Best Screenplay App
I’ve used other script-writing apps, and I can attest this is the one to get. Here’s why:
- Dead simple UI
- Great beat board features
- Syncing across platforms is unparalleled
- Some feature parity and text selections issues in mobile, but none that are dealbreakers.
- Dead simple UI
- Great beat board features
- Syncing across platforms is unparalleled
- Some feature parity and text selections issues in mobile, but none that are dealbreakers.
Love it
I love the app, the only thing that kind of really annoys me is the paywall on everything. Especially for those of us who are just starting.
Used to be Amazing
Arc Studio was my favorite screenwriting software until the updates for the free version rolled in. Now, you can only access the free version on a browser—annoying but I can deal with that—and you are only allowed two free scripts. Two. I switched to Arc Studio from WriterDuet for the same reason except they at least allowed three under the free version. This isn’t even a free version anymore it’s a free trial. I’m an aspiring screenwriter so it’s not like I’m making bank over here lol. I’ll have to find another software which saddens me cause I really liked Arc Studio. I’m not saying everything should be free cause I know the people who worked hard on this app need to make money too, I just don’t like that I’ve poured a lot of time into scripts on this app and now the changes make it unusable for someone unable to pay what the app is asking for (a lot of money).
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Say Goodnight, Final Draft
Arc Studio Pro is the app that Final Draft should aspire to. It’s clean, neat and elegant. It helps you focus with your outline to the side and helps you with the pre-writing (populating character names, creating bios, as well as locations and story arcs.
This is a fully featured app as opposed to the extremely watered down version of FD. It allows you to take snapshots, tracks your revision history and creates a character arc timeline which allows you to see the journey of your characters across the entire script.
I highly recommend that you do the pre-writing because it will give you a clear path forward. Some people like to go for it, and the program allows that flexibility.
The app also keeps track of your writing activity and nags you when you’re slacking off (at your direction, of course).
It writes Final Draft files as well as Fountain files, which FD can read if your production company insists on using Final Draft.
The yearly subscription is well worth it.
This is a fully featured app as opposed to the extremely watered down version of FD. It allows you to take snapshots, tracks your revision history and creates a character arc timeline which allows you to see the journey of your characters across the entire script.
I highly recommend that you do the pre-writing because it will give you a clear path forward. Some people like to go for it, and the program allows that flexibility.
The app also keeps track of your writing activity and nags you when you’re slacking off (at your direction, of course).
It writes Final Draft files as well as Fountain files, which FD can read if your production company insists on using Final Draft.
The yearly subscription is well worth it.
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Finally, a true challenger to FD…
I’ve been writing professionally since 2007—I’ve seen my share of apps and somewhat gimmicky programs that purport to replace Final Draft once and for all. Yet they each have fallen short in one area or another and eventually, they disappeared and/or their developers stopped caring—the updates ceased to innovate and grew few and far between.
I’m thrilled to say that we may finally have a “winner”—for certain, this is the closest that anyone has come to taking on the evil corporate behemoth that is FD. While the mobile version isn’t quite as inspired or robust as the desktop app, it’s still a real joy to write using it. And that’s the key to Arc Studio’s success: they found a way to make a genuinely beautiful screenwriting app that is stable and enjoyable to use. They topped it off with a suite of brilliant features I’ve never seen in such a piece of software—the Stash is something I use all the time. It’s ingenious yet simple—and that’s, perhaps, my favorite facet of Arc Studio: the elegant simplicity, the streamlined UI, the fundamental understanding that the vast majority of writers don’t want to look at (and become distracted by) a complex toolkit of bells and whistles while they’re trying to write. In essence, the makers of Arc Studio know what to keep “under the hood” in order to help you get the most out of a writing session.
I’ll end with a simple feature request (and it might be there already, I just can’t find it): in the iOS version, please give us the option to look at our scripts in page view, as opposed to a slightly disorienting scroll! (When I’m working on a long feature project, I like the ability to see its pages.)
Thank you for all that you do—particularly the weekly updates. It’s a great sign that those behind the app are always innovating it and striving to make it better.
I encourage anyone to try Arc Studio. I bet during your free trial week, you’ll be won over, just as I was.
I’m thrilled to say that we may finally have a “winner”—for certain, this is the closest that anyone has come to taking on the evil corporate behemoth that is FD. While the mobile version isn’t quite as inspired or robust as the desktop app, it’s still a real joy to write using it. And that’s the key to Arc Studio’s success: they found a way to make a genuinely beautiful screenwriting app that is stable and enjoyable to use. They topped it off with a suite of brilliant features I’ve never seen in such a piece of software—the Stash is something I use all the time. It’s ingenious yet simple—and that’s, perhaps, my favorite facet of Arc Studio: the elegant simplicity, the streamlined UI, the fundamental understanding that the vast majority of writers don’t want to look at (and become distracted by) a complex toolkit of bells and whistles while they’re trying to write. In essence, the makers of Arc Studio know what to keep “under the hood” in order to help you get the most out of a writing session.
I’ll end with a simple feature request (and it might be there already, I just can’t find it): in the iOS version, please give us the option to look at our scripts in page view, as opposed to a slightly disorienting scroll! (When I’m working on a long feature project, I like the ability to see its pages.)
Thank you for all that you do—particularly the weekly updates. It’s a great sign that those behind the app are always innovating it and striving to make it better.
I encourage anyone to try Arc Studio. I bet during your free trial week, you’ll be won over, just as I was.
