Tom Hanks has produced an application that turns an iPad into a manual typewriter — just what we needed!
The Hanx Writer replicates the sounds of stamping metal on paper and those of reaching the end of one line and starting another, reported Marco della Cava of USA Today.
The app is offered free from Apple, although additional typewriter fonts and sounds cost $2.99 each.
The music of typewriters “allows for clear thinking,” said the actor, noting that his collection of them once numbered 200.
“It’s for people searching for a more personalized experience when writing on an iPad.”
Hanks uses typewriters daily, usually to type notes to friends or make comments on a screenplay. He loves the distinctive fonts and quirks, he said.
The app designer, Stuart Westphal of Hitcents, shared the marching orders from Hanks: “He mainly said, ‘Don’t make it gimmicky.’ Tom wanted people to want to sit down and write a poem or screenplay with it.”