Notebooks. I’d bought it on sale for Mac and iOS but didn’t use it because I was already happy with a similar Mac app I’d been using for years. It’s similar to DevonThink and Keep_It, but it’s a one-time purchase, stores and reads most any kind of file, and is fast, and affordable, and it is regularly updated and supported. I wanted a cross-platform solution and it’s looking pretty good so far. I’m actually still testing-using it, but I think next year I might migrate my current EagleFiler docs (which I’d migrated to from Devonthink in 2016).
Very happy to have subscribed to AnyList after a few years of “why would I want this”. The integration with Alexa and family sharing sold me. The Watch app was icing on the cake. Use AnyList it every day.
I’m torn between DEVONthink and Notebooks, and leaning towards staying with DEVONthink. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on Notebooks after you’ve used it a while.
I think for me there would be some overlap between Notebooks and Curio too.
Due for iOS. Having a task manager where it nags me until I do it, or I can kick it down the road an hour or day, has been a game changer! Watch app also is great.
To me the DT user interface has been a comparatively confounding mess, and I found the devs to be fairly unhelpful in the several years I used DevonNote, then Devonthink, then Devonthink Pro. So I’m fairly relieved to have escaped that app orbit, even though I’m up to date on the DTP/Mac should I need it.
DT/Mac does win overall on features and depth, and if you need it you need it, period.
I have never used the iOS app but have read that there are sync limitations in the iOS app wrt file storage or editing, but I’m not clear on that at all. (People have complained about ‘jagged’ PDF annotation on DTP_TG.)
I do know that the tagging UI on Keep It seems to be nicer than DT. Otherwise I think I generally prefer the experience of EagleFiler/Notebooks on the Mac. (Presumably Keep It too, just by the look of it.) We discussed Notebooks more in this thread.
Curio markets itself as a giant whiteboard with modules that offer Calendar/Reminders/Evernote integration, while also integrating mind maps, lists, tables, index cards, notes etc etc – in a single whiteboard space. And there’s no iOS app. So I really don’t see much overlap between Curio and cross-platform apps like DT/KeepIt/Notebooks (or other Mac-only shoebox apps like EagleFiler). Curio is really its own thing, and I think its main competition these days is probably online (and therefore cross-platform) whiteboard products for creatives likeRealtimeBoard, ConceptBoard, Mural, Zeplin, IdeaFlip, etc
Yeah, this is true. I was thinking along the lines of using an idea space to collect artifacts related to some concept or project. That’s more for thinking or presenting though.
Your analogy is a good one, Curio is more of a whiteboard, where DTPO is more of a warehouse. Notebooks seems like a Trapper Keeper.
Brian, could you share a use case example or two of how you use Shortcuts for email? I’m now using my iPad almost exclusively for my work per my recent post. Have you found shortcuts that add functionality to Apple Mail or are you using shortcuts in another manner? I’ve tried to use Spark and AirMail but inevitability I run into small but frustrating bugs. Thanks!
I still havent quite figured out KM. Bought it on sale as it was too good to pass up but I havent sat down to try and make use of it. Where did you start?
This year, I was pleasantly surprised by the flashcard app Anki and it’s relatively expensive iOS app counterpart. Anki is a smart flashcard system that uses algorithms that take advantage of spaced repetition learning principles, prompting the learner to practice remembering information at precise intervals to help keep them in memory for as long as the user wishes. Anki takes the amount of time needed to memorize information and cuts it in half.
At $25, the app is not on the cheap side, but after using the Mac version of the software and how substantial the improvements were in my own memory and how it impacted me personally AND academically, it became a bit of a 'thank you" fee that I was glad to pay to the developer.
Anki is definitely one of those “If I’d only known it existed years ago…” apps that would’ve made my academic experience more enriching. Now I’m using it to master subjects in my new job and cutting down on the amount of time it would normally take to do so.
FYI if you’re interested I just was going through my emails and read one from Zengobi offering new and upgrade licenses of Curio 12 at 20% off with the HOLIDAY2018 coupon code. That brings the Core version down to $48 and the Standard version to $79.
Expensify. Hands down. Part of my job that I’ve always ALWAYS loathed has become so easy I don’t even think about it. I’ve turned in expense reports for 17 years and have always hated it but this app has made it a breeze! I’ll never go back to doing reports like I used to. Ever.
It’s deceptive: the Mac/PC app is very plain and not that great looking, but it’s jam-packed with options and add-ons. I’d say my learning curve with it is ongoing, but I think anyone can get effectively started with it within a week or less. I’d suggest not using the latest version (2.1) and instead stick with 2.0 m for the reason being that many of the most useful add-ons aren’t upgraded to work with the newest edition.
The manual on the site is ABSOLUTELY essential reading to understand everything that can be achieved with the software. It takes a bit of tinkering, but within a week you’ll be sold on using it.
Beginning in October I began really using the Activity App in my Apple Watch (Series 3). Since Oct 13 (72 days) I’ve filled my rings everyday (move is set at 630 cal). This has been one of the key reasons I’ve lost 18.65 kilos or 41 pounds (from 85.75 to 67.10 or 189 lbs to 148 lbs) and never felt better. I’d had an Apple Watch since Series 1 but had never used the watch for health purposes. Now that I do, I can’t live without it. The Watch is adding years to my life.
I’m trying to learn Thai again and someone mentioned Anki, so I downloaded it and gave it a try on my Mac. My only problem with it was the business model: every version on every platform is free, except for the iPhone which supports everything.
Since I only want iPhone, that seemed unreasonable to me and I ended up with Studies by The Mental Faculty
This has the opposite model (I know), so I get to try it first on the phone, plus it’s on SetApp if you use that. I’d rather both just charged sensible amounts for each version.
Oh, and it doesn’t so blatantly try to ride on Anki’s success, like one or two other apps in this space.