Celebrity endorsements can be either successful or an epic failure, but when celebrities actually create something, sometimes it is magical. For example, A-list actor Tom Hanks launched a typewriting app for iPad called "Hanx Writer," and it was an instant success.

The Hanx Writer was launched this week in the Apple Online store, and shot to No. 1 in four days. It is like a digital typewriter for the iPad and transforms the tablet's screen into a classic manual typewriter. It also has virtual keys that go clack when tapped, and there is virtual paper that moves through the typewriter like a real one, CNET reported.

The app also provides an onscreen keyboard that can also be paired with a Bluetooth keyboard. In other words, one can imagine that he or she is not typing on plastic keys.

Hanks, a two-time Academy award winner and Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor, writer and director, has a new achievement as an idyllic and technological genius. The Hanx Writer is now the top free iPad app in the U.S. App store. It beat out the ever popular apps RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile, YouTube, and Netflix, CNET reported, and has even dethroned reality star Kim Kardashian's Hollywood game app.

If one wants to purchase additional typewriter models, "Hanx 707" and the "Hanx Golden Touch," is available through the app, TechCrunch reported.

Hanks said the differences in the three typewriting models is that the "Prime Select," the free app, allows users to really "bang" away like a regular typewriter; while the Hanx 707 model is smaller and quieter. Meanwhile, the Hanx Golden Touch is the luxury model.

The current pricing for these two additional typewriter apps is $2.99 each, or $4.99 for both. With the higher prices come more features, including support for multiple documents and different "ribbon" colors -- just like an old-fashioned typewriter.

Hanks and gaming company Hitcents.com, who brought us the Hanx Writer, have been working on the app for some time. In the summer of last year, Hanks wrote an article in The New York Times that was an ode to the typewriter.

In the article, Hanks explained the allure and draw of using a typewriter.

"Everything you type on a typewriter sounds grand, the words forming in mini-explosions of SHOOK SHOOK SHOOK. A thank-you note resonates with the same heft as a literary masterpiece. ... In addition to sound, there is the sheer physical pleasure of typing; it feels just as good as it sounds, the muscles in your hands control the volume and cadence of the aural assault so that the room echoes with the staccato beat of your synapses. You can choose the typewriter to match your sound signature," he wrote.

Was it a clever marketing ploy to get most people thinking and preparing for this typewriting app sensation? It has yet to be determined, but Hanks has explained his motivations for creating the app.

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

Hanks and the Hitcents.com both acknowledge that the app is not designed to work like a real or virtual typewriter would. Instead, the app is designed for making notes, journal entries or even love letters, TechCrunch reported.

Currently, Hanks and Hitcents' Hanx Writer at the App Store has received mostly positive reviews of 1,310, and it has a 4.5-star rating.

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