avatarJulian Cosky

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e this app even better. I had switched away for a while, to Apple Reminders, but came crawling back.</p><p id="ccbc">It’s intuitive, there are some powerful filters to create views, and it just works for me.</p><h2 id="8ce7">Online Security</h2><p id="604c">In my previous story about my iPhone apps, I mentioned LastPass. However, since then I have moved, lock-stock-and-barrel, to <a href="https://1password.com/">1Password</a>.</p><p id="2ed6">I was unhappy with the direction that LastPass took with regard to devices, so I had a closer look at 1Password. Their new version 8 is beautiful to use, both from a functional and cosmetic perspective.</p><p id="1999">Definitely, one to look at if you need a password manager.</p><p id="f130">Everyone NEEDS a password manager.</p><h2 id="7c3d">Note Taking</h2><p id="9886">I use a mixture of Apple Notes and <a href="https://readmedium.com/distraction-free-writing-doesnt-have-to-cost-the-earth-c1327aeb447">Drafts</a>. I’ve been a big Drafts user for a number of years. It’s on my iPhone too.</p><p id="22c9">Recently, I upped my usage even more, and have created shortcuts that make my workflow sing.</p><p id="5d15">My story about Drafts tells you more…</p><div id="1444" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/distraction-free-writing-doesnt-have-to-cost-the-earth-c1327aeb447"> <div> <div> <h2>Distraction-Free Writing Doesn’t Have To Cost The Earth</h2> <div><h3>How to compose without being distracted is key to getting it done.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*Bz-pTqveVfJdo3RD)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="ffbf">Alfred</h2><p id="3eb0">It’s a great tool to improve efficiencies through workflows and much more. It’s a hard one to describe. It just sits there, and I can call it using CMD+Space (I replaced the Spotlight search) and enter various commands to search, run workflows and much more.</p><p id="d286">Read more about how I use it in my story</p><div id="6c3e" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-to-get-more-done-with-alfred-ca98b0c3606e"> <div> <div> <h2>How To Get More Done With Alfred</h2> <div><h3>Save time and improve efficiency with this butler-style app</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div>

Options

<div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*iHlPeZo-JGYsOEPK)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="6911">Fantastical 2</h2><p id="20cf">This is probably my favourite app. Yes, it’s a calendar, but the implementation and design is beautiful and it makes it so easy to manage time and tasks.</p><p id="fd04">I have it integrated with Todoist, which means all the tasks show up and can be managed in one place.</p><p id="db9c">I’ve been using Fantastical for almost 6 years and it continues to improve.</p><p id="aae0">This is the most expensive app in my toolbox, but it’s worth every penny.</p><p id="24fe">I wrote about it here</p><div id="e02e" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/block-time-in-your-calendar-to-read-this-206633fd66b6"> <div> <div> <h2>Block Time in Your Calendar to Read This</h2> <div><h3>It’s about a calendar app</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*qkwaIDtS7j5y6Pk2)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="a00a">These are, currently, my top apps. Just looking in the dock as I write this and there are others; Messages, Music, Shortcuts, and Day One (but I hardly ever write my journal on my laptop) but the ones I’ve mentioned above are those that I use daily.</p><p id="bb3b">This story was inspired by a <a href="https://readmedium.com/mac-software-what-im-using-right-now-933b93982c7a">similar one</a> written by <a href="undefined">Dominic DiFrancesco</a>.</p><h2 id="121b">Thank you for reading</h2><p id="f15f">👉🏻 <a href="http://jcosky.medium.com/subscribe"><b>Click here</b></a> if you’d like to receive my articles directly into your inbox</p><p id="2c88">👉🏻 <a href="http://jcosky.medium.com/membership"><b>Sign up with this link</b></a> for access to everything on Medium, and you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you a penny more.</p><p id="0829">👉🏻 If you’d prefer, <a href="https://ko-fi.com/jcosky"><b>please buy me a coffee</b></a> to show your appreciation. 20% of payments received will be donated to Cancer Research UK.</p><p id="c1d2">👉🏻 You can <a href="https://bit.ly/3th5Ots"><b>buy my Productivity Playbook</b></a>, filled with hints and tips to achieving more. Use MEDIUM20 to get 20% off at the checkout</p></article></body>

My Top Mac Apps

What keeps me moving

Image created in Canva by the author

I wrote a story about the top apps I use on my iPhone and thought I’d follow it up with the most used apps on my MacBook.

