Academic writing in the iPad: Mellel and Bookends

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Posted by Prion
Sep 7, 2024 at 08:20 AM

Apparently the newest versions of Mellel and Bookends mobile are able to bring proper academic writing to the iPad. Whilst there are some features in the desktop workflow that haven’t made it across to the iPad (yet), there is insertion of citations, scanning, unscanning etc to call it academic writing.

Despite my urge to test almost every software under the sun and the urge to benefit from the iPad’s smaller form factor I haven’t tried this myself. Mostly for two reasons: My academic writing is mostly collaborative and so far every attempt to use my own set of tools (including Mellel and Bookends for macOS) and converting drafts back and forth has resulted in a big mess as soon as the exchange of manuscripts and the inevitable track changes got into play. What I gained on the one side just wasn’t worth the hassle on the other. There are other pain points, too. Bookends success rate at matching metadata online do not hold a candle to, say, Paperpile’s.

The second point was the pricing. It still isn’t clear to me if the subscription pricing (Premium) comes on top of what is charged for the Standard mobile version or instead of it.
Mellel

Bookends iOS Standard version: 17.99€ (on-time payment)
Bookends iOS Premium version 17.99€ (yearly, subscription)

Mellel iOS Standard: 34.99€ (one time)
Mellel iOS Premium 9.99€ (subscription)

As I understand it, you need to buy the standard versions of both plus pay for the yearly subscription if you want the citation feature to work.

If I were writing for myself as an academic I might consider it, but for now I am better off using MS Word, which on top of it all I am getting at no charge through work, whereas for Bookends and Mellel I would need to pay out of my own pocket (which I have for the macOS version).
This, I rather suspect, is the situation many colleagues are in, making an already tiny market incredibly niche.

Are any of you using Mellel/Bookends or anything else for academic writing on the iPad?

Posted by Amontillado
Sep 7, 2024 at 08:04 PM

I could be wrong, but I think Mellel Mobile has three tiers. Free, with some limitations about document length and I think the Bookends integration is turned off.

Premium, which is a one-time purchase and has few limitations.

The subscription is an add-on to Premium. All features are unlocked. Right now, that’s just the Bookends integration with more promised in the future.

I haven’t done much with Mellel Mobile yet. From experience so far, it is compatible with any document created on either Mellel Mobile or the Mac version. Some things, like editing auto-title configuration, aren’t available on Mobile. You can use the auto-titles you set up on the Mac, you just can’t alter them on the iPad.

Mellel is truly cool, at least for me. If any Mellel feature gives you trouble, hop on Mellel’s user forum. It’s not very active, but questions get answers.

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