Uncovering the Best iBooks Author Alternatives for Digital Publishing
iBooks Author, once a powerful tool from Apple for creating interactive digital textbooks and multi-touch books for iPad, has since been discontinued. While it offered an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and rich media integration, its closure has left many former users and aspiring digital authors searching for viable replacements. Whether you're a teacher, an independent publisher, or a creative looking to craft engaging digital content, finding a robust iBooks Author alternative is crucial for continuing your publishing journey.
Top iBooks Author Alternatives
If you're looking to replicate the ease of use and interactive capabilities of iBooks Author, or perhaps even enhance your digital publishing workflow, these alternatives offer a wide range of features to suit various needs and budgets.
Google Docs
Google Docs is a free, web-based word processor that offers excellent real-time collaboration features, making it a strong iBooks Author alternative for collaborative writing projects. Available across Web, Android, iPhone, and iPad, it allows for easy text formatting, cloud-based storage, and direct export to PDF, making it suitable for creating simple, shareable documents.
Microsoft Office Word
Microsoft Word is a long-standing commercial word processor available for Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone, and iPad. It's a comprehensive iBooks Author alternative for traditional document creation, offering advanced formatting, custom styles, and the ability to export to PDF, making it ideal for professionally laid out content, though it lacks the specific interactive widgets of iBooks Author.
Notion
Notion is a versatile freemium workspace tool available on Mac, Windows, Web, Android, iPhone, and iPad. It goes beyond a simple word processor, offering database management, nested notes, custom templates, and real-time collaboration. Its flexible nature and ability to embed various media make it a powerful iBooks Author alternative for creating highly organized and interconnected digital content, including wiki-like knowledge bases.
Manuskript
Manuskript is a free and open-source tool for writers, available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. While not a direct one-to-one iBooks Author alternative for interactive books, it excels in the writing process, offering features like an outliner, character and plot tracking, and a distraction-free editor. It supports Markdown and allows export to ePub and PDF, making it suitable for crafting the narrative before final publication.
Pages
Apple's own Pages is a free word processor for Mac, Web, iPhone, and iPad. As an iBooks Author alternative, it offers strong integration with iCloud for real-time collaboration and cloud sync. It's excellent for creating visually appealing documents and supports export to ePub and PDF, making it a natural choice for those within the Apple ecosystem seeking a familiar interface for document and basic book creation.
WPS Writer
WPS Writer is a freemium word processing software, part of WPS Office, available on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone/iPad. It's a highly compatible iBooks Author alternative, especially for those familiar with Microsoft Office, offering an office-like interface and a built-in PDF converter. Its cross-platform compatibility makes it a flexible option for diverse users.
Airborn
Airborn is a freemium, open-source web-based platform focused on privacy, offering encrypted document and note creation. As an iBooks Author alternative, its real-time collaboration and security-focused features make it suitable for sensitive documents where privacy is paramount. It also supports multiple languages and PDF export.
Indigrid
Indigrid is a free Windows-based text editor designed for structuring lists and ideas. While not a direct publishing tool like iBooks Author, its lightweight and portable nature, combined with features like outline folding and side-by-side views, make it an excellent organizational tool for authors to structure their content before moving to a publishing platform.
Walling
Walling is a commercial web and Mac-based platform for organizing ideas, research, and projects. It serves as a creative iBooks Author alternative for the early stages of content development, offering visual organization, notetaking, task management, and real-time team collaboration to break down and refine ideas before they become a cohesive publication.
Fidus Writer
Fidus Writer is a free and open-source online collaborative LaTeX editor, specifically designed for academics needing to include citations and formulas. As an iBooks Author alternative for scholarly publishing, it focuses on content integrity and offers real-time collaboration and export to LaTeX, making it invaluable for technical and scientific digital books.
With a diverse range of options from comprehensive word processors to specialized writing tools and collaborative platforms, finding the perfect iBooks Author alternative is now easier than ever. Consider your specific needs for interactivity, collaboration, platform compatibility, and budget to select the best fit for your digital publishing endeavors.