A lot of bugs
I used LivingWriter for about 6 months. I stopped using it because it crashed and shut down almost every time I used it. After another 6 months went by I was charged for another year, not realizing I was on autopay. The company sent no notification that I was about to be charged. I canceled my subscription asap and contacted the company to see if I could get a refund. They said they’d consider it. I followed up twice and each time they said they were considering it but then never got back to me. Between the bugs and the customer service, I wouldn’t recommend this app.
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Good writing app
I’ve been using this program for a while, it’s got more pros than cons, and is constantly being improved.
There are of course things which can be improved upon but the program is quick to learn, full of useful features and well worth a try.
There are of course things which can be improved upon but the program is quick to learn, full of useful features and well worth a try.
Not user friendly
So I just got this and I’m finding it difficult to use. The YouTube videos made it look so easy. Problems I’ve already run into: I tried to copy a paragraph so I could move it to another section and it just doesn’t copy and paste like any other typed application does. I truly don’t know why something that simple can’t be done. Secondly, I was playing around with fonts because the type was a bit small for me to read. I accidentally made one paragraph bold and I can’t figure out how to turn it back to the same as the others. I followed the YouTube video tutorial! Third, I used AI option to start a manuscript. It showed 1/5 AI usages used, but where did it go?? It’s literally nowhere to be found. It’s also hard to move back from tutorials to work in progress. It’s not intuitive. I’ll keep this for a few days for free trial, but I can’t see paying for this at all. The YouTube videos were so misleading!!
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Lifetime user, constantly having to switch to google docs
I love this app a lot of the time, but the amount of bugs make it too frustrating to use for sustained writing— I now import my docs from Google docs & format them for livingwriter as part of my drafting process when I’m further along. Very frustrating that simple bugs still aren’t fixed & I have def submitted numerous bug reports about this stuff for more than a year. For example, the type of quotation marks it uses on desktop versus the phone app are different, so if you’re editing in one and switch to the other, the “s are different. When editing in the middle of a doc on mobile, the font will randomly change so you have to undo what you’ve written and re-write it— but still sometimes it will change. Yesterday I was trying to edit one sentence and I had to re-do my edit 5 times before it stopped changing the font. It’s also very difficult to highlight the text and change the font, you have to press the button for formatting multiple times and sometimes rehighlight the text too. It can take 10-20 attempts.
The AI chapter-to-screenplay function was great at first but now it just puts your dialogue in the center of the page with your exposition still there.
The most frustrating bug— and increasingly frequent, which is what drove me to leave this review, is that the mobile app is now inconsistently syncing with the desktop app. I write on my phone when I’m not at home, and I write on my laptop when I am. Lately, the phone app almost NEVER updates with what I’ve written on desktop. Even if I restart the app, even if I look through my latest versions— my desktop draft seems to exist only on my desktop. SOMETIMES it will update, it’s not like permanently not syncing, but it’s been enough lately that I can no longer justify using the mobile app.
I love LivingWriter as a concept, I find it has a lot of cool features other apps don’t have & I like the aesthetic and future plans for the app. I use the cover art function a lot & find it gives me better results than most AI (I don’t actually use these images in marketing or publishing, but I like them for my own inspiration purposes). The issues with LivingWriter are more the continued small frustrations that impact user experience yet are not addressed as they implement other ambitious updates. Please get the foundation of you app more solid! I want this app to work as intended, that’s why I became a lifetime user!
The AI chapter-to-screenplay function was great at first but now it just puts your dialogue in the center of the page with your exposition still there.
The most frustrating bug— and increasingly frequent, which is what drove me to leave this review, is that the mobile app is now inconsistently syncing with the desktop app. I write on my phone when I’m not at home, and I write on my laptop when I am. Lately, the phone app almost NEVER updates with what I’ve written on desktop. Even if I restart the app, even if I look through my latest versions— my desktop draft seems to exist only on my desktop. SOMETIMES it will update, it’s not like permanently not syncing, but it’s been enough lately that I can no longer justify using the mobile app.
