Some More Information on Typed

We’ve been working away on Typed for a little while now, so I thought it was about time I did a run down on what it’s all about and when it’s going to be released.

What is Typed anyway?

Typed is a brand new minimalist Markdown editor for Mac. We’re building Typed because we write a lot of Markdown, and weren’t 100% happy with the other apps out there. Markdown is something we’re starting to support widely in our apps (both Ember and RapidWeaver have support now), and it goes without saying that Typed will be receiving frequent updates!

While Typed is a minimal Markdown editor, we also wanted it to be feature-rich. We’ve spent a lot of time getting the app to feel just right - and we want to convey a sense of calm when using the app. It’s all based around getting into that perfect frame of mind where your writing flows and nothing else matters, a zen-like state (hence the videos of nature on the Typed website).

What features will it have?

I know there are plenty of other Markdown editors out there, but I’ve felt for a long time that they are either too simple or far too bloated. With Typed we want to build something that has just the right amount of features, here’s just some of them:

• Minimal UI
• Stunning typography
• Zen Mode
• HTML Preview
• Full Screen Mode
• Word and character counts
• Autosave support
• Full complement of keyboard shortcuts

That’s not all of the features (obviously), but it should give you a taster for some of things you can expect from Typed.

If you want an editor that has virtually every feature you can think of, you’re going to be out of luck. If however you’re looking for a zen like writing experience that’s perfectly balanced, I know you’re absolutely going to love Typed.

What is Zen Mode?

One of the reasons for creating Typed was because we wanted to build an app that had the perfect writing environment. Something you would look forward to using, something that helped you focus - and one of the areas we knew would help with getting focused was ambient sound.

There’s been a lot of research into this, and the right volume of background noise or ambient music can help you get into that often-elusive super-focused zone of productivity.

Writing while there is too much noise can be very distracting, but then writing when it’s silent can also be hard. I’ve found that somewhere in-between is perfect. I like to listen to music, but it has to be calming, almost hypnotic, something without vocals. To help you focus, Typed has these perfect soundtracks built right in. Rather than give each track a name, we decided to illustrate a scene that we felt represent each track best.

The more I listen to these tracks while writing, the easier it is for me to get into the zone: and the ambient music has now become a trigger for good writing! The soundtracks work amazingly well for me, and I can’t wait for you to try it - I honestly think you’ll be surprised by the results.

Beta Testing

We’re also been beta testing Typed for the past few weeks, and while the testers have found plenty of bugs, we noticed a trend in that people already love the app even though it’s not finished. Here’s a couple of nice ones I wanted to share with you:

I downloaded Typed a few minutes ago and I have to say I already love it. It’s so clean and simple and all these tiny details are made with love, I can feel it.

I’m really enjoying Typed. I love the inspirational quotes, and the UI sounds are just delightful.

Typed has already earned a spot in my dock (alongside most of Realmac’s apps) and has a certain quality to it that makes me want to use it.

As we get closer and closer to launch, we’re also on the hunt for a few more beta testers. If you’ve beta tested Mac apps before and would like to help us with Typed, we’d like to hear from you - we have a limited number of test spaces available, so please sign up via HockeyApp to be considered!

So when & where can I buy Typed?

We’re planning on shipping Typed later this month. A demo will be available from our website and you will be able to buy it directly via the Realmac Store for $19.99. We have no plans to bring it to the Mac App Store at this time.

If you want to make sure you’re one of the first to know when Typed is available, be sure to sign-up on the Typed website.