Hey everyone, long-time lurker here but first time posting. I’ve got about $500 to spend on one-time purchase software and figured this would be the best place to get some advice.
Right now, my short list looks like this:
• OmniFocus 4
• Freedom
• Keyboard Maestro
• Hazel
• GoodLinks
• PopClip
• Lire
I don’t own any of these yet, so this would be my starting point.
To get closer to the $500 mark, I also thought about these:
• BusyCal
• Alfred Powerpack
• BetterTouchTool
• Scrivener
• Things 3
I could go the hardware route, but since this money is from work, I can’t use it for wearables. So… if you were in my shoes, which ones would you grab first?
+1 for Devonthink 4, Pro version. I have several of the others on the list, but would trade them in a heartbeat for DTP if I had to choose.
But really, it depends on what you need to do, no? If I had to choose between DTP and Excel, I’d choose Excel. If I then had to choose between Excel and Lightroom + Photoshop, I’d choose the latter, and with no regrets.
Hello @Bmosbacker, you are correct. I am in academia and currently work on a MacBook Pro alongside a personal iPhone (each on separate Apple IDs). For task management, I use the free version of Todoist, while relying on Apple’s Reminders app for simple notifications. My calendar setup is the default Apple Calendar on both devices. Through my institution, I have access to and make extensive use of Microsoft Office and Acrobat Pro. For personal notes and files, I primarily use Obsidian, and for RSS feeds, I use Vienna. I hope this provides enough context.
Thank you as well for suggesting DevonThink. I am a bit uncertain about its fit for my workflow, especially since I already use Excel for work and Obsidian for personal knowledge management. That said, I may be overlooking important aspects, and I would be grateful if you could clarify where DevonThink might add value in light of my current setup.
Scrivener is awesme. So is DevonTHINK Pro, especialy if you PDFs for research. Both have generous free trial periods and steep learning curves. Try them before you buy them. I use PopClip daily and really recommend it. I can’t spell to save my life, and especially love that I can easily check a suspicious word.
I like your shortlist. Only question is if you are disliking Todoist enough to switch task managers. Do you have to spend all the money quickly? I might keep a little powder for the future after getting used to new workflows.
I really like DEVONthink but wouldn’t trade Obsidian for it if it’s already working for you.
DevonThink can be used for many things. I personally love the organizational use:
It handles all file formats - text, graphics, audio, video, photographs. Many other popular systems are text-oriented (markdown or plain files) and quickly become complicated or simply can’t handle non-text files as natively.
I love the ability to use it either as pointers/database on top of existinging physical file/folders, or holding everything internally as a single physical file on disk (but can still export/extract files/folders whenever desired). Can choose the best structure on a database-by-database basis.
I’m an “organizer” with deep nested files/folders/subfolders and Devonthink’s “replicate” function allows me to simulate “tags” in the more familiar file/folder structure without duplicating disk space or trying to remember all the special tags I would need. (I think in structure, not ‘tag clouds’)
e.g. I can have products/hardware/vendorname/productname folder structure and the same product files (both text and images) can be replicated into “products/hardware/typeofproduct” so I can easily find a product if I know what kind of thing it is but don’t remember the brand/manufacturer.
If me, I would buy a few “large price” software apps that I probably would never easily spend my personal money or would be hesitant to spend so much on a piece of software.
The small utility stuff, $10, $20, or even $30, one can usually purchase them on your own, over time, as you need them. Typically count as expense, not investment.
The classical “it’s just the price of a few cups of coffee/tea or a round of pints for friends” thing.
Good point. I started using the free version of Todoist while on the Windows platform and have continued using it daily. I don’t dislike it, but many of the newer features (such as deadlines) require a subscription. While the subscription price of $48/year is reasonable, the nature of my $500 budget is such that work will not cover subscription costs.
I use DTP and Obsidian in tandem, and wouldn’t want to be without either.
Getting into the weeds: you can import files directly into DTP itself or you can have DTP index files you’ve stored in Finder folders elsewhere. You can use DTP’s powerful tools on indexed files in the same way you use them on imported files. I import all my administrative documents into Devonthink, but index my research documents.
Why? I manage the creation and cataloguing of my research-related files—PDFs, ePubs, jpgs, transcripts, notes, etc—in a variety of different apps that are more suited to the task than DTP alone. For instance, I use Obsidian for to write, store, and work with my learning and research notes. However, I also index them in DPT so that I can work with them there as well. An example: rather than deal with an Obsidian plug-in to use an LLM to work with my notes, I use DPT 4’s built-in chat functionality instead. I absolutely adore DTP’s concordance pane, which I don’t think I could easily replicate in another app.
I wear several administrative hats, all of which require working with legal, financial, and regulatory documents as well as the usual array of reports and minutes. I import all of them into DTP for archiving, tagging, searching, retrieving , annotating, and sharing. I would never think of trying to use Obsidian for this, nor a bunch of Finder folders for that matter.
If your mobile use of the apps you’re planning on buying is non-trivial and would include editing documents, then I would use Obsidian mobile over Devonthink-to-go any day of the week.