# Narrative: Novel Writing App — Write Without Distractions

> Distraction-free writing app with sync, editing tools, and goal tracking. (iPhone/iPad app by Mark Muhleder.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/narrative-novel-writing-app/id1492724959 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Mark Muhleder](https://appshunter.io/developer/1492724958)
- Category: Productivity
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.40/5 from 44 App Store ratings · 15 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.6 · 74 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2020-11-09
- Data updated: 2026-08-21
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/narrative-novel-writing-app/id1492724959/reviews.md

## What is Narrative?

How do you like to write? Do you curl up on your sofa with your iPad, sit at a proper desk with a laptop and coffee, or draft on the go with your iPhone? You never know when you might have a great idea! Narrative gives you a calm, focused space to write, wherever you are.

• Sync across your devices
Your work saves as you type, and syncs to the cloud in real time. It works offline too, syncing again once you're back on a network.

• A focused writing environment
A clean, minimalist interface with focus mode, dark mode, and customizable fonts. No pop-ups, no productivity pressure — just room to think.

• Proofreading that respects your voice
Grammar, spelling, and style checks across multiple languages. It highlights issues and makes suggestions — but you decide what to use and what to ignore. Bend the rules however you like.

• Word count goals and progress tracking
Set goals and watch your progress build, one word at a time. Small, steady motivation for finishing what you start.

• Notes alongside your writing
Attach notes to your whole project or individual chapters, right next to the page you're working on.

• Private, even on a shared device
Sign out, and your writing is removed from the device. Sign back in on any device, and it's downloaded fresh from the cloud. Handy if it's not just your eyes that get access to your phone.

• Import and export freely
Bring existing work in from DOCX or TXT. Export in DOCX, TXT, or EPUB whenever you're ready to share.

• Real help, from a real person
Need a hand — or just fancy a chat? Our in-app help is a person, not a bot.

Start with a free 14-day trial, then keep writing on a free plan or subscribe for unlimited access.

Whether you're deep in a novel, shaping short stories, or just getting started — Narrative was made with you in mind.

• Contact Us:
We love feedback! 

Please feel free to get in touch using the in-app help chatbox, or
email: hello@gonarrative.app

• Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
• Privacy policy https://gonarrative.app/privacy.html

## Key features

- Distraction-free writing environment
- Seamless project synchronization
- Precision editing tools
- Word count goals and progress tracking
- Import/export in multiple formats
- Customizable fonts
- Flexible notes system

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Narrative Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Narrative Annual | $47.99 | per year |
| Narrative Monthly | $4.99 | per month |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 15)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/narrative-novel-writing-app/id1492724959/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Amazing App for Writers.

*2026-07-04*

I am using this app to finish my first Novel. It’s been two years and in between I have worked on some small projects as well. Undoubtedly the best of it’s kind.

### 5/5 — Perfect device sync. A+ features

*2026-02-26*

Kudos to dev-Mark. Perfect, rapid cross device sync. All the useful features: word count, etc. Will still back up multiple ways cuz glitches happen. I’m more excited about this app than a grown man should be

### 1/5 — sooooooo.......

*2026-01-07*

it didnt even open

**Developer response:** Hi, thanks for letting us know. Could you get in touch with us at hello@gonarrative.app and let us know which model mac you have and which version of macOS you're running please? We're not seeing any matching reports in our crash logs, it would be good to figure out why it's not working for you.

### 1/5 — I previously gaze this app 4 stars. Now its zero

*2025-12-12*

This app was sleek and simple to use. A dummy proof interface that I absolutely loved. Truly I cannot speak highly enough about the simplicity and usability for writers. But the caveat is it’s better for smaller projects. Not full length novels. In the beginning. As time has gone on, I simply cannot recommend it for anyone intending to write longer length material. It has progressively grown in lag time with typing since the point of about 20k words, and now at 40k I find myself incredibly frustrated as the lag seriously disrupts work flow. If this is fixed in the future, I would be happy to return. I would even happily pay for it. This is a deal breaker for someone who relies heavily on the emotional outpouring to be able to write well. Until there’s an update to address this, it’s back to Scrivener and the expensive Mac and iPhone downloads. Sigh.  Edit to add: I have lost over 5k words from a writing session today because I wasn’t aware that switching from my laptop to a mobile device completely over writes the progress you have made. Words cannot express how infuriating it is to lose an entire chapter. I want to scream

**Developer response:** Hi, 
if you get in touch with us we will be able to recover your chapter from any point in time it was saved to the cloud. Also, if you look at the Versions feature (available from the red button on the chapter edit screen), you should have a series of previous versions of the chapter which you can recover straight away.

You can get in touch with us either through the in-app chat or via email at hello@gonarrative.app.

