Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Website: https://starc.app
Telegram: @starcapp
Price: Free for personal use, $150 Lifetime
Blurb: “Reinventing the screenwriting software. Become an early user to get exclusive access to all features and get unlimited power to your creativity.“
So what is it? We have looked at Starc before, but in case you missed it, Starc is a writing aid. It provides tools to simplify your life as a writer. As you can tell by their blurb, the application is mainly aimed at screenwriting, replacing KIT scenartist, but it has other options and you do not need to know anything about screenwriting to use the application.
Installation
Starc is supplied in AppImage format, supplied as a 71Mb “starc-setup.AppImage” file. When you run the application, it immediately tries to call home. Not a good sign – and it continues to do so, until you block it completely. While this sort of behaviour is considered normal in Windows and MacOS circles, it is frowned upon in Linux circles, where privacy matters and programs do not just do whatever they want. The application can be managed with the AppImage launcher.
Operation
When you launch Starc, you are greeted with a pleasingly simple interface, that is straight to business. There is only one hamburger menu, in one frame. It does not load up in pure white, (praise the pope!) recognizing that most writers ply their craft in the wee hours of the day. That said, there are different themes available if you’d like, and you can even create your own. The menu is simple with three options, create story, open story and the user guide. This is in line with the direction the developers have chosen: “Starc is being developed with strong author’s involvement and support so we won’t waste the app performance on features you don’t need”.
Though the direction is clear, how you go about changing the things that matter, like the font, is unclear. You are presented with only two options, for the basic module, courier and roboto, both good fonts for developers, but not for writers and two more in other modules, that include Arial and New Times Roman.
After asking in the Telegram group how to change the ugly fonts that come with the application, I was pointed to a web page, as the way to change them is not apparent.
starc.app.blog, [5/19/25 11:27 AM] Hello, what fonts do you talk about?
EriktheUnready, [5/19/25 11:37 AM] Will there be an option to change these soon? I'm talking about having readable or dyslexic friendly fonts? I want to do another article on Starc for the magazine, but only when there are some major changes.
starc.app.blog, [5/19/25 11:38 AM] Do you mean interface font? or font for the text of your article?
EriktheUnready, [5/19/25 1:32 PM] the font you type in, in the starc text editor, or am I missing something?
starc.app.blog, [5/19/25 2:08 PM] You can set up your own template and use fonts you like. Here is the short how to about this feature - https://starc.app/help/custom-templates
This opens up the application to people with disabilities and those with dyslexia, who can then use large readable fonts. It may not seem like an issue now, but we will all get old one day… Most writers I know, prefer clear fonts that do not have squiggly g’s and a’s and so forth as they create eye strain and fatigue from using an application, specially with an application like Starc, where a writer will spend all day staring at the screen. I think fonts are overlooked by many application developers inside their own applications, even when they themselves get very pedantic about the fonts that they code in. I’m not sure if it is a good or a bad thing, not being able to change your font on-the-fly, as when writing, one needs the environment to be distraction free, so one needs to plan accordingly.
The application caters for all sorts of writers, screenwriters, novel writers, play writers and even casual notes. It is not a completely distraction-free writer, but it is very close to it with its minimal design choices.
Another great feature for writers is the ability to split the screen into two, with F2. This way you can keep track of something that came before, to keep the continuity, allowing you to edit in both splits, should you need to balance your story. It saves you from searching back and forth and even helps if you split your chapters.
The application saves automatically, so if the application should crash or your laptop runs out of battery, your progress will be saved.
For most casual writers, the basic package will be enough, however, the cloud features for professional writers are becoming more feature rich by the month. While I am not going to discuss the Starc mobile application here, as it has nothing to do with Ubuntu, I will say that interoperability is a thing and you can seamlessly edit on other platforms via the cloud. Their cloud options even allow for co-writing with another author, on another platform, which I think is awesome!
Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room, the so-called Starc AI. While I do agree that AI can be a tremendous help in writing as well as help you brainstorm great ideas, I don’t trust the techbro’s not to steal your story or your idea. (we’ve all seen how well it went for the digital artists.) Thus, having it inside your application is utterly crazy to me. If I were to need a prompt, I’d open up ChatGPT in my browser and simply clear my cookies every time I want to use it, (or else you need to sign in) only getting the bare minimum from that information hoover. Luckily for us, this is not integrated into the free version, which is a plus. Since I do not have an income at the moment, I could not try out the paid version, so if any of our readers wants to try and report back, it would be great.
I have to point out that the application is still pre version 1.0, and there are still bugs, but for what the developers have so far, it is really cool.
(current bug, where if you quit and do not save, it will still save an unnamed file)
For me, it is the little things that set this application apart from other writers on Linux, for instance, it would automatically correct my double capitals, from something like “LInux” to Linux, for when I hold down the shift key for a fraction too long, sort of like LibreOffice Writer does, and I appreciate that as it saves me from correcting obvious mistakes. Once this application achieves predictive text, it should blow any other writing application on Linux out of the water.
That said, there are also some annoyances, for instance, once you have selected a category, say novel writing, and you quickly want to add some notes in the notes section, clicking “create” or the plus at the top, you now only have access to the “novel” section… and the notes, the plays and the screenwriting sections are now not available any more.
To get to the others, you need to then take the scenic route, by choosing the “not set” and create - and on the next window, at the bottom, you will find “+ Add Document)
For me, digital is the way to go and I’m always looking for an application that is a good fit. After losing all my stories since 1984 in a move, recently – (if anyone reading this ever receives a box that is not theirs, filled with red notebooks, let me know!) I can back up my stuff to SD card, to the cloud, to hard drive and DVD ROM, if it is in digital format. Thus I’ll be keeping an eye on Starc as it develops and following them on Telegram as it is a promising application.
As it stands now, it is still a bit clunky, or that is how it feels, but I see improvement all the time, and that cannot be bad!