Why writing tool ApolloPad didn't suit me

I'm trying to find a writing tool more convenient than a usual text processor for a writer. A wide choice of software is offered in the market, but many writers had attempted and got back to Microsoft Word and its alternatives. My case with ApolloPad is one of the kind.

After an initial brief study of about 15 programs and online tools, I had sorted out four of them to give a try in real work. Apollo was one of these four. After two hours of using it, I decided to quit.
So, what is ApolloPad, why it tempted me, and what had gone wrong?
Its developer Dave Child describes ApolloPad as a „distraction-free writing environment for budding authors“. I can add that it works online, with well-known pros and cons of online tools. ApolloPad is not a finished piece of work, it runs as a beta version. Else, it is free to use – the main advantage before Scrivener. The developer promises that „you will be able to extract your work quickly and without a fee after the beta“.
The „after“ is a doubt. In his blog Dave admitted that he was too busy to support ApolloPad. „I can't really run two projects … and dedicate enough time to both,“ he wrote, „so I've only been able to spend a little time on ApolloPad, doing bug fixes and support. I use ApolloPad all the time myself,“ he continued though, „and I'm really looking forward to coming back to it“.
Dave haven’t answered my recent request, so I think ApolloPad’s future is foggy.
Anyway, the tool is well done, it works quite smoothly. Usability, not bugs, forced me to quit.
Below is ApolloPad description with my comments.

Here's the draft of my novel opened in ApolloPad in Ubuntu and Chrome browser.

Easy To Use

Promise: All online, no software to install or update, and you can work on any machine with a web browser without having to worry about synchronising files.

Impression: I go online from a mobile device in an area with not very stable 2G/3G connection, so delays in loading pages annoy and slow down progress.

Your Data, Your Way

Promise: Import projects from PDF, Word or other formats. Export your work to PDF, ebook, Markdown, doc and more. Plus automated backups to your own personal Dropbox.

Comment: For some reasons, changes to a project made by a user get to an export package not immediately, but within some hours period. A little uncomfortable.

Besides, you can only export your project as a whole. That would hunt you if you kept raw data in your project or worked on several versions of the manuscript. To receive a final version of your book in rtf format, you have to export the project and clean out all the drafts and versions manually. If you need the project in PDF format, the only way is to delete all the information and versions beforehand.

Packed With Tools

Promise: Manage project timelines, outlines, characters, locations and objects, upload photos and reorganise it all as much as you need to.

Impression: I have not had figured out these features. They work, but I don’t quite sure they are usable.

Manage Your Thoughts

Promise: Contextual inline notes (including to-do items, photos and videos) to help you keep your thoughts where they belong - with the writing they apply to.

Impression: Some authors will certainly find it useful. But you will definitely need several hours to get used to its design — quite specific one.

And Much More!

Promise: Auto-saving as you type; offline writing; mutliple projects, readability scoring; customisable writing environment and even a funky dashboard to help you track your progress.

Impression: Offline writing has limited capabilities. You have to go online to load a page. You can’t change a chapter offline or manage other projet’s attributes. You only can go on with typing the chapter that was loaded at the moment of disconnection. You have to keep the browser tab opened until you re-connect again, in order not to loose your work. In fact, that was the main reason why I said „goodbye“ to ApolloPad.
I considered two other online writing tools, Novlr and True Novelist. But after ApolloPad trial I had decided to give them up. For a person like me with the mentioned technical issues, online tools just don't save time, which is the main reason why we writers use them instead of office packages.
This testimonial I have written in LibreOffice. Text processor won, but that isn’t it. Next tool in line is Organon, an OpenOffice/LibreOffice extenstion.

The post was initially written for LinkedIn Pulse.