Final Draft Mobile App Reviews

Ugly interface, slow réaction when typing and it doesnt provide other languages.

So this iPhone app has an iCloud integration. But the Mac app doesnt?? Its ridiculous. The iCloud folder doesnt even show up on the web and Macs iCloud Drive.

This app has always been overpriced for both iOS and the desktop. Constant bugs, formatting errors. The best is when it tells you that a 3rd party app has messed up the xml formatting of a document that has only ever been used in final draft. They code finger pointing directly into the error messages. If this software is the industry standard, the industry can do better.

Having used Final Draft for the past 17 years and been an avid fan, I am deeply disappointed in the app. I decided yesterday to attempt writing an entire screenplay on the app for the first time, utilizing the nifty new iCloud capabilities. I was pleased for the first five pages; it worked without issue. Now, at page ten, after switching scripts momentarily to copy something, all of my text has been randomly jumbled and rearranged. Random letters and half-words have been shifted to completely different pages and inserted into the middle of character names or sluglines. Whole lines have disappeared. Luckily I happened to copy the entire script before I switched out, but even when I try to create a new document or replace the existing script with the copied text, the entire app crashes and overheats the phone. On the odd occasion it doesnt crash, the file accepts the pasted text, claims to be "saving", and then shows me a completely blank document. There is no way to force/manually sync, so youre constantly wondering whether the document is actually uploading or not. In my case... not. Im just supposed to accept that the five pages I wrote are lost? No dice, Final Draft. Give us the option to pull down and refresh to make sure were saving. I cant recommend this product because nothing could possibly be worse for a writer than being on a roll and pounding out ten pages, convinced youve nailed it and worded it perfectly -- probably the best work youve ever done -- only to have it disappear. For the record, I am using a mint condition iPhone 6S Plus, fully updated, with no other apps running in the background. The problem cannot be me. Its either the app itself or the iCloud integration, but either way... my text should be shuffling around. I use plenty of text apps that preserve a document until a proper sync can be achieved. Great idea, poor execution. Get it together if you want to stay a leader in this industry. I have free apps that perform better.

Or at least the best one on the market. I was unwilling to shell out the money for the Mac version and decided to try the iPad version for under $15. Worth every penny. Now writing swiftly in standard script format. Exports to PDF for printing, uses iCloud. Couldnt be happier.

There are lo turkish letters "ğ" and "ş", and its couse a big problem while writing. if you solve this problem soon it would be great.

Ive been getting the hang of this, and really enjoying the writing process...Until it started crashing. And not once or twice, I mean all the time. And this is on an iPad Pro, not some older iPad from years past. Also, its frustrating to have to keep back spacing my scene headings when it wont recognize, or wont let me, differentiate something like "Building - Conference Room - Day" and "Building - Day." It needs some cleaning up, folks. Big time.

No difference with this app and celtx App doesnt work with drop box or sync well with PC OR MAC

Final Draft on iOS is not only buggy, its dangerous. After 3 hours working on a Dropbox synced file on my iPad mini, it would refuse to sync (I had a good wifi connection). Then the file reverted back to the old version. So I lost 3 hours of work. I promptly deleted the app. On my larger iPad Pro, Final Draft skips around whenever I select text. Totally unusable. The only workaround is to use split screen mode, which defeats the purpose of using the larger tablet. So it appears that the developers were too lazy to test the app on the pro, or with Dropbox. Complete garbage. Do not use.

I cant open a screenplay in this app, it doesnt show up in the dropbox.... Also a lot of formatting features in the app dont work. The reason I bought this app is because I had a PC final draft (which was a gift so thank God I didnt pay for it), i thought it would be so nice to be able to write a script both on my computer and on my phone when Im not at home. Doesnt look like its gonna happen. Also - the Dropbox? - whats up with THAT pathetic app?

