Version 15 of the macOS / iOS Ulysses "writing app" has been released.

https://ulysses.app

Features:

Brand-new keyword filtering and management
See all used keywords in sheet search
Filter for multiple keywords
Merge and rename keywords
Editor split view
You can now open a second editor within the same window
Editor can be split vertically and horizontally
Hold option key to scroll both editors simultaneously
Improved image support
Editor will now show a preview for web images
Web images are now exported to PDF and DOCX
Export image size can be set for each image
Support for WordPress 5.0 “Gutenberg"
Dark reading mode in export preview
When in dark mode, you can switch to a dark preview of your exported sheets

Changes and Improvements:

Reworked main window keyboard navigation to better handle editor split view
Empty links, images and footnotes are now greyed out in the editor
Empty sheets are erased immediately when moved to the trash
When deleting a style, theme or markup, it is now deleted on all synced devices
Improved error handling for iCloud syncing problems
Added TextPack export option
Fixes:

Import of PDF files using Share Extension
Export preview when changing order of glued sheets
Handling of umlauts and other characters in URLs
Crash when editing a goal
Crash when editing text with smart tags
Crash when typing Tcl code in code blocks
Crash in Share Extension when importing large images
Resizing of the navigation panel
HEIC files are now converted to JPEG during export
Focus is immediately set to search bar when using command-F

Still no linking to notes? That's a shame. Still, I shall evaluate with interest.

Ulysses is almost perfect for writing in a lightly formatted way, but one basket for all the eggs is still limiting.

The new keyword manager is nice, but there's only one set of keywords across everything in your library.

If Ulysses had a way to use individual libraries, I'd be very happy.

The new keyword management interface is sorely disappointing. It is a pop-up window rather than integrated into the main interface, and few other changes have been made to make it easier to manage keywords. In the end I just don't use them, relying on folders instead.

Compared with Scrivener (say), Ulysses has no real outlining tools. You can put a comment at the top of each of a series of sheets, but that's all. This handicaps it for writing anything much longer than a report, a blog or an essay.

So the sooner the application can import OPML sheet by sheet, from (say) OmniOutliner without going via Scrivener, the better as far as I'm concerned. I'd been hoping that the latest version might include this feature.

Otherwise, for me it remains a convenient tool for writing shorter long-form without distraction.

I'd have to agree with Hugh that Ulysses, powerful though it is, has some slightly disappointing limitations.

I'm especially disappointed by the lack of linking, and the lack of folding.

It's an attractive piece of software, but I've cancelled my subscription (which won't run out until November, however, leaving them time to re-impress me by bringing out The Ultimate Ulysses!)

Having rediscovered MacJournal, especially in its currently free (as in "free of charge") form, I'm finding that many of Ulysses' features can be duplicated in MacJ... and of course you can create as many MacJ files as you like, each of which is effectively a mini-database (or even quite a maxi database).

So one thing I really like about Ulysses is the "quick open" command that searches your whole library. Does MacJ have a similar global search command? If so, I couldn't find it. I have no use for a journal that only searches within a set of folders I happen to have open. I'm assuming I'm wrong, so hopefully someone can enlighten me soon!

MadaboutDana wrote:

I'd have to agree with Hugh that Ulysses, powerful though it is, has
some slightly disappointing limitations.

I'm especially disappointed by the lack of linking, and the lack of
folding.

It's an attractive piece of software, but I've cancelled my subscription
(which won't run out until November, however, leaving them time to
re-impress me by bringing out The Ultimate Ulysses!)

Having rediscovered MacJournal, especially in its currently free (as in
"free of charge") form, I'm finding that many of Ulysses' features can
be duplicated in MacJ... and of course you can create as many MacJ files
as you like, each of which is effectively a mini-database (or even quite
a maxi database).

Okay, I'm a dufus, I was just missing the standard macOS search tools. Duh.

Next question: keyboard shortcut listings? Way to move files/entries around via keyboard, preferably with search powers?

In other words, can MJ replace Evernote for me...

JakeBernsteinWA wrote:

So one thing I really like about Ulysses is the "quick open" command
that searches your whole library. Does MacJ have a similar global search
command? If so, I couldn't find it. I have no use for a journal that
only searches within a set of folders I happen to have open. I'm
assuming I'm wrong, so hopefully someone can enlighten me soon!

Hugh wrote:

Compared with Scrivener (say), Ulysses has no real outlining tools.

How do you outline in Scrivener?

So the sooner the application can import OPML sheet by sheet, from (say)
OmniOutliner without going via Scrivener, the better as far as I'm
concerned. I'd been hoping that the latest version might include this
feature.

As someone who uses Ulysses and recently upgraded to OmniOutliner Pro, I'd be very interested in that!

MadaboutDana wrote:

Having rediscovered MacJournal, especially in its currently free (as in
"free of charge") form

Which makes my eye twitch. I don't like that the developer offers no information about future pricing, future features, the status of syncing with the current iOS app (which I'm not sure he even has anything to do with now), etc. He hasn't said it's freeware but hasn't said what the business model actually is, and I don't want to consider devoting time to an app with an iffy or unknown future.

satis wrote:

Hugh wrote:
> Compared with Scrivener (say), Ulysses has no real outlining tools.

How do you outline in Scrivener?

>So the sooner the application can import OPML sheet by sheet, from
(say)
>OmniOutliner without going via Scrivener, the better as far as I'm
>concerned. I'd been hoping that the latest version might include this
>feature.

As someone who uses Ulysses and recently upgraded to OmniOutliner Pro,
I'd be very interested in that!

"How do you outline in Scrivener?" I use Scrivener's own outliner and/or its index card feature.

Having been a bit snarky about Ulysses 15, I'm delighted to find you can open side-by-side editors in multiple windows (on macOS), and even choose the orientation in each separate window (vertical/horizontal). It's neatly arranged (little fade-in icon that appears in twin-editor view is used to control orientation, highlighting, etc.).

Nicely done, Ulysses. But where's the note linking?

MadaboutDana wrote:

Having been a bit snarky about Ulysses 15, I'm delighted to find you can
open side-by-side editors in multiple windows (on macOS), and even
choose the orientation in each separate window (vertical/horizontal).
It's neatly arranged (little fade-in icon that appears in twin-editor
view is used to control orientation, highlighting, etc.).

Nicely done, Ulysses. But where's the note linking?

I don't want to be snarky about Ulysses, either. Clearly a lot of work has been put into developing the split-editor feature, and making it user-friendly. I still think that Ulysses is an excellent tool for some purposes. It's just that paying a sub every year makes one more impatient - perhaps irrationally - than one would be if one were simply coughing up for an upgrade every four or five.

Exactly, Hugh. What also does, I confess, surprise me somewhat is that Ulysses has its own library system, meaning it effectively has its own file format. So some of these features should, in principle, be relatively easy to incorporate.

And yet progress seems to take place really quite slowly. Much fuss, I feel, is made about relatively minor new features. Yes, it's a good program (or collection of apps), but I'd like to see a proper roadmap now.