Scrivener 3 for Windows: Status Update

We owe our Windows users a status update on the long-awaited Scrivener 3 for Windows, which is now more than two years overdue based on our own (way over-optimistic, as it turns out) estimations.

We know our Windows users have been waiting eagerly for a long time, and once again, we are sorry for the delays. Please rest assured that our developers haven’t given up and are working harder than ever to finish it.

We had hoped to release version 3 for Windows in early summer, but a thorough review of the code and app state led us to the reluctant conclusion that yet more work was needed. Particularly crucial were (1) ironing out a number of bugs (although many were minor and no software is completely bug-free, cumulatively there were enough to mean it wasn't up to release standard) and (2) refining the Compile feature to more closely match the Mac version and address important missing features. (The Compile feature in Scrivener, having to be flexible enough to handle a wide variety of project structures, file formats and formatting requirements, is as feature-rich, complex, and contains as much code as some applications in their entirety, and we did not want to release without getting this right.) There were a few other areas that still required attention, too, but these were the most important problems that needed addressing.

Around the same time, we did an in-depth analysis of the bug and feature tracking systems used for Windows, as well as of our internal communications, with the aim of better understanding where we were going wrong and what we could do better. (It’s not simply a matter of hiring more developers - besides, we have two skilled developers working on the Windows version and only one on the macOS/iOS versions.) Since then, development has been better focused and has proceeded much more smoothly, as we hope can be seen in the leaps and bounds in progress apparent in the latest beta versions available on our forums. (Note to beta testers: a new beta will be available very shortly, before the current beta expires.)

Our sincere thanks to our Windows users for their patience, and our Windows beta testers for their help throughout the development process. (Anyone can download and try the Scrivener 3 for Windows beta by visiting our forums.) I’m aware that posting an update without being able to provide a concrete release date is not what many people were hoping for from us, but please watch this space, as we hope it won’t be too long before we have more news.