Latest Articles
Online Meeting Guide: Software And Strategy
Modern videoconferencing services are easy to use, and available to nearly anyone with a computer or smartphone. The ability to connect and meet with people online means we're no longer limited by geographical location.
Photoful Brings Instant Photo Management and Editing to Your iPhone Camera Roll
I have written before about the frustration of managing and processing photos in the Camera Roll of the iPhone. It's difficult to manage and copy photos to albums, multiple images must be selected one at a time and photos you place in an album are deleted when removed from the Camera Roll. With the upcoming release of iOS 7, a new Photos app will do a better job of managing photos in collections by date and location. This sounds very good, but if you would like to get these features on your iPhone now, you can with Photoful (Free).
Scrivener: The Best Writing Program for the Mac and PC
Scrivener has been around since 2006, and it is a favorite application amongst novelists and screenwriters. Scrivener is not a desktop layout application like Word and Pages, but it helps you organize and export your documents to other applications. As a full-time non-fiction tech writer, I can't recommend Scrivener enough for actually starting and drafting writing projects and today I will share my personal workflow and tips for getting the most out of Scrivener.
iPhone Mail Client Boxer Includes Quick Replies, Mail Templates and More
At its recent WWDC presentation, Apple demonstrated that it still has the design chops for putting out a classy, eye-catching products but the default iOS email client received comparatively low-grade functional changes. Third-party iOS mail clients including Mail Pilot, Mailbox, Cloze, and now Boxer ($4.99) provide the type of advanced email management features missing in Apple's default Mail client. Boxer combines the unique features of Cloze and Mailbox, and it supports Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo!, Hotmail, Outlook, AOL and more.
Instacast for Mac Is Perfect for Discovering, Managing, and Playing Podcasts
Podcasts are a useful way to keep current on a wide range of topics and interests. The podcast manager and player in iTunes is decent, especially if you're only subscribing to a handful of podcasts, but more advanced players like Instacast ($19.99) offer greater options for managing, playing, interacting with, and syncing your podcast subscriptions between devices. I included Instacast as part of my top 10 favorite iOS apps for 2011, and when I saw that it was available for the Mac, I didn't hesitate to download and give it a try.
Create Amazing Levitation Photos With iOS App Levitagram
A few years ago when I did a year-long photo self-portrait project along with a group of other Flickr.com members, one type of self-portrait photo nearly all of us took was a levitation photo. It was a type of optical illusion that could only be accomplished using the tripod, Adobe Photoshop, and lots of patience. These days you may not need expensive photo editing software to shoot levitation photos, as a recently released iPhone and iPad app called Levitagram ($1.99) enables you to create levitation photos in a few relatively easy steps.
Dispatch Is Your Action-Based Email Client for the iPhone
If you check your email a lot on your iPhone like I do, you now have some awesome choices as to which iOS mail client you use. Quite frankly, Apple's default iOS Mail client can't compare to the recently released third-party mobile apps, including Mail Pilot, Mailbox, Cloze and my favorite, the one trick pony Triage. If you want to actually do something with your emails, and get the functionality of many desktop mail clients, then you might want to check out the recently released Dispatch mail app for the iPhone.
Take Control of Windows On Your Mac Desktop With BetterSnapTool and Houdini
No matter if you have a small 11" MacBook Air or a 27" iMac, you typically are going to wrestle with managing windows on your desktop screen. Even though I use two monitors, I used to find myself constantly moving windows around and readjusting their size. I've written before about applications that help Mac users manage wide screen Apple display, but in this article I want to highlight two applications, BetterSnapTool and Houdini, that help me better manage windows and screen real estate on both of my desktop and laptop Macs.
Recordium Highlights & Annotates Your Voice Recordings [iOS]
If you're a student or someone who regularly records lectures, meetings, or music, a new feature rich iOS app called Recordium allows you to manage, highlight, annotate, edit, and share recordings right from an iPhone - the app runs rings around Voice Memos when it comes to what can be done with audio. Two years ago, I highlighted and reviewed Blue Microphone's Blue FiRe as the best audio recorder app for the iPhone, but Recordium now surpasses it.
