Abigail Young

Abigail Young

Reviewing the Keystroke Sounds from OmmWriter

I rediscovered OmmWriter tonight after maybe 6 years. It still exists! I paid $3 to upgrade to the latest version because I'm feeling bored and disatisfied with writing software and the converging aesthetic of every new app.

Things OmmWriter is good for

  • Distraction-free writing. Immediately throws you into fullscreen mode with no other option.

  • Your choice of (pre-selected) background image, font, music/white noise, and keystroke sound.

    • There's a mono font, so it's okay. I do prefer Mono Lisa more than any other, but that's on me.

  • Stream-of-consciousness writing. There's no markdown formatting, preview mode, or any other features that make editing easy. It's really the best to just get the garbage out of your head. Refine somewhere else.

Not as great

  • It hasn't changed much since the last time I used it. I'm not entirely sure what the upgrade was. Is it still being maintained? Their Twitter is abandoned. But so is mine, and I'm still alive.

  • Fonts are super limited.

  • The resizable text box throws me off. I feel like I'm in the middle of InDesign when I hover over it.

Summary

It's like a stripped down brain.fm + ASMR + writing app in one. Good if your brain wanders when writing and you need something to hold your attention. You might get sick of the music selections. Then again, brain.fm is always autoplaying me the same DUN-DA-DA-DUN-DUN shit and I’m too anxious or busy or lazy to click click click and find something else. And I like it! It's fine!

Speaking of clicks, how are the keyboard noises?

01 - Sounds like a bubble typing on a mechanical keyboard.

02 - It is so quiet, I can’t really hear it over my own typing (without headphones). Like a leaf hitting the ground.

03 - This is like a little drum machine left out in the rain.

04 - Another quiet one. It’s a little weird to me that the pattern isn’t based on the key you press, but any keystroke advances the pattern.

05 - Oh this is like a xylophone echo in a wet cave. Cute in a small dose but absolutely NOT for fast typing. At full speed it sounds more like a demented jack-in-the box that will soon bust open and kill me.

06 - Fingers drumming on a cardboard box.

07 - Eraser end of a pencil clinking around a metal tin cup.

Overall, they are fun, but I think my HHKB is the most satisfying.

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