# Author vs The Design Ethos

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Author | The Design Ethos |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $19.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[3.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/author/id951792010/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **5** | — |
| Positive reviews | 71.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 4 MB | 79 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [The Augmented Text Company LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/459748478) | [The Design Ethos](https://appshunter.io/developer/1880137269) |

## What reviewers say

### Author

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/author/id951792010)

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.

**Highlights:** Minimalist writing interface, Powerful writing tools, iOS companion app, Syncs with macOS version

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Export & AI | Free | one-time |
| Eng | $1.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- ✨ Clean, minimalist interface design
- 💡 Innovative concept mapping and mind mapping features
- 📚 Excellent citation and reference management
- ⌨️ Useful keyboard shortcuts and productivity features
- 🎯 Powerful outlining and document folding capabilities

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and data loss issues
- 📱 iOS/iPad app severely broken and non-functional
- 🔄 Syncing problems between devices
- 🎨 Limited formatting and customization options
- 📊 Poor image handling capabilities

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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


### The Design Ethos

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-design-ethos/id6759677911)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| book_researchdesign | $0.99 | one-time |
| Prototyping in detail | $1.99 | one-time |
| video_scrum | $1.99 | one-time |
| Designing for Accessibility | $1.99 | one-time |
| Participatory design | $1.99 | one-time |
| IoT & UX | $1.99 | one-time |
| video_segmentation | $1.99 | one-time |
| localisation | $1.99 | one-time |
| Researchmethodogies | $4.99 | one-time |
| conversationalux | $49.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Author free?

Author costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is The Design Ethos free?

The Design Ethos is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Author or The Design Ethos have ads?

The Design Ethos shows ads; Author does not.

### Which is updated more often, Author or The Design Ethos?

Author ships an update every 2 months, and The Design Ethos weekly. Most recently, Author was updated on October 10, 2026 and The Design Ethos on October 14, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*