With the latest MacBook Pro refresh featuring the Magic Keyboard, Apple has returned to good old scissor switches to satisfy existing customers and a few new ones. Now that the latest $999 MacBook Air with 256GB serves as the base model, more and more people will want to use it as a stylish portable companion. Want to use the new MacBook or the upcoming macOS Catalina update to keep your work and personal interests organized?
The Mac ecosystem is known for offering sleek and intuitive productivity apps for designers, students, writers, and everyone else. If you’re starting your journey with a Mac product, you may want to stay organized with the help of the apps listed in this post.
After purchasing a 2019 MacBook Air last year, I asked my team members (Mac users) to recommend apps they trust. After getting enough names, I researched and used many applications. Finally, I’ve compiled a definitive list of apps for you to stay organized, especially if you work from home.
You can expect to see task management app, password manager, finance app, scheduler app, note taking solution and more. Most apps are free products and offer a limited free trial period to test them. For your convenience, I have also included the closest alternative to the relevant applications.
1. Task Management App – TickTick
TickTick is not limited to task management. It also carries small utilities within the app such as habit tracking, Pomodoro scheduler, note taking, kanban-style project management, and calendar integration.
I love how easy it is to add tasks in TickTick. Simply type the task name in the add task menu at the top, then add the date and time from the calendar menu, assign priority, and finally add to existing lists.
My favorite aspect of TickTick is the theme options. It’s not limited to the boring light/dark theme. You can choose from different themes designed to suit cities around the world.
TickTick comes with a timer for you to focus on important tasks without distractions. Users can also manage Kanban-style projects from the app. It’s similar to Trello and gets the job done with basic options. Unfortunately, the function is not available on mobile platforms.
TickTick is available on iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. The basic reminder function is free. While the premium features carry a $2 per month price tag.
Best TickTick Alternative – Todoist
2. Notes App – Bear Notes
Bear Notes competes closely with Apple Notes and is still one of the best note apps for the Apple ecosystem. It’s not as bloated as OneNote or Evernote and gets the job done with a slick user interface.
The app uses tags to organize notes within the app. I love the simple and clean looking writing area it offers. Bullets, list, highlighter etc. options are at the bottom.
After typing the note, you can browse the word, character, paragraph, reading time and note export options by tapping the information button in the upper right corner.
As for export, you can convert existing note to PDF, HTML, JPG image, Docs and more. Who doesn’t love to add themes? At least, I do. It offers multiple Themes options including dark, high contrast, red, snow theme and more. It also supports keyboard shortcuts to increase your typing speed.
Bear is only available on iOS, macOS, Apple Watch, and iPad. The app comes with a $1.5 monthly subscription.
Best Bear Notes Alternative – Evernote
3. Password Manager – Enpass
Investing in a good password manager is essential these days. Enpass is the best option among the groups available in the Mac Store.
The app lets you use your preferred cloud storage to store your confidential data. You can save data to iCloud, Google Drive or OneDrive. When adding a login, you can add username, email, password, use the password generator to generate strong passwords, and more.
Enpass also supports multiple vaults, categories, password checks and is available as an extension for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Chrome browser.
Enpass was a one-time purchase and has recently switched to a subscription model. It costs $1 a month, which is a sweet bargain for your safety.
Best Enpass Alternative – 1Password
4. Project Management Practice – Concept
Notion is a modular productivity tool that helps you organize notes, tasks, web links and anything else using drag and drop blocks via software.
Concept templates are the heart and soul of the experience. You can get templates for everything, including project management, personal wiki, research, finance tracker, education and more.
Notion supports a number of project management templates to get you started quickly. You can import them from the template gallery and start making changes. Users can tag other members, add a description, color tags, and move the block.
Notion is available for free on iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. The free version is limited to 1000 blocks only. After that, it costs $5 per month.
Best Idea Alternative – Trello
5. Calendar App – Weaving
Woven Calendar brings a new breath to traditional calendars. The default homepage is a mix of recent updates, overall weekly meeting time statistics, travel times, and tags.
These two functions stood out for me. When adding an event, you can create a group poll and ask your members to vote for a convenient time for the meeting. You can share the survey link using Email or SMS. You can create an event and add a template for it.
All the important functions in Woven are neatly arranged in the hamburger menu. Templates, schedule and homepage appear in this iOS app and it also supports keyboard shortcuts.
Woven is available on iOS, macOS, and Windows. The software is completely free to use.
Best Weaving Alternative – Fantastic
6. Time Tracker app – Toggl
For personal use, Toggl is one of the best time tracking apps on the market. The application provides a simple and intuitive user interface for navigating the menus. Open the app, tap the play button; you can add tasks, projects, tags, start time and end time.
My favorite feature is the Timeline menu. It lets you see all the activities throughout the day using the daily view in the app. All tasks and activities, along with the project and description, are also synced to the iOS app.
Toggle provides a one month free trial period. After that, it costs $10 a month. The app is available on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and as an extension for Chrome and Firefox.
Best Transition Alternative – Clockify
7. Finance Tracking App – MoneyWiz
MoneyWiz is my recommendation to anyone looking for a financial software solution that works natively on every platform, including iOS, Android, iPad, macOS, and Windows.
I like that it lets you import processes from other popular apps and supports a CSV file import. This makes the boarding experience hassle-free. You can add basic transactions and also connect your local bank account to the service and let it do the work for you.
MoneyWiz supports over 16,000 banks in 51 countries. The feature list includes crypto wallet support, multiple currencies, Touch ID security, custom reports, automated budgets, and more.
MoneyWiz offers a one-month free trial. After that, it costs $5 per month.
Best MoneyWiz Alternative – HomeBudget
Organize Your Life on Mac
Today, people want to turn their Mac into a productivity powerhouse. Use the aforementioned apps on your Mac and edit everything from passwords, tasks, finance, notes and more. While we’re at it, let us know about your favorite app from or from the list in the comments section below.
Next: Looking for a custom calendar that works best on iPhone and Mac? Read the next post to learn about the five best Calendar apps for iOS and macOS.
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