Hanx Writer 1.1.1

Call us hipsters all you want, but typewriters have a certain charm to them. There’s the feeling that all you have to do is sit down and pour your heart out on that piece of paper without interruptions, without having to do anything else, without having to worry about your typos until later on.

Of course, carrying a typewriter around with you isn’t exactly practical and it would certainly raise a few eyebrows and, well, “nobody’s got time for that”. Typewriter apps, on the other hand, can supply what it takes to satisfy your need for the special sounds that come with such a device, or the barely there font that caresses the paper as it moves.

Hanx Writer is such a tool and to make things even cooler, it was created with the help of Tom Hanks, two-time Oscar winner. “With Hanx Writer, you’ll hear the rhythm of your work with SHOOK SHOOK or FITT-FITT,” Hanks said.

The introductory page in the app is even written by Hanks, who explains his love for typewriters, and how he bought his first one back in the late ‘70’s and continued to get new ones over the years.

Vintage, with a modern twist

Hanx Writer, as the actor puts it, provides the ease and speed of an iPhone with the sound and pace of a manual typewriter. What’s cool about it is the fact that while you may get to enjoy the old-feeling of a classic typewriter, you will also enjoy the perks that come with the 21st century – emailing, printing, sharing.

These are all actions that you can do with Hanx Writer, which is enough to put the modern spin on such a classic activity.

It might be cooler, however, if you connect a wireless keyboard to your iDevice and write your stories in this manner, using the phone as your “sheet of paper”. Even Hanks agrees that once you do this, the app becomes a tool, not a toy.

Optional purchases

There are several typewriters you can choose from. The “Prime Select” is free, but the others, the 707 and the Golden Touch, for instance, will cost you a few dollars if you want to use them. They’re not particularly expensive, but they don’t bring much to the table either, unless you really want a change of look and feel on how the typewriter acts.

The bottom line is that the app is pretty nice if you really want to have a stripped down text writing tool with a vintage flair. It’s certainly a nice change compared to the avalanche of features offered by other similar apps.

Add to watchlist:

Keyboard replacementDocument editor

• SwiftKey Keyboard 1.2.3
• Blippy 1.1.1
• GIF Keyboard 1.4
• Microsoft OneNote for iPhone 2.10.1
• Roambi Analytics 7.4.5
• Microsoft Word 1.7