Lifehacker Pack For Mac

Trying to find the perfect iOS apps can be tough, and we’re willing to bet that your iPhone or iPad is full of pages and pages of apps. There’s just so much out there, it’s hard to come up with a short list of favorites.

We understand. Allow us to help you with our freshly updated Lifehacker Pack for iOS. The Lifehacker Pack is an annual snapshot of our favorite, essential applications for each of our favorite platforms. For our always-updating directory of all the best apps, be sure to bookmark our, where we profile amazing apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS—browser extensions, too. Advertisement Yes, you can still use Mail, and it works reasonably well for most people’s basic email needs. As an alternative, we recommend checking out (free) or (free), as both are great for managing multiple email accounts from different providers in a single, easy-to-use interface.

Outlook comes with a bonus calendar built-in, as well as a special “Focused Inbox” feature that attempts to help you prioritize your out-of-control inbox and snoozing tools for bumping important emails back to the top of your queue. With more than 700,000 reviews and an average rating of 4.7 stars, to say Microsoft’s email app is pretty well-liked by its users is a bit of an understatement. Google’s Gmail app is a perfect fit if you’re already bought into Google’s ecosystem, though it also makes it easy to connect up email accounts from other providers and manage your many messages at once. If you need a little help deciding which emails to tackle first, check out Google’s other email app, (free). If you don’t like either, there are plenty of other email apps worth investigating: (free, though its have ); (free, the iOS version of our Mac email app pick); (free, comes with a free virtual helper called “” to help you deal with your inbox); (free, an email client with lots of positive reviews and a useful “unsub” feature for ditching newsletters you don’t want).

Advertisement Calendar: ($5) It might feel a little bit silly to pay $5 for a new calendar app when the one baked into your iPhone or iPad works fine for everyday use. I was surprised—but not that surprised—to find recommended over, and over, and over, by other users and other websites. It’s a must-have calendar app, even given its meager cost. The app’s interface looks great and makes it easy to see what’s on your schedule (or what’s coming up), featuring useful little dots to give you an at-a-glance indication of how busy you might be on any particular day. You can even pull iCloud reminders directly into your calendar, to make sure you don’t miss anything important coming up. Advertisement The app also does a great job helping you create events by just how seamless it makes it to use natural language to create new calendar items: “Taco Bell on Thursday at six p.m.,” for example.

Corel kpt 5.01 free driver download (official for mac. Even if you don’t have a lot of events to enter on your calendar, Fantastical 2 is the best for getting them scheduled and viewing them (and everything else you have to do) in a number of different ways. I’ve frequently seen this app referred to as an app Apple should have made instead of Calendar.

It’s that good. Other contenders I considered included Google Calendar, which is both easy-to-use and free, as well as ($7, featuring a lovely looking interface that does an admirable job of packing in as many appointments as possible without forcing you to scroll), (free, which gives you a calendar whose dates get darker as your day gets busier), and (free, an app that focuses a bit more on giving you a comprehensive look at your daily schedule and tasks than a traditional calendar app). Notes / To-Do: (free-ish). Advertisement There are way too many notes and task management apps on the App Store.

We, and many others, are big fans of (freemium; $15/annual)—pricey as it is—because it’s a gorgeous app for both note-taking and tracking to-dos. It synchronizes effortlessly with its Mac version, as any good task-management app should, and both its automatic and manual tagging ensures you won’t miss any critical on your various lists (one hopes). Bear’s search function is speedy and comprehensive; the actual process of creating notes is nearly effortless (and supports inline images); and you can even write up your tasks in Markdown if you want to get fancy. Tagging is as easy as adding a hashtag before any word in a note, and linking between notes to provide additional context for an item is an incredibly useful feature. You can export your notes in a variety of different formats, if you want, and you can even doodle your notes directly on your iPhone or iPad’s screen.

