October 17, 2012
Update: TeX Writer v1.3 with New Editor

TeX Writer v1.3 is now available in App Store. It's now universal for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Before we introduce new features, there is a big change we need to address immediately: texmf-local will no longer sync with Dropbox. You may well delete that folder from Dropbox. The reason behind this change is that it is very slow to install packages in this way. Especially when you have more than 1000 files, syncing can be interrupted very fre­quently, or simply unusable. From now on, think of texmf-local as a local directory as its name suggests. To add files into this folder, you need to create a directory tree like this on your desktop:

--- texmf-local
 |---- TeXinput
 |---- TeXfonts
 |---- TrueType

Basically all your files should go to TeXinput (except for font files: .tfm, .ttf, .etc, we'll talk about it later). Then select the texmf-local and compress it as a zip archive. To install the zip, you first copy it to the Documents folder via iTunes file sharing, and then from the file list inside TeX Writer, tap on the zip file, the folder structure will be unzipped. Depending on the file size, unzipping can take a while. Because it overrides existing files, so it can be used for update as well. You can also import zip files from other apps like Dropbox or Safari. This makes sharing easier. We'll provide some ready made packages on the TeX Writer official website. OK, now let's get to the exciting new features. The New Editor We build a brand new editor inside TeX Writer. We add line numbers, syntax high­ligh­ting. We add a command bar to help you do things quickly. There are commands like undo, redo, goto-line and many others, and you can even define your own commands. The editor colors and text font can be customized to your taste. The accessory keyboard can be configured too. For more details please refer to the readme document inside TeX Writer. There is one thing special about this editor. We introduce a new way to move caret and select text. Please use it and let us know how you like it. One last thing is that you can hide other interface elements away and enter full screen mode with the keyboard and editor only. This is often called focus mode, and it helps you concentrate on writing. PDF Viewer We no longer supports dvi preview. TeX Writer converts dvi to pdf on the fly. We need to make a choice and pdf is obviously the winner. Output preview is also much easier than before. Custom Fonts We packs Computer Modern / LaTeX / AMS fonts in app. But they are just a small portion, you need to install other fonts. please refer to the corresponding section in the readme document. If you are not clear how to do things with TeX Writer, don't worry. In the next few days, we will continue to publish some detailed help information on www.texwriterapp.com. It will be a better place for organized documentation. UPDATE: We've received some reports that after update TeX Writer crashes on launch. This problem doesn't affect new users. We'll fix it ASAP. At the moment, please remove the app first from your device, and then reinstall it from App Store. If your files are linked with Dropbox, this is very safe. Otherwise you will need to back up files first via iTunes file sharing.