Actor Tom Hanks has created a free app that attempts to recreate the look, sound and experience of typing on a typewriter – on your iPad.

'I wanted to have the sensation of an old manual typewriter – I wanted the sound of typing if nothing else,' Tom Hanks said when asked what inspired the app, which was launched last Thursday. (Twitter)

Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, and also known for movies such as Splash, The Da Vinci Code and Saving Private Ryan, developed Hanx Writer in partnership with the creative agency Hitcents.

A clacking sound accompanies the appearance of each letter on a sheet of paper that slides across the screen as you type using the app.

"I wanted to have the sensation of an old manual typewriter – I wanted the sound of typing if nothing else," Hanks said when asked what inspired the app. He was speaking during a Twitter Q & A with the App Store when he launched it last Thursday.

Documents created with the app can be emailed, printed, and shared.

On the iTunes store, the popular app has earned a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

"The typewriter experience not only provides tactile pleasure, but you can feel the rhythm of your work with each 'SHOOK SHOOK' or “FITT-FITT!'" says a description on the Hitcents website.

Hitcents says Hanks lent the company three vintage typewriters from his personal collection that were a "fantastic source of inspiration." The company also created three fonts crafted after the inkblot letters generated by several vintage typewriters.

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