10 Best Android Apps to Supercharge Writing On the Go

Packing up the laptop and hitting the road can be liberating for writers. New perspectives unfold as we journey to inspiring locations. However, the vagabond lifestyle can also introduce challenges for writers trying to work on the move.

As an avid travel writer and blogger, I‘ve experienced the highs and lows of writing from the road. Unreliable internet, cramped spaces, noisy public areas, and information scattered across notepads and devices can throttle productivity.

But modern technology – specifically Android apps – can help overcome these pain points. I‘ve tested dozens of writing apps for Android and want to share my top recommendations to help you stay inspired and productive wherever your travels take you.

In this guide, we‘ll cover apps in five key categories:

1. Distraction-free writing
2. Note-taking
3. Research and ideas
4. Collaboration
5. AI writing assistants

Let‘s look at the 10 best writing apps for Android across these categories. I‘ll share plenty of tips from my own experience using these apps while traveling full-time.

Why Writing on the Road is Hard…But Apps Can Help

First, let‘s quickly cover the main challenges writers face when working on the go, and how the right apps can help overcome them:

Unreliable Internet Connectivity

The Problem: Even in our constantly connected world, spotty WiFi remains a headache for mobile writers. It‘s common to get hit with slow internet, or no connection at all, just when you need to research or access important writing resources online.

The Solution: Choose apps with robust offline capabilities. For example, Evernote and Google Docs both allow creating and editing docs offline which sync changes once you‘re back online.

Endless Distractions

The Problem: Airports, coffee shops, trains – it‘s hard to avoid distractions in public spaces. This can severely break your focus when trying to write or edit.

The Solution: Use apps with distraction-free writing modes like iA Writer and Jotterpad. These strip away unnecessary menus and options, greying out everything except the line or paragraph you‘re currently working on.

Difficulty Capturing Fleeting Ideas

The Problem: Travel constantly exposes you to new ideas and creative sparks. Without a place to immediately capture these gems, many promising ideas vanish as quickly as they appeared.

The Solution: Dedicated note taking and ideas apps like Evernote, Google Keep, and Microsoft OneNote make it easy to jot down ideas, links, quotes, observations, and photos the moment inspiration strikes.

Project and Task Fragmentation

The Problem: When working in multiple locations, it‘s easy for notes, drafts, and other project artifacts to become fragmented across devices and platforms. This makes it incredibly hard to stay organized.

The Solution: Apps with cloud sync like Ulysses, iA Writer, and Wavemaker automatically gather all project components in one place for easy access and organization.

Feeling Overwhelmed by Writing Tasks

The Problem: Frequent relocation between hotels, Airbnbs, cafes and coworking spaces can be mentally exhausting. This drains focus required for big writing projects. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when tackling writing tasks.

The Solution: Apps like Plottr, Contour, and Wavemaker provide robust organization and planning features to break projects down into digestible chunks. This makes big writing goals feel manageable, even when you‘re uprooted.

Hopefully this gives you a sense of how the right apps can help overcome some of the inherent challenges mobile writers face. Now let‘s look at my top recommended writing apps for Android in more detail!

1. JotterPad – Best for Distraction-Free Writing

Jotterpad is my personal favorite Android app for distraction-free writing.

With its clean interface and lack of unnecessary menus and buttons, Jotterpad make it easy to simply focus on your words.

I like to use Jotterpad for:

• Drafting blog posts or articles
• Taking initial story notes
• Journaling

Key features that aid focus include:

• Minimal formatting options
• Quick statistics including word count and estimated reading time
• Night mode
• Local Markdown support
• One click export to DOC, PDF, TXT and other formats

Jotterpad is free to use with ads, or you can upgrade to the Pro version for about $5 to remove ads and enable additional features like cloud backups.

I‘ve written for hours at a time in Jotterpad without losing focus. If you need a simple, distraction-free writing space on your Android device, Jotterpad is an outstanding choice.

2. IA Writer – Best for Focus Mode

For times when I really need to tune out all distractions and hyperfocus, I turn to iA Writer.

iA Writer‘s killer feature is Focus Mode which greys out all text except the current line you‘re writing. This tunnel vision view allows you to completely immerse in your words.

I like to use iA Writer for:

• Final stage proofreading and editing
• Writing and polishing short stories
• Preparing important professional correspondence like cover letters

Beyond Focus Mode, iA Writer offers:

• Syntax highlighting to catch typos and grammar issues
• Auto-save and version history to rescue lost work
• Markdown support
• Dark theme option
• One click publishing to Medium, WordPress, and other platforms

iA Writer costs $10 for the Android app. For serious long form writing, it‘s worth the price for the incredible focus it enables.

3. Evernote – Best for Collecting Ideas

As a digital nomad, I‘m constantly exposed to interesting sights, overheard conversations, announcements – all sorts of observations that spark ideas I‘d love to capture and potentially turn into writing projects someday.

For collecting and organizing these ideas and inspirations I rely on Evernote.

Evernote makes it easy to quickly dump any random thought, idea, quote, conversation snippet, inspiration or observation into a note.

You can also scan business cards, receipts, sketches, and other documents to save them digitally in Evernote. Everything is then full text searchable.

I love using Evernote for:

• Jotting down blog topic ideas that strike me
• Recording funny dialogues I overhear
• Saving interesting articles to read later with the Chrome extension
• Offloading things I want to remember like gift ideas or restaurants to try

With web clipper extensions, easy photo capture, voice notes, scanning and more, Evernote provides endless ways to feed your idea bank throughout travels. Access all this inspiration anytime to spark your next writing project.

Evernote is free to use with some limitations, and plans start at $8/month for premium features like offline access and higher storage limits.

