1Writer - Markdown Text Editor

• Price: $4.99
• In-app purchases

Last verified 31 Jul 2026

4.6 388 ratings · App Store

1. 5/5Clean, Simple, and Dependable

   After bouncing around the world of Markdown editors on iPad, I eventually began oscillating between iA Writer and 1Writer. iA has some nice features depending on your use case (better templating, typewriter mode, all that good stuff), but I would have weird issues with it at times. Its Dropbox support is already pretty wonky compared to most other apps, and eventually completely stopped working for me a couple months ago. 1Writer has been bullet-proof, though. It does exactly what it says, and does it well. There are small quality-of-life things like being able to close your current file without opening up another one. I don't know why, but it's just nice to be able to do that. It's been easy to use, and I even poked around in their Javascript tools to create a small action that copies my current Markdown document, and opens up my blog CMS so I can "export" it to Wordpress. Not as clean as iA, but gets the job done. I recommend it as a really good place for anyone to get started with Markdown on their iOS devices.

   mdrichard05 · 31 Jul 2026

2. 5/5All around stellar app: my go to

   I used Editorial for many years and though I tried many other writing and note taking apps before and after that, 1Writer is the one I use every day and trust the most with my writing and notes. Another app worth a look in this space is the new app Tot from Icon Factory which is a fun, simpler take with similarly high standards. But 1Writer is far more powerful and flexible, and allows me to use iCloud to edit my notes on the Mac in my preferred text editor which is usually Sublime Text these days. Having access to the raw files in a normal filesystem matters to me, and 1Writer strikes the perfect balance for me of being quick to capture an idea with sane, customizable defaults, and fully featured enough to go back and find then edit that idea later. The switch between editing and previewing markdown can be quirky to get used to but it's handled well here. Plus the in-app browser experience was recently simplified to great benefit. It's nice to see the app keep improving so considerably and steadily.

   rdela · 31 Jul 2026

3. 5/5Best so far; wish I could “select line.”

   I’m a writer and I’ve been through a number of text editors for iOS. When my last favorite one wilted and died due to lack of support, I set out to find a really good one. Various sources steered me to 1Writer, and I discovered I’d already bought it in the past but never used it. I reinstalled it, set it up to sync with Dropbox, and have been happy ever since. My previous text editors would often not allow me to create new files unless I was online or had a data signal (because I had them set to sync with Dropbox), but 1Writer doesn’t give me that trouble. The one thing I really miss from my last, now dead, text editor was the option to “select line” when you touch and hold and get the usual “select” and “select all” options. Often, it would be convenient to select a line or paragraph without having to drag the beginning and ending markers hither & yon using a touch screen. So pleeeeeeeeease add that, okay? Thanks!

   mesue1 · 31 Jul 2026

4. 5/5Love this app; much cleaner than Drafts. In-place editing not ready yet.

   Have been really enjoying this app so far. I started experimenting with TextExpander and one thing I would really like to see is better support like Drafts has. For example, when expanding a snippet with placeholders, Drafts actually opens up the TextExpander app so that you can fill in the placeholder and then returns to completed text to the Drafts app. Also, trying to edit in place inside Dropbox seems to be buggy. It constantly tries to update the file while it's still open, which has caused me to lose some work. I haven't bothered with that since first trying it. I do appreciate the Dropbox integration. One thing I would like is the ability to create the new files inside a Dropbox folder of my choice so that they are available on all devices. What's the point of saving something locally? Maybe this feature is there and I just haven't found it yet. EDIT: thanks for the response. To clarify, I meant setting the default location of NEW files to Dropbox. In other words, having the new files when I open the app automatically save to Dropbox instead of to the device. EDIT 2: Well, this feature is already there. Never mind!! Thanks for the response once again. Overall a five star app; improved TextExpander support would really make it nice for composing emails with templates and placeholders. Please add it!

   Comfortably_nick · 31 Jul 2026

5. 5/5Best iOS markdown editor with Dropbox support, hands down

   Upgrading to iOS 26 broke Dropbox support. I use this app every day and was devastated by the interruption to my daily workflow. Seeing that it hadn’t had any updates for roughly 3 years, I didn’t have much hope and started seeking out alternatives. iA Writer is what I landed on. While it’s an impressive app with some great features and polish, it was missing the ability to manually refresh files from Dropbox and the dark theme & font combo felt inferior. After several days of using the new app, the developer of 1Writer released an update that fixed Dropbox support in iOS 26 and restored my daily workflow. Thank you so much for the quick bug fix. It was a no-brainer to give the developer a $20 tip using the Tip Jar feature in the Settings screen.

   TheMan781 · 31 Jul 2026

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