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OO has been on my iPad for a long time, and it's clear that a lot of thought went into it, but somehow, I always end up dropping it and going back to the OS X app.

Why ? The iPad version lacks the scriptability of OO3, and also seems to built on a theory that "taps are cheap" - a slightly uphill ratio of encumbrance to effect.
Also, for my taste, the top and bottom bars are a bit high-contrast and intrusive, and can't (I think) be made to go away.

I do suddenly find, however, that an (indirectly) competing app is enabling me to write productively and without distraction on the iPad. Key differences ?
  • Scriptability,
  • coherent and low noise visual design,
  • and simple and powerful gestures (taps are never treated as cheap). Swipe to left to see local and network file lists, swipe to right to see preview, scripting console, and in-app browser. Swipe left and right along the extended keyboard row to move the cursor.

It's a different model - Markdown rather than OO's excellent and distinctive outline + columns, and Python rather than Applescript, but there's something to be learned there I think. Not only that an iOS app can be as scriptable (or more) than OSX OO, but also that a really fluid and unintrusive UI can make the difference between actively wanting to use a thing and feeling slightly encumbered by it.

Competition is no bad thing :-)