It’s slimmed down, fast, and there are no toolbars or inspectors to distract me. I use a text editor for much of my writing (including this article). But if you just want a blank page to type your text, there are many excellent Mac apps. If you need to use complex styles, you don’t have many choices, and if you need to write code, there are a number of options. The granddaddy of Mac text editors is BBedit, and this app is one of the most powerful tools for this type of text. Text editors were created as tools for developers, people who write code, who need certain features, such as syntax coloring (different types of code show up in different colors), regular spacing and indents, and more. (Well, they do, but in HTML and CSS, not in the texts you write for them.) Why a Text Editor?ĭepending on what you write, you may need to use complex styles that someone has prepared in a template, such as for Microsoft Word, or you may be writing for a website, where styles and formatting don’t exist. In this article, you’ll learn why you might want to use a text editor for the Mac, and I’ll even recommend some favorite apps for you to try. Instead of working around a complex app that wants to do more than you need, a text editor lets you focus on writing text. They free you from the hassle of styles and fonts and let you focus on what you write. These are apps that generally don’t offer any formatting, just plain text. Many people have shifted to using text editors to write on their Macs.

While it’s easy to use, it has a lot of features that can get in the way if you just want to write something simple. And Pages may be too complex for what you write.

You may recall that Microsoft announced the end of support for Office 2011, and if you don’t use the app often, you may not want to pay a monthly subscription fee for Office 365. You may even use a different word processor-there are several options available. You may write in the ubiquitous Microsoft Word, or in Apple’s Pages, which is provided free on your Mac. Software & Apps Type Different: Text Editors for the MacĮveryone who uses a Mac types words sometimes in an email app, other times on Facebook, and often in a word processor.

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