New web app features

Let's face it - it has been a while since I showed the My Writing Spot web app some love. I've been busy with the very popular apps for iPhone and iPad, and with porting the app so that it is available on Android devices such as the Kindle Fire and the Nook. All through this, the web app has remained fast and stable, even though it now supports thousands of users daily.

Well, I'm pleased to say that I have taken some time over the past few weeks to add a few nice new features to the My Writing Spot web app. There's nothing earth-shattering here, but these are some things that you've asked for, and that should make the web app that much more useful to us all.

• There is a new Download All button in the toolbar. Clicking on this button will bundle up all your documents into a ZIP-compressed file, and download that ZIP file to your local computer. There is still the option to download a single document, but the Download All feature makes backing up your work to your local computer a snap. Or should I say a click?
• The Email Document feature now emails your document as an attachment instead of as the body of the email. The document is attached as a plain text file, which should be able to be opened by most any word processor or text editor in existence.
• The web app now supports longer document names. Document names can now be up to 40 characters.
• There are a few super-secret background features that have been added to support some coming features in the mobile apps. I can't say much about them now, but watch for updated mobile apps in the coming weeks.

Please keep your feedback coming in. Your comments and suggestions help to shape the future of My Writing Spot. Thanks for your support in making My Writing Spot the best writing app available.

 

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My Writing Nook is now My Writing Spot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Peter de Tagyos

Email: mywritingspot@gmail.com

NOOK PROVES TOO UNCOMFORTABLE FOR WRITING APP. ESCHEWS CRANNY AND HITS THE SPOT.

Independent developer changes app's name following bookseller's sabre-rattling.

Independent software developer PT Software Solutions is announcing a name change for their popular writing app My Writing Nook. Henceforth, the app will be named My Writing Spot. This renaming is in response to pressure from an ignoble bookseller pushing a device whose name is a common English word. The updated web app goes live today at http://www.mywritingspot.com, and free updated releases of the mobile apps are available for iPhone/iPod/iPad and Android today in their respective app stores.

"We've chosen to look at this as an opportunity," said developer Peter de Tagyos. "With all the features that we've added to the app in the latest release and over the past year, we've outgrown our little nook. Our current apps really do hit the sweet spot for writers, providing a fast, distraction-free writing environment that is easy to use anywhere. We'll leave the nooks to the little guys."

My Writing Spot also has a shiny new logo (as seen above) to go along with the new name.

For more details about the My Writing Spot name change and a bit of snark, visit http://www.mywritingspot.com/whats-in-a-name

My Writing Spot (formerly known as My Writing Nook) is a popular web and mobile app dedicated to helping writers "write simply anywhere." The free web app can be found at http://www.mywritingspot.com, and there are mobile versions available for iOS and Android devices.

If you'd like more information about this, or to schedule an interview with Peter de Tagyos, please email Peter at mywritingspot@gmail.com

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T-minus 11 days until the iPad

I apologize for the recent radio silence. I've been very busy lately working on My Writing Nook for iPad. I can't share any details yet, other than that I think that the iPad is the perfect device for an app like My Writing Nook.

I have completely reworked the design and workflow for MWN to take advantage of what the iPad offers. At the same time, I've kept the writing environment distraction-free and easy to use. My Writing Nook for iPad is excellent for writing drafts of your novel, jotting down quick notes or ideas, and keeping everything in synch across your various computers and mobile devices.

All the existing features from the iPhone app will be included, and I've also managed to add a few new features that will only be available on the iPad.

April 3rd is almost here! I can't wait.

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What's next for My Writing Nook?

I've been quite busy here at the My Writing Nook labs. OK, there aren't actually any labs, but saying that sounds kinda cool, so please indulge me. With this week's 1.6 release of the MWN iPhone/iPod touch app, the roll out of the shiny new document groups feature is complete. I hope that everyone is enjoying that feature.

I've got a lot of things planned for MWN, so I thought I'd take a few moments and share some of them with you.

Very near term happenings

I'm excited to announce that very soon there will be a My Writing Nook application available to devices that run Android. That means that your shiny new Droid or Nexus One phone will be yet another place that you can Write Simply Anywhere.

I'm putting the final touches on the app now, so I'd expect to get it into the Android Marketplace within the next two weeks or so. It's been an interesting experience - doing Android development. Once the dust settles, I plan to write a post comparing iPhone development to Android development.

Near term happenings

Once the Android app is out the door, I will turn my focus to working on the iPad version of My Writing Nook. I think that MWN is an application that will be very well-suited to the iPad, and I plan to be in the App Store from day one.

But what about the iPhone/iPod app?

Don't worry, I won't be neglecting the iPhone app. For the 1.7 release, I'm planning to integrate support for TextExpander touch into the app, which will allow you to really boost your word count. There will also be a few other minor features.

And the web app?

The web app continues to be fast and stable. It's the foundation of the entire MWN empire. I've got some interesting things planned for the future, but don't want to share them just yet.

It will be an interesting next few months here at MWN. I hope you'll come along for the ride.

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New Feature - Document Groups

I have just finished rolling out a new feature to the My Writing Nook web app - Document Groups!

Probably the feature most requested for MWN has been for some way to collect several documents together into a project. With document groups, that request has been fulfilled.

If you look at the document list, you'll notice that for each document, the word count checkbox is gone. In its place is a round button, colored to represent which document group that document is a member of. Initially, all these buttons are black (that's the default value). To change a document's group, simply click on the button. This will bring up an overlay that will allow you to choose which group to assign the document to.

Documents in the same group stick together in the document list. Documents in the same group contribute their word count to the word count total for the group. Finally, document groups are sorted in the order that they are shown in the overlay.

When designing this feature, I tried to strike a balance between functionality and ease of use. I think that I've achieved that goal, but I'd like to hear what you think of the document groups feature.

iPhone users - fear not! I have submitted an update to the MWN iPhone app and it is currently pending approval. I'm hoping that the update will appear in the app store within the next two weeks.

If anyone runs into problems or has any questions, feel free to drop me an email at mywritingnookapp@gmail.com.

Happy Writing!

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Small update to My Writing Nook web app tonight

I deployed an update to the MWN web app this evening. If you look closely, you'll see that there is now a logout button in the toolbar.

I've also removed the Google AdSense ads and replaced them with ads from Project Wonderful. For some reason, AdSense couldn't seem to figure out what the site was about and displayed ads that were of no interest to the people visiting the site. The folks at Project Wonderful have come up with an interesting alternative, so I thought I'd give it a try. We'll see how it goes. I've left the AdSense ads on the blog because they seem to be fairly relevant to the content.

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