Full-screen writing program

In computing, a full-screen writing program[1] or distraction-free editor[2][3][4] is a text editor that occupies the full display with the purpose of isolating the writer from the operating system (OS) and other applications. In this way one should be able to focus on the writing alone, with no distractions from the OS and a cluttered interface.[2][5][6][7] Often distraction-free editors feature a dark background and a text field, with lighter colored text. However, most distraction-free editors include customisable user interfaces.[8] Some editors support rich text editing.

List of full screen editors

Free and open-source

Name License Linux Other supported operating systems p. lang. Toolkit Spell checker Syntax highlighting WYSIWYG Notable aspects, references
Acme LPL Yes Plan 9, Mac OS, Windows Mouse chording; supports sending selected text through pipelines of programs; extensible & scriptable via any language.
CodeRoom GPLv3 Yes Mac OS, Windows C++ Qt No QSyntaxHighlighter supports syntax highlighting.[9]
GNU Emacs GPLv3 Yes Unix, Mac OS, Windows C, Emacs Lisp curses, GTK+ Yes Yes Yes supports syntax highlighting, programmable, several distraction-free packages available.[10][11][12][13]
FocusWriter GPLv3 Yes Mac OS, Windows C++ Qt Enchant Highly customizable, has basic .odt format support[14]
gedit GPLv2 Yes Cross-platform C GTK+ Enchant GtkSourceView Unicode full-screen with F11; part of GNOME Core Applications
KoalaWriter GPLv3 Yes Mac OS, Windows C++ Qt No No No Clone of OmmWriter[15]
LightWrite Yes Web based Python Django Features save online, export to file and 2 color modes.[16][17]
Marave GPLv2 Yes No Python Qt Enchant GNU source-highlight Similar to OmmWriter, CreaWriter;[18]
PyRoom GPLv3 Yes Mac OS Python GTK+ No No No [19]
QuiEdit GPLv3 Yes Windows Python Hunspell Yes Markdown basic text formatting.[20]
RubyRoom GPLv2 Yes No Ruby[21] GTK+ No No No Latest version from 2009
TextRoom GPLv3 Yes Mac OS, Windows C++ Qt (+GLib) Hunspell Supports rich text[22]

Freeware

Name Operating system support Notable aspects, references
Poe Windows 8 Word count goals, writing timers, auto-correct and resource links. Windows 8 only.[23]
FORCEdraft Windows Text editor that won't exit until the user's goal is reached.[24]
DarkRoom Windows Clone of WriteRoom for Windows .NET[25]
JDarkRoom Linux, Mac OS, Windows Clone of DarkRoom written in Java[26]
Q10 Windows Portable, has word count features
Writemonkey Windows Markdown Extra, Textile and WikiCreole support [27]

Donors can access plugins, including a corkboard and timer

Calmly Writer Online Mac OS, Windows, Linux and Chrome OS Distraction-free and responsive design [28]
Write! Windows Markdown, spell-checker, distraction-free and responsive design [29]

Proprietary

Name Operating system support Notable aspects, references
Bloom Editor Windows Uses 3D rendering for special effects and dynamic visual themes. Has a free limited version[30]
CreaWriter Windows Clone of OmmWriter for Windows; has limited free version[31]
iA Writer Mac OS Has iCloud and Dropbox integration, iPad and iPhone version, Focus Mode, and Markdown support
OmmWriter Mac OS, Windows Supports images as backgrounds, and a player for ambient music[32]
Sublime Text Linux, Mac OS, Windows customisable, for programmers,[33][34] has free trial version[35]
Write Onward! Windows Fullscreen writing software disallowing editing, copying or pasting text to let writers focus solely on the writing process.[36]
WriteRoom Mac OS Simple[37][38][39]
Xiosis Scribe Windows
NaNoScriBe Windows 8 Rich text, on-screen word count, goals and timers. Built-in nanowrimo stats page [40]
ZenWriter Windows Simple, with background images and ambient music[41]
Calmly Writer for Desktop Mac OS, Windows, Linux and Chrome OS Distraction-free and responsive design [28]
Moopato eBook Writer Mac OS and Windows Distraction-free wriitng and publishing of eBooks [42]

Features

Rich text support

Some distraction-free editors support rich text editing. These include CreaWriter, TextRoom, and WriteRoom.[22][31][43] In some cases, this feature turned off per default and must be set by a user.[43]

Syntax highlighting

Currently, only a few distraction-free editors support syntax highlighting. CodeRoom is an open source project with the purpose of creating a distraction-free code editor with customisable highlighting schemes.[9] The latest version of Marave supports syntax highlighting.[18] Sublime Text supports a distraction-free full-screen view.[33][34] Packages exist for GNU Emacs that turn off various features and reformat the display to a distraction-free layout while retaining syntax highlighting and other features familiar to Emacs users..

Aids to writing

Word count is a common feature in these editors. Other aids can include spell checkers, auto-corrections and quick text templates.[44]

Other Features

Many of the programs include timers to pace writing. FocusWriter and WriteMonkey, among others, include typewriter sound effects.[45]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Full Screen Writing Program (English translation)
  2. 1 2 "Comparison of distraction-free editors on bweaver.net.".
  3. ↑ "Blog post on innovations in text editing.".
  4. ↑ "Poll on lifehacker.com on best distraction-free editor".
  5. ↑ "Tips and Tricks for Distraction-Free Writing".
  6. ↑ "ghacks.net on distraction-free on the distraction-free editor ZenEdit.".
  7. ↑ "List of distraction-free editors".
  8. ↑ "Tech Malaya blog post on some of the popular distraction-free editors".
  9. 1 2 "CodeRoom on Google code".
  10. ↑ "WriteRoom".
  11. ↑ "Emacs as a distraction free environment".
  12. ↑ "GNU Emacs".
  13. ↑ "tabula-rasa-mode".
  14. ↑ "FocusWriter official website".
  15. ↑ "KoalaWriter on Google code".
  16. ↑ "LightWrite - Gun.io".
  17. ↑ "LightWrite, A Free Online WriteRoom Clone".
  18. 1 2 "Marave on Google code".
  19. ↑ "PyRoom official website".
  20. ↑ "QuiEdit official website".
  21. ↑ "RubyRoom official website".
  22. 1 2 "TextRoom on Google code".
  23. ↑ "Developer's website".
  24. ↑ "FORCEdraft official website".
  25. ↑ "DarkRoom official website".
  26. ↑ "JDarkRoom official website".
  27. ↑ "Writemonkey features page".
  28. 1 2 "Calmly Writer website".
  29. ↑ "Write! official website".
  30. ↑ "Bloom Editor official website".
  31. 1 2 "CreaWriter official website".
  32. ↑ "OmmWriter official website FAQ".
  33. 1 2 "Announcement of distraction-free full-screen support on Sublime Text official blog".
  34. 1 2 "Sublime Text features".
  35. ↑ "Sublime Text download section".
  36. ↑ "Write Onward! official website".
  37. ↑ "WriteRoom official website".
  38. ↑ Eisenman, Bonnie (8 July 2010). "Writeroom Review". 148Apps. TrouserMac Industries. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  39. ↑ Elliott, Amy-Mae (19 January 2011). "How to: Beat Writer's Block Online". Mashable. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  40. ↑ "developer's website".
  41. ↑ "ZenWriter website".
  42. ↑ "Moopato eBook Writer website".
  43. 1 2 "Comparison of distraction-free editors for OS-X".
  44. ↑ Q10 is a Full Screen Writing Program
  45. ↑ Comparison of Fullscreen text editors
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