Ulysses Gains Permanently Visible Writing Stat Counter and Optimized Publishing Flow

Thursday May 5, 2022 1:45 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Ulysses today reached version 26, and this update brings a few more welcome feature additions and improvements to the popular writing app for Mac and iOS.

For almost as long as it's existed, Ulysses has included a Dashboard sidebar that can be revealed to show, amongst other things, writing progress statistics for the current sheet in the editor, such as average reading time and character and word count.

ulysses 261
However, the developers have recognized that sometimes it's very useful to be able to have a particular stat permanently in view as you're writing, without having to have the Dashboard open with its mine of information taking up valuable editing space. As such, in the latest version of Ulysses for Mac, a single stat can now be displayed right within the editor, in the top-right corner of the window.

Clicking on the new "Editor counter" allows users to select which statistic they want to see updated in real time as they write, with options for reading time and counters for words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, average words per sentence, paragraphs, lines, and pages.

Elsewhere in version 26 for Mac and iOS, the developers have optimized the publishing flow by adding dedicated buttons for quick access to publishing and separating out the publishing preview. In addition, there's added support for more blogs, and the setup process for Wordpress accounts has been simplified using the modern REST API.

This update also fixes a crash when sharing a sheet from Ulysses and a potential delay when opening the editor, as well as a crash that occurred when sharing a sheet from Mac to iPad when using Universal Control.

Ulysses can be downloaded for free on the App Store, with version 26 rolling out to existing users today. After a 14-day trial period, a subscription is required to unlock the app on all devices. A monthly subscription costs $5.99, while a yearly subscription is $49.99.

Students can use Ulysses at a discounted price of $10.99 per six months. The discount is granted from within the app. Ulysses is also included in Setapp, the subscription-based service for Mac applications created by MacPaw.

Tag: Ulysses

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Top Rated Comments

johnnytravels

29 months ago

Please stop advertising this total money grab of an app. Sure it’s polished but it’s objectively overpriced. So many features that have been requested for years are still missing. Most updates (as evident from your ‘article’) only offer features that are more or less cosmetic in nature, or add OS features that every other dev just implements without a lot of fuss.

I wholeheartedly recommend Typora if you’re looking for a great Markdown experience on Mac. And if you really want a subscription and are looking to support a dev that deserves your money, go for Craft for about the amount that Ulysses costs. It has tons of features, but you can also just use it for writing without any of the stuff getting in your way.

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Gruber

29 months ago

I was a happy Ulysses user until they switched to the subscription model. I feel very uncomfortable using an app that extorts a monthly fee from me so I can continue using my files. It feels like ransom to me.
I wish there was a way to buy instead of renting Ulysses.
Meanwhile, I would recommend Typora.

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Aggedor

29 months ago

I hated Ulysses because it only supports markup. It would be a great app if it supports formatted text and normal editing.

Yeah, this, and the subscription model, are my two problems with what actually looks like a good app otherwise.

I'm a professional writer, so I'm always on the lookout for new tool, and I try a lot of stuff. However, I write prose fiction, which means mark-up is hugely distracting (which seems to go against the minimalist, distraction-free philosophy of the app). Several other apps are also mark-up-based (IA Writer, for example). I just... don't get it. Mark-up is fine for some things, but why not have the option of turning it off and allowing regular formatting?

Having said that, the subscription model means this is a non-starter for me anyway. $50 a year for a very basic word processor? I use Scrivener, which is a one-off licence, is not mark-up based, and has a fully customisable interface, so you can just make it look exactly like Ulysses anyway, if you want that super-minimal, distraction-free UI. And then once that is set-up, you've got a whole extra suite of tools and stats to use, if you want.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Steve121178

29 months ago

They lost me as a customer with the subscription model. I'd have been more than happy to pay a one-off cost for the App to get the latest updates but I don't need yet another subscription for a writing app that in all honesty isn't that great anyway.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

MacHiavelli

29 months ago

More powerful than Ulysses, Scrivener and Typora combined, try Obsidian ('https://obsidian.md/download'). And completely FREE for personal use. And on zillions of platforms.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)