If you don’t want to pay to prevent forgetfulness from overtaking your life, you have plenty of other good options for tracking your tasks and writing little notes to yourself. Microsoft’s (free) is a great cross-platform app for dealing with everything from sketches to writing, whereas its app (free) is better for basic reminders. Google or (free) are both strong choices, with the former good for notes of all formats and the latter ideal for simple text. (free) also supports Markdown-based notes and is completely cross-platform. Advertisement Other paid apps we considered included ($10), a highly reviewed app that’s great for those who prefer to handwrite notes and annotate documents. ($39/annual) is an excellent cross-platform task-management app that we love, and its premium features (like automatic reminders and an activity overview) are useful, but super-expensive.

($5) has a great concept: It nags you to death until you finish something you’re putting off on your to-do list. Automation: (free, but disappearing soon) or (free). Advertisement Before Apple goes and replaces its (free) app with, download it and check it out. It’s completely free to use and provides a great introduction toward automation: the art of having one thing do multiple things instead of having to do those multiple things manually. Using Workflow, you can use Workflow to automatically resize images to certain dimensions or convert them into a specific file format (like a.GIF).

Or you can create a little button that automatically searches for the nearest gas station and pulls up directions—a useful little trick when you’re driving. You’re only limited by your imagination. Well, that, and the confines of the app.

(free) allows you to create similar kinds of rules for a ton of supported devices and services. I’ve covered some fun things you can do with the app and service previously and, like Workflow, you can really get yourself lost with all the neat things you can do. My favorite trick? It’s a toss-up between “turn my room fan on and off when I connect and disconnect from my wifi” and “send all @ mentions on Twitter to a Slack channel so I don’t have to keep pulling up the website when I’m trying to work.”. Advertisement Storage:, or (various) We’ve covered.

Odds are good you have a favorite (or two, or many) that you use, and odds are just as high that said service has an official iOS app you can download., and are our three favorites—in no particular order—for their ease of use and storage/price ratio. Makes it on our list because a lot of people are familiar with it and its app is convenient for scanning documents and annotating others’ work. That said, its 2GB of free storage compared to the others and its paid-for plans don’t give you as much for their prices, either. Advertisement Customized Widgets: (free-ish) If you’re tired of the widgets Apple (or your apps) give you, make your own with, a freemium app that’s a great way to bend your swipe-right screen to your will (technically called the “Today View”). Pick people you want to call at the tap of a finger, customize the widgets you see by the time of day or your location, or set up a section that shows you all of your favorite apps and lets you launch whatever you want faster than it takes to navigate your many Home screen pages. Advertisement Reading articles later: (free-ish) One of the easiest ways to keep all of those articles you swear you’ll make time for later is to use an app like (free-ish) to organize your procrastinating. Sure, you could just bookmark websites or share links into Notes, but Pocket brings with it a comprehensive tagging system and a recommendation engine that shows you the most interesting content everyone else has been checking out.

I also love that Pocket now shows you, in case your subway stop is coming up and you don’t want to start something you can’t finish. Advertisement I’ve used for years, and it’s still a fine app, but I find myself more drawn to (free) nowadays. It’s a great app to keep track of all your rotating keys for two-factor authentication—which on every service and site that offers it. You can lock the app with Touch ID, which gives you a little extra protection just in case someone gets their hands on your already-unlocked device. Authy can also automatically back up your various security tokens to the cloud. It’s a lot easier to restore them or synchronize them to a new device versus setting everything up from scratch—assuming you remember all the sites and services you use security tokens with, you can get into your account, and you don’t get bored setting up two-factor authentication again.

Internet and Communications Web browser: or (free). Advertisement We’re not going to try to convince you to switch to a browser that you don’t already love.

Let’s also be honest with ourselves: A prefer to Safari, and a very small handful use. (Too bad, too; Firefox Quantum—and Mozilla’s “” experiments—makes the browser worth revisiting.) Our advice? Give all three a try and see which you enjoy best. And when you’ve settled on a browser, use it across all of your devices where possible (which limits you to just Chrome and Firefox, if you have any Android devices in your arsenal). Trying to juggle different browsers across different platforms is going to be a bit of a mess, and you’ll miss out on a lot of the cross-platform functionality each offers. Messaging:, or (free). Advertisement Just like task management apps, there are a sea of messaging apps available on iOS.

Odds are good you already have a few favorites you use regularly, if you don’t just stick to good ol’ Messages—now with! While your choice of messaging app largely depends on where all your friends and colleagues happen to be, the “Big Three” right now feel like,.

