Category Archive: Apps We’re Trying

SaneBox provides a number of subscription options for applying specific features to your email organization system. »

I’ve recently discovered Cleft Notes, which has proven to be quite an excellent tool in my writing workflow. Cleft is an AI-powered note-taking app that stands out for me due to its ability to transcribe voice recordings with high accuracy and then magically transform these transcriptions into well-structured, easy-to-read notes. Cleft’s ability to rephrase and […] »

Omnivore is one of the newest, and probably one of the most underrated read-it-later services out there. Many of us know about Pocket, Instapaper, Matter, and Readwise Reader, but Omnivore deserves to be in the conversation as well, as it does quite a few things very well, and even better than the rest in some cases. And it does all this completely for free. »

Let’s take a look at Apple’s new Journal app for iPhone and how it stacks up to one of the perennial apps on the App Store. The app has a long way to go, but it has some very intriguing elements to start. »

One of the newest apps I discovered was Heptabase, a research-specific PKM app that uses a more visual approach to presenting your research and learning. Heptabase uses whiteboards, sections, and mind maps to connect your thinking and has unique PDF features that will be sure to catch the attention of professors, graduate and doctorate students, and more. »

I love me some Obsidian, but one of Obsidian's weak spots has always been it's Shortcuts support (or lack thereof). That's where Actions for Obsidian comes in. »

I've been spending time playing with infinite canvas apps lately, and there are a lot of great options available. In this article, we'll compare and contrast the features of each of these apps to help you choose the one that best fits your needs. »

Rewind.ai is a pretty incredible new tool for Mac users that bills itself as the search engine for your life, and that's really not a bad way to describe it. »

If I had written about using web apps in Arc a month or two ago, I would have discussed how this was a failed experiment. Instead of using the native Notion, Hey, and Slack apps for macOS, I opted to create spaces and tabs inside the new Arc browser. The apps behaved super quickly in Arc and all the latest and greatest features were present from the start. »

We love Alfred here at The Sweet Setup. It’s been our go-to app launcher for the Mac for years, and it’s hard to believe, but it’s been 11 full years since Alfred 1.0 hit the scene and took over as the app launcher of choice for nerds like us. »

Task managers are great for helping you to remember to take action on your important projects, but what about the little reminders that pop throughout the day? Often creating a task for something you have to do later in the day feels cumbersome. So often, we skip capturing that thought when we have it — and then forget to do it later. »

Web browsers have felt pretty stable for quite a while now. Most people use Chrome or Safari these days, and with good reason! After decades of competing web browsers, a lot of the interactions and design elements have normalized around basically the same thing everywhere. Arc is here to make some changes. »

One of the good things about modern operating systems, whether you're on iOS, macOS, Windows, or Android, is that the default browser is actually pretty good in every single case. Most people will be well-served by Safari, Edge, or Chrome, and that's great! If you've been following tech for several decades, you know this is very much not a given (looks intensely at Internet Explorer), so it's nice that we're currently in a pretty good place. »

I’ve been working with Canary Mail over the last few weeks to better secure my email workflow. Canary recently debuted SecureSend, a smart encryption feature that secures your email and attached files. SecureSend also has revocation features, enabling you to revoke access to an email or attached files after a certain amount of time, or if the email security has been breached. »

Matter is a relatively new read-it-later service that's been getting a good amount of attention, including several features here on The Sweet Setup. It may be simplifying history a bit, but the very broad strokes version of this market is that Instapaper popularized it, Pocket took it really mainstream, and Matter wants to do right by those of us who loved Instapaper but never really clicked with Pocket. »

Bento is technically a task manager, but it's not exactly a replacement for any of the apps listed above. Instead, Bento wants you to think about what you must do today, add those things to a list, and use the Bento appto focus on getting them done today. »

App categories seem to go through rainy seasons and dry seasons — an entire category will go years without any major update, any major splash, or any major new competitor, then suddenly the entire category is uplifted from its roots and the cobwebs get shaken out. It’s quite the phenomenon to observe. »

For ages, I insisted on using native Microsoft Office apps on the Mac. I put up with the native app shortcomings and accepted native Mac apps were always going to be afterthoughts to Office apps for Windows. And for ages, I resisted the urge to load up Parallels on the Mac and play in the Frankenstein-Windows-on-a-Mac playground. »

Our first impressions after 24 hours using the new photo sharing app, Glass. »

Totally rebuilt from the ground up, Squash 3 offers a way to quickly batch process images. Everything from resizing, converting, applying filters, to compressing, renaming, and more. »

Gives you a daily plan of tasks sorted by their importance to you. »

I've been going to school for 10 years. It's been a long, long road, full of all sorts of amazing lessons, few of which have anything to do with the actual content I'm studying. These 10 years of school have been a testament to the "The journey is the destination" mentality. »

Like many of you, I’ve been in and out of many task management systems over the years. I’ve used and loved all of the major players for macOS and iOS at different times as my needs have changed. But no task management system is ever perfect, which leads me to regularly try new things. »

We recently switched from Basecamp to Notion for managing our content calendar. After two weeks, here are some of our initial thoughts and experiences. »

Built by a team that's spread across London, Berlin, and Zurich, Meeter was created as a direct response to the mass shift of workers to online conferencing tools. They saw a pain-point, and built an awesome tool to make the problem easier to manage. »

Roam is a masterful tool for creating your own rabbit holes. My biggest concern is whether the creation of these rabbit holes is creation for the sake of creation, or if an actual discovery or connection will be found as we go. Only time will tell. »

Roam Research is a new note-taking tool that's re-imagining the way that we capture information, and it takes many of its cues from the pre-internet era. Doing away with the traditional file and folder structure that most note-taking tools have stuck with since the dawn of the PC, Roam has more in common with Wikipedia than it does with a traditional notes app. »

