It’s also a key part of bullet journaling and how I manage personal tasks and projects with text files in Obsidian.
I’ve found I need something more freeform than any dedicated task or project manager I’ve tried, but that’s just me.
1 Like
I absolutely love everything about Bear for keeping notes but it does not provide end-to-end encryption so I continue to stick with Standard Notes. However, Apple has made it easier with Advanced Data Protection where developers can update their CloudKit Sync code to utilize encrypted fields for E2E encryption and I am hopeful Bear will eventually adopt the feature like Agenda and NotePlan have.
1 Like
There’s no automatic review function in Things3, but I find it makes me do a quick daily review (pulling the task list into order and setting some things to do in the evening) and it’s very easy to do a weekly wider review. Everything in Things is so clearly displayed without clutter, and the app is so “touchy-feely” (lots of intuitive drag and drop) that changing any list of tasks within it is low friction.
Personally, it’s not a big deal either way. All OF’s review really does is show you projects at intervals you set - you still have to do the review yourself! I rarely found surprises when I was reviewing with it.
Thank you. I was not aware that encryption was optional for CloudKit.
Encrypting User Data | Apple Developer Documentation
Your CloudKit database schema needs to reflect which fields on specific record types require encryption.
1 Like
That’s the difference for me though (everyone’s mileage may vary) what works for you may not work for me.
Yes, of course the person has to review their projects, but being able to set different intervals when I will definitely see each project is a power feature. This means that I don’t have to review everything daily or weekly and I can be certain that everything is going to pop into my view sooner or later on a schedule I set.
At this moment in Omnifocus, I have 21 work projects which are active (some are very long term projects), 6 work projects I’ve started then paused because higher priority projects dropped, 9 projects paused because I’ve not managed to kick them off at all yet, and a whole raft of potential projects sat in someday /maybe. I also expect that 10-12 projects will be added to my pile this coming week (I’ll also finish 12-15 hopefully). Thank goodness I have a new colleague who started last Tuesday. This doesn’t include personal projects or regularly recurring admin checklists I use to ensure I complete everything I need to do.
Some of my project are set for review Daily (top priorities I’m actively working on), others weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. I can also set a project to be reviewed every 42 days if I wish (and I do).
If the review is manual, there’s always the possibility (which inevitably would become a probability) that I would miss something and the last thing I want to do is drop a ball (Juggling metaphor) or a plate (spinning metaphor)
This is why I’ve not been able to find a different tool to Omnifocus which sets my mind at rest. I’m always wondering if I’ve missed something. That doesn’t ever happen on OF. (But I still like to look sometimes)
3 Likes
Exactly. This makes it easier to do reviews consistently because one is not trying to review everything, every week. Trying to do so is daunting and discouraging, often resulting in putting the review off, thus, risking dropping balls and incurring cognitive stress like background radiation.
2 Likes
I agree with you about Tinderbox: I’ve updated the licence almost every year since 2010 (at £90-ish a year), and I love the ingenuity of the design and the responsiveness of the developer. Once every few months or so, I try to use it for somethings and am once more impressed with it, but the truth is, I don’t have anything I need it for.
It’s one of three software packages I have long term attachment for, and for which I will automatically buy the upgrade.
The other two are Scrivener (owner since 2010) and DEVONthink (since 2011): I use both of these almost every day at the moment, but there are periods when I don’t. It doesn’t matter: I know I’ll use them again in the future, as they have become a fundamental part of my software environment.
For ‘free’ software, Emacs and Vim are similar: no matter how many times I try the new shiny, I know I’ll be back to them at some point, because they are so good.
I do not claim this is a sensible position to be in…
2 Likes
I think the Serif team has done a great job with their Affinity suite, but I am too familiar with the Adobe suite to warrant buying it (and my company pays for the Adobe license). All three of their apps are well-designed and offer amazing value for money.
I also like Ulysses but I cannot find a place for it in my workflow. The interface is great, but not worth the subscription for my use case. I prefer Scrivener for long-form and Drafts for short-form writing.
