Much of what I use routinely on iOS has a Mac counterpart. And as a Mac user since 1993, long before the release of iOS, that’s to be expected. But in reviewing my usage, I realized that some applications have come into my life the other way: they started as iOS apps, and later became Mac applications. Hence the organization of this post; in section one, I list the applications that I have used on iOS that moved from the Mac to iOS. Section two is “Back to the Mac,” as the keynote went. Two apps I chose because I wanted both iOS and Mac coverage, which will increasingly and by necessity be the way many applications are released. Lastly, I list apps that are iOS only.
Mac > iOS
1Password: I went from someone who didn’t understand how a password manager could help me to a person who relies on it. It’s probably the most valuable app to me. What’s more, iOS now allows it to serve as the password database on your devices at a system level, which has improved the experience markedly. Prior to iOS 12, you had to use iOS’s version of Keychain if you wanted password management across the device.
TextExpander: Once indispensable, TextExpander is probably on the chopping block for me. I write less in volume and boilerplate these days, so it does little more than expand dates and my signature. Because it’s the only third-party snippet manager that enjoys wide application support, however, I’m reluctant to give it up.
OmniFocus: I’ve tried many others and have always come back. OmniFocus looks good, is continually improved upon, and is as simple or complex as you like.
Mail: I think it’s the best app for email on iOS for serious users. Others look nice and offer some clever features, but nothing helps you get through the crush like Mail.
Byword: I start most posts in Drafts but I publish from Byword. It has great WordPress and Medium support, and it looks great too, although it’s long in the tooth and possible abandoned. I used iAWriter for a while and I like it for most of the same reasons, but the WordPress support is different (and I don’t prefer it).
DayOne: I started writing some in MacJournal, then tried DayOne. This app syncs across devices, supports various media, and generally makes it easy to jot down ideas and thoughts. You can lock it up nice and tight, like a diary or journal.
GoodReads: I signed up for GoodReads a long time ago as a place to see what others are reading and to share my own reading list. Amazon’s purchase of the service led to integration into its Kindle device and Amazon’s ecosystem, making the service (and concurrent iOS app) far more useful to me as a wishlist aggregator primarily, but also a place to see what I’ve read, and when. The ability to maintain concurrent Kindle store wishlists and GoodReads leads to some inconsistency, though; it would be nice to be able to choose one or the other in the Kindle’s system settings.
Google Apps: As we use Google instead of MS Office at work, I have installed Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides on my iOS devices. Using the apps on iOS is not a great experience; knowing that your work is always accessible, however, is hard to beat.
Flickr: Another webservice-come-app.
iOS > Mac
Drafts: Drafts makes your life simple by letting you start there for almost everything: calendar entries, email messages, tweets, to-do items, blog posts… if it starts in text, you can start it in Drafts. As it grows in features, it will be a thing unto itself. There’s a Mac version in beta now, and it threatens extinction of my installation of Bear.
Unread: Unread syncs with Feed Wrangler, but the interface is pure iOS. It’s a great example of the difference between iOS and macOS. You swipe where you should swipe, and tap where you should tap. It’s a great example of a well thought out iOS app.
Notability:The only thing that compares to writing with a nice pen is writing with the Apple Pencil on an iPad in Notability. With the iPad Pro, you get pressure sensitivity, and with Notability, you get a fine writing experience with sync to the Mac version. It OCRs your text for easy search, too. The Mac version is really just a window into the iPad version for me; I don’t use it for note-taking on the Mac, as the metaphor is pen on paper. See my Making the Most of Notes post.
Tweetbot:This app has some strange touch affordances and the navigation gets a little mysterious sometimes, but it looks better than the rest of the third party apps. I was happy with the official client for the Mac for a while, but I like the reading sync between devices.
News: I check News on my phone throughout the day; since I skipped installing FB on my iPhone X, it’s my habitual tap. I don’t use it nearly as often on the Mac, but I do appreciate that the content is there.
So Happy Together
Bear: Bear keeps text notes all together. One day, it might give way to Drafts, I think, but for now, nothing looks quite so nice. The best feature is the pretend/append feature. It puts me in mind of Quicksliver and text files.
DEVONThink: I would have stuck with Yojimbo on the Mac if Bare Bones made a credible iOS version. Together’s Keep It is a serious contender in this space, but DEVONThink was already established when I made the move. Evernote is probably the king of this genre, but I’ve never much cared for it outside of the sheer convenience.
iOS Only
Dark Sky: I don’t need a weather app on the Mac; I just click the link to NOAA or Dark Sky’s web page. Dark Sky provides hyper-local forecast data. (We were on vacation once and Dark Sky informed me that it was going to stop raining in seven minutes. And. It. Did.)
Calcbot: Looks good, but the conversions make it worth every penny.
Downcast: This has been my podcast catcher for probably a decade.