I use an old, in tech terms, MacBook Pro (early 2015).

No M1 chip, just the Intel Core i5, with 8GB RAM.

The battery is a bit knackered now, but otherwise, it still performs admirably and serves me very well.

I should caveat that the apps I mention here are what I use today.

Apps come and go, and I am vehemently against app-switching for the sake of it, that’s a real productivity killer (don’t get me started on this subject!)

However, I will change where I can see the value, or the apps I have no longer serve their purpose.

I am also not averse to spending money on apps. I don’t understand the whole argument about the subscription model. A one-off charge is all well and good, but if the development team (in some cases a single person) are to continue to support and build upon their apps, then they should be recompensed accordingly.

So, here we go…

Email

I use Spark Mail for all my emails.

I use it on my phone too.

What’s not to like about this. It’s free and integrates beautifully with other apps, such as Apple Reminders, Todoist, Google Drive, Pocket and many many more.

In fact, this is the only free app in this list. Although I’d be happy to pay something towards it.

Browser

I use Google Chrome. It might hog all the power (sometimes) but it’s stable and as I need to use it for work, it makes sense to use it personally. I did use Safari for a while, but couldn’t get on with it.

The extensions help to make it useful in its own right.

You can argue this is free too. Sure, there’s no money changing hands, but we all know that Google has you wrapped up in their ecosystem, serving ads and collecting data about your usage.

Task Manager

Todoist. There’s nothing else like it, and recent updates to the task view have made this app even better. I had switched away for a while, to Apple Reminders, but came crawling back.

It’s intuitive, there are some powerful filters to create views, and it just works for me.

Online Security

In my previous story about my iPhone apps, I mentioned LastPass. However, since then I have moved, lock-stock-and-barrel, to 1Password.

I was unhappy with the direction that LastPass took with regard to devices, so I had a closer look at 1Password. Their new version 8 is beautiful to use, both from a functional and cosmetic perspective.

Definitely, one to look at if you need a password manager.

Everyone NEEDS a password manager.

Note Taking

I use a mixture of Apple Notes and Drafts. I’ve been a big Drafts user for a number of years. It’s on my iPhone too.

Recently, I upped my usage even more, and have created shortcuts that make my workflow sing.

My story about Drafts tells you more…

Alfred

It’s a great tool to improve efficiencies through workflows and much more. It’s a hard one to describe. It just sits there, and I can call it using CMD+Space (I replaced the Spotlight search) and enter various commands to search, run workflows and much more.

Read more about how I use it in my story

Fantastical 2

This is probably my favourite app. Yes, it’s a calendar, but the implementation and design is beautiful and it makes it so easy to manage time and tasks.

I have it integrated with Todoist, which means all the tasks show up and can be managed in one place.

I’ve been using Fantastical for almost 6 years and it continues to improve.

This is the most expensive app in my toolbox, but it’s worth every penny.

I wrote about it here

These are, currently, my top apps. Just looking in the dock as I write this and there are others; Messages, Music, Shortcuts, and Day One (but I hardly ever write my journal on my laptop) but the ones I’ve mentioned above are those that I use daily.

This story was inspired by a similar one written by Dominic DiFrancesco.

Thank you for reading

👉🏻 Click here if you’d like to receive my articles directly into your inbox

👉🏻 Sign up with this link for access to everything on Medium, and you’ll support me directly with a portion of your fee, it won’t cost you a penny more.

👉🏻 If you’d prefer, please buy me a coffee to show your appreciation. 20% of payments received will be donated to Cancer Research UK.

👉🏻 You can buy my Productivity Playbook, filled with hints and tips to achieving more. Use MEDIUM20 to get 20% off at the checkout

Productivity
Technology
Coffee Times Movement
Apps
Productivity Tools
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