This one may be difficult but after Dec. 31, I am resolved to stick with all of my existing apps for 12 months. As others have noted, constantly changing apps can ultimately be counter-productive, a time sink, and expensive. This does not preclude new apps for new things not currently being done. What I’m resolved not to do is replace an existing application for another one to serve the same or similar basic function. For example, not changing productivity apps, calendar apps, email apps, etc. In other words, for at least one year no more switching apps.
This will not be easy as one is always tempted by the siren call of something new, but a little discipline is all it takes. So, feel free to hold me accountable!
Unless I change something between now and the 31st, my default apps for the next year are (this is not an all-inclusive list), only the main ones:
Apple Mail
Apple Notes
Apple Calendar
Pages
Numbers
Keynote
OmniFocus
OmniOutliner
Mindnode
Drafts
Anylist
Ulysses
1 Password
DevonThink
Google Enterprise and Drive
TextExpander
Copied
Overcast
Feedly
Logos Platinum Bible Software
PDF Expert
Scanbot
VPN Express
Word and Excel only and if absolutely necessary
I don’t think I’d care to promise that nothing new in 2019 wouldn’t be worth changing from an older app. So most likely I’d be breaking the resolution by January 2.
Most definitely though I will not change away from these in 2019 – since from v1 of each I’ve never been tempted to switch away.
I would join you, but I’ve stopped to switch apps already. At least on my mac Every time I test a new app, I think that it does not solves any problem which is not solved already. The last apps I’ve tested ans skipped were houdahspot and things. The last apps I’ve tested and buyed were fantastical and devonsphere on sales some monthes ago. Both are still in use.
On the Mac, I haven’t found anything new worth trying in ages. Even the MacStories 2018 round-up of “Must-Haves” is mostly centered around podcasting and other stuff I’m not interested in. Unfortunately, I think it would be all-too-easy to keep this “vow” on the Mac.
On the iPad, I’m finding myself very drawn to Things, mostly because of their keyboard support on iPad, whereas OmniFocus only has the basics.
I’m trying to use the iPad more and more often and haven’t found myself settling in on my favorite apps for most things. Even text editors, although I have a bunch of them, I don’t have any that I really love.
Interesting idea. I certainly cut down last year on app switching and I feel happier for it, but that may just be because I spent some time settling down on the Mac platform.
Most my choices are now the default ones, with only 2Do standing out. To be honest, I’ve been getting annoyed with that app not seeming to be able to sync with the reminders app reliably, so with this post I’m abandoning ship there too. Similarly, I did return to Fantastical for a bit this year, but again it was just not as reliable as the built in Calendar app (repeating appointments, mainly). And I tried out Drafts, but that was mainly because I was interested in the scripting possibilities. Gave me 10 days of fun, so that’s fine.
Anyway, I’m in.
I’m going to try sticking with the built-in apps for my mundane tasks, and probably keep my specialised apps constant unless something comes along that lets me do something new.
I use Xcode, Graphic, Pixelmator, Logic, Final Cut, PDF Expert, BBedit and smaller utilities along with the default apps.
My phone and iPad apps are chosen to complement the Mac, so no need to worry about them independently.
Might I make an addendum? A concerted effort must be made to master an app completely in terms of keyboard shortcuts, options, setting, workflows, etc. before it is outright discarded for another app of similar function.
I really like this idea! I know I don’t have enough discipline to go for a whole year but I think I going to review all the apps I use and come up with a list to try for three months…
…I’ve already changed email apps on my new iPad Pro three times since Christmas Day.
Great idea! I did this last year and made it about 6 months lol. I’d be reading about a new app and my wife would ask “do you already have that one?” Lol. Accountability
I also get the ‘problem’ that my wife starts a new hobby on the iPad and wants to try out a free app…then I tell her I already bought a better one a year or two ago that I don’t use.
Best successes were Procreate, Notion and Goodnotes, the first two of which have proved to be amazing, err, investments.
I agree completely. I think many switch apps in part because they have not taken the time and effort to master the current app they are using. For example, after experimenting and spending sufficient time with it I discovered Apple Notes is far better than I realized, which is why it is now my default. Likewise, I realize that OmniFocus what’s the best app for me but only after taking time to read David’s and Rose’s books on creating perspectives and other features. Once I mastered perspectives I realized that OmniFocus could be as complex or simple as needed.
You’re right. Perhaps Agenda was a fresh new app, but its feature set has plateaued already. On iOS I think there is even less innovation – the App Store pushes games more than anything else and most of those are tweaks on existing games. Maybe we’re in a desert period for software because fewer innovators want to face the cost of coming to market and sustaining customer interest?
I am not sure, if I will join this resolution, but I can definitely understand the motivation behind it.
If I take a look into my software licenses stored in 1Password I bought over the years, I always stumble upon apps that I have not been using for years and I seriously doubt, if I ever used them on a consistent basis. But, they had been must-have apps, when I bought them…
So, this year, I tried not to jump onto the latest and greatest. The grass is always greener somewhere else, but if you get there, you eventually will notice that it is the same green grass. For instance, there is one app, I would be interested in: Bear. It looks gorgeous and it probably is a great piece of software.
But I already have so many “great” apps. For long-form writing, I will stick to Ulysses and for short-form stuff, Drafts is my choice. I will not even try to mention the other apps I have bought a license for that serve the same purpose.
What I will try for 2019 is not to “renew” or “upgrade” to newer versions of apps, if I do not really use a piece of software on a daily or at least on a weekly basis. The first app that became a victim to my new policy was PDFPen. I prefer PDF Expert. I like PDFPen, too. But for me, it will be either one or the other and not both of them.
It is great that we have so many choices out there, but I seem to get to a point where there are just too many choices for me.
And changing apps on a constant basis and migrating all the stuff from A to B is not any longer the thing I like to do.
I may move from Overcast (which I really like) to Apple Podcast. My reason is that I can’t speed up playback on Overcast (at least I can’t figure out how, which I used to be able to do—am I missing something?) but I can with the Apple app.
Just swipe from left to right on a podcast’s artwork to reveal a card that lets you change playback speed either for just this podcasts or to change the default for all podcasts.
I won’t quite commit to this, but I expect my usage of OF, Agenda and Notes to deepen this year. Art, audio and dev tools I expect I will change a fair amount, but not in a wishy-washy way!
wow, very similar to my set up and good plan. I also have Mellel, still undecided on what to do with that. I have and will keep Keyboard Maestro. Though I really feel I might drop text expander some time as most of what I can do I could use KM for. It is a constant tug of war for me those two. Good idea though I might drop one or two but NO CHANGES. Will that do?