The newest update has jammed Dropbox buttons. I updated Final Draft. It recommended that I re-uplink my Dropbox account. I did. But, when I played with test scripts I found that I could neither upload a script to Dropbox nor load a script from the Final Draft file folder in Dropbox to Final Draft. This is not Dropbox integration but broken software that I cant use. Fix this!

Messed up my Dropbox sync on my iPad2. Screenplays wont sync after logging in. Queue is out of order. As it stands, its not showing the blue sync box next to the screenplay. When I go to sync, it has to save a new copy each time, no more automatic sync updates. Thinking more and more about switching to Fade In.

Unable to scroll. Locks up. All my synced Dropbox scripts are messed up.

I want to love this app. I need it to work on the iPadPro, because it is my best, most portable writing platform. Id love to see it actually keep scripts in sync with the home workstation and stay backed up to Dropbox or now, iCloud. Most of all, like all writers, Id like it to work reliably with a physical keyboard that you can actually type on at the speed of inspiration, but none of these things work reliably. Keyboard behavior is erratic and bizarrely programmed, completely non-standard. Crashes are frequent. And now the latest update, 2.1.2, has gone a step further: it is completely non-functional. Freezes, then crashes on startup. Nothing is more frustrating than to get up in the morning to get to work while your mind is fresh, ideas burning, and instead of writing, waste your hours being an unpaid software debugger. Just maddening.

The problem with the newest Dropbox update is that it auto syncs with Dropbox every time you make a change, and it does this by putting a spinning wheel right in the middle of your script page, so not only can you not work while the wheel is spinning, but you cant read your script either. Why put a big spinning wheel in the middle of the screen for software thats designed for writers, who obviously need to focus on what theyre writing? Its fine that the software needs to pause while the document is saved, but theres absolutely no reason to put a giant spinning wheel in the middle of the screen. Clearly no one working on this software is a writer because they would know this is a complete deal breaker. Put the spinning wheel up in the corner of the screen where we know its there but it isnt distracting. Also, dont ever hit the UNDO button in this program. It doesnt undo your last change, it undoes ALL your changes. I lost a whole mornings worth of writing. I was able to get it back because Dropbox saves previous versions, but the undo button is totally worthless.

Unless you have Final Draft on your computer, you arent going to maintain your writing format.

This hasnt been a terrible app prior to this release. But this newest version makes it pretty much unusable. The biggest problem, and most fatal, is that it just wont scroll. Hopefully theyll release the fixed version ASAP.

When Final Draft Writer first came out, it was a very big deal. A game changer for a longtime user and fan of Final Draft that allowed me to take it along on my iPhone or iPad. Especially in series television with multiple scripts to write or staff drafts to revise, you need every square inch of time to be productive. As an executive producer who had a very long train commute to the New York studio every day, FD Writer was essential to being productive in what otherwise would have been trash time. This update of FD Writer has beautifully taken that convenience to the next level. You can read the features are on the App Description, so you don’t need my list here. But the overall takeaway is this: Whatever you loved before about FD Writer, its a better experience now. Sync between multiple platforms (iPhone, iPad, laptop) is seamless. The iCloud and Dropbox integration has been reliable and trouble-free. The navigation in script is intuitive and feels even more like the full desktop Final Draft. Especially when I use my Bluetooth keyboard (essential for those of us who despise typing on glass). If you’re a screenwriter out in LA, you may not be writing on a train. But it’s not just for train writing. Also airline writing, Starbucks writing, even car wash writing. Hey, ten free minutes is ten free minutes. The only problem with FD Writer? There’s no excuse not to keep drafting because your script goes everywhere you do.

I love the idea of writing on my iphone but edits are impossible. I was trying to split dialogue with action but the tab refused to create the action line. It is fine writing forward but going back to shift space in lines of action and dialogue is not happening. I have to use a laptop now to finish my script

So this app worked for about a month. Then when I write on a desktop and send to e-mail, I cant open on an iPad or iPhone!! What gives? The app launches but doesnt recognize the file. This is the same file that worked for about a month. No file name change or anything. Anyone experience this? HELP!!!