Winston for PC and Mac

Software Reviews and Criticism

• By Chocolate Orphan

  Great Typewriter Simulation

  If you’re looking for a modern style word processor that enables you to return to any part of your document to make quick and easy edits on the fly, this isn’t the app for you. Winston seeks to give the user a simulated typewriter experience complete with all the limitations inherent to the process of working on a typewriter. These limitations, though at times frustrating, force the writer to release the habit of editing continuously, commit to what’s on the page, and just keep writing. If that process sounds appealing to you, I strongly recommend this app. At the time I’m writing this, the app is still a little buggy in terms of acurrately printing what’s on the page. The auto wrap feature also fails to work occasionally, and the app needs to be restarted in order for it to work. All that aside, I’m still a fan of this app. What I love most are the editing contraints it locks me into, and the sound of the clacking keys as I work. If I need to just get an idea down I like to start with Winston to free my mind of blocks and the creative pitfall of continuous editing. Later, I export my document into a more modern word processor to begin the editing process. Hats off to the developers of this app! Would love to see more backgrounds (all black background or solid colors), and more typewriter sounds and fonts (even as an in app purchase).

  
  
• By Phoneographer

  Almost There

  I've been looking for Hanx-style app for Windows for some time now. I love typewriters and used to write on one all the time. Mostly because it's mechanical noise somehow created a better writing experience for me. I can't explain why but I felt I could write easier and get lost in the writing with each clack and bell. That said, this is the best typewriter simulation I've discovered and it's almost perfect. My only complaint is that after I've typed something and want to export it, there are a lot of mistakes I have to correct on the line breaks and wraps. I can't figure out how to get a space before and after a return to stick. It runs the words together and it's annoying to have to fix this each time I copy or export my text into another document. If this were fixed and worked correctly, I'd give this 5-stars.

  
  
• By icantwait48

  Great, but has a couple kinks.

  Like all things, this app isn’t perfect. I’m still going to use it, because I’ve always wanted a typewriter, but can’t afford one since I’m not completely sure how devoted I would be to it. The only issue that I have with this app is you can’t go back a couple paragraphs to fix something. I know it would be difficult to do with an actual typewriter, if possible at all. Except you can’t backspace on an actual typewriter either. Could this be done in the next update? Other than that, I would highly recommend it! Just make sure you catch your mistakes or else you’d have to backspace order to go back and fix it.

  
  
• By writerantony

  Perfect for writing

  This thing is great. It’s immersive—it’s got nice backgrounds and that special typewriter clickety-clack touch. It works just like a typewriter—no deletions, just X marks, and that’s great for writers like me who tend to write a little bit, erase, write a little bit, erase, write a little bit, give up. If you want to snuggle up at home and just get some real writing done, get this app. It’s free! It made me super happy. It’s definitely worth a try. Edit: the only thing that’s a little bit off is the word count at the bottom. Not to be nit-picky, but it’s not always a hundred percent correct. I think it counts the words/characters you’ve X’d out in your count, so if you’re a rushed typer like me it’ll probably measure slightly more words than there actually are.

  
  

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