Productivity

Google updates Sheets, Slides and Docs for iOS with doc copying, accessibility improvements

Thursday, Google issued updates to its trio of cloud-powered productivity apps in the App Store: Sheets, Slides and Docs. These apps let you create, edit and collaborate with others on spreadsheets, documents and presentations and now include the ability to make a copy of a document, a feature previously reserved for the web UI.

Moreover, a new accessibility settings menu appears within Slides and Sheets when VoiceOver is enabled in Settings.

Momentum is a delightful habit tracker for iPhone

Growing up, I was under the impression that habits were something to avoid. Burping, being late, and eating too many cookies were all habits my parents tried to steer me away from. Habits are not always bad, though. Exercising every day, learning a new word, and practicing an instrument are all good habits to get into.

Momentum is a productivity app that helps you get into the habit of doing something good. If you want to start something new, but have trouble sticking to your goal, this app sends you friendly reminders to stay on track.

IFTTT rebrands iOS client, launches three dedicated task automation apps

IFTTT (an abbreviation of If This Than That), a popular Internet mashup service, announced in a blog post Thursday that its flagship mobile app shall be known henceforth as just “IF by IFTTT”. Available free in the App Store, it features an updated icon and a revamped new look.

In addition to it, the company has announced a trio of task focused ‘Do’ apps: Do Button, Do Camera and Do Note, each available free in the App Store.

With these dedicated apps, and more to come in the future, users can create specific on-demand workflows and tie them to buttons for quick one-tap access.

OneNote for Mac gains enhanced OCR features and other goodies

After adding the ability search for words in images to OneNote for the iPhone, iPad and Mac last summer, Microsoft today refreshed the Mac client by enhancing the somewhat limited functionality of the optical character recognition (OCR) feature.

In addition, the software contains other perks such as the ability to hide author initials in shared notebooks from the View tab and close the OneNote window without quitting the app.

OneNote for the Mac, iPhone and iPad is available at no cost through the Mac App Store and App Store.

New Watch apps previewed: MoneyWiz and MileWiz

Ahead of its wearable release in April, Apple invited select developers to submit their Watch apps for the inclusion in the App Store. We've already seen previews of Todoist, we know eBay is working on a bidding Watch app and Nimblebit even created a puzzle game for it.

And now, developer SilverWiz has posted a pair of previews of its two productivity apps for the device: the personal finance app MoneyWiz 2 and the automatic mileage tracking software MileWiz.

Paperfold redesigns the way you check your emails

Amongst the “inbox zero” hubbub that helps you make your email mess better organized, there are people who just don’t have need for such complex features. Maybe you just want a different way to view your email, a cuter way.

Paperfold is an iPad email app for people who don’t need a lot. It doesn’t offer forwarding, filtering, or task makers. It does, however, make your emails look good. The folding animation is attractive enough to make even the toughest email user wish for the simple life.

Pushbullet sends all of your iOS notifications to your computer

Just in case you weren’t hearing enough dings, pings, and beeps from your various devices, now you can add one more to the mix. You may be able to get email, chat, and Facebook notification on OS X, but there are so many more alerts you miss out on when you are away from your iPhone. Plus, if you don’t use a Mac computer, you have even less options for syncing with your iOS device.

Pushbullet is a syncing app that shows you all of the notifications you receive on your iOS devices right on your Mac or PC. Plus, it acts as a channel so you can share links, pictures, and more between devices.

Shifts is a calendar app for people who work irregular hours

If you know you have to be at work every weekday morning at 8 o’clock and are off at 5 o’clock, it is not difficult to remember your schedule. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a permanent schedule.

Shifts is a calendar app specifically designed for people who work different hours all of the time. Whether you are on-call every other weekend, work the night shift twice per month, or have two jobs to juggle, this app makes keeping track of your schedule a bit easier.

Todoist shows off its Apple Watch productivity app

When I think of it, the more it seems to me that the Apple Watch will be a boon to my productivity. For instance, the Watch will send me meeting reminders and calendar invitations, which beats having to pull an iPhone out of my pocket.

Todoist, a cloud-based task and project-management service, promises to do the same for to-do lists. Their Watch app is nearly finished and now developers have shared screenshots (via TechCrunch) and a video which demonstrates how Todoist will bring to-do lists and task management to the wrist.

LongScreen is a great app for combining screenshots

I don't think anyone takes more screenshots than an Apple blogger. They're particularly convenient when doing an app review where you want to illustrate the post with proper screenshots showing the app in action. Oftentimes, we like to put screenshots side by side to give an even better overview of the app, which isn't always a straightforward task.

Up until now, my workflow consisted of AirDropping screenshots to my iMac, and using a combination of Keyboard Maestro shortcuts and Pixelmator stitching. Painful! But thanks to a new app called LongScreen, this workflow is now considerably streamlined.

CommitTo3 helps you pledge accountability to stay on tasks

Some tasks are easy to complete on your own, like washing dishes or feeding the cat. Others are harder and sometimes you need extra help to stick to them, like quitting smoking or exercising everyday. One way to stay on track is to ask your friends and family to hold you accountable to your goals.

CommitTo3 is a goal creation app that lets you work with teams to complete tasks. Whether it is a group-oriented project, or a personal goal that you need help staying committed to, you can gather your posse and get started.

Getting things done all in one app is an easy task with Handle

Yes, there are dozens of apps out there that feature any number of different ways to keep your productivity levels at their maximum. Some of them catch my attention because they offer some new action to help speed up the workload.

Handle: To-Dos + Email + Calendar is a productivity app that features a section for Gmail, to-do lists, and access to your Google Calendar. We’ve got a quick app review of Handle for your reading pleasure.