iA Writer vs EML Viewer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iA Writer
This writing application provides a clean, distraction-free environment to focus on your words. It offers features like Focus Mode to dim distractions, plain text writing with HTML preview, and customizable keyboard layouts. Organize and export your documents in various formats.
- Distraction-free writing environment
- Focus Mode for sentence/paragraph highlighting
- Plain text writing with HTML preview
- Document search, sort, and cloud syncing
- Customizable keyboard layouts
- Export to WordPress, Medium, Word, PDF
- Inverted light-on-dark mode
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“Leaving life’s mess for an ideal realm of words.” —The New Yorker “My favorite iOS app for writing in Markdown, without question, is iA Writer. iA Writer is just beautiful. To me, it’s the gold standard for Markdown syntax styling... an elegant champagne flute. That’s iA Writer for me.” —John Gruber “iA Writer creates a clean, simple and distraction-free writing environment for when you really need to focus on your words.” —The New York Times “iA Writer is an example of how powerful simplicity and accessibility can be.” —The Guardian “iA Writer is all about textual production—writing this phrase, this sentence, this word at this moment.” —WIRED 4 x Best of App Store Winner # The Simple Writing App iA Writer removes distractions. Giving you a calm, focused, writing space, so you can express yourself clearly. # Focus Focus Mode dims everything but the current sentence or paragraph, helping you stay in the flow. # Start Don’t worry about the format. First, write in plain text. Then preview in HTML. # Organize Search, sort, and quickly swap between documents from different clouds. # Customize When you tap and hold a key in the command keyboard, you’re given the chance to choose your own layout. Rearrange your keys, or pick new ones from the extensive list. # Search You can open documents and launch frequent actions in no time with the new Quick Search. It lives in the keyboard so it’s always close at hand. # Work iA Writer includes an inverted light-on-dark-mode, perfect for working day and night. # Clean Spot superfluous adjectives, weak verbs, repetitive nouns, false conjunctions and clean your text of the usual rumble. # Shape Customize your templates and export to WordPress or Medium, HTML, Microsoft Word (.docx), or PDF. # 100% Text Embed links, pictures, tables and text files in plain text and see them in preview. # Get in Touch - Visit ia.net/writer for more information - Visit ia.net/writer/support for support and feedback
EML Viewer
Easily view saved emails in EML format directly on your iOS device. Open attachments, share them with other applications, or print them. You can also compose a new email using the content of an EML file.
- View EML files
- Access attachments
- Share attachments
- Print attachments
- Compose new emails from EML
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View .EML files on your iOS device, including attachments within them. These are usually emails saved in the EML format. Tap on an EML file in another app, "Open In..." and select EML Viewer to view your saved email. You may tap "open a sample EML" to see an example email open up. Attachments may be shared with other apps or printed. Tap the compose icon to open your EML as a new Mail message This app is for .EML files. If you also need to view Outlook .MSG files, check out our related apps MSG View and Message Viewer Pro on the App Store.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: EML Viewer at $1.99 against iA Writer's $19.99. iA Writer's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.0) and review sentiment (73% vs 49%). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
iA Writer costs $19.99 and EML Viewer $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iA Writer holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iA Writer has 1.5K ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of iA Writer's written reviews are positive against 49% of EML Viewer's.
iA Writer ships an update every 2 weeks, EML Viewer every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | iA Writer | EML Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.5K ratings) — better | 3.0 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.8% of reviews — better | 49.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #18 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 70 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Information Architects AG | Matrix Logic Corporation |
Customer experience
iA Writer
EML Viewer
User reviews
iA Writer
From 1.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Distraction-free writing experience
- 👍 Elegant and minimalist design
- 💡 Helpful syntax highlighting and formatting tools
- 🚀 Seamless sync across devices
- 👍 Reliable and stable performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and sync issues
- 🔒 Limited cloud storage integration options
- 👎 Lack of advanced organization and navigation features
- 👎 Subpar text selection and cursor control
- 👎 Dated app icon and visual design
EML Viewer
From 21 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✅ Opens .eml files
- 👍 Works as advertised
- 🚀 Quick updates and support
- ✨ Displays attachments
- 💡 Handles PEC emails
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 Unusable due to crashes
- 🐛 Does not read digitally signed emails
- 🐛 Does not open files over 2MB
- 🐛 Low memory errors
Bugs and requests
iA Writer
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when opening certain files
- Sync issues leading to data loss
- Formatting problems when exporting to other formats
Requested features
6 requests- Improved cloud storage integration (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
- Enhanced file management and organization tools
- Better text selection and cursor control
- More customization options for appearance and layout
- Integrated outline/table of contents view
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- Collaborative editing features
EML Viewer
Reported bugs
34 issues- App crashes frequently
- App is unusable due to crashes
- Does not read digitally signed emails
- Does not open files over 2MB
- Low memory errors
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- Poor formatting and link browsing
- Does not download attached images
- Only displays email header
- Does not support dark mode override
- Clumsy to open files
- Does not open attachments
- Does not support Chinese characters
- Does not display formatted text
- Cannot open EML files from Calendar app
- Does not support Reply and Forward
- Does not open attachments from PEC
- Blank screen on opening
- Crashes on some EML files
- Does not show up in share menu
- Instructions not clear
- Money wasted
- Does not open EML files
- Garbled Japanese characters
- Does not open PDF attachments
- Crashes browser
- Does not open EML files on iPad
- Does not support ISO2022JP
- Does not display To/Cc Japanese names correctly
- Price is slightly high
- Does not support Outlook MSG to EML conversion
- Does not support EML files from Lotus Notes
- Does not allow printing or PDF export
- Forwarding not compatible with default mail apps
- Does not display external images by default
Requested features
12 requests- Dark mode option
- Option to create folders
- Ability to print messages
- Forwarding function
- Prevent external images from loading by default
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Support for ISO2022JP character encoding
- Support for Lotus Notes EML files
- Improved handling of To/Cc Japanese names
- Improved link browsing controls
- Support for digitally signed emails
- Support for emails over 2MB
- Improved memory management
In-app purchases
iA Writer
No in-app purchases
EML Viewer
No in-app purchases









