Full-screen writing program

In computing, a full-screen writing program[1] or distraction-free editor[2][3][4] is a text editor that occupies the full display with the purpose of isolating the writer from the operating system (OS) and other applications. In this way one should be able to focus on the writing alone, with no distractions from the OS and a cluttered interface.[2][5][6][7] Often distraction-free editors feature a dark background and a text field, with lighter colored text. However, most distraction-free editors include customisable user interfaces.[8] Some editors support rich text editing.

List of full screen editors

Free and open-source

Name	License	Linux	Other supported operating systems	p. lang.	Toolkit	Spell checker	Syntax highlighting	WYSIWYG	Notable aspects, references
Acme	LPL	Yes	Plan 9, Mac OS, Windows						Mouse chording; supports sending selected text through pipelines of programs; extensible & scriptable via any language.
CodeRoom	GPLv3	Yes	Mac OS, Windows	C++	Qt	No	QSyntaxHighlighter		supports syntax highlighting.[9]
GNU Emacs	GPLv3	Yes	Unix, Mac OS, Windows	C, Emacs Lisp	curses, GTK+	Yes	Yes	Yes	supports syntax highlighting, programmable, several distraction-free packages available.[10][11][12][13]
FocusWriter	GPLv3	Yes	Mac OS, Windows	C++	Qt	Enchant			Highly customizable, has basic .odt format support[14]
gedit	GPLv2	Yes	Cross-platform	C	GTK+	Enchant	GtkSourceView	Unicode	full-screen with F11; part of GNOME Core Applications
KoalaWriter	GPLv3	Yes	Mac OS, Windows	C++	Qt	No	No	No	Clone of OmmWriter[15]
Marave	GPLv2	Yes	No	Python	Qt	Enchant	GNU source-highlight		Similar to OmmWriter, CreaWriter;[16]
PyRoom	GPLv3	Yes	Mac OS	Python	GTK+	No	No	No	[17]
QuiEdit	GPLv3	Yes	Windows	Python	Qt	Hunspell	Yes	Markdown	basic text formatting.[18]
RubyRoom	GPLv2	Yes	No	Ruby[19]	GTK+	No	No	No	Latest version from 2009
TextRoom	GPLv3	Yes	Mac OS, Windows	C++	Qt (+GLib)	Hunspell			Supports rich text[20]
Vim	Vim License	Yes	Cross-platform	C		Yes	Yes		Distraction-free plugins available.[21]

Freeware

Name	Operating system support	Notable aspects, references
Calmly Writer	Chrome OS, Google Chrome browser	WYSIWYG, image embedding, OpenDyslexic mode[22]
FORCEdraft	Windows	Text editor that won't exit until the user's goal is reached.[23]
DarkRoom	Windows	Clone of WriteRoom for Windows .NET[24]
JDarkRoom	Linux, Mac OS, Windows	Clone of DarkRoom written in Java[25]
Poe	Windows 8 (only)	Word count goals, writing timers, auto-correct and resource links.[26]
Q10	Windows	Portable, has word count features
Writemonkey	Windows	Supports Markdown Extra, Textile, WikiCreole.[27] Donors can access plugins including corkboard, timer.

Proprietary

Name	Operating system support	Notable aspects, references
Bloom Editor	Windows	Uses 3D rendering for special effects and dynamic visual themes. Has a free limited version[28]
CreaWriter	Windows	Clone of OmmWriter for Windows; has limited free version[29]
iA Writer	Mac OS	Has iCloud and Dropbox integration, iPad and iPhone version, Focus Mode, and Markdown support
Moopato	Mac OS and Windows	Markdown editor and e-book publishing app[30]
NaNoScriBe	Windows	Rich text, on-screen word count, goals and timers. Built-in NaNoWriMo stats page [31]
OmmWriter	Mac OS, Windows	Supports images as backgrounds, and a player for ambient music[32]
Sublime Text	Linux, Mac OS, Windows	customisable, for programmers,[33][34] has free trial version[35]
Write!	Windows	Markdown, spell-checker, cloud storage, sessions and folders scheme, RTL support[36]
Write Onward!	Windows	Fullscreen writing software disallowing editing, copying or pasting text to let writers focus solely on the writing process.[37]
WriteRoom	Mac OS	Simple[38][39][40]
Xiosis Scribe	Windows
ZenWriter	Windows	Simple, with background images and ambient music[41]
Frost	Mac OS, Windows	Plays thematic ambient music, free to use, live word counter, downloading option.[42]

Features

Rich text support

Some distraction-free editors support rich text editing. These include CreaWriter, TextRoom, and WriteRoom.[20][29][43] In some cases, this feature turned off per default and must be set by a user.[43]

Syntax highlighting

Currently, only a few distraction-free editors support syntax highlighting. CodeRoom is an open source project with the purpose of creating a distraction-free code editor with customisable highlighting schemes.[9] The latest version of Marave supports syntax highlighting.[16] Sublime Text supports a distraction-free full-screen view.[33][34] Packages exist for GNU Emacs that turn off various features and reformat the display to a distraction-free layout while retaining syntax highlighting and other features familiar to Emacs users..

Aids to writing

Word count is a common feature in these editors. Other aids can include spell checkers, auto-corrections and quick text templates.[44]

Other Features

Many of the programs include timers to pace writing. FocusWriter and WriteMonkey, among others, include typewriter sound effects.[45]

See also

• Text editor

References

1. Full Screen Writing Program (English translation)
2. "Comparison of distraction-free editors on bweaver.net". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
3. "Blog post on innovations in text editing". Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
4. "Poll on lifehacker.com on best distraction-free editor".
5. "Tips and Tricks for Distraction-Free Writing".
6. "ghacks.net on distraction-free on the distraction-free editor ZenEdit".
7. "List of distraction-free editors". Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
8. "Tech Malaya blog post on some of the popular distraction-free editors". Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
9. "CodeRoom on Google code".
10. "WriteRoom".
11. "Emacs as a distraction free environment".
12. "GNU Emacs".
13. "tabula-rasa-mode".
14. "FocusWriter official website".
15. "KoalaWriter on Google code".
16. "Marave on Google code".
17. "PyRoom official website".
18. "QuiEdit official website". Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
19. "RubyRoom official website". Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
20. "TextRoom on Google code".
21. "junegunn/goyo.vim". GitHub. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
22. "Calmly Writer website".
23. "FORCEdraft official website".
24. "DarkRoom official website".
25. "JDarkRoom official website".
26. "Developer's website".
27. "Writemonkey features page".
28. "Bloom Editor official website". Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
29. "CreaWriter official website".
30. "Moopato eBook Writer website".
31. "developer's website".
32. "OmmWriter official website FAQ". Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
33. "Announcement of distraction-free full-screen support on Sublime Text official blog".
34. "Sublime Text features". Archived from the original on 16 February 2011.
35. "Sublime Text download section".
36. "Write! official website".
37. "Write Onward! official website". Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
38. "WriteRoom official website".
39. Eisenman, Bonnie (8 July 2010). "Writeroom Review". 148Apps. TrouserMac Industries. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
40. Elliott, Amy-Mae (19 January 2011). "How to: Beat Writer's Block Online". Mashable. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
41. "ZenWriter website".
42. "FROST - Minimalistic Writing App Set to Music". FROST. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
43. "Comparison of distraction-free editors for OS-X". Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
44. Q10 is a Full Screen Writing Program
45. Comparison of Fullscreen text editors Archived 26 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine

External links