my five favorite writing and productivity apps for iOS

Today is the 2013 Blogathon’s first “theme day”: My Five Favorite Apps.

It’s true that I spend more time with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Mahjong iPad apps that I’d care to admit, but I also have found a few iOS apps that have made my working life quite a bit easier.

• Evernote
  I love, love, love Evernote. I’ve been using it for less than a year, but it’s already made a large impact in my productivity and how I get things done.

  I am very slowly moving my email archive over to my Evernote account, for better searching and back-up, and to taking the burden off of my overloaded Mail application on my MacBook. I also use the Web Clipper?both on the MacBook and on the iPad?to save websites and online articles I’d like to come back to later, particularly when I’m research mode.

  I’d already started keeping my journalism story notes and transcriptions in Evernote, but when I was given a Livescribe Sky pen this past February that function became invaluable. The Sky pen wirelessly syncs not only to the Livescribe cloud (which I can access through the Livescribe website) but also to my Evernote account. This means my interview audio and handwritten notes are automatically loaded into the cloud for back-up and appear in both my Evernote iPad app and Evernote desktop client. It’s pretty spectacular, and it has definitely changed the way I work for the better.

• Elements
  While waiting for the iOS version of Scrivener, Elements has become my go-to app for off-campus writing.

  This is a basic text editor, so I can’t do anything “fancy” with my words?like italics or bold?but that also helps to keep me focused on just getting the words down, especially when I’m first-drafting. I can worry about formatting later. And, when working with Dropbox (below), I can sync my Elements documents with my Scrivener projects.

• Dropbox
  Like the desktop client, the Dropbox app lets me access my own cloud account and share files with others.

  I use Dropbox to sync files between Elements on the iPad and Scrivener on the MacBook; for moving ebooks, business documents, and other files back and forth; and for temporary back-up of important files.

  Besides the Scrivener sync, Dropbox has been very handy for transferring “author reading files” from the MacBook to the iPad. Instead of printing out hardcopy pages of what I want to read before an audience at author events, I use Dropbox to transfer the text selection to the iPad and read from there?and very often I’m reading a document in Elements.

• Tune In
  This may seem like an odd choice for a productivity app, but listening to the Radio Ultimae station on the Tune In app helps me to focus while keeping external distractions (like screaming children and coffee shop noise) at bay.

  This same station also make a lovely meditation companion.

  Headphones not included. 😉

• iBooks and Kindle
  These are the ebook reading apps I use the most frequently, and both allow me to make notes in the text?which is invaluable for going through first drafts of novels and of later revisions as well.

  It used to be that I’d print out a hardcopy of whatever manuscript I was set to review. This meant a LOT of paper and ink getting used up in the printer, and a good bit of bulk and weight for me to have to haul around with me when I’d work remotely?and bulk that I’d have to find a place to store in my office, too.

  I admit that I miss making handwritten notes and drawing circles and arrows?and thus far, ereader apps don’t allow these and other editorial marks?so I do still print out smaller sections from time to time when heavy editing is required.

  Otherwise, these apps make reviewing my own and authors’ works a breeze. I even buy/borrow and read published ebooks, too. 😉

Honorable mentions:

• Flipboard

: All my favorite magazines and blogs in one handy app!

• Relax Melodies

: Like Tune In, this is an audio application, but this one allows me to “design” my own ambient sounds, including binaural beats. I’ll sometimes use Relax Melodies when I need to focus?and definitely turn to this app when I anticipate having trouble falling asleep.

• Index Card

: This is another app that works with Scrivener, with great syncing capability. I’ve not used this app quite as much?yet?but it’s already proved useful.

• Pages

: The iOS version of my standard desktop word processing application. Sometimes I love the iCloud interface, other times not so much. But it’s a very useful app.

Creative Commons photo July 2011: Fun-loving felines play Friskies? iPad Games for Cats by Nestl?.