iA Writer vs Scanner OS
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
Scanner OS
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Scan like a flatbed scanner – right on your iPhone. Lay the page down, hold your iPhone over it: Scanner finds the page, captures it on its own and turns it into a clean PDF. No account, no third-party cloud, no subscription. ON YOUR MAC SECONDS LATER With Pro, every scan lands on your Mac's Desktop automatically – through your own iCloud, with no third-party server. Pick the Desktop folder once, done. Scan on your iPhone, keep working on your Mac. (On the Mac, “Desktop & Documents Folders” must be turned on in iCloud Drive.) LIKE A FLATBED SCANNER • Finds the page and captures as soon as you hold still; flash auto, on or off • Straightens pages shot at an angle and turns them upright • Evens out shadows and light: white paper, crisp text, stamps and signatures keep their color • Removes punch holes as well as fingers and bits of table at the border • Pages with large photos, such as flyers, are only gently brightened • Filters: Scan, Grayscale, Black & White, Original RECEIPTS UNDER CONTROL (PRO) • Amount, date, sender and VAT are recognized • Monthly totals at a glance, uncertain amounts are flagged • Monthly package for your accountant: all receipts as PDFs plus a list (CSV) in one ZIP FIND INSTEAD OF SEARCH (PRO) • Searchable PDFs with a text layer • Search finds every word in all your scans • Automatic file names from date, sender and amount, in the order you like EVERYTHING A SCAN NEEDS • Multiple pages, reorder, rotate, crop with a magnifier • Share the PDF, rename, merge scans, add pages • Import images from Photos or Files • With Pro: redact, sign (black or blue), password, ID cards with front and back on one page • Shortcuts “Scan” and “Scan receipt” for Siri, from iOS 18 also as a Control Center button • Dark Mode, English and German, VoiceOver YOUR DATA STAYS WITH YOU Everything happens on your iPhone: page detection, text recognition, receipt recognition, PDF. No account, no ads, no tracking. App Store privacy label: Data Not Collected. FREE AND PRO Free: unlimited scanning and importing, the full scan look, all filters, create and share PDFs. Pro: buy once, keep forever. No subscription. With Family Sharing for your whole family.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Scanner OS at Free against iA Writer's $19.99. iA Writer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#25 vs unranked). On update cadence and ads 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
Scanner OS is free to download; iA Writer costs $19.99 up front. Scanner OS sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iA Writer asks for nothing beyond the download.
iA Writer ships an update every 2 weeks, Scanner OS every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | iA Writer | Scanner OS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.5K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 72.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #25 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 70 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Information Architects AG | Julian Paul Bermeiser |
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
Scanner OS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iA Writer
No in-app purchases
Scanner OS
- Scanner Pro$8.99









