Essentials by task
From wordsmithing to weather watching, these apps are must–haves in their fields
Scrivener $44.99 literatureandlatte.com
When writing projects are too complex forTextEdit or Pages, reach for Scrivener. Whether you’re working on a bestseller, an essay, or a business plan, its smart tools can help. You can stash research, split documents, create snapshots, and work with synopses in an outliner. It’s available on iOS ($19.99) too, for writing on the go.
Snapseed Free bit.ly/mfsnpsd
If you shoot photos on your iPhone, you may want to use it to edit them as well. Snapseed has tools that cover the basics (cropping, perspective, levels) and the creative (filters, text, blurs, frames). Edits are non– destructive so you can tweak values at any point, and setups can be saved as custom ‘looks’, ready to apply to more photos.
Adobe Pr emiere El ements 2 018 $99.99 adobe.com
You’ve already got iMovie, but Premiere Elements is a worthy alternative for blazing through video edits. Its AI smarts extract great stills from clips, and Smart Trim speeds up editing by figuring out content that can be removed without impacting your movie. Guided Edits further help you to create a great-looking movie ready to export.
Affinity Pho to $34.99 affinity.serif.com
This Mac app is a powerful pro–level photo editor, but with a wallet– friendly price tag suitable for consumers. It’s ideal for making subtle changes to a favorite photo or creating tricky multiimage compositions. Even more amazing is the iPad version ($13.99), with broadly the same features, plus additional Apple Pencil support.
Pocket Free getpocket.com
Send articles to Pocket on your iPhone, so they’re in a reader–friendly format for when you have spare time to indulge in an article or two. It beats Safari’s Reading List with the ability to tag items, making it easier to catch up on specific subjects later on. Better yet, no Wi-Fi is needed once downloaded.
Wunderlist Free wunderlist.com
At its core this app is reminiscent of Reminders, but it offers users a lot more scope and flexibility. In use, it feels like a stripped–back Getting Things Done (GTD) tool, and is suited to shared to–dos or full–on scheduling with subtasks.
Dark Sky Weather $3.99 darksky.net
The weather often determines your day, so get Dark Sky on your iPhone. It offers long–range forecasting, but also a precipitation radar, and hyper–local rainfall predictions so you don’t get caught in a terrential downpour when you least expect it.
White Noise+ Free/$2.99 dynamicappdesign.com
Unwanted noise can prevent you from getting things done. This iOS app helps you focus with a built–in selection of ambient sounds. Make custom mixes by dragging icons to a grid and save your favorites to the app for subsequent playback. It can help you to sleep or just generally forget the hustle and bustle.
Magnet $0.99 magnet. crowdcafe.com
Often have windows sprayed across your display like confetti? Magnet brings order to your Mac, without limiting you to full screen or two–up views. With a drag or a shortcut press, you can resize/ move your windows.
Moom $9.99 manytricks.com
If Magnet’s not flexible enough, Moom’s got you covered. Its features include custom multi– app window setups that can be triggered with a shortcut, and being able to drag an on–screen area you’d like the current window to fill.
The Unarchiver Free theunarchiver.com
Finder does its best to unpack archives, but often has issues with compatibility and usability. The Unarchiver is a freebie that acts as a fail–safe, ably dealing with getting at what’s inside even outdated and esoteric formats like LZH and StuffIt.
CloudMounter Free cloudmounter.net
Cloud services’ own utilities may provide options to avoid downloading everything locally, but CloudMounter defaults to this state, instead mounting the likes of Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive as local disks without paying a penny.
Du et Display $9.99 duetdisplay.com
If your iPad spends most of its day idle, boost its usefulness and your productivity by having Duet Display turn it into a lag– free second screen. As an added bonus, you get a hint into how a touchscreen Mac might feel to use prior to purchase.
Tripmode $8.00 tripmode.ch
When working remotely and on a limited data plan, you don’t want apps going online and using up your data allowance. But staying offline isn’t always an option. TripMode gives you control as you dictate which apps can go online. Data usage is tracked, and you can set a limit to ensure you don’t get a nasty surprise when your bill arrives.
Not ability $9.99 gingerlabs.com
When armed with an Apple Pencil, your iPad becomes an amazing digital notepad. But Notability goes a step further by integrating audio too. This means you can record a lecture or meeting, add text and scribbles, and later play everything back in real time. All very convenient!
S o u lv e r $2.99 acqualia.com
A combined notepad and calculator, Soulver marries the user–friendly nature of Notes with the smarts of a spreadsheet. Numbers can sit alongside written notes and headings, and totals are intelligently added up across any dynamic multi–line calculations you input.
F i l eBr ow s e r $5.99 stratospherix.com
The Files app gives you access to your documents in iCloud Drive, and those stored on third–party services such as Dropbox. FileBrowser is for everything else, providing an efficient means to get at documents on local network drives and FTP servers, and shared files on your Mac.
PDF E xpert $9.99 pdfexpert.com
When you spend a chunk of your work life juggling PDFs, this app gives you a fighting chance of getting everything done on your iPad. Along with being a superfast reader, it has powerful editing and page management tools, along with robust export capabilities.
Scanbot Pr o $6.99 scanbot.io
For pristine scans of artwork, you need a desktop scanner. For everything else, there’s Scanbot. Snap a document with your device’s camera and the app cleans it up. You can then search its text and perform actions based on the content found within, such as making calls.
1 Password $3.99/month 1password.com
While iCloud Keychain stores passwords and payment details on your iPad, 1Password goes further, providing a home for identities, server details, routers, and software licenses. It’s cross–platform too, and iOS 12 will bring welcome deeper iPad integration.
Hiya Caller ID and Block $2.99/month hiya.com
Useful for when your phone number is inevitably sold to less than reputable organisations, Hiya aims to stop spam calls by identifying and blocking timewasters. Unknown callers are flagged when calls come in, and you can create your own personalized block list, along with looking up info about the caller.
Deliveries $4.99 junecloud.com
When you’ve ordered something online, it’s tempting to waste time on a shop’s website checking its current status. Deliveries frees you from this arduous task by giving you a sleek, simple app for tracking shipments from major carriers. You get countdowns, optional Calendar and notifications integration, and even a map to see how far away each of your purchases is.
Workflow Free my.workflow.is
Some tasks are performed again and again and require you to bounce between apps. Workflow speeds things up by enabling you to trigger strings of actions with a single tap. Dozens of predefined examples are included, but you can make your own workflows too, with a user–friendly system that you may recognize as the foundation of Apple’s upcoming Shortcuts app.
Noted $0.99/month notedapp.io
Handy for lectures and office meetings, Noted combines voice memos and notes in a really clever way. You kick off a recording and can type arbitrary supporting text. But add a TimeTag and that button becomes a link to a specific point in the recording. This means you can listen more at the time and easily flesh out your notes later.
Streaks $4.99 streaksapp.com
To-do managers are great for tasks, but not so much for infusing habits. Streaks is a better bet when what you want to get done is more exercise, eating healthily, or relaxing and reading for a bit every day. The big, bold interface is a joy to use, and the app tracks your progress, its wiggly graphs and hard data giving you a daily boost and good motivation to stick to your goals.
Bea r Fo c u s T i m e r $0.99 bearfocustimer.com
If you spend way too long foolishly wasting time on your iPhone, Bear Focus Timer has a solution. You define focus/break durations, and the timer only kicks off when your phone is placed face down. Physically flipping over your phone is a neat psychological trick that really works, almost putting it out of reach. Also, cheat and the bear will growl to actively dissaude you.