I love LivingWriter as a concept, I find it has a lot of cool features other apps don’t have & I like the aesthetic and future plans for the app. I use the cover art function a lot & find it gives me better results than most AI (I don’t actually use these images in marketing or publishing, but I like them for my own inspiration purposes). The issues with LivingWriter are more the continued small frustrations that impact user experience yet are not addressed as they implement other ambitious updates. Please get the foundation of you app more solid! I want this app to work as intended, that’s why I became a lifetime user!
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Absolutely amazing!! Would love to see some upgrades!
Firstly, I LOVE this app and would highly recommend. I’ve tried numerous writing and notebook apps and I found that this app overall has everything I need as an author. Although there is definitely room for improvement and additions, I would still prefer this over other apps like Dabble and Squibler. It would be great to see some more features to make the app more productive and intuitive for writers (listed below). I’ve tested on: Chrome browser on Windows PC, iPad and iPhone Apple Store apps and iPad Safari/Chrome browsers.
Keep up the great work!
Improve Global Defaults settings:
Ability to save a default Zoom setting. (At current, you need to change the Zoom setting each time when you switch between chapters or manuscripts.)
Ability to set up default Element color settings.
Ability to set up default Status settings
AI Capabilities:
Ability to permanently save search queries under Research Boards or somewhere to easily access AI search query history from both the Rewrite feature and the LivingWriter AI Chat feature.
Add Rewrite feature and LiveWriter AI Chat to iPhone (app and browser). (At current, the only AI available is “Generate AI Outline” when creating a new manuscript.)
Ability to generate images, etc. after an Element has already been created. (At current, AI is only used at the time of creation. There is no option to, for example, generate an AI image of a character after I have already created a character element manually (character created through “New Element>Character” and not through “Generate AI Element”. I can only add an image from my Photos. It would be great to expand on this, such as the ability to generate a book title after a manuscript has been created manually.)
Other:
Spell-check option for iPad (app and browser). Additionally, it would be great to have a built-in thesaurus or dictionary.
Speech-to-text capabilities.
More use from the Goals section in manuscrips besides word count goals. (It would be great to be able to enter custom goals with a manual text box. It would also be great to have a built-in task tracker and productivity calendar that can be synced to common/popular email apps.)
Ability to see word count on a selected body of text.
Split screen capabilities between chapters, etc. and between manuscripts.
Ability to move manuscripts to folders in the main homepage, and by extension, ability to create a manuscript when you’re in a specific folder. (On the iPad, there is no long-press capabilities on the app and browser, and no option to move the manuscript via the 3-dot menu option. Manuscripts are created by default on the main homepage app, and I would need to use my Windows PC’s browser to move manuscripts in/out of folders.)
Keep up the great work!
Improve Global Defaults settings:
Ability to save a default Zoom setting. (At current, you need to change the Zoom setting each time when you switch between chapters or manuscripts.)
Ability to set up default Element color settings.
Ability to set up default Status settings
AI Capabilities:
Ability to permanently save search queries under Research Boards or somewhere to easily access AI search query history from both the Rewrite feature and the LivingWriter AI Chat feature.
Add Rewrite feature and LiveWriter AI Chat to iPhone (app and browser). (At current, the only AI available is “Generate AI Outline” when creating a new manuscript.)
Ability to generate images, etc. after an Element has already been created. (At current, AI is only used at the time of creation. There is no option to, for example, generate an AI image of a character after I have already created a character element manually (character created through “New Element>Character” and not through “Generate AI Element”. I can only add an image from my Photos. It would be great to expand on this, such as the ability to generate a book title after a manuscript has been created manually.)
Other:
Spell-check option for iPad (app and browser). Additionally, it would be great to have a built-in thesaurus or dictionary.
Speech-to-text capabilities.
More use from the Goals section in manuscrips besides word count goals. (It would be great to be able to enter custom goals with a manual text box. It would also be great to have a built-in task tracker and productivity calendar that can be synced to common/popular email apps.)
