# Cloister Ink - Markdown Editor — Distraction-free plain text

> Distraction-free plain text editor for Apple devices with iCloud sync and versioning. (iPhone/iPad app by Seven Swords Productions LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cloister-ink-markdown-editor/id6789028541 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Seven Swords Productions LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/6776341667)
- Category: Productivity, Reference
- Price: $59.99
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 2 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-07-20
- Data updated: 2026-08-17
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cloister-ink-markdown-editor/id6789028541/reviews.md

## What is Cloister Ink?

Cloister Ink gathers everything you write, every project and every format, into one private, distraction-free place, on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

YOUR WRITING IS A FOLDER, NOT A DATABASE
Your work lives as plain markdown files in your own iCloud Drive or on your device. No accounts. No servers. No lock-in. Write on your iPhone, pick the sentence back up on your iPad or Mac. If Cloister Ink disappeared tomorrow, every word would still open in any text editor you like.

A CALM EDITOR THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY
Markdown styles itself as you type. Headings size themselves, bold and italic render live, lists continue on their own. A quiet bar above the keyboard writes the syntax for you. Choose from curated book faces, set your size, spacing, and margins. Light and dark, one tap apart.

EVERYTHING YOU'VE ALREADY WRITTEN, GATHERED
Open Word documents, PDFs, HTML, RTF, and text files from the Files app. Cloister Ink converts clean markdown copies into your vault's Inbox and never touches the originals.

SAFE BY DEFAULT
Autosave writes about a second after you stop typing. Every explicit save takes a draft snapshot, so you can browse up to 30 versions per document and restore any of them, with your current draft preserved first. New drafts start on your device; the first save asks where each document should live, and you can move any file between iCloud and your device with a touch and hold. Nothing syncs that you didn't choose to sync.

FINISH, THEN PUBLISH ANYWHERE
Export any document as PDF, Word, RTF, HTML, or plain text and send it with the share sheet. Turn a chapter into a numbered social thread, posts sized to your platform's character limit, with one tap. Set a session word goal and watch it fill quietly as you work.

AI ON YOUR TERMS, OR NOT AT ALL
Ask is off until you turn it on, and off means Cloister Ink touches no network, ever. When you want it: bring your own Anthropic API key (stored only in your device's Keychain), highlight a passage, and ask for edits, answers, or continuity checks. Only the words you highlight are ever sent, never your vault and never in the background, and an indicator shows whenever a request is in flight. Your key, your model choice, your call.

BUILT FOR WRITERS WHO KEEP THEIR WORDS
No analytics. No telemetry. No subscription. Pay once, own it, write.

## Key features

- Distraction-free writing environment
- Plain markdown file management
- Live markdown styling
- Document versioning and autosave
- Export to PDF, Word, HTML, and more
- Optional AI assistance with BYO API key


## Frequently asked questions about Cloister Ink

### What is Cloister Ink?

Cloister Ink is a paid, distraction-free plain text editor designed for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It focuses on managing your writing as plain markdown files stored locally or in iCloud, offering live styling and robust versioning.

### How much does Cloister Ink cost?

Cloister Ink is a one-time purchase priced at $59.99. There are no subscriptions or in-app purchases required to use its full functionality.

### Does Cloister Ink have ads?

No, Cloister Ink is ad-free. The application does not contain any advertisements, ensuring a completely uninterrupted writing experience.

### Can I use Cloister Ink offline?

Yes, Cloister Ink is designed for offline use. Your writing is stored as plain markdown files on your device or in iCloud, and you can access and edit them without an internet connection.

### How does Cloister Ink handle document versions?

Cloister Ink automatically saves your work and takes explicit snapshots with each save. You can browse up to 30 versions per document and restore any previous draft while preserving your current work.

### What file formats can Cloister Ink import and export?

Cloister Ink can import Word documents, PDFs, HTML, RTF, and text files. It can export documents as PDF, Word, RTF, HTML, or plain text.

