At the moment my favorite are Things 3 and Alftred, but I'd like to learn of more apps that could help me increase my productivity. What are your top picks?
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What are your favorite apps to maximize your productivity on macOS?
- Thread starter VitoBotta
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Good question. I’m not a high intensity user. I find I’m using Notes a lot more. I can quickly make notes on the iPhone or iPad while I’m away somewhere and I think of something then when I get home I can use that input on some project I’m working on. It’s great that Notes updates quickly across all platforms.
For notes I use Obsidian, since I prefer writing my notes in Markdown for speed. Also Obsidian has a ton of features built in and it's even extensible with a lot of plugins.
Only for export, apparently:
Four New Features Coming to Apple Reminders and Notes
Four productivity improvements are coming to Apple Notes and Reminders in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26. In Reminders, Apple Intelligence can now...
www.macrumors.com
I will definitely give it a try but it's unlikely it will match Obsidian in features IMO.
Only for export, apparently:
Four New Features Coming to Apple Reminders and Notes
Four productivity improvements are coming to Apple Notes and Reminders in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26. In Reminders, Apple Intelligence can now...www.macrumors.com
Makes sense they convert to something universal on export (as much as possible), while maintaining the richness of Apple Notes while using the default application as your solution.
It's good peace-of-mind for those who want a usable backup of all their notes.
Which features are you referring to? Or are you just talking about the overall number of features it offers?
There is a huge number of plugins to manage your notes in all possible ways. There are even plugins that allow you to use LLMs in various ways
I usually don't use apps as much as I just change my wallpaper to a more boring monotone (like the OS X linen) one, to stop myself being pulled into my computer (or if my work is digital, just remind me that i'm supposed to be working)
Perhaps ironically, Alfred allowed me to switch from Things 3 to Reminders.
Having used Things since v1 it's become second nature to me across all my Apple devices. Things 3 is perhaps the most beautifully designed app that I've used. However, checking Lists became too many clicks compared to Things 2, especially on iOS. I've been looking at Reminders for a few years, but struggled with the lack of Quick Entry.
That is until two months ago when I saw this Alfred Workflow. Now in Reminders, similar to Things, I can use Ctrl+Opt+Space to make a quick entry with link back to Mail, Safari, etc, or Ctrl+Space for quick entry using this Workflow.
I tried GoodTask, but compared to Things and Reminders, the Mac app isn't as pretty.
From the repo's README though:
> This repo is no longer actively developed. I will review pull requests but not respond to issues or requests. Unfortunately I have been unable to keep up with the changes Apple makes to reminders in every OS release without warning.
Yes I saw that. It works for now. At least it's on Github so others may choose to update it, if Jack eventually stops updating the Workflow.
Right now I find myself using the Apple Share option to create Reminders more.
Things 🌟 - it's my 2nd brain - perfect, I free my mind in meditation.
-No subscription - one pay for each device, as Mac, iPad, iPhone. So worth it.
1Password 🔐 - definitely worth it to me. Not only for passwords but also various sensitive information. --Subscription.
DayOne 📝 - it have a LOT of features - including markdown. Password protected too, of course.
-Subscrption.
-No subscription - one pay for each device, as Mac, iPad, iPhone. So worth it.
1Password 🔐 - definitely worth it to me. Not only for passwords but also various sensitive information. --Subscription.
DayOne 📝 - it have a LOT of features - including markdown. Password protected too, of course.
-Subscrption.