Ayup! As a long-term user of Grammarly, at some stage last year, I got fed up. Well and truly exasperated, in fact. The proposed suggestions were becoming frankly ridiculous. As it does, it was attempting to rewrite a large percentage of my sentences. Guess what? None of the recommendations sounded anything like me.
Up until last week, I’d switched to LanguageTool. Much better. Simple spelling and grammar alerts with very basic rephrasing suggestions. Except then it stopped playing ball with my WordPress site. It would work for a while, then stop, then kick in again. Eventually, however, it permanently refused to conform. Sigh.
The Writing Tools suite works best when you give it a lot of writing to work with, but it can still help you check spellings or adjust tone even in small messages.
Will Apple Writing Tools Work?
What I’d really love is to not need an external assistant whatsoever. Step up, Apple’s built-in Writing Tools. Or not. It’s a long way off from becoming a fully viable alternative to Grammarly. That said, with a few small changes, it could easily suit my own personal needs.
These would simply be spelling and grammar corrections. Without them, I write like a five-year-old. So yup, kind of essential for a blogger and business owner. What I don’t want, though, is any AI-generated garbage infiltrating my posts.
While Apple Writing Tools includes this option, it also has a Proofread button. Huzzah! All this does is check over your text, correcting any spelling mistakes and adding/removing any incorrect punctuation. Perfect! Well, almost perfect.
You can use Writing Tools to proofread your work, create different versions of the same text to help you find the right wording and tone, and summarise selected text. Writing Tools are available in most places you write, including third-party apps and websites.
Where it still needs to catch up
The main issue at present is the lack of real-time proofreading. Instead, you have to remember to click the Writing Tools icon, then hit Proofread.
This works best in all of the Mac apps that you’d expect: Mail, Pages, Notes, etc. It will show you the proposed suggestions, which you can click through to see a brief summary of the correction. Any that it got wrong, you can revert back to what you originally typed. So far, so good…
This all goes to pot when it comes to writing on the web. Or, at least, writing on WordPress. Without the Apple Writing Tools button available, you highlight your text and right-click to proofread. What this does is completely baffling and unusable.
It makes the same corrections but fails to show you what and where it’s made the changes. Having just also tested it on Mastodon, it did exactly the same thing.
As a result, I’m typing this out in Pages and will then paste it into WordPress. Far from ideal, but not the end of the world for now. Furthermore, on short social media posts, you can easily see what it’s changed.
Grammarly excels in providing detailed grammar and style corrections, making it ideal for users seeking comprehensive feedback. Apple Intelligence, while effective, may not offer the same depth of analysis but provides quick, contextual corrections.
Proofread as you type
This feature is due to land in iOS 27 (September 2026), I believe. Hopefully, that means it’s also coming to macOS at some stage.
This will be the point when Writing Tools really starts to compete with Grammarly. As long as it works consistently across apps and the web, most Apple users won’t require an external grammar assistant anymore.
The updates include automatic proofreading, which surfaces spelling and grammar suggestions as users type across the system. Apple is also introducing intelligent file and folder naming suggestions based on content.
What I like
- Seamless integrations with Apple apps
- Simple, basic adjustments
- No AI-generated garbage (unless you ask for it)
- No extra cost or subscription
What I dislike
- Having to turn Apple Intelligence on
- No real-time indications of mistakes
- Having to always remember to click Proofread
- Proofread barely usable on the web
It’s still early days for Apple Writing Tools, but…
Despite its flaws, I’ve got high hopes for this writing and proofreading assistant. When it eventually works properly and consistently, it strikes the perfect balance.
I’m all about using the tools that are built into whatever I’m using whenever possible. If Apple Writing Tools means I can eliminate another third-party app, happy days.
I guess only time will tell. Using it at the moment requires more concentration and effort than with Grammarly. Is that such a bad thing? Maybe not. I guess it depends on whether it becomes an additional frustration or not. Roll on the proofread as you type feature…