3 - That's the Magic Number

It’s time to open Scrivener’s next chapter.

Scrivener 2.0 for macOS was released in November 2010, and Scrivener 1.0 for Windows in November 2011. Since then both have seen plenty of new features and refinements added in free updates, and more and more people have used Scrivener to write their books. But we’re not standing still: for a while now we’ve been beavering away on the next big release of Scrivener.

I’m talking, of course, about Scrivener 3—coming soon to a screen near you.

Featuring a refreshed UI and some major overhauls, our focus for Scrivener 3 has been not only on new features but also on consolidating and simplifying what’s already there. We’ve taken years of experience of writing in Scrivener, both our own and that of our users, and poured it into Scrivener 3. The result is the best version of Scrivener yet, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of our users.

Soon, we’ll start posting a series of blog posts about what you can expect. For now, here’s what you need to know about the release.

Scrivener 3 for macOS

Along with the updated features and the revamped interface, Scrivener 3 on macOS has been rewritten as a 64-bit app and to take advantage of new Mac technologies under the hood. Scrivener is more than ten years old now, so for 3.0, whole swathes of code and UI elements have been recoded and rebuilt from the ground up to stand Scrivener in good stead for the next ten years. As a result, Scrivener 3 for macOS will require macOS 10.12 Sierra or above to run.

I’ve been working on Scrivener 3 for a long time, but it’s now in beta-testing and is nearly ready. We’re finalising the updated manual and preparing for release later this year.

Scrivener 3 for Windows

“Wait!” you cry, “Can you guys not count?” Well, we can, but, mavericks that we are, we are eschewing all sense of sequence and jumping straight from Scrivener 1 to Scrivener 3 on the Windows platform. Why? Because our daring duo of Windows programmers has been working very hard to attain parity with Scrivener 3 on macOS. It will look every bit as beautiful as the macOS version, has been reworked to better work with high resolutions, and will bring the feature set much more into line across the two platforms.

Scrivener 3 for Windows is still in development and will follow a period behind the macOS release. As much as we’d love to release both versions at the same time, the only way we could do so would be by artificially holding back the macOS version for several months. The Windows team has always had to battle not only with the macOS version having a five year head-start, but also with having to write a lot more custom code because of platform differences. So Scrivener for Windows is catching up, but our Windows users still have a little longer to wait. Because we want to make sure it’s rock solid and everything our users have been dreaming of, for now all we can say is that Scrivener 3 for Windows will be released when it’s ready, most likely some time in 2020.

However! The good news is that the more intrepid among you don’t have to wait until 2020 to try Scrivener 3 for Windows. We’ll be releasing an early access beta of Scrivener 3 for Windows on the same day that Scrivener 3 for macOS is released for sale. Anybody who owns Scrivener 1 will be able to run the beta (although it will initially be a work in progress with missing features, which is why I say it’s for the more intrepid). The Windows beta will also allow cross-platform users to upgrade their Mac version and continue to work between platforms with the updated file format.

Scrivener 3 is a Paid Update

Scrivener 3 is the first paid update in over six years. This means that if you own Scrivener 1 or 2 and want to use Scrivener 3, you will need to pay an update fee. (We haven’t yet set the price, but it will be around the same as it was for going from 1.x to 2.0 on the Mac.) There will be free updates for those who bought within a limited time period prior to the release date (more news on that soon). Two notes on this:

1. Windows users won’t need to pay the update fee until Scrivener 3 is released on Windows. Owners of Scrivener 1 will be able to use the Scrivener 3 betas for free until then, at which point the betas will stop working and you’ll need to pay for the upgrade.
2. Mac users who bought through the Mac App Store will need to pay full price again simply because Apple allows for no way of providing upgrade pricing on the App Store. We’ll be happy to provide a discount on our own store for any Mac App Store users who email us with proof of purchase, but you won’t be able to get the update on the Mac App Store without paying full price. We wish it weren’t so, but we have no control over how the App Store works.

We hope you’ll find the update cost worth it. There’s some cool stuff a-coming.

Scrivener for iOS

Scrivener for iOS is already set up to work with Scrivener 3 when it’s released. And we’ll be continuing to update Scrivener for iOS, too, of course. At the moment I’m focusing on iOS 11 support and improvements, such as the new possibilities that Files app brings.

Scapple

…has not been forgotten! Scrivener has taken a front seat for a long time, but once Scrivener 3 is out, we intend to spend some quality time with our Scapple code.

And Finally...

Over the next few weeks, we’ll start talking about what’s new in Scrivener 3 and what’s been changed. Until then, I’ll leave you with a couple of screenshots, one from macOS, one from Windows. We can’t wait to show you more.