Tech Tip — My Most Used Apps 2024 Edition

We all have our go-to apps that keep us organized, focused, and maybe even a bit more sane throughout the day. Over time, I’ve found a handful of apps that I can’t imagine working without. Whether I’m jotting down quick notes, managing tasks, or staying on top of the latest articles I want to read, these apps are the ones I use most throughout the week. I get many questions about the apps I use, and I while I have written previously about most of them, they can change from time to time.

In this tech tip, I’m sharing the five apps I use most often on my iPhone and iPad—Notion, Readwise, Apple Notes, Good Notes, and Todoist. I’ll also give a nod to a few others that are always running in the background, making sure I’m up-to-date and connected. Let’s jump into how these tools can make your day just a little bit easier.

What I have found is that applications are a more personal choice than most realize. How you want to get information, see information displayed, and what counts as easy really is in the hands of the user. Not everyone thinks about this stuff the same way. It is no wonder there are millions of apps available in the Apple and Google stores for their devices. In so many ways, it is great that there are these options available to us to find the tool that really will work the way we want. In general, most of the apps I would consider as my go to apps are more mainstream, and have a larger user base, which also adds some benefits. I have also included links to any previous Tech Tip articles I have on the applications I mention below.

1. Apple Notes

The built-in app has steadily improved over the past several years, with additional enhancements coming this fall with the new iOS 18 release. But, this is a perfect case of sometimes simple and easy is all you need. I have other options I also use for specific instances—in fact, a few are mentioned below—but to quickly capture notes in everyday life, Apple Notes is one of my most used apps on both my phone and iPad. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that it works so well across all devices. Since I also use a Mac for work, it is always open on my desktop and accessible for information reference.

It has proven reliable in all synching situations, so regardless of what device I have with me, the information I want is at my fingertips. I don’t use all the bells and whistles of even Apple Notes, so I know (in most cases) I wouldn’t need the extra features that come with so many other note applications. So, for everything from a quick scratch note to capturing and managing multiple weekly update documents, Notes is only a quick tap away on every device I have.

2. GoodNotes

You may be confused at first when I just said I use Apple Notes as my note-taking application, and the very next application has notes also in the title. However, GoodNotes is more like my digital version of a notebook you carry around with you. I use GoodNotes almost exclusively with the Apple Pencil, and it is where I take handwritten notes. It is also where I manage my daily planner. I have a template set up that lays out my day with priority tasks, secondary tasks, and an analogue(ish) version of my calendar for the day. I fill my calendar items each as part of my weekly planning process. This allows me to see the meetings coming up and forces me to look ahead and do some planning.

For written notes, GoodNotes is my go-to in meetings where quick capture is key. It feels less intrusive than typing, allowing for better engagement with the conversation, much like using a pen and paper, but in a digital form. What I appreciate most is the flexibility it offers afterward. Handwriting can be converted to text, colors and sizes can be adjusted, and notes can be seamlessly organized. It’s like having the best of both the analog and digital worlds in one package.

Plus, I also use GoodNotes for reviewing and making notes on PDF documents. I have used multiple tools for this in the past, but currently, I am trying to keep this in GoodNotes to cut down on the different places I need to look for things. GoodNotes is a solid, reliable app that I have used for many years. It is similar to Notability, and I have even compared them in the past. It is very helpful to have all this together and be able to refer to documents or notes that I have taken in the past and find quickly with a search. I recently was looking for notes from 2019, and was able to find something fairly quickly because I know I would have used GoodNotes to capture the thoughts back then.

3. Todoist

There is always a lot of stuff going on. Keeping track of when it needs to be completed, or followed up on, is an important part of my day. In fact, as much as I use Todoist multiple times every day, it may still be one of my more underutilized applications. Task management is a complicated thing. There are thousands of opinions and ideas on how people can manage their