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FANTASTIC APP…LOTS OF BUGS
I have been using this app for over a year now and it’s absolutely fantastic. However, the app has an overbearing amount of glitches. (It used to be very stable almost year ago). The undo buttons are non-responsive. The copy and paste features will paste something completely different than what I copied. Entire dialogue lines will get deleted when I try to delete individual letters. And the biggest annoyance is that the keyboard will not close. The only way to close out of it is to scroll down my script super quickly. Fortunately, the team has notified me that an update is coming soon. So hopefully, these issues will be addressed.
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WAY better than Final Draft
The organization of supplemental writing features and the simplicity of snapshots along with the Browser/App/Cloud ecosystem make this the best screenwriting tool hands down. The iOS version of this app definitely needs some updates—there are a few bugs that need ironing out. That said, I’m giving it five stars because I think it’s much better than the 3 stars it currently has and hope more people start using this. The iPad is my favorite filmmaking tool I don’t want to have to jump onto a laptop every time I need to work around a bug.
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Worth the money
I've already been using Arc for years, and was surprised when I saw some bad reveiews here, so I wanted to leave one to set the record straight. This is is the best screenwriting software out there, and I have tried all of them. I am writing feature film screenplays so keep that in mind for this review. It's not just a phone app, it's also has iPad, Mac, and web browser versions. I am primarily using the iPad and Mac versions. I was looking for something with google docs like multi-user functionality, and it has that, as well as a beautiful minimal UI so I can focus on writing. I also really like the versioning and branching features, helps you keep track of what you did when, and who did what (like github but for screenwriting, it's awesome). Another feature I love is the beat sheet, you can write out your beats and then fill in the script. But you can also drag and drop the beats around and it will move the script to follow. The developer is also super responsive to bug reports and feature requests, and they have a support site where you can vote and request features/bug fixes. But overall I am just so impressed by Arc Studio. Like I said, tried em' all, this is the best.
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Excellent
Works well and seems stable.
Purposely downgraded— unusable without paying ridiculous prices
I used to love this app, can edit without wifi, easy layout. Literally perfect. I tried to use it recently after an update and it tells me that in order to use the app that advertises itself as free, I have to pay a subscription. Fine. So I’ll use the web browser instead.
Oh, now you’re telling me you don’t support a safari browser and I literally need to pay money to not only edit, but view/ download the drafts I’ve been writing for the past few weeks. Utter ridiculousness. Don’t waste your time
Oh, now you’re telling me you don’t support a safari browser and I literally need to pay money to not only edit, but view/ download the drafts I’ve been writing for the past few weeks. Utter ridiculousness. Don’t waste your time
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Glitchy App for Great Program
Love the desktop app, but the iPhone app glitches a lot.
Bugs make the app unusable
Too many bugs to mention, adding up to an unusable editor that randomly moves the cursor around inside a line and changes focus to other parts of a page. The most basic functionality is broken. These issues have persisted for months.
One of the better iPad screenwriting apps
Unlike the mediocre Final Draft Go app, you can actually view your story structure.
Has most features I need, except script breakdown and table read facilities.
It’s a shame they stopped providing version history info too.
Has most features I need, except script breakdown and table read facilities.
It’s a shame they stopped providing version history info too.
some really simple issues.
As a showrunner, I really want to love this app. Much more elegant than writer duet and the idea of assigned collaboration is great. But after paying a lot of money for both Mac and iOS versions… I can’t even cut and past in the iOS version. I can copy and paste and then delete… but not great haha. Lots of errors like this, but it’s pretty infuriating given the cost.
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Lots of room for improvement
The iOS app is several steps behind the desktop and web apps - issues with formatting (inability to bold, italicize), copying/pasting text, and even selecting text snippets to stash. Intermittent sync issues between the desktop/web apps and the iOS app. Support has been spotty - these issues have been reported and the advice is to check for updates, but issues persist regardless. I’m toughing it out until I finish my current project and my subscription expires.
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They draw you in with the promise of free use
But then, once you’ve started a project, you cannot access the free use because (and I can’t add screenshots on this review) « open free browser app » takes you to: « we will open a browser window, so you can continue writing in the free browser app »
Click on « open free browser app » and the result, every time (I’ve tried several dozen times!) is: “Browser not supported, Download the app or upgrade your browser”. You tap on “download app” and nothing! (Several dozen times!).
I’m completing this review on my iPad (latest iOS)
In short, this app may affect your mental health as it will compel you to do the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result every time you do (as you try to access your work)- which may be a definition of insanity(?) - a behaviour I was not prone to do before installing this app. AVOID!!!
Click on « open free browser app » and the result, every time (I’ve tried several dozen times!) is: “Browser not supported, Download the app or upgrade your browser”. You tap on “download app” and nothing! (Several dozen times!).
I’m completing this review on my iPad (latest iOS)
In short, this app may affect your mental health as it will compel you to do the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result every time you do (as you try to access your work)- which may be a definition of insanity(?) - a behaviour I was not prone to do before installing this app. AVOID!!!
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can’t even use the app without paying
don’t even download the app. You have to use the browser, so it’s pointless to download the app
Was working now it’s not
The app was working fine now it’s saying error starting app can the developer comment below to see what solution to it to be fixed
Worst app ever
Paid good money for an app that crashed over and over again. Was essentially ghosted by their customer support. Missed a deadline because the issues were never resolved. Absolutely terrible!
paywall
the browser version is a great resource but putting a paywall over the app is just asinine. if you’re going to spend money on screenwriting software put it towards final draft or one of the more reliable apps.
