Ulysses App Gains New Mojave-Ready Dark Mode, Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12, and More

Monday September 17, 2018 1:58 AM PDT by Tim Hardwick
Popular writing app Ulysses is being updated to coincide with the release of macOS Mojave and iOS 12, introducing support for new features in Apple's latest desktop and mobile operating systems.


With macOS Mojave, Apple has introduced a new system-wide Dark Mode, which means many third-party apps will need updating with a similar color scheme. Since its initial release, a Dark Mode has been part of Ulysses, but the new update introduces a reworked and fine-tuned version to fit with the new system requirements.

Ulysses users will be able to have Dark or Light Mode auto-switch according to the system preferences, or continue to switch manually between the two from within the app. In addition, a new editor theme for Ulysses is available — D14 — with colors optimized for the new Dark Mode.

Elsewhere, Ulysses for Mac is getting a redesigned sheet list (the column displaying an overview of divided texts in a group) with bigger tiles and a lighter appearance for clarity and legibility. There's also a new share extension that lets users send links, texts and images from Safari and many other apps directly to Ulysses.


Meanwhile, in other improvements:
  • Command-clicking a link in the editor now opens the link in the default browser.
  • Four spaces are no longer replaced with tabs.
  • Comment blocks no longer add to paragraph count.
  • Double-pressing arrow keys in editor no longer switches between sheets.
  • Improved reliability when editing goals.
Over on iPad and iPhone, the Ulysses update brings support for the new Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12. Users can now assign voice commands to a number of Ulysses actions, including creating new sheets and opening existing sheets and groups. Siri will also make recommendations based on most-used Ulysses actions. All of Ulysses' actions are available in Apple's new Shortcuts app, ready for integrating into complex workflows.

The release of the new Ulysses versions is expected to match the release of Apple’s new operating systems – in fact the mobile update is already rolling out for iOS 12, which Apple is launching today. The launch date for macOS Mojave is September 24, so expect Ulysses for Mac to be updated then or thereabouts.

Ulysses can be downloaded for free on the App Store and the Mac App Store. After a 14-day trial period, a subscription is required to unlock the app on all devices. A monthly subscription costs $4.99, while a yearly subscription is $39.99. Students can use Ulysses at a discounted price of $11.99 per six months. The discount is granted from within the app.

Tag: Ulysses
29 comments


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drumcat
13 months ago
Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.
Rating: 15 Votes
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CristianM
13 months ago

Don't forget to send complain to Netflix, Spotify, Apple and many others. I don't think subscription model specifies ownership. Prove me wrong.

Also Agenda is refering to their business model as "Cash Cow" ('https://medium.com/@drewmccormack/a-cash-cow-is-on-the-agenda-138a11995595'), not Subscription.


With Spotify and Netflix you have a choice, you can buy the same music and TV shows for a bigger upfront sum and then own them forever. So everyone gets the model they prefer. Personally I'm happy to subscribe to Spotify, on one hand because it means I can always have any music I want, I don't have to worry about having to buy a song just to listen to it once or twice, but mostly because they found ways to add value on top of that with their suggestion algorithms, social stuff (see what your friends are listening to), etc. Ulysses doesn't give you a choice between buying it and owning it forever (I actually bought the iOS version for £18 back before the subscription and it was a poor experience) and a subscription and they do little to justify paying for it every month. Spotify gives me fresh songs twice a week so I have a reason to keep paying.
Rating: 3 Votes
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bwintx
13 months ago
Happy subscriber here. Just wanted to get in a positive word to (try to) balance out the people who always leap into any discussion of Ulysses with unrelated complaints about the subscription policy that is now over a year old. I am glad to see these updates coming, and continue to find this app indispensable — and definitely worth the price, even on a subscription basis.
Rating: 2 Votes
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artfossil
13 months ago

Happy subscriber here. Just wanted to get in a positive word to (try to) balance out the people who always leap into any discussion of Ulysses with unrelated complaints about the subscription policy that is now over a year old. I am glad to see these updates coming, and continue to find this app indispensable — and definitely worth the price, even on a subscription basis.

Ulysses is one of my favorite—and most used—apps, that continues to get better. It's indispensable for me and I'm happy to pay 29.99 a year to use it and to support its development.

By the way, one does not lose access to one's content after a subscription ends. From ulysses.app:

What happens after my subscription or trial ends? Can I still access my texts?
Definitely. Ulysses is in read-only mode, meaning you can still access all your sheets and export them using any export format.
Rating: 2 Votes
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macintoshmac
13 months ago

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.


True. That is actual subscription, and I like Agenda for that model. However, I have tried to get my head around it a couple times, and couldn't figure what to do with it, when I have the excellent Bear Notes app that I love.
Rating: 2 Votes
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triton100
13 months ago

Ulysses will never get my business as long as it's a rental. Stop calling it a subscription! When I get a magazine subscription, and it ends, I still have my magazines.

I'd be very interested if they used the Agenda model. No new features unless you renew, but the software is yours. That's an actual subscription.

You still have everything you wrote in the app and can view it. Just like your magazines
Rating: 2 Votes
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CristianM
13 months ago
Maybe this has some advantages for pro writers that I can't understand but it seems very overpriced seeing how it can't do anything (to my eyes at last) that other much cheaper Markdown editors can't.
Rating: 2 Votes
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CristianM
13 months ago

The old version of Ulysses can't be downloaded anymore?

You can only get those if you purchased them in the past, and they will receive no further updates, otherwise buying them is no longer an option.
Rating: 2 Votes
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BigMcGuire
13 months ago
I tried out Ulysses … what bothered me the most was, if I made an ordered numbered list and decided later I wanted to add something in the middle of the list, I had to manually renumber everything. I sent a message to support (who promptly replied saying it was on their list of things to do). 2-3 updates later, not fixed. I'm moving on. It's a nice app and works really well with any cloud service. But since I deal with numbered lists a lot, that just bugged me too much.

Love the dark mode, especially since I write a lot in dark areas with little light.

The subscription thing annoys me, and makes it that much easier to decide I don't need to pay for it. :P
Rating: 1 Votes
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bwintx
13 months ago

The old version of Ulysses can't be downloaded anymore?


See item #3 in:
http://ulysses.app/blog/2017/08/ulysses-switches-to-subscription/#more-8700
Rating: 1 Votes
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