Each gives you different ways to chat with friends, whether you’re using simple text messages, stickers, images, GIFs, video calls, audio calls, et cetera. I also wanted to take a moment to call out WhatsApp.

I love the app’s built-in, which protects your messages from outside snoopers, just like Apple’s. Facebook lets you jump into “secret conversations,” that also offer end-to-end encryption (and disappearing messages), but it’s not quite the same. Advertisement Same deal. There are way too many social networks you can use right now (and even as hopeful alternatives to the social networks).

Lifehacker Pack For Mac

It would take too much time to list them all, and it wouldn’t really matter because most people are on some version of the “big three.” That’s,. No, we haven’t forgotten about, (technically a social network, too), or anyone else. Use them, too. Or find another network. Start your own. Location-Aware Apps Weather: ($4), ($5), (free-ish).

Advertisement Everyone argues over which weather app is the best, and odds are good you’re going to pull up your favorite weather app one day, prepare for a sunny day, and get drenched on. For its looks, usability, and features—including a handy notification system that lets you know if the sky is about to unload (or drizzle) in your location— ($4) is the weather app you’ll want to have. Checking forecasts is only half the fun; the app’s other notifications, including a morning summary of the day’s weather and a sunscreen warning whenever the UV index hits a certain point, are incredibly useful.

And you can set up custom notifications, too. For a little more sass with your weather forecast, you’ll want to check out ($5). You’ll get the same Dark Sky weather data, but with a lot more personality. You can also view historical weather information, unlock weather- and travel-themed achievements, and switch to Weather Underground’s forecasts if, for whatever reason, you aren’t a fan of Dark Sky’s predictions. Advertisement There are plenty of ways to meet people—whether you’re looking for friendships, casual fun, or a more serious relationship. And there’s always a new dating app, it seems, that has taken your demographic by storm. So, I fully acknowledge that we are likely behind and not recommending the hot new thing all your friends are using to hook up.

Mac Utility Apps

Still, as far as general recommendations go, I think these three options are all worthy additions to your device. On (freemium), women have the power: They’re the ones reaching out to men to make the initial contact post-match. (And if you’re looking for a same-sex relationship, anyone can message the other first.

It’s no-holds-barred.) If said potential suitor doesn’t reach out within a day’s time, that’s it. Unless one of you extends the “match” for an extra 24 hours, the opportunity for love is lost forever. Also, bonus points to Bumble for its inclusion of a “Bumble BFF” mode, if you prefer friendships instead of amor. (freemium), based on everything I’ve read from those who use it, seems to be the place people go to actually find longer-term relationships instead of hookups. That’s not to say the latter doesn’t happen; it just doesn’t appear to be the app’s scene. Each day, you get a curated list of matches to pick from. You don’t have to troll through 200 pictures to find the next someone.

Match up, and the app will put you in a direct chat with your special someone (and even prompt you with some ideas to get your conversation started). Advertisement (freemium) should be a household name by now. It’s your quintessential dating service: You make a witty profile, people find you and express interest. That, or you make a witty profile and go find people that interest you. Either way, love is (potentially) in the air.

Don’t forget to answer all those many, many questions to help determine your true compatibility with everyone else. If you’re just looking for something a little more short-term, the usual apps apply:, et cetera. Music, Photos, Video Music Streaming:, ($10/mo). Advertisement As is the case with a number of our big categories, the streaming service you pick is largely a matter of preference. If you love the UI of a service’s app as much as you love its musical selection, that’s a win—and your tastes might vary wildly from your peers.

All of the major streaming services generally cost the same: $10 for, and; $8 for if you already pay for Amazon Prime and $10 if you don’t. Generally speaking, Apple Music is probably the service I’d lean toward slightly on an iPhone, because it’s hard to resist Apple’s platform. It’s a lot easier to pull up songs via Siri if you’re an Apple Music subscriber than, for example.

That said, Spotify’s interface runs circles around Apple Music, and I generally prefer its playlists, but that’s not to say that the Apple Music playlists are bad. Again, your preferences largely dictate which app you’ll end up using, and each is worth a free trial before you start paying for a monthly subscription.

