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It may not net him quite as much cash as a Hollywood blockbuster, or have quite the same budget - but Tom Hanks hopes his latest project will help people write.

The Hanx Writer app recreates three classic typewriters on screen - allowing people to hear and see them.

Developers worked with the actor, who has previously spoken of his love for vintage typewriters.

Thwe Hanx Writer app has three vintage typewriters - and sound and looks exactly like them. Users can email or print their work to retain its look.

Hanx Writer recreates the experience of a manual typewriter, but with the ease and speed of an iPad, the developers said.

'With Hanx Writer, you'll hear the rhythm of your work with SHOOK SHOOK or FITT-FITT." – Tom Hanks said.

'No longer must you surrender modern luxuries, like the DELETE key, to enjoy the look, feel, and sound of good, old-fashioned word-processing.'

Each document written in Hanx Writer can be emailed, printed, and shared and has its own unique statement-making personality.

'I wanted to have the sensation of an old manual typewriter – I wanted the sound of typing if nothing else,' Hanks said.

Hanks tweeted this picture of himself to show he also uses more traditional keyboards.

'Because I find it's like music that spurs along the creative urge. Bang bang clack-clack-clack puckapuckapuckapucka… I wanted the 'report' of each letter, each line.'

He says the app is a 'tool, not a toy', and has been collecting typewriters since the 1970s.

'I use a manual typewriter — and the United States Postal Service — almost every day,' he recently wrote in the New York Times.

'My snail-mail letters and thank-you notes, office memos and to-do lists, and rough — and I mean very rough — drafts of story pages are messy things, but the creating of them satisfies me like few other daily tasks.'

'Tom sent us three vintage typewriters from his personal collection for us to enjoy during this project,' the developers said.

Users can choose between three specially created vintage typewriters.

'We took full advantage of this and typed a few pages on each one.

'We had a little fun with them as well! On a new employee's first day, he was welcomed to Hitcents with a desk 'fully stocked' with one of Tom's typewriters, a sheet of paper, and a pencil.'

He also explained the differences between the three typewriters in the app, adding that the Prime Select would let you 'bang away', while the 707 is smaller and quieter, and the Golden Touch is the luxury model.