Writers know this feeling—when the perfect tool fades into the background and your thoughts flow effortlessly onto the page. With our latest update to Amber, we've refined that experience by focusing on the subtle details that make writing feel natural and intuitive. If you're new, you can get started with Amber right away.
Why Font Choices Matter More Than You Think
Ever notice how changing fonts can suddenly make you see your writing differently? That's not just your imagination—it's your brain processing familiar information through a new visual lens.
Our new font customization options give you four distinct typefaces to play with: SF Pro, New York, SF Pro Rounded, and SF Mono. Each brings its own personality to your words. Switch between them when you're stuck on a tricky paragraph or want to see your draft through fresh eyes. Sometimes, that shift from New York's elegant serifs to SF Mono's precise spacing is all it takes to spot patterns you might have missed.
The font scaling feature (accessed via ⌘+/- or in settings) lets you adjust text size on the fly. I've found that drafting often works better at a larger size, while editing feels more precise at a smaller size. Your writing process might benefit from different visual scales at different stages.
Markdown: Because Your Brain Already Thinks This Way
The most requested feature in this update is our markdown formatting support. Why? Because many writers already instinctively type # for headings or use asterisks for emphasis.
Now Amber recognizes these patterns:
- Type #, ##, or ### followed by a space for instant headings
- Use markdown syntax for bold, italic, and underline formatting
- New lines automatically reset to paragraph format
We're not inventing new ways to write—we're adapting to how you naturally organize your thoughts.
The File Menu You Didn't Know You Needed
Small improvements to file management can save hours of frustration over time. Our enhanced file menu now includes:
- Revert and version history options for those "wait, I liked it better before" moments
- Recent Documents list for quickly jumping back into your work
These features serve as external memory storage for your writing brain, letting you focus on creation rather than organization.
Bug Fixes That Make Writing Feel Seamless
Sometimes the most important improvements are the ones you don't immediately notice:
- Fixed formatting issues with copy/paste, especially when copying from Amber itself
- Improved Undo/Redo functionality that actually remembers the correct history
- AI chat now accessible via ⌘L even without text selection
- Various UI refinements for a cleaner writing environment
The Philosophy Behind the Update
Here's our secret: we listen you to you - our foal is to support how writers actually write, not how software thinks you should write.
The markdown support came from hearing from SO many of you already typing hashtags for headings as part of your workflow. Font options emerged because we noticed how switching typefaces helped us break through writing blocks.
Justin (my co-founder) and our engineering team have been testing these features in their own writing for weeks, obsessing over details like making sure the undo function doesn't send you to some bizarre alternate timeline of your document.
What This Means for Your Writing
Software should feel less like a tool and more like an extension of your thinking process. That's the experiment we're running with Amber—creating an environment that works with your brain rather than making you adapt to it.
The best writing happens when the interface disappears and you're simply having a conversation with your ideas. Build 61 brings us one step closer to that ideal.
Ready to try it for yourself? Get started with Amber now if you haven't already got Testflight access and let us know how these changes impact your writing experience.
Full release notes here.
Happy writing!
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Jonny is the co-founder of Amber, a writing tool designed for creative minds. He spends most of his time thinking about the intersection of cognitive science and interface design, occasionally taking breaks to actually write something.