Automate Your Mac From Morning to Night With These Apps & Tips [Mac OS X]
If you're spending most of your day working at your Mac, you should try to automate as many tasks as possible. Without knowing a single word of code, we Mac non-developers can practically automate any redundant task on our computers. From launching most-used websites nd typing regularly used words and phrases to cleaning up files and folders. Most of these tips can be accomplished using Keyboard Maestro or Automator, but if you'd rather not bother with creating macros and workflows, the following tips and applications only take a few minutes to set up and execute.
Control Any Application On Your Mac Or PC Using Actions for iPad [iOS]
If using keyboard shortcuts is not your forté but you spend a lot of time working in workhorse applications like Photoshop, GarageBand, Pages, Word or you simply want a faster way to execute menu items on your computer, you might want to check an app called Actions for iPad ($3.99). The app enables you to set up commands to control your Mac or Windows PC from your iPad, and today I'll be looking at how it integrates with OS X.
Automate Everything On Your Mac with Keyboard Maestro [Mac]
I've written several articles about Mac automation, including a MUO Automation Guide on how to get started with Apple's Automator and the built-in OS X features for creating smart folders, playlists, albums, and mailboxes. But next to the application called Hazel, which I also recently reviewed, the classic automation program Keyboard Maestro ($36.00) is my most used application for getting things done on my Mac. You can download it for a 30-day free trial.
Evernote: A Must-Have App for the iPhone and iPad [iOS]
In the last several months, the iOS versions of Evernote have undergone a significant overhaul of their user interfaces, closely mirroring the design and features of the counterpart web and Mac applications. We have added the iOS versions of Evernote to our Best of iPad Apps, and Best of iPhone Apps pages where they sit alongside our other picks for the platform. Today I will be looking at these iOS versions in detail.
Hazel - Performing Tasks On Your Mac So You Don't Have To
I have previously written an entire MUO guide about using Apple's smart folders and Automator program, but a classic third-party application called Hazel is one of my personal automation assistants that works in the background, requiring no keyboard shortcuts and mouse clicks on my part. Hazel is an automation program that essentially goes into action when files are added or changes are made to designated folders.
Cutting Edge yaM Sets the Standard For Online Meeting Management Tools
If you are holding meetings without agendas, or keeping minutes on plain old Word documents, your meetings and minute reports are probably not as useful as they could be. While most of us don't look forward to attending meetings, there are nevertheless awesome online tools that can help make meetings more productive and less time-consuming for those who plan and facilitate them.
Increase Your iPhone & iPad Typing Speed With These 3 Apps & Tips [iOS]
Though I advocate and try to use the built-in iOS dictation feature for the iPhone and iPad, there are occasions when good old touch typing must suffice. If, like me, you are not a fast or very efficient typist the built-in iOS keyboard can be a little daunting for many users. If you find yourself fumbling with the built-in keyboard, download a few of these free apps and practice typing risk-free.
Mac Mail - 5 Plugins That Will Rocket Your Productivity
I have previously covered timesaving features in the latest version of Apple's Mail client, but despite its improved user interface, search features, favorites bar and VIP folders, there are still missing features Mac power users could use to be more productive in Mail. Fortunately, there are several third-party plug-ins that enhance Mail and address some of its annoying problems or missing features.
Access, Create, and Share Your Google Drive Documents On the iPad [iOS]
Google Drive is similar to the popularly used cloud storage service, Dropbox, but Drive includes built-in document creation features that are missing in Dropbox. And though Dropbox integrates with dozens of third-party applications, Google Drive contains convenient document sharing and collaboration features that Google and iPad users should be taking advantage of. Chris Hoffman has already reviewed Google Drive for Android, and in this review I will cover the iPad version.
Be More Productive With A Powerful Clipboard Manager [Mac]
If you routinely copy and paste text and other items on your Mac and iOS devices, you will no doubt agree that Apple's default clipboard features are extremely lacking. Both the iOS and OS X clipboards only allow you to save one clipping at a time. Each clipping you make gets overridden by a new one. As a writer, I rely on a couple of third-party clipboard managers that help me stay productive in the work that I do.
How To Create Your First Workflow System In Alfred 2.0 [Mac]
Computers should be about getting things done faster and more efficiently. This is where the award-winning productivity Mac application, Alfred comes in. Using a few keyboard shortcuts, and/or keyword commands, Alfred enables you to quickly, among other things, find and launch applications and files, do various types of web searches, access text you saved on your clipboard with a simple keyboard shortcut, and more.