Podcasts: (free-ish), (free-ish), or ($4). Advertisement I read nothing but praise for, free if you don’t mind advertising and $10 per year if you want a purer experience. Overcast has everything a great podcast app needs, like a lovely user interface that makes it easy to add and find new ones to binge. You can make custom podcast playlists if you like to balance out your with a little. You can have notifications fire off when new episodes of your favorite podcast are ready. You can adjust the playback speed to your preferences.

You can even use Overcast in your car (if your system supports CarPlay). What’s not to love? I’ve been a big fan of (freemium) for a while; nothing against Overcast, it’s just the podcast player I’ve stuck with and it’s treated me well for years. It costs nothing to use and has no advertising to speak of, but you’re encouraged to pay extra ($9/annual) for features like automatic silence trimming, vocal enhancements, support for podcast chapters that you can skip between, and unlocking per-podcast customization options (to name a few features). A lot of people also like ($4).

It’s the cheapest option of the three by far, and it has plenty of similar features: silence trimming, volume boosting, speed adjusting, intro skipping, Carplaying, et cetera. There’s no trial version to speak of, so you’ll just have to trust Pocket Casts is the right option for you if you buy the full version.

Having used it, I wouldn’t have a problem paying for it at all, and it’s leagues better than the default Apple app. Advertisement Camera: ($5) or ($6) I’ve gotten to know ($5) thanks to Apple’s rare move of giving the app out to anyone who wanted it for a big, fat $5 discount. As of when we published this guide, you still have time to, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t download it and try it out to give yourself even more features and settings settings to play with than Apple’s default Camera app. The best thing about the app is that it presents a ton of customization within easy reach, and it does so without overloading you with options. Even fairly novice iOS camera operators should be able to figure out how to use Obscura 2 to get even finer control over that which they shoot. Advertisement ($6) offers similar functionality and generally comes highly praised by those looking for a Camera app with more bells and whistles than Apple’s, but not one that’s too complex for everyday use.

According to the developers, Halide allows you to take “the best selfies.” Say no more, Halide. (But if you need more,.) If you’re more into video than photography, check out ($15), an excellent third-party app for your iPhone or iPad. In addition to its multitude of features for shooting video, adjusting the parameters of video you’ve shot, and organizing video, the companion app ($10) allows you to see that which one device sees. In other words, you can get a live video feed of your iPhone’s front-facing camera on a nearby iPad, which can help you turn your boring desktop setup into a miniature studio. Video: (free), (varies), (varies).

Advertisement One of these things is not like the other, we know. And while we took a little flak for it in our Lifehacker Mac Pack, (free) is still an excellent app for playing videos on your devices (or streaming them from another device in your home, like a network-attached storage box). You probably won’t get as much use out of it on an iPhone or iPad as you would on a desktop or laptop PC, but it’s the app we’d go to if we needed to watch videos shot in all kinds of formats.

As for video streaming services, you have a lot to pick from—as always. The two biggies are likely and, and each has a monthly subscription cost that can vary based on the parameters you’re purchasing. Unlike, you won’t pay more for either service if you sign up via the app or the service’s official website (as of when we wrote this, at least). And if you don’t mind some advertising, an app like (free) will give you free movies and TV shows to watch. YMMV on the quality of the available selections, however. Advertisement For general workouts, we like both (freemium) and (free) because they both give you a wide range of workouts to learn about (and pick from) if you have absolutely no idea what to do at the gym or in that unused workout room in your home.

You’ll pay extra for a subscription if you want access to Jefit’s fancier features, like more analytics and demonstration videos. Nike Training Club is completely free: What you see is. If you’re looking to get started with running, (freemium), though intimidating at first, is a great way to help you train up to run your very first 5K. And it’s totally OK if you need to repeat a few days’ (or weeks’) worth of training. Go at the pace that’s most comfortable for you, because no matter what, you’re not just wasting your day away by sitting on the couch.

That’s the important part. And if you just want to go lift heavy things, there are apps for that too (go figure). We like the (freemium) if you just need a solid way to keep track of reps for regular lifting. (freemium) helps you nail down your lifting technique and track your progress.