4. Wavemaker – Best for Book Writing

If your big writing goal is finally finishing that novel or non-fiction book idea while traveling, Wavemaker is an incredible tool.

Wavemaker bills itself as a "fiction writing app and novel writing software", but I‘ve found it excellent for outlining and organizing any long-form writing project including:

• Novels
• Memoirs
• How-to guides
• Long research papers

Key features for managing book-length projects include:

• In-depth character profiles and relationship mapping
• Chapter and scene organizers
• Virtual corkboard with index cards for planning
• Three act structural templates
• Full screenwriting mode
• Daily word count targets

Wavemaker really helps break an intimidating writing project down into small, manageable chunks. This prevents you feeling overwhelmed, even while traveling.

The free version supports projects up to 3 chapters. Paid plans start at $5/month for unlimited book projects. For serious long-form writing, Wavemaker brings superb organization and focus.

5. Google Docs – Best for Writing Collaboratively

While I enjoy solo writing trips, some projects benefit from teamwork. When I need to collaborate with others remotely on writing, Google Docs is indispensable.

Google Docs brilliantly enables real time collaboration for creating:

• Co-authored blog posts or guest articles
• Crowdsourced travel guides
• Business plans
• Client deliverables
• Job application documents

Key features for seamless remote teamwork:

• Live comment threads
• Built-in chat
• Multi-cursor editing
• Version history
• Document outline view
• Easy sharing and permissions

With fast mobile syncing across devices, Google Docs helps writing teams collaborate smoothly from anywhere. This proves invaluable when traveling and working with others remotely.

6. Plottr – Best for Structuring Your Story

If your travels are focused on writing fiction, check out the brilliant (and free!) story planning app Plottr.

Plottr helps you map out all aspects of a story including characters, locations, scenes, plot points and more. I like to use it for:

• Outlining a short story before writing
• Expanding on a brief story idea
• Organizing notes on existing story drafts

Key features that aid story planning:

• Interactive storyboarding canvas
• Customizable character profiles
• Scene cards with summary, goals and outcomes
• Chronological sortable timeline
• Templates for common plot structures

With Plottr‘s visual organization tools, you can ensure the pieces of your story fit together logically – critical when writing on the go across multiple sittings and locations.

7. Speechnotes – Best for Dictating Writing

Some days my brain is overflowing with ideas but I just can‘t face the tedious process of typing them all out on mobile.

For those times, I‘m grateful for Speechnotes, a voice dictation app that transcribes recordings in real time.

Instead of typing, I can record raw ideas, story drafts, interview notes, blog drafts and more by speaking into my phone.

Reasons I love dictating writing with Speechnotes:

• Get thoughts out quickly without typing
• Easier to record when walking or commuting
• Preserves natural voice tone and cadence
• Lets me speak aloud to think through ideas

Speechnotes recorded audio is automatically transcribed as text you can edit or export. For hands-free writing anywhere, Speechnotes is a gamechanger!

8. Final Draft – Best for Screenplays and Scripts

For screenwriters looking to craft scripts and teleplays between takes on set or flights to faraway film locations, Final Draft is the app of choice.

Final Draft is trusted by 95% of professional Hollywood screenwriters and showrunners.

The app comes loaded with advanced tools to streamline professional scriptwriting including:

• Templates for properly formatting film, stageplay, sitcom, and other script types
• Tag navigator for quickly jumping between scenes
• Real-time collaboration on scripts
• Character highlighting
• Alternative dialogue options
• Index cards view for scenes

While pricey at $100, Final Draft provides the most robust mobile screenwriting solution used by professional Hollywood screenwriters and studios.

If you‘re looking to turn that backpacked-through-Europe idea into a polished screenplay manuscript, Final Draft has you covered.

9. Contour – Best for Outlining Longform Nonfiction

For writers working on in-depth nonfiction books and longform articles, meticulous outlining is critical before drafting begins.

Contour is my favorite Android app for clearly organizing and visualizing complex longform article, essay and book outlines.

Contour provides a sleek canvas to map the logical flow of chapters and sections in:

• Non-fiction books
• Research papers
• Case studies
• Memoirs
• Course curriculum

Key outlining features:

• Customizable Markdown-based outline levels
• Live word count tracking
• Reorder sections easily via drag and drop
• Link related sections visually
• Track project progress with milestones

With Contour, you can carefully blueprint ambitious nonfiction writing projects anywhere inspiration strikes. The free version supports basic outlines while premium unlocks additional features.

10. Writer – AI Assistant & Editor

No list of writing apps would be complete today without including AI tools. While controversial, AI writing assistants like Writer can enhance human creativity and accelerate certain writing tasks.

Writer leverages OpenAI‘s GPT technology to generate concise suggestions for:

• Blog post topics and headlines
• Social media posts
• Marketing copy
• Content outlines
• Early story drafts

I personally use it to:

• Get quick ideas for articles on new topics
• Develop rough drafts faster
• Write in different tones and styles outside my comfort zone

AI can seem intimidating but used judiciously, it becomes another tool to boost writing productivity. Just remember to carefully review and edit all AI output!

The free version of Writer has limited functionality while premium plans unlock more features starting at $8/month.

Choose the Best Writing Apps For Your Goals

As you can see, there are some amazing Android apps purpose built for common writing tasks like remaining focused, taking quick notes, organizing complex projects, collaborating remotely and more.

Choosing apps aligned to your specific writing goals and style will ensure you stay inspired and productive during your travels.

While no app will do the writing for you, the right ones remove friction and limitations to channel creativity. With the apps above, your Android device can become the ultimate portable writing studio.

Let me know if you have any other favorite writing apps for Android! I‘m always looking to test new writing tools while working on the road.