I remember writing school reports on a typewriter. Almost thirty years later I'm typing this review directly onto the screen of a computer barely thicker than the comic books I read when I should have been working on those reports. Maybe science is magic?

Phraseology is a surprisingly useful word processing app for the iPad. It's not a viable replacement to a computer running Word or Pages, but if you need to churn out some verbiage on the go and don't have a laptop, Phraseology is more than up for the job.

A few features separate Phraseology from a generic notepad app. Editing is simple. The arrange function lets you move entire sentences or paragraphs around the screen, offering a touch screen friendly alternative to traditional copy and paste. A button press prints your document through any AirPrint printer, and it's similarly easy to forward through an email or Twitter. Phraseology also lets you export to other apps, including DocsOnTheGo and Quick Office.

Also impressive: the inspect page offers an absurdly deep number of stats about your piece. Of course it gives a word count, but it also tracks total characters, words per sentences, parts of speech and root words. It even calculates your writing's Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

The only problem with Phraseology is endemic to the platform. The lack of tactile response from the virtual keyboard forces me to keep my eyes on the keys, slowing down my otherwise respectable WPM. Sure, it's fun to tap out words like you're playing Quarrel, but physical keys are crucial for effective typing. iPad keyboard attachments are extremely awkward, but at least your fingers know what they're doing.

The bottom line. Phraseology isn't magical, but it is a respectable iOS word processor that smartly works around the platform's limitations. Its virtual keyboard still can't beat a physical option, though.

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Phraseology

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  The menu bar runs down the side of the main screen and can be minimized at any point.

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  The Inspect page tells you more about your writing than you probably ever want to know.

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  No mouse means you can't copy and paste in a traditional manner, but the arrange tool makes editing a snap.

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  Phraseology offers two font sizes and thirteen fonts. Only one is named after my home state.

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  The markdown screen lets you preview your text when writing in HTML.

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