Best Apps for Writing on the GO

Nothing beats the flexibility of an ultra slim laptop. You can take it virtually anywhere and write when the mood strikes you. There is no Bluetooth keyboard to mess with and there is no having to go about tapping on the screen. There is no fighting with the display when the keyboard covers most of the word processing layout or having to go back and edit when auto-correct places embarrassing substitutions on your copy. When you’re done, you can flip your laptop closed and just leave. Some of us don’t happen to have an ultra slim laptop. In fact, I’d wager that there are quite a few of us starving artists that try to stay within our budgets because we just don’t have any sort of disposable income. Perhaps we invested three or four thousand dollars in an extreme gaming PC setup because we wanted to play Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate as well as use Photoshop in our spare time…and maybe write when the feeling strikes. So what then? In order to write we have to buy another machine? We don’t think so. While none of these match the charm of going old school with a stenopad and pencil we still have quite a few apps for you to try out. They’re like shoes, you try what fits and feels like you. Here are our 5 Best Apps for Writing on the GO.

Polaris Office

We’ve started with an old favorite. There was a time when this only saw the light of day because it was bundled with so many Samsung devices that you couldn’t help but be forced to use it during the reign of the Galaxy S3, S4, and Note 3. Times have changed since then and the way we interact with our devices is no exception.

We want our work to be with us at whatever time we need it at because we really don’t have the time–most of the time.

This makes navigation easy and painless as we see familiar items such as Home, Insert, Layout, Review, and View. We also notice that we get many fonts that do not have to be purchased and come with the app itself.

There is an option to use your finger to draw notes on the paper as well. Perhaps the most important item yet is the ability to determine the layout of the page margins in inches.

It also includes something that seems to be coming “standard” in these apps, spellchecking.

The only real problem that any of us could see was the fact that we were using this on our phone which was way too small.

Get Polaris Office on Google Play

Google Docs

When Google began to push out their Chromebooks, much hype was given to the idea that was originally proposed by Firefox when they wanted their own  operating system. Why not let everything be used in the cloud? This reasoning has given us Google Docs. While it functions as a simple method of writing whenever you need to write, it brings one important weapon to the table. It’s fully integrated with the Google Technosphere. So if you happen to really love Google as much as many others love Apple then this would be the app to download. There isn’t much in the way of personalization or customizing the appearance of the documents themselves but it gets the job done.

Get Google Docs on Google Play

WPS Office + PDF

WPS Office started its life as Kingsoft Office. A very long time ago it was one of the very few–read: the only one–that could translate .docx files flawlessly for those that do not want to have to use pricey options such as Microsoft Word on their PC’s. Over time, we’ve seen this app evolve into a fully functional office substitution for those of us that want the ability to do everything on the go. If you have WPS installed on your desktop then that’s just another reason to sweeten the pot and get this for your mobile device.

Basic spreadsheets can be done but don’t expect to balance your multi-million dollar budget on it.

Being able to do presentations is a nice touch.

Get WPS Office + PDF on Google Play

Microsoft Word

Somewhere someone was wondering when we were going to get to this behemoth. Sure it happens to be pretty popular as in pretty much the only enterprise tool used, but once upon a time Microsoft didn’t always get along with Android. As many of us still remember there was an intense rivalry between Windows Phone and Android a few years ago. It went so far as Microsoft almost deciding to never release a version of their mobile word processing application for Android. As their mobile empire with Nokia crumbled, they did something smart. They adapted.

Today we find Microsoft Word being bundled with many high end smart phones and tablets. Quite simply, because it’s very good. Not only does this model encourage users to create a Microsoft ID but it encourages them to adopt Windows as a primary operating system if they haven’t already. This integration with their PC using Windows 10 is the best feature available when using this app on Android.

The true formatting between your desktop and mobile device in full fidelity is a sight to behold.

There are almost as many options on your phone as there are on a Laptop.

Again, Spelling is the standard.

Microsoft Account anyone?

Get Microsoft Word on Google Play

JotterPad – Writer

We wanted to include something for those of us who just want to throw down some notes and have it look pretty. We had other options to include such as Writer but that layout seemed to be a little obtuse. Enter JotterPad: the app that just writes. The other reason we wanted to put this in is the ability for the app to save the documents as .txt only. This is important as it allows the writer to get down what they’re trying to say without having to worry about formatting–which can be done later on a PC anyway.

Get JotterPad – Writer on Google Play

Afterword

Writing is a personal choice that many of us never get rich on. The need to put though to paper or at least try to give back to the world in some form is really all the solace any of us have. That being said, writing is a very rewarding career and also isn’t one that should be limited to location. Find what works for you and keep writing.