Ability to see word count on a selected body of text.
Split screen capabilities between chapters, etc. and between manuscripts.
Ability to move manuscripts to folders in the main homepage, and by extension, ability to create a manuscript when you’re in a specific folder. (On the iPad, there is no long-press capabilities on the app and browser, and no option to move the manuscript via the 3-dot menu option. Manuscripts are created by default on the main homepage app, and I would need to use my Windows PC’s browser to move manuscripts in/out of folders.)
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Please stop pushing AI on us
I use the app on my MacBook and iPad and used to love it. The interface can get a bit clunky if you are the type to create many drop-downs like me, but it’s a simple fix by just organizing your ideas a bit better. I’m very excited for the implementation of tabs which I think will help this specific quirk of mine. However, my biggest disappointment is the AI update, and it’s gotten so bad that I am considering unsubscribing completely. I wish they would make an option to eliminate it completely from your current subscription level rather than forcing it onto everyone en masse. I was told that there was going to be a patch to disable seeing the AI options, but so far all I’ve seen is the “hide AI chat” option on the MacBook app that only hides that blue button at the bottom right of the screen. I still have to look at it on my iPad and I’m still waiting for the patch that will eliminate every AI option completely for those of us that don’t use it. I used to love this app and I recommended it to many writer friends, but now I regret doing so. Please make a separate subscription tier for people who want and will actually use AI and keep the rest of us who don’t want it as we were before the big update. Or make an “opt out” function to remove all AI options, not just the AI chat. I emailed for help on how to downgrade to a previous version without AI but unfortunately that doesn’t seem possible. I hated writing this negative review because this was my favorite (and best) writing app, but if you don’t want AI anywhere near your writing then look elsewhere.
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so buggy it's unusable
The interface is great but the actual app doesn't work as of the end of 2023. Syncing between devices is janky, I randomly lost substantial amounts of work without explanation, and the undo functionality doesn't work.
Use caution
I didn’t like this software. It isn’t intuitive and the tutorials for it cover trivial functions that I didn’t care about. Unfortunately for me I let my subscription expire AFTER I had outlined my novel in it. When I resubscribed to retrieve my work, half the outline was gone. I bought Scrivener instead (one time payment) and there are tutorials on every aspect of the program.
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AI and Other New Stuff!
I have several other tools I use regularly to write with. All have their advantages and I use all in various aspects of my writing process. I’ve taken a chance on lifetime plans with a couple including LivingWriter.
LivingWriter felt like a gamble and maybe it still is. BUT, I really love the new AI additions and other user enhancements like scaling the view make it an easier tool to use when fully mobile. Not overly excited about AI in the other tools I use. The new LW AI integration has suddenly become my inspirational co-pilot for world building, quick character back-story creation, and even an story within a story piece that I was struggling with in a current script/novel.
It’s a well rounded tool for fiction, non fiction, and scripting. It keeps track of versions. It has visual planning. So far, the latest additions are well thought out and work well within this existing package of features. The roadmap seems to slide dates continuously. Compared to my other tools, it’s also a lot of growth in the six months I’ve invested. Can’t wait to see what they do next in the roadmap.
LivingWriter felt like a gamble and maybe it still is. BUT, I really love the new AI additions and other user enhancements like scaling the view make it an easier tool to use when fully mobile. Not overly excited about AI in the other tools I use. The new LW AI integration has suddenly become my inspirational co-pilot for world building, quick character back-story creation, and even an story within a story piece that I was struggling with in a current script/novel.
It’s a well rounded tool for fiction, non fiction, and scripting. It keeps track of versions. It has visual planning. So far, the latest additions are well thought out and work well within this existing package of features. The roadmap seems to slide dates continuously. Compared to my other tools, it’s also a lot of growth in the six months I’ve invested. Can’t wait to see what they do next in the roadmap.
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Buggy App
The app definitely has bugs. The “total written today” and daily goals feature often cuts out on a different time zone than I am in, I’ve tried toggling the time zone and it still cuts out at the wrong time.
