Using Unicode styles never felt so natural.

Finally you can stand out on LinkedIn, Instagram and anywhere,
using a text editor instead of a bag of tricks.

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Works anywhere you can paste text:

  • LinkedIn
  • X / Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Gmail
  • Email
  • Discord
  • Slack
  • Etc.

Project & FAQ

FlowStyler, the first word processor for Unicode styles

Dozens of tools exist for working with Unicode styles. Some are simple converters: paste your text, choose a style, copy the result. Others are more sophisticated and offer an editor where you can write and format. But they all share the same fundamental limit: they work in one direction only.

Once text has Unicode styles applied, you cannot edit it as if it were normal text. You cannot bring it back into the tool and keep working from where you left off. If you need to change something — add a word, reformat a paragraph, fix a heading — you have to redo what you already did. The tool imposes a workflow: first you write, then you format, then you copy. And if you edit, you start over.

FlowStyler is the first to break that one-way constraint. You can write, edit, reformat, paste text from any source and keep working — in any order, at any time. Styles are part of the text, not a layer applied on top. The tool adapts to how you write, not the other way around.

𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝒮𝓉𝓎𝓁ℯ𝓇'𝚜 palette, integrated into your keyboard on mobile, enhances 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 as a 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳. Select text and apply 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱… accents are kept: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗶̈𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲́ 𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗷𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗻̃𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲̂𝗽𝗲. Now apply 𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤: the text becomes 𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙘. Apply 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓅𝓉… 𝓫𝓸𝓵𝓭 is kept. And if you keep typing next to it, it 𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝔂𝓵𝓮! You can 🧞 𝐶𝑜𝑝𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙. It works wherever you paste it. It keeps your flow. It's 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝒮𝓉𝓎𝓁ℯ𝓇. 🧞

It is the same problem MacWrite solved in 1984. FlowStyler takes that legacy and applies it to the only type of formatting that works on any platform, app or social network without requiring any special software: Unicode styles.

An interaction design experiment

FlowStyler was born because when publishing long posts on LinkedIn, I needed titles, italics, and a clear visual hierarchy. The platform simply didn't offer them.

I discovered "Unicode styles" back then. The problem was that existing tools forced me to constantly go back and forth: typing in an isolated box, copying, switching back to my post, pasting the fragment, and repeating this tedious sequence dozens of times while writing or editing. Some were slightly better than others, but it always felt like fighting against the text formatting layer instead of just writing. On mobile devices, this workflow was completely unusable.

That is how FlowStyler was conceived: as a pure interaction design experiment. The hypothesis was simple: what would happen if we applied the behavioral patterns of an actual word processor to the problem of Unicode styles?

Along the way, I have been developing new tools and mechanics to overcome deep architectural limitations—like designing the mobile palette to gracefully mount inline, unified directly above the native keyboard viewport. I still have a mountain of challenges ahead to sort out.

But I am certain it is worth the effort because, to paraphrase the IxDA mission: the human condition is increasingly challenged by poor experiences. We aim to improve the human condition by advancing the discipline of Interaction Design. One interface pattern at a time.

Designed for mobile productivity

On mobile devices, FlowStyler integrates its tools directly above the keyboard. The most frequent actions remain accessible while you type, and advanced palettes can be opened without covering your content.

Most formatting tools solve this problem by adding bars, panels, or separate screens that compete for available space. FlowStyler takes a different approach: keeping the text visible and moving the tools out of the editing area.

That is why you can write, apply styles, and keep writing without interrupting your workflow.

This combination of live editing and format continuity is what makes it possible to use Unicode styles as if they were part of a word processor.

What are Unicode styles?

Unicode is the universal character standard. Beyond regular letters, it includes thousands of mathematical and symbolic variants — bold, italic, script, fraktur, double-stroke — that look like formatted text but are actually distinct characters. Because they are characters, not CSS or layout formatting, they paste identically everywhere.

Does it work on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter?

Yes. Any platform that renders text renders Unicode characters. LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Instagram, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Telegram — wherever you can paste text, FlowStyler's output works.

Does it support Spanish, French, and other languages with special characters?

Yes. While Unicode mathematical and symbolic variants do not inherently include diacritics, as a native Spanish speaker, I made sure FlowStyler supports them as best as it can.

However, technical limitations exist. Combining diacritics may trigger unexpected results with certain fancy fonts or complex combinations. If that happens, you might have to choose between keeping the style or the accented characters by using the é→e button (found in the 𝐀 Basics panel).

A notable exception is the German letter Eszett (ß). Since no equivalent variant exists within the Unicode mathematical symbols, FlowStyler follows standard orthographic rules and converts it to 'ss'. However, it utilizes an internal background technique to track this change, ensuring the original 'ß' can be fully restored if you clear or remove the style.

Can I combine styles?

That's the whole point. Select text, apply bold, then apply italic — you get bold italic. Apply script on top — script bold. FlowStyler tracks your active styles and stacks them like a word processor, not like a cheap trick.

Is it really free?

Yes. No account, no paywall, no trial timers. I built this for myself, it evolved into an interesting experiment, and it serves as a showcase of my craft. If you want to support the project, just spread the word!

What about the cookie banner? Why isn't there one?

I hate cookie banners as much as you do, so I decided not to use one. I keep things very simple:

  • Your text is yours: Everything you write in FlowStyler is saved on your own device. I don't have access to your text.
  • Basic analytics: I use standard Google Analytics to get page statistics.
Unicode styling and accessibility

The use of Unicode characters to simulate text formatting started in 2010 on networks like Twitter or Instagram, which lacked native bold or italics. But the technical origin goes back much further, specifically to the Unicode 3.1 specification in 2001. Officially, these characters were created strictly for math and science notation, where a bold letter like 𝐀 represents a vector or a matrix, not an aesthetic choice.

Because of this, outdated screen readers read these blocks based on that old official definition. In the worst cases, they announce text letter by letter, saying things like 'mathematical bold capital x', making it unbearable to listen to. Modern readers usually strip the style and read the word flatly, like 'hello', but then you lose the visual emphasis and the author's actual intent.

It is a lot like what happens with spoken language. If a twenty-year-old dictionary says a word has a strict definition, but today most people use it for something completely different, what is the practical reality? Many assistive technologies have already adapted to real-world usage, so these characters are no longer an issue for them, but there is still plenty of ground to cover.

This issue is personal for me, both personally and professionally. I have been working in digital accessibility since 2004, I was part of the professional group that pushed for web accessibility laws in Argentina, and I am currently developing IPAX, a model that adds advanced ergonomics to WCAG and APCA standards.

FlowStyler does not ignore this reality. I am working on a free solution to improve how older assistive tech handles this, so expressiveness and accessibility stop fighting each other.