5 Favorite Smart Phone Apps for Writers

by Lori Hatcher

Guess how many smart phone apps you can find in the Apple App Store?

If you guessed 3,835,661, you’re right. Mind boggling, isn’t it?

The invention of the smart phone and the creation of “apps,” short for “applications,” has transformed our lives. We use them to listen to our Bible, order dinner, and schedule a visit from the exterminator. We can check our blood sugar, watch a YouTube video, and book a flight to Argentina with a few clicks. 

Apps enhance our writing lives, too.

Need to scan a document and send it somewhere? There’s an app for that. 

Want to take a photo and create a meme to post on social media? There’s an app for that, too.

Would you like to dictate your latest scene as you’re hiking in the woods or waiting in the carpool line, then email a transcript to yourself so you can continue to work on it when you get home? There’s an app for that.

Unfortunately, with millions of apps available, it’s hard to find the most helpful ones. If you go to the App Store on your phone and start scrolling, you’ll soon become confused and overwhelmed. Like I felt on my first visit to Trader Joe’s. It’s easy to become paralyzed by the myriads of choices.

On my second visit to TJ’s, I brought a friend who shopped there regularly. She walked me through the store, pointed out her favorite items, and helped me fill my cart with useful and wonderful products. 

No stress. No mess. No confusion.

Today I’d like to come alongside you and share some of my favorite writing-related apps so you can fill your writer’s shopping cart with useful, wonderful, and (usually) free products.

Lori’s 5 Favorite Writing-Related Apps

1. Holy Bible (Free): I love this app because it doesn’t require Wi-Fi. Many Bible apps do, but not this one. I can read it on a flight in Airplane mode or where there’s no internet connectivity. It also has an audio feature if I want to listen as I exercise or clean house.

2. Scannable by Evernote (Free): This app allows you to scan a document with your phone, save it to a PDF, and email or save it. I use it when I need to submit 1099 forms, contracts, or release forms. The image is far better quality than when I send a photo of a document. 

3. Teleprompter (Free): I use this app often when I’m doing Facebook lives or other filmed presentations. It allows me to upload my speech into the app as a Word document, then adjust the font size, speed of scroll, and pauses as it displays the content on my phone screen. When it’s time for my presentation, I set up my phone with its teleprompter display on a tripod directly behind my computer camera, click start, and deliver my material like a pro. 

4. Word Swag (Free): The Word Swag app describes itself as “like having a graphic designer in your pocket.” This nifty tool allows you to add graphics and text to your own photos. With their templates and user-friendly steps, even the most un-artistic can create beautiful images without a computer. If you wonder how your writer friends create such lovely images, check their phones. Betcha they have Word Swag.

5. Chick Fil A (Free): The function of this app goes without saying. Sometimes, you just gotta have a milkshake. In my world, milkshakes (cookies and cream, no whipped cream, two cherries) can cure anything. Sad because a publishing house rejected your book proposal? Console yourself with a milkshake. Happy because you received a royalty check totaling more than ten dollars? Celebrate with a milkshake. Seeking inspiration and a reason to keep writing? Hang out at CFA, slowly sip your milkshake, observe the customers, and find endless reasons to keep writing. This world needs your words! Celebrate your renewed vision with, you guessed it, a milkshake.

Well-chosen smart phone apps put technology at our fingertips and bring value, productivity, inspiration, and joy to our writing lives. 

Hopefully my short list will get you started. Please join the conversation by sharing your favorite writing-related apps in the comments below. I can’t wait to learn from you.

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5 Favorite Smart Phone Apps for Writers from author Lori Hatcher on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Lori Hatcher loves to inspire and equip others by sharing high-impact stories for spiritual transformation. A popular women’s ministry speaker and writing/speaking instructor, Lori is an Advanced Communicator Gold and Advanced Leader Bronze with Toastmasters International. She writes for Our Daily Bread, Guideposts, Revive Our Hearts, and Crosswalk.com. Check out her latest devotional, A WORD FOR YOUR DAY: 66 DEVOTIONS TO REFRESH YOUR MIND, from Our Daily Bread Publishing. Connect with her at LORIHATCHER.COM or on FACEBOOK.