Getting Started with iA Writer Apps for Mac

iA Writer and iA Writer Pro for Mac are applications designed for focused writing. Some of the powerful features included that let you keep your mind in the text are…

Focus Mode

Focus Mode dims everything but the current sentence, helping you stay in the flow, get words out, and avoid the temptation to edit. Together with Full Screen it gives you laser focus. Once you start typing, all chrome fades away — move the pointer over hidden chrome to make it reappear.

iA Writer Classic

On: Select the menu View → Enter Focus Mode or use the Focus Mode switch in the bottom left of the window
Off: Select the menu View → Exit Focus Mode or use the Focus Mode switch in the bottom left of the window.

iA Writer Pro

On: Select the menu Syntax → Sentence or choose Sentence from the Syntax Control pop up menu in the bottom left of the window.
Off: Select the menu Syntax → Off or choose Syntax Off from the Syntax Control pop up menu in the bottom left of the window.

Syntax Control

Available in iA Writer Pro for Mac, Syntax Control improves upon Focus Mode by helping you to gain insight into your text’s grammatical structure, and concentrate — one sentence at a time — for optimum productivity. Syntax Control dims everything but the chosen syntax (Adjectives, Nouns, Adverbs, Verbs, Prepositions, or Conjunctions) for English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish text. This gives you deep insight into how your writing is constructed: focus on the syntax to control your writing style.

Syntax → Sentence dims everything but the current sentence, helping you to concentrate once sentence at a time and find your flow. Combine with Full Screen for optimum productivity.

Turn Syntax Control on

Select the desired syntax in the Syntax menu, or use the Syntax selector in the Toolbar or use the keyboard shortcut ⌘+D to turn on the last used Syntax. You can cycle through Syntax options with the keyboard shortcut ⇧+⌘+D and ⌥+⇧+⌘+D.

Turn Syntax Control off

Select the menu Syntax → Off or set the Syntax selector in the Toolbar to Syntax Off or use the keyboard shortcut ⌘+D.

Night Mode

iA Writer Pro includes an inverted “light on dark” mode, perfect for writing at night. Note: iA Writer Classic does not have native Night Mode, you can do color inversion through OS X. Learn how here.

Turn on Night Mode

In iA Writer Pro, select the menu View → Night Mode.

Turn off Night Mode

In iA Writer Pro, select the menu View → Day Mode.

Reading Time

iA Writer for Mac shows you word and character counts for your document, at the bottom of the window. iA Writer also includes Reading Time — an indication of how long the average reader would take to read the text.

When you select some text, the figures change to reflect the selection.

When you start typing, these figures fade out with the window chrome — move the pointer over the bottom of the window to reveal them again. Note that these figures recalculate after a few seconds’ pause.

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