Have you been frustrated by simplistic text editors and note apps for iOS? Whether you’re a dedicated writer or a code monkey who can’t quit pounding out code even when on the go, you’ve likely found that most office and note apps don’t quite cut it.
Nebulous Notes is a notepad-type app that aims to solve these problems. It includes tons of options to tweak so you can get your editing environment working just like you want, and even includes macros to help you enter common text or special characters without navigating through all the available keyboard layouts. Let’s look at how this app can help simplify your writing or coding on the go.
Getting Started
Nebulous Notes uses a clean and simple interface to help you focus on your writing without distraction. Press the plus button on the top left to create a new text document directly, then just tap anywhere on the blank document to start writing.
Start writing notes quickly
Alternatively, tap the folder icon to get Nebulous Notes integrated with Dropbox. This app is designed to let you edit or save files anywhere in your Dropbox account, which is a nice change from the apps that only let you edit files in a certain folder. Enter your Dropbox account info to link your account, and seconds later you can browse through all of your folders and files.
Nebulous Notes is built around Dropbox and works great with it
Nebulous will actually let you open any file that’s on your Dropbox, just like most desktop text editors. Do note, though, that you’re just opening the text version of the file, which isn’t very useful with many file types such as the zip file we opened here. It is very useful with HTML, CSS, or any other text formatted code files you may have, as well as any .txt document.
Nebulous can view any file, but all files are not created equal
Once you’re finished editing a document, you can tap the folder icon to switch to another document. You can browse your Dropbox to open another file as before, or switch between your recently edited files from the Auto-saves menu. Unlinked files are those files that you’ve created locally on your device and haven’t synced to Dropbox, while Linked files are those you’ve edited from Dropbox or already uploaded.
When you’re editing a document, you can save it directly to Dropbox by pressing the Upload button. This will let you select where to save the file in Dropbox and will sync the changes so you can access your work anytime, anywhere.
Files are saved locally by default, but you can save them in any Dropbox folder you want
Alternatively, you can share or print your files directly from your iOS device. Press the light box with an arrow icon near the bottom of a note to send it attached to email as text or PDF, or included in the body of the email. Or, if your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad is running iOS 4.2 or newer, you can print the note directly from your device!
Email or print your files directly from iOS
Customizing Your Writing Environment
Nebulous Notes includes tons of options to tweak your editing environment to your liking. To access the settings, just tap a blank area in the bottom right corner of a note, and then tap the Aa button that appears. Here you can change the editor brightness, default font size, colors, turn off word wrap, enable TextExpander support, choose your text encoding settings, and more. Or, just pick one of the preset editing environments which offer nice, preconfigured editing setups.
There's settings here for everyone!
If you’re not a fan of the default Helvetica, you can choose from a variety of proportional and monospaced fonts to make your editing as pleasing to your eyes as it can be. Then, from the Macros menu, you can select the extra options you want to add to your Nebulous editing keyboard.
The default macros make it easier to add HTML tags, dates, and more. If these don’t suite your needs, just tap the blue arrow and edit them to quickly insert anything you want!
Turn Nebulous into the perfect writing or coding environment
Here you can see the writer and coder presets, both of which offer very nice preset environments for their respective tasks. The preset themes change the colors, font, size, and even screen brightness to offer great editing environments.
Note also that we’re editing full-screen in the shot on the left; just press the small box icon with four arrows on the bottom of the editor, and everything will disappear from your screen except your text. When you don’t want to be distracted by the time or your battery’s charge level, this lets you zone out and just focus on what you’re writing.
Writing or coding, Nebulous can fit your style
Pros and Cons
iOS apps tend to fall in one of two categories: they either include almost no options and force you to use the settings the developer thought were best, or they include so many options they can feel confusing. While we enjoyed the variety of options Nebulous Notes includes, we sometimes felt like it included too many options and features when we just wanted to write something down. Additionally, the file saving options can be somewhat confusing, as new notes are only saved locally by default and you have to expressly upload them to make sure they’re synced.
Conclusion
In all, Nebulous Notes offers more features than any other text editor we’ve used on our iPhone. The macro keyboard made it easy to enter code and common text such as the date or filler text, while the editing environments made it fun to write in. Plus, the same version works on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, so you’ll have the same great editing tools no matter what device you’re using. You can also get Nebulous Notes Lite for free if you want; it includes all the same features but also has an ad on each screen. Either way, this is a powerful text editor that can make it easier to write or code from your iOS device.