I have heard critics refer to Chromebook as just a browser. This cannot get any further away from the truth. Chromebook, in contrast, is a total application platform. The Chrome store acts as a backbone and fills to a large extent the needs of a modern laptop.
There are many reasons why you will need a text editor. Over the years, I have realized that each editor comes with its strong points. With some research into editors for Chromebook, these are five of the best text editors for Chromebook that I have come across.
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1. Text
There are a few things that make this text editor worth a mention in this list. Text is a Google Chrome-packaged application. Being a packaged app means it has offline compatibility. The Text app is a lightweight text editor that is not platform dependent. It also supports most syntax highlighting.
The fact that one can open multiple files from a local storage or cloud-based storage makes it a supper flexible app to use. It also permits saving directly onto Google Drive.
It is best described as small but fast. For text editing, Text app is a nice way to go.
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2. Caret
This makes the list because it will easily be a choice for programmers and coders. Noticeably, it has a five-star ranking on the store. Caret offers complete offline support. It also has the functionality to save directly to Google Drive.
Caret is modeled to be like the Sublime Text editor. It integrates Mozilla’s Ace code editor to highlight code in almost any language you want, making it a total code editor. With this application, there is mainly just one drawback for the coders: an absence of Git and SFTP integration. This, however, does not seem to be in the pipeline as the developer has stated he does not have any such plans.
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3. Google Docs
This giant editor would be an obvious inclusion in every list, particularly in Chromebook where it is deeply integrated. It definitely ranks tops in the best free text editors available for Chromebook. For a writer, or someone involved in any form of documentation, Google Docs is perfect. One advantage is how it feels similar to MS Word. This makes a migration from MS Word to Google Docs an easy process.
It has tools for writing your files and supports the import and export of projects from all sources. It supports both an online and offline mode. One of the best features of Docs is its support for multiple accounts to work on one document simultaneously.
4. Writer
It is self-branded as a distraction-free editor. This app works perfectly offline and includes an autosave feature for all your work. The autosave feature is designed to perform a save after every keystroke, nothing is ever lost. With Pro accounts there is extra functionality like creating eBooks, shareable writing statistics and streaks, exporting to Dropbox, and Google Docs, thesaurus, real-time word count, revision history and a ZIP archive.
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5. Google Chrome
This may come as a surprise, but yes, Google Chrome comes with a text editor. To access this text editor, simply enter data:text/html, <html contenteditable> in the URL locator. Once you do so, you will be presented with Google Chrome’s simple text editor. I usually compare it to just a basic notepad. It is basic but efficient as far as standard features are concerned.
Conclusion
All the above-mentioned text editors in this list work perfectly on Chromebook and are mentioned in no particular order. A few of them are cross-platform, but since the emphasis is on Chromebooks, dig in, try a few and stick with whichever works best for you.
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