3 Likes
This is one I (mostly) don’t use but have to praise, too. I like both outliners and designing elegant object inheritance, so it’s obviously an appealing project. The default views look good and upgrade nicely with the sidebars and splash images. You can tell that company uses their own product every day so knows what makes it comfortable.
Loving all these contributions!
Obsidian. I love the extensibility of it. I love the “folder full of markdown files” structure. I love all the nerdy ways I can find and manipulate my data (dataview makes my heart go pitter-patter). The whole thing is just so well done, and every update and new plugin offers up more ways to use it.
Sadly, I’ve finally realized we’re just not meant to be. I may keep it around as a hobby of sorts, but my note-taking workflow is just better with Bear.
2 Likes
Scrivener is the tool I really wish I had the time and space to use to write a book.
I’m still annoyed it won’t sync without dropbox, but otherwise it seems like a really well designed tool.
1 Like
Aeon Timeline 3.
Seems extremely powerful, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for such a tool. I bought it and I’m still keeping the subscription as there’s couple of times a year when I could really use a good-looking timeline to impress my clients and I keep thinking I will use it at some point. But… it has a really steep learning curve, there are no official tutorials so it seems like a difficult piece of software to master if one only needs to use it once in a while.
Edit: spelling.
2 Likes
I have to say my main use of Keyboard Maestro is text expansion; though I have other vital macros I use all the time. Hence my praise here is for the Text Expander apps. I used TextExpander but the sub put me off, the other one, Typinator? looked fine too. I tried Alfred but everything I needed was really on Keyboard Maestro. So I am like you but in reverse as it were. I like BBEdit but found over time I had no need really for the high power functions.
Funny I used both of these apps years ago. OmniFocus was amazing in terms of crafting/usability but it didn’t feat my workflow as well as my team requirements.
Devonthink I’d heard so much about but found the learning curve and features overkill for my needs. Perhaps I’ll take another look to see how its come along.
Current focus is looking for the right PKM app.
Literature & Latte on their web site publishes FAQs on using sync services other than Dropbox. Dropbox only required if you wish to sync to their iOS application called “Scrivener” which is a terrific app, but not full Scrivener as in Windows and macOS.
Big fan of the DuckDuckGo Browser but the lack of extension support is a deal breaker for me. Since it is based on WebKit I find it works better than Safari in terms of performance. But the moment they get at least a Safari level of Extension support it will be an instant switch.
1 Like
+1. My thoughts exactly. Love the local storage, love writing in it. But when I want to save an email someone sent me, a receipt, some images – it’s just walls and walls of text and links.
And then to get it working the way you’d expect, it requires 30 plug-ins, reducing the “open ended” format of all the notes that are so easy to take anywhere.
I still use it for my own personal writing and planning here and there but yes, your words speak to me. 
I would have loved to use DEVONthink, but my interests are so varied, the AI search never could lock on to anything to suggest for me. If I was a one-topic researcher; it would have been great. Who needs a file system with DT?
I just switched to UpNote from Bear (again). I like the pure rich text in UpNote over Markdown (even hidden) in Bear 2, although I have no trouble using Markdown. I also like the better table formatting on mobile. Search on mobile is fast and easy to further search in. Cross-platform was the initial need. Locked notes in Apple Notes.
I just couldn’t get used to Things 3 at all; mostly categorization of my life into Things was the breaking point. But, it’s really powerful if you can categorize. I’m using Apple Reminders for recurring tasks and bills, with an added helping of a uncategorized grocery list that keeps the needed to buy items at the top, while still letting me see everything on one screen (Show Completed).
1 Like
I know, and that’s what I wanted. On Ipad and Mac
Well, they have their reasons, e.g. that’s the only sync method that is reliable for desktop -<-> iOS device for their relatively complex file/package requirements. They have announced a new product which may be released in 2025 (they have not said and will not say, but its existence and their intention is no secret) that may have other sync methods. I’ve been using the Dropbox method for years. Works. I can focus on writing, and not on IT.
1 Like