I've resisted calorie tracking for years, mostly because the apps that were available for this sort of thing seemed way too complex for me. Every couple of years I'll get inspired to pay attention to what I'm putting in my body and try all the apps again, but none of them have come even remotely close to working for me. I need something simple. I don't want to weigh my food in grams before I eat it; I just want to be a little bit more intentional about my eating habits. »

GoodLinks is a relatively new app in the read-it-later space, developed by the same folks behind 1Writer. We're giving it a try and comparing against the popular apps in this category like Pocket and Instapaper. »

HEY has disrupted nearly every element of my email workflow. HEY has allowed me to experience a new level of email productivity, and it has even created a new sense of zen-like Inbox Zero in my Imbox, without archiving, deleting, or snoozing. »

There’s a lot of buzz recently around a new app called Roam Research. Roam brands itself as “a note-taking tool for networked thought,” which naturally raises the question: Do we really need another note-taking app? »

Our review of the best remote access solution for macOS and iOS may be a bit dated right now, but the pick likely hasn’t changed: Screens VNC is still as rock solid and as beautiful as ever before. In fact, Screens for iOS was just updated to properly support the new cursor support on the iPad, making for what should be an excellent experience zipping around on your Mac through your iPad. »

Tot is a simple text scratchpad app from Iconfactory that does one thing: capture and edit small bits of text. »

You’ve probably already started the new decade hearing about Notion from somewhere. Whether it was on Product Hunt, your Twitter-sphere, or just people nattering about it at work, Notion is gaining attention all round the web as the new shiny productivity tool in town. With much anticipation, across the last two years, people have flooded […] »

One Switch is one of the handiest menu bar apps I’ve come across in recent years that excels at making quick system setting changes a one-click affair, and takes it a step further by offering additional switches for connecting to your Bluetooth headphones, locking your keyboard, changing screen resolutions (for those nasty screenshots), playing music, hiding desktop icons, and more. »

As it turns out, Microsoft To Do may end up being the single biggest surprise in our jump to Office 365. Having all your tasks in one place, scattered in from Windows, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS — and being able to nicely integrate your dreaded email list with your task list — could be a game changer for anyone wanting to use a Mac yet required to use a PC. »

Released just over a month ago, Dark Noise is a simple yet powerful ambient noise app for iPhone and iPad created by first-time iOS developer Charlie Chapman that offers exactly what you'd expect: a collection of high-quality ambient noises (38 in all) to help you sleep, focus, or relax. »

I’ve spent the last week or so switching things back to Apple’s stock apps from the best third-party apps in the industry, and I’m going to give them a shot for as long as I can. Here are a range of initial impressions and frustrations in making the switch. »

This week, we're looking at a couple of tiling window managers for macOS, how they compare to each other, and a little background on window managers in general. »

There aren’t too many features that Windows 10 sports that I miss on macOS, but more than anything, I wish default Windows 10 windows management was more explicitly available in macOS. Thanks to Magnet, this is possible. »

Highland 2 is a *screenwriting* app first, and a novel or blog post writing app second. From this lens, Highland 2 can quickly become a catch-all text editor for a large swath of people. »

Fenix is a new Twitter app with a premise to provide a customizable, chronological, and multi-columned Twitter client option, and it seems to pull these off with ease. »

It’s summer time, which means it’s grilling season. Due is a great reminders and timers app that allows you to set multiple concurrent timers for keeping track of your grilling times and so much more. »

Pock is an open-source app designed to add cool widgets to your MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar and, best of all, to duplicate your dock in the Touch Bar. »

Re:Schedule is a new note-taking, task-tracking, agenda-keeping app for iPad that is meant to improve your meeting and delegation skills. »

There are many apps that grace the Mac and iOS App Stores that simply don’t get enough attention or admiration. Sometimes an app is so good at what it does, it becomes the default app for the task and is rarely questioned. Sometimes a new app debuts in a given category and, while it shows […] »

There are millions of apps to try out on any given day, and this week we're trying Pixelmator Photo, a shortcut for daily Day One entries, and OliveTree. »

This week we're trying Tabs to Links, Revere, and a shortcut for recording meeting minutes into Bear and Things 3. »

This week we're looking at the Reeder 4 Beta, Drafts for Mac, and MLB at Bat. »

This week we're trying PDF Expert, Gladys for macOS, and Adobe Scan. »

This week we're trying Working Copy, Baby's Musical Hands, and Text Case. »

There are many apps that grace the Mac and iOS App Stores that simply don’t get enough attention or admiration. Sometimes an app is so good at what it does, it becomes the default app for the task and is rarely questioned. Sometimes a new app debuts in a given category and, while it shows […] »

This week, we're trying Lookup, Catan Universe, and Grocery. »

This week we're trying Edison Mail, Kodex, and a Shortcut for extracting image URLs. »

This week, we're trying NHL, Pica, and Picsew »

There are millions of apps to try out on any given day, and this week we're trying out Books, Shortcuts, and Wealthsimple. »

This week we're trying out Unfold, Vellum, and taking another look at Pocket. »

There are millions of apps to try out on any given day, and this week we're trying Chirp, Better Day, and Pantone Studio. »

This week we're trying Focalmark, Shutterfly, and FordPass. »

This week we're trying Holeown, Associate, and Pinterest. »

This week we're trying Linky, CleanShot, and Apple's Lightning to SD card reader. »

This week, we're trying out Keep It, a new workflow for creating iPad Pro screenshot composites, and Hello Weather. »

This week, we're trying out When.Works, Microsoft News for iPad, and Adobe Lightroom CC for iPad. »

This week, we're taking Spark 2, Edit, and Squaready Pro for a spin. »

This week, we're taking Blendle, Yoink, and Eventail for a spin on iOS. »