. I asked him directly if he had encountered data loss issues and if I could trust Ulysses. He assured me that he has never lost any work in Ulysses. As I dug deeper into the matter, I noticed that there are reports of data loss in various apps, including DEVONthink, Scrivener, Ulysses, Word, you name it. This is an inherent risk, even with markdown files.
Accordingly, I’ve decided to give Ulysses another chance. Ulysses can manage a wide range of writing projects from large book projects to short blog articles and everything in between, which meets my needs. While it’s not flawless, no app is, Ulysses is exceptionally good and continues to improve. A significant benefit for me is that Ulysses, unlike Scrivener, has an outstanding iPad app with near-perfect parity with the Mac app. Ulysses is a delight to use.
To minimize the potential for data loss, I am supplementing my normal backup workflow by adding Carbon Copy Cloner backups. I’ve ordered a new external hard drive, which should arrive today. I will use that for cloning the master. That will give me three external backups of all of my data in addition to Backblaze.
I should add, that every six months, I export my Ulysses work in the TextBundle format to DEVONThink and also save all of it to an archive folder on the Mac.
If I can’t recover data after all of that, it is meant to be.
Thanks for that. I’ve just purchased a new 11" iPad Air to replace my 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 which has fallen into disuse due to its size. I’m also consolidating my app subscriptions and looking how i move forward. I’ve been trialling several apps, but may pull a leaf out of your book and look to moving to using stock apps.
I do a lot of writing and want to find something suitable for the iPad and macos.
If you haven’t previously, give Ulysses a try. It is great on the iPad and the Mac.
I’ve just used it for my latest book. I prefer it in some ways over scrivener, which I used a lot in the past.
The syncing is very handy. Last week I was able to edit my book on my iPhone while sitting on the beach drying off after a swim. And then when I got home the edits had trickled through to my Mac.
That said, I did have one sync issue. It was a problem with iCloud, I think, not with Ulysses.
I have grown to enjoy writing in markdown, and it annoys me when I try to use scrivener that I have to change fonts etc.
The one thing that annoys me about Ulysses which is minor is the folder interface. Scriveners binder seemed so much easier to use. No idea why. It’s not a showstopper.
I agree. I think the friction point is that in Ulysses, folders are in one column and sheets in another, whereas in Scrivener, they are in the same column, making it easier to see the flow of large manuscripts.
I’d really like to use Ulysses for my next novel. I like to write on my iPad Pro when on the move and while Scrivener for iOS is ‘OK’ it lacks a lot of features I use. What is stopping me is my reliance on a couple of key features of Desktop Scrivener. Are any of these possible in Ulysses?
I could get around the first issue by using Aeon Timeline alongside Ulysses but I’d need to see if the view is as easy to use as Scriveners Outline view. If two way sync between Ulysses and Plottr was a thing, I’d switch in an instant.
I’m deep into line edits on my current novel so I’m not changing the wheels on the bus just yet, but having dropped a lot of money on an M4 iPad Pro and Keyboard I’m finding it frustrating not to be able to write and edit on it, so I’d like to try and make it work for the next project.
