My list of must-have apps

In this post I’d like to share with you a few applications I use (both mobile and PC ones) that are must-haves for me. Maybe you’ll find some of them useful (if you’re not using them yet). You can click on each application’s logo to go to its homepage.

Windows PC apps

Evernote

Evernote allows to store notes and synchronize them across multiple devices. I’d say it’s a very good alternative to OneNote used by many people. I prefer it to OneNote, because it’s simpler.

Saved notes can contain photos, files and be quite rich-formatted. Free basic plan allows to synchronize two devices, which is enough for me. I don’t use Evernote on my mobile, I only use it for longer notes, e.g. meeting minutes, blog posts drafts/ideas etc. As you may know, I use GoogleKeep for storing short notes or something I need to write down quickly on my mobile phone.

SublimeText3

The best and the only right text editor ever. I started using Sublime around 2 years ago and today I can’t imagine my life without it. Even though I almost don’t write code in Sublime, I just love it. It’s very fast and intuitive. Syntax highlighting, text selection and finding text/regex features are fabulous. Nothing to add. Just install and use it.

Total Commander

Actually, I should’ve started from TC. This is absolutely essential part of any files exploring I do on Windows. I’ve already been using it for around 1.5 years, couldn’t get used to it for a long time, but believe me – it’s definitely worth it. It really increases productivity when working with files copying, changing extensions, transferring files between FTP servers, basically anything that requires operations on files or folders. It may take you some time to learn it, but you’ll be pleased after and never willing to use Windows Explorer again.

Greenshot

Greenshot is a screenshot-making application. If you need to make a screenshot more than once per week, than it’s really helpful. It can be integrated into your Print Screen button, allowing to quickly open the screenshot made in image editor in which you can highlight some parts of the screenshot or easily put consecutive numbers (e.g. to present the orders of actions performed):

Greenshot’s screenshot editor

Nozbe

Nozbe allows to store tasks, group them into projects, set their deadlines etc. You can read more about it in my recent post about productivity. Its desktop client is very useful, especially providing keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+Space by default) for quick tasks adding.

F.lux

F.lux adjusts the temperature of your screen’s (or screens’) colors with the sky colors changes. Incredibly useful when working with few monitors for many hours, especially at night when it gets darker. For me, it lets my eyes rest and prevent headaches I often used to have before installing F.lux.

Android apps

CamScanner

This one I also described in my last post, in which I proposed few simple habits you can introduce into your everyday life to make your productivity better. CamScanner is a must-have for me, it allows to make a photo of a document using mobile phone’s camera, then it automatically detects the document’s edges, cuts the image (you can adjust it if needed) and transforms it into scanned-looking JPEG/PDF. Since I started using CamScanner, I don’t remember using my printer’s scanner anymore. Scans produced using the app look good even if the picture is done in low-light conditions.

AirDroid

AirDroid allows you to wirelessly connect your smartphone to any PC being in the same WiFi network. You open the web app on your PC, open mobile app, scan QR code and you’re all set. Using web interface you can copy files to/from your phone, as well as send SMS messages, explore photos etc. Very handy.

Listonic

Listonic is a shopping list app. I use it only for that purpose. I share the shopping lists with my girlfriend, so we always know what to buy or what has already been bought by one of us. The only drawback I noticed recently in its Android version is that the app launches a bit long (3-4 seconds) which may be annoying sometimes. Apart from that, I can recommend it as shopping helper.

Podcast Addict

If you’re used to (or addicted to) listening podcasts, Podcast Addict will be a perfect app for you. It allows to search for podcast channels and subscribe them (e.g. you can find DevTalk or Hanselminutes there). As soon as new episode is published, you can get a notification. What’s more, you can download each episode when connected to WiFi and then listen it offline.

Nozbe

I’ll repeat myself here Nozbe is also available on most popular mobile platforms, including Android one which I use.  It’s important to have it installed on the mobile phone, because it comes with notifications panel’s widget allowing to quickly add a new task:

Nozbe (Android) widget

May become useful when no PC available to quickly note something down.

UpNext

UpNext allows to add a widget on Android’s screen, which displays the list of incoming calendar events:

UpNext widget

It’s very handy for me and I’m using it all the time. It also allows to easily add new calendar event or open calendar app.

Summary

The list I presented contains apps that I use every day and can’t imagine my computer/mobile life without them. I think they make activities I perform on my PC or smartphone simple and painless. If I find some more must-have apps, I’ll try to keep this list updated.

What are your favourite apps you couldn’t live without ? Let me know!