10 Essential Apps I Use Every Day You Might Not Know

Technology is becoming more and more important in our lives. We spend a lot of hours in front of our computers, and they have completely changed the way we work.
As we spend hours and hours in front of the screens, we are becoming experts of the tools we use, without even noticing it.

But, are those apps giving us the best experience?

Today I want to share 10 apps I use every day, that improve a lot my experience using the computer.
Those are, besides of the basic apps all of us use as Chrome, Photoshop, Calendar or iTunes, small apps that I couldn’t live without.
Some of them are unknown to most of the people.

All of those are Mac apps but many of them have a PC version or there are equivalent PC apps available.

1.Evernote

Evernote is a very powerful notes app and I use it to store everything I want to keep. Evernote is an extension of my brain and my digital storehouse and library.

I use it to store useful information like a copy of all my official documents, an updated library of all the artists and illustrators I follow, the blog posts, color libraries, all the relevant information when I travel or recipes, among many other things.
The only things I don’t store in Evernote due to practical reasons are my photo gallery, music and illustration files.

It has an iOs app and all the content is also available via the Evernote website. It also has an intelligent web clipper that allows you to save everything from the website with one click.

Price: Free (premium version available)
Download Evernote

2.Dropbox

I use Dropbox as the root of my folder structure (excluding apps).

I always have all my files available online, automatic backups are generated and it’s very easy to keep files in case I run out of space on my MacBook and I need to delete them from the computer.

Price: Free (premium version available)
Download Dropbox

3.Wunderlist

Wunderlist is one of the essential apps I use to stay organised.
I keep lists and tasks that I want to complete every day and every week.
It helps me to don’t forget anything and it’s my roadmap to accomplish my tasks and objectives.

Price: Free (premium version available)
Download Wunderlist

4.aText

aText is a small but very powerful app. It expands texts when I write a specific word combination. Every time I write ,address it changes the text to my address. Every time I write ,bye it changes the text to a sign-off text and my email signature.
Every time I incorrectly write ,occasionally it changes the text to occasionally.

A sound is played every time a word is expanded.
The possibilities are endless and I use it every day. It saves me time and I don’t need to remember complex things like special HTML codes for the website. I just trigger a three letters word and that’s it.

Price: $4.99 (free trial version available)
Download aText

5.OmmWriter

OmmWriter is the best writing immersion app I’ve ever tried.
I use OmmWriter to write my articles, but also to write long emails or answer interviews. It provides an amazing space free of distractions and includes several options like keyboard sounds and ambient music to help you to focus on what you are writing.

OmmWriter doesn’t have formatting tools nor 1% of the options of Microsoft Word. It’s only focused on the writing experience.

Price: Pay as much as you want
Download OmmWriter

6.MindNode

MindNode is my favorite app to create mind maps. I use mind maps to find and organize my ideas when creating illustrations and also when developing projects. It helps me to visualize all the parts of the project.

An iOs app is also available so I can create and edit all the mind maps on the go.

Price: $29.99 (free trial version available)
Download MindNode

7.Copied

Copied is a clipboard manager that keeps a clipboard history. I can get back to your latest copied texts or images. It’s very useful in my day-to-day to copy different fields or get back to something I had copied a few minutes ago.

In the past, I used ClipMenu, which is fast and free, but a few months ago I discovered Copied that can sync with an iOs app. It makes Copied an excellent way to copy text or images in the Mac, and have them available in the iPhone in a second, and vice-versa.

Price: $7.99
Download Copied

8.Sip

Sip is the universal eye dropper tool that lives in the menu bar.
I use it to capture any color on the screen. It has an excellent integration with Photoshop, so I don’t even need to copy and paste the code in Photoshop.

It’s a fundamental tool for my working process.

Price: Free (premium version available)
Download Sip

9.F.lux

F.lux adjusts automatically the color temperature of the screen preventing eye fatigue. It makes the color of the computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

It has an option where it can be deactivated for any app, so it doesn’t interfere when I develop illustrations in Photoshop or Illustrator for example.

Price: Free
Download F.lux

10.Amphetamine

Amphetamine is a tiny app that keeps the Mac awake. I can set how long you want to keep my Mac awake and even set certain apps events that are triggered when some apps are launched.

It’s very useful when I download huge files or upload backups during the night time.

Price: Free
Download Amphetamine

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Those apps make a big difference in the way I interact with my computer and they help me to create optimized and flexible workflows.
It’s not just about working faster and in a more optimized way. It’s about dominating the available tools and becoming an expert and a better professional.