Jason Snell and Dan Moren have published an interesting article about markdown text editing using different editor apps on Six Colors.
The article discusses the capabilities of a collection of iOS/iPadOS-based markdown editor apps, consisting of established contenders like iA Writer or Drafts, and the new hotness, Taio.
The authors also provided a handy table summarizing the pros and cons of the different apps at a glance. From my own perspective, one aspect was missing from the table and the entire article: the ability to correctly handle markdown meta-data during preview.
So here’s that additional table row, extended by two further apps (DEVONthink To Go and Keep It) that handle the storage and preview of markdown text:
| Feature | Taio | 1Writer | Drafts | iA Writer | Textastic | DEVONthink To Go | Keep It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metadata | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Of all the apps in the table, iA Writer provides by far the best support for markdown meta-data. While other apps mentioned in the table restrict themselves to more or less tolerate meta-data, iA Writer goes one step further and supports the usage of meta-data to parameterize the markdown text.