### Is my data private with Cloister Ink?

Yes, Cloister Ink prioritizes privacy. It has no servers, no accounts, and no lock-in, with your writing living as plain files. AI features are opt-in and only process highlighted text using your own API key.

### How often is Cloister Ink updated?

The latest version, 1.0.4, was released on August 1, 2026, indicating recent development activity. Updates typically focus on improving stability and adding features based on user needs.

## Version history (last 4 releases)

### 1.0.5 — 2026-08-13

- Draft, Format and Revise are three settings, not three stages. The pass menu now says it outright, the help page's section on the passes leads with it, and there is a new question in the FAQ about it. There is no order you have to follow and nothing to finish. If you would rather have spell check on from the first word, start in Revise and stay there for the whole document.
- Every place that asks for an Anthropic key now opens a walkthrough: where a key comes from, that there is no approval step to wait on, and a place to paste it without being sent anywhere else.
- Help and the FAQ now explain Anthropic's newly announced invisible watermark on AI-generated text, and what it means for passages you bring from Ask into your manuscript.

### 1.0.4 — 2026-08-01

Ask no longer locks up when you send it a long selection. The word count it shows is now worked out once instead of on every keystroke, and highlighting a very large passage stays responsive.

Apple's Writing Tools now has a switch of its own in Settings, and it is off until you turn it on. Before this, turning on spell check, or simply moving to the Revise pass, quietly turned Apple Intelligence on with it. Nothing about Writing Tools is required to write in Cloister Ink, and the switch is now the only thing that governs it.

A new Your Vault page in Help explains where your writing actually lives, on this device and in iCloud, and how to move a file between the two. The Markdown Playbook now sits alongside the Format pass, where you are most likely to want it.

### 1.0.3 — 2026-08-01

- Exporting to HTML now produces the document you actually wrote. Headings, links with their web addresses intact, quotes, bulleted and numbered lists, tables, and horizontal rules all survive the trip, and the exported file carries the Reader's own styling for light, dark, and print.
- Every pass now rearranges the workspace so you can see which one you are in. The bar keeps Undo, Redo, and Ask where they always are, and the middle changes with the pass: Font and Format for Draft, the heading and emphasis controls for Format, a live spelling count for Revise.
- On iPad the preview does more than one thing. From View you can watch the Reader, a page design, rich text, or what a Word file will contain, and the Word preview is drawn from the same instructions the exporter writes, so the two stay in step. On iPhone the preview shows the Reader, and you can still export to any format from the Share button.
- On iPad you can keep a PDF page design open beside your writing and change the design from a pull-down while you work. What you settle on while writing is already chosen when you export.
- Writing on an imported PDF is smooth. The preview used to refresh on every keystroke.
- Importing a PDF or an HTML file works, and importing a document now opens it.
- The confirmation after an import names the vault the file actually landed in rather than the one your settings prefer.
- The first tap after switching a pass is no longer swallowed.
- Ask sits in a column beside your writing instead of taking over the page, with the composer pinned to the top so the keyboard stays clear of the box you are typing in. Ask also resets when you open a different document.
- Draft, Format, and Revise are reachable in the bottom left corner of the editor.
- Your file list shows when you open the app, and if you hide it, it stays hidden until you bring it back yourself.
- Pinch to zoom is smooth, and the size you land on is the size that sticks.
- Pressing Return at the end of a heading drops you straight into body text.
- Help, the FAQ, and the Markdown Playbook open properly when your vault lives in iCloud.
- If iCloud is slow to answer at launch, Cloister Ink waits and asks again before falling back to the vault on this device, and it tells you which of the two happened.
- Messages that describe something momentary clear themselves instead of sitting on screen after the thing they described is over.
- Fixed a freeze that could hit when opening Ask, and cleaned up the alerts that explain when Ask needs your key.

### 1.0.1 — 2026-07-20

No release notes.

## More apps by Seven Swords Productions LLC

- [ChartKeep](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chartkeep/id6776341664)
- [Retablo](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/retablo/id6789763314)
- [Manresa](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/manresa/id6789969772)

All apps by Seven Swords Productions LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/6776341667

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-17.*