### 4/5 — No UNDO button

*2025-04-23*

Please! Add UNDO button for accidentally deleted lines inside the chapters. I accidentally deleted almost 500 words and it made me so anxious. I couldn’t recover it after all, it was so perfectly written…

**Developer response:** Hi,
there is an undo button on the command bar above the soft keyboard if you are typing on screen. If you are using a keyboard then the Apple-Z shortcut should perform an undo action. You can use Apple-Shift-Z to redo, and you should have a fairly long undo history available.
Also, for recovering words after you have left the editor, there is a versions section which you can reach from the FAB button on the bottom-right of the screen. A new version should be saved every couple of hundred typed characters or so, and if you make a big change (such as deleting a large amount of text) then a new snapshot should be saved before and after that point.

### 3/5 — Used to love this app

*2024-07-11*

I used to really like using this app. It was easy to use and was accessible over both my phone and laptop. However, now the whole app lags, it won’t let you scroll down and re read or edit previous work, and the interface is buggy. It’s so frustrating to use at this point that I’m now looking into other apps t use instead.

**Developer response:** Hi, so sorry for this. The 6.1.38 version did have a bug in it which we didn't spot until after it had been published. We've published a new version 6.1.39 on both macos and ios which should fix the issues you've been seeing.

### 5/5 — My First Novel with your App

*2023-12-04*

I am writing my first novel in your app. I went through all the top rated app and landed on this one accidentally. I loved the surface and design. The goals , stats and set up of chapters is unique and simple. As if it understands a novelist more than anyone. I am spending more than 5-6 hours per day in your app and no complains so far. I believe it will soon be a top rated app in its genre.

I wrote this review months back and got a writting pause. I got back and now using the paid version. Still in love with it.

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience here.

It's heartening to hear that you appreciate the app. We strive to understand the needs of all writers, and your kind words do help motivate us to continue refining Narrative. 

We are delighted to be a part of your creative process. If you ever need us, or if you ever have any more suggestions or feedback, do feel free to reach out.

### 3/5 — Be great if helps writing a novel

*2023-07-23*

Like if person doesn’t have any experience writing a novel this app can help writing a story of rephrasing

### 2/5 — Randomly deletes parts of your writing

*2023-06-20*

This has happened twice now. I got the paid version so I can have it on multiple devices but when I went to write my novel again, I noticed a good chunk of the chapter I was working on was suddenly GONE. I even made sure to save the latest version too!  I’m so angry!

**Developer response:** Hi,

First of all we're extremely sorry and you have every right to be angry. We've obviously messed up somehow and we'd like to fix it for you if we can. If you do not have your words backed up outside of the app, the first place you could look would be in the versions section for the affected chapter(s). If a chapter is updated during sync a backup of the original words should be saved there.

Failing that, if you could get in touch either through the in app chat or via email at hello@gonarrative.app we will see if we have backups online of your chapter(s) before the words went missing.

Either way we would really like to get some more info from you on the details of what happened so that we can investigate and stop it from happening to anyone else. 

Once again, we're very sorry to hear this has happened to you and we look forward to you getting in touch so that we can fix it for you.

Mark

### 5/5 — My First Novel with your App

*2023-06-10*

I am writing my first novel in your app. I went through all the top rated app and landed on this one accidentally. I loved the surface and design. The goals , stats and set up of chapters is unique and simple. As if it understands a novelist more than anyone. 

I am spending more than 5-6 hours per day in your app and no complains so far. I believe it will soon be a top rated app in its genre.

## Frequently asked questions about Narrative

### What is the word limit for the free version of Narrative?

The freemium account for Narrative allows you to write up to 1500 words per month. If you wish to continue writing beyond this limit, a subscription is required.

### What subscription plans are available for Narrative?

Narrative offers both monthly and annual subscription plans. The monthly plan is $4.99 and includes a 14-day free trial. The annual plan is $47.99.

### On which devices can I use Narrative?

Narrative is available on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod. This allows for easy access and seamless synchronization of your projects across all your devices.

### How does Narrative ensure the security and privacy of my writing?

Your words are backed up on duplicated cloud servers and are not visible to other users or the Narrative team. A draft of your work is saved every few words in the 'Versions' feature for added security.

### What formats can I import and export my work in with Narrative?

Narrative allows you to easily export your creations in various formats, including Word and ePub, ensuring compatibility with different platforms for sharing your work.

### Does Narrative offer any editing assistance?

Yes, Narrative provides precision editing tools, including grammar and spell checks, as well as style suggestions to help polish your writing.

### How often is Narrative updated?

Narrative was last updated on March 24, 2026, with version 6.3.82. This indicates a commitment to ongoing development and improvements.

### What is the user sentiment for Narrative based on ratings?

Narrative has a strong user rating of 4.4 stars from 40 ratings, suggesting that users generally have a positive experience with the app.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 6.5.10 — 2026-08-05

General bug fixes and performance improvements.

### 6.5.7 — 2026-07-10

General performance improvements.

### 6.5.6 — 2026-06-09

General performance improvements.

### 6.5.5 — 2026-05-06

Minor bug fixes.

### 6.5.4 — 2026-04-27

Minor bug fixes.

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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 2026-08-21.*