Productivity

Get organised, get smart, and get serious stuff done in just the right way

MindNode $9.99 Platform iPhone, iPad

Mindmaps are usually associated with dull business tasks, much like huge whiteboards and the kind of lengthy meetings that make you hope the ground will open and swallow you up. Yet they’re ideal for getting thoughts out of your head and organized. On paper, this process can be messy, and so MindNode is a boon. You can quickly and easily add and edit nodes, your iPad automatically positioning them neatly. Photos, stickers and notes can add more context, and your finished document can be shared publicly or privately using a number of services.

PCalc Lite Free Platform iPhone, iPad

The iPad’s lack of a built-in calculator app is no bother; this one’s pretty much ideal. Text on its big buttons can be made bolder and larger, and for free you get a few unit conversions, too. In‑app purchases add paid-version features, such as more conversions, extra themes, and a virtual paper tape.

DUE $4.99 Platform iPhone, iPad

Apple’s Reminders isn’t exactly great for presentation or usability. This app offers more helpful navigation for adding alert times and a repeating schedule. Our favorite things about it are that item descriptions can span several lines, and that each item can have a different snooze duration.

PDF Expert $9.99 Platform iPhone, iPad

Editing PDFs may feel like it should be done on your Mac, but PDF Expert makes it a cinch on iPad. You can grab docs from iCloud or Dropbox, and get to work rearranging pages, adding new content, creating notes, completing forms, making highlights, and even doodling with your finger. The app is an impressive PDF reader too, ably dealing with large files. The text-to-speech mode highlights words as it speaks, and enables you to adjust its speed.

Scanbot 6 Free Platform iPhone, iPad

The free version of Scanbot turns your iPhone into a great scanner with cloud storage integration, support for QR codes, and the means to detect edges for any page you want to digitise. The $7.99 Pro version enables you to add pages to existing scans, quickly name files using a smart-naming system, and search for and extract text from previous scans. Scanbot can automatically detect the likes of phone numbers and email addresses in your scanned pages, and turn them into one-tap buttons.

Byword $5.99 Platform iPhone, iPad

Although Editorial and Ulysses are more powerful text editors, this no-nonsense, distraction-free app is great for writing. Its subdued look and typewriter-style font feel resolutely old-school, yet it’s also modern thanks to Markdown support, a live word count, and publishing to various blogging services.

Workflow Free Platform iPhone, iPad

Workflow provides over 200 actions for automating tasks in Apple’s and thirdparty apps. Automations can be triggered from within Workflow, the Today view, or purpose-built Home screen icons, and examples help you get started. If you need further convincing of the tool’s worth, how about its recent acquisition by Apple?

Editorial $4.99 Platform iPhone, iPad

Editorial is the text editor to choose if you want lots of control over processing output. The app’s writing interface is strong, but what makes Editorial great is that it gives you the means to add custom snippets, and to integrate workflows that extend the app and save you time.