Author vs The Design Ethos
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Author
This app serves as a companion to its macOS counterpart, offering a minimalist and powerful writing experience on iOS devices. It allows users to create and manage their written content seamlessly across platforms.
- Minimalist writing interface
- Powerful writing tools
- iOS companion app
- Syncs with macOS version
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The iOS companion to Author macOS.
The Design Ethos
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The Design Ethos is a structured practice platform built for next-generation designers. Most designers consume content. Few build proof of work. The Design Ethos bridges that gap by combining guided learning, structured feedback, and portfolio visibility inside one focused system. Why The Design Ethos? Because creative growth doesn’t come from watching tutorials. It comes from practicing consistently, receiving meaningful critique, and building real, outcome-driven projects. What you can do inside the app: • Practice with guided design exercises • Upload your work and receive structured feedback • Improve through actionable critique • Build portfolio-ready case studies • Showcase your proof of work • Track your creative growth • Become discoverable through validated projects Our Core System Practice Loop Join → Learn → Build proof Feedback Loop Feedback → Improvement → Retention Opportunity Loop Portfolio → Visibility → Hiring validation Who is this for? • Aspiring designers • UI/UX learners • Design students • Early-career creatives • Self-taught designers building credibility Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.thedesignethos.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: The Design Ethos at Free against Author's $19.99. The Design Ethos also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). Author's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On 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
The Design Ethos is free to download; Author costs $19.99 up front. Author sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and The Design Ethos sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Author ships an update every 2 months, The Design Ethos weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Author | The Design Ethos |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 71.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Augmented Text Company LTD | The Design Ethos |
Bugs and requests
Author
Reported bugs
20 issues- App crashes frequently, causing data loss
- iOS app shows blank screen and won't open documents
- iPad app completely non-functional
- Text disappears or becomes greyed out during iCloud saves
- Vision OS app lacks cursor for text input
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- Ask AI feature shows infinite loading spinner
- Unexpected Russian pricing text displayed to US users
- App doesn't launch or open on some systems
- Files not detected in Downloads folder
- Cannot open documents created in desktop version on iOS
- Automatic file conversion to Liquid format breaks iOS compatibility
- Text rendering issues (white text on white background)
- Table function broken - cannot write in cells
- App lags and deletes lines when typing quickly
- Highlight feature not working
- Citations not resolving automatically
- Markdown export only exports preamble
- Copy-paste functionality issues
- French localization not working despite being advertised
- App not compatible with iOS 18 and latest macOS versions
Requested features
20 requests- iPad and iOS app that actually works
- Typewriter scrolling mode
- Variable screen width for large displays
- Complete LaTeX export with full file support
- Markdown support
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- Better image handling and integration
- Find and replace functionality
- Dark mode for older macOS versions
- Inline predictive text support
- Nested list creation and editing
- Paragraph indentation options
- Photo support on macOS version
- Keyboard shortcut reference guide
- Table editing improvements
- Integration with reference management software (Zotero, EndNote)
- Local AI endpoints or BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) for privacy
- Better onboarding and UI guidance for new users
- Typeface options (Courier, American Typewriter, serif fonts)
- Line spacing options (1.5, double spacing)
- Color themes and dark mode options
The Design Ethos
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Author
- Export & AIFree
- Eng$1.99
The Design Ethos
- book_researchdesign$0.99
- Prototyping in detail$1.99
- video_scrum$1.99
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- Designing for Accessibility$1.99
- Participatory design$1.99
- IoT & UX$1.99
- video_segmentation$1.99
- localisation$1.99
- Researchmethodogies$4.99
- conversationalux$49.99
