Rich text editing is frustrating. Bike text app shows solution. At…
Rich text editing is frustrating. Bike text app shows solution. At minute 1:50s in video: https://bikeguide.hogbaysoftware.com/using-bike/text-formatting/.
A tail at the text caret shows if new typed text is formatted like left or right text. And if you hit cmd b for bold without a selection, a B icon above the text caret shows the hidden formatting.
Typing Affinity
Rich text editing can be frustrating at formatting boundaries. There is no precise way to specify what formatting to apply when inserting text at a boundary.
Bike solves this problem with a new concept: Typing Affinity. When your text caret is at a formatting boundary Bike attaches a new affinity bar to the bottom of the caret. Point that bar at the formatting you want applied to inserted text.
Visible Typing Attributes
Normally when you type, the text is formatted the same as surrounding text. But there are some cases where this isn't true. For example if you have an empty selection and choose "Bold" then the text you type will be different then the sourounding text.
Bike indicates this hidden formatting state by showing the hidden attributes as part of the text caret. For example in the above example the bold "B" icon would show above the text caret.