Rough Draft App Reviews

Love the app. It’s pretty freeing knowing that I can’t delete anything. I don’t like that once you get to the bottom of the page, it stays there. I’d like to see it more like Pages or Word where there is a work aread and then there is the buffer. Once you use up the work area, it starts a new page. Other than that, it’s a pretty basic word processor. If you think of it as a place to start a project or create a rough draft (boom!!!!) then it is a really great tool. Other than the bottom of the screen issue. Please fix this and I’ll give you 5 stars! One more thing: I’d also like to have the word count visible during the writing process instead of having to grab the mouse to make it show up. Edit: Hmmm, the app seems to do a better job on my 2nd run with it in terms of not making me type towards the bottom of the screen. Is this a bug? Also in full screen mode on my 27” iMac 5k there is some lag in typing. In split screen with Safari the type shows as soon as I press the key but having the program in full screen there is a definite and distracting lag. That’s not good. I have a 4.0 ghz processor and 24GB RAM, so I know it’s not resources. Am I the only one who’s experienced this? Another small thing regarding the word count. Words that have been stricken shouldn’t be counted in the word count should they? Technically they aren’t a part of the piece.

First, it ain’t pretty. (Dark mode is better). But that’s a cosmetic issue & that’s the point of the app, kind of, right? Maybe it’s brilliantly ironic. Second, I like to resize my windows. Weird, right? This won’t let you go anywhere but wider (and it already takes up more than half the screen). This is a work in progress but I like the concept so I’ll be back in the future to check up on it.

I understood, the March update would correct the formatting problems. The answer; NO. Problem: When you open folder to continue writing, everything is formatted to left. Can only see the right 50% of file. And yes, you can save the file in text and load it into a regular editor, and yes you can see entire file, but no, not Rough Draft.

This is a great idea, and I really hope it gets better, but the current version (1.5.3) is in desperate need of UI testing and hopelessly buggy (the main ones are noted in other reviews). I’ll check back in with an aim to giving it the much better review it could and should get; but for now I’d encourage people to try it and give the dev feedback but not buy the in-app purchase. Two stars because one suggests it’s a waste — but it isn’t (yet).

You know the quote, "Don’t get it perfect; get it done,” right? Rough Draft does nothing but help you do that. Ever since I started using it, my output has improved. If you’ve never tried the “give yourself permission to write crap” method, then you owe it to yourself to give Rough Draft a shot. It’s not a perfect app for everyone; no app is. But it changed my writing life. Sorry if this sounds like a commercial. It’s not. I’m just an end user getting who’s benefited from using it (and getting no compensation from the developer of Rough Draft, btw).