Writing On The iPad: Text Automation with Editorial

Editorial has turned my iPad into a device that I want to use more than my Mac, because it combines the power of automation with the fun and low-friction nature of iOS.

Plain text is great…until it’s not.

workflows aren’t meant to be beautiful. They should be flexible, streamlined, and efficient.

Editorial makes me want to work from my iPad.

if you want to build state-of-the-art workflows that can adapt to varying situations and scenarios, you’re going to have to use conditional blocks profusely.

don’t underestimate the potential of pausing as a way to make other actions complete and return a correct set of data – such as moving between different documents or launching another app and then coming back to Editorial.

Something that I use a lot when writing is an abbreviation to open websites I frequently visit in the browser, which benefits from the option of not automatically revealing the built-in browser; in this way, I can open a website in the background, finish a sentence, and then swipe to view the browser.

While I’d argue that Drafts is still better suited for quick text entry and sharing – and that’s why many of my workflows integrate with Pierce’s app – Editorial tries a bolder approach for power users with automation features that encompass the iOS user interface, text, URL schemes, scripts, and snippets in a single environment. Even taken individually, Editorial’s automation tools are more powerful and flexible than current alternatives on iOS.