I gave Latexian a thorough try out, as I said that I would do.

Previously I've used BBEdit to write Latex docuements, kept as BBE Projects, and I processed them through TeXShop. This has required constant switching between subsidiary documents in BBE and the parent document in TeXShop. The process was also slow, with most time spent waiting for the appearance of the typeset documents. It was a frustrating process, even with the aid of some scripts to speed it up. I've also tried other document production systems, including TeXMaker, TeXWorks, TeXFoG, LyX, and Publicon, which I used for years (though not for LaTeX).

With many free apps available, I never thought I'd find one I'd want to buy, but Latexian is it. The speed of the Live Preview has to be seen to be believe; nothing else comes close. You can see and fix complex expressions essentially in real time. The navigation system is very intuitive. The Preview File feature means that I can typeset or Preview directly from a subsidiary document without having to switch to the main one. The clippings library has also proved essential for saving and retrieving expression templates. Code completion is also a time saver. The regular expression support is excellent and the multi-file batch find is very usable.
I've also corresponded with the dev, and he's proved very responsive.

Latexian still isn't perfect yet; I don't like the layout of the Quick Insert palettes, for example. But, to my mind, it's the single best Tex production application around.

I tried it and like the two-pane layout, compared to having to position windows in TeXShop. However the built-in pdf preview is almost unreadably faint on my system (10.5.8 PB G4). Too bad.

I've searched far and wide for a similar app. Short of an expensive program intended for sight-impaired people, I haven't found anything like it on the Mac. (The program from the 2004 comment is long gone). I probably won't purchase this unless it turns up in a Bundle or Promo someplace. It's over-priced for those like me who would use it only infrequently. I don't know how it works in Snow Leopard, but it's fine in 10.5.8

Why would you want to use it? It's perfect for entering bank account or other long numbers when cut and paste is not available. It's also OK for light data entry--it is a substitute for 100% read back or double-entry verification. And, for sight-impaired people, it can aid touch typing, without having to look at the screen as much. However, it can be tiring to use for along time. One looks at the source material and listens to it at the same time--result: sensory overload.

If you type too fast, you hear gibberish, so slow down or set the Speaking Rate to "Fast" in the "Text to Speech" pane of the Speech Preferences Pane. Some voices work better than others, so experiment.

What's annoying is having to turn the app on and off when you want to pause it temporarily. But it was easy to write a script to this and assign it a hot key (with FastScripts or iKey). Here's a script below to do it. Be sure to zap gremlins in a text editor before using.


(*
Toggle Keystrokes Pronouncer
*)
tell application "System Events"
if exists application process "Keystrokes Pronouncer" then
tell application "Keystrokes Pronouncer" to quit
else
tell application "Keystrokes Pronouncer" to activate
end if
end tell

I agree with the previous viewer, but I'd give the PTHPB 5 stars. I think that its "problem" is also its major virtue: there are so many configuration choices to set in preferences, it takes time to set up. And, the documentation about how some of the options about Window behavior fit together could be clearer. Other apps don't have as many options or features, and so are somewhat simpler to use. So this is an App for those of us who want a lot of control, and in this category, I think that it's the best.

I agree with the last review, but the reviewer didn't mention two features that I have found useful. First, you can export mbox files that can be imported into Apple Mail. Be warned, that to import a mbox file into Mail, you must select a folder that contains the file.

The reviewer also didn't mention Mail Steward's superior SQL search capabilities. They beat anything that Mail itself can do. Although Devonthink and a search engine like Foxtrot can do searches, they are not specialized to email. So you cannot as easily set up search criteria such as recipient, date, subject, original mailbox, and so on.

The search set up is a little awkward. There are two screens with the same criteria, the second is the Advanced Screen. If you want to search for recipient A OR recipient B, for example, you set A up on the 1st screen and B up on the 2nd with an OR connector. The way I do it is to set up as much of the search as possible on the search screens, then edit the resulting SQL statement if necessary. If you set up a tentative SQL statement, be sure to save the search first, so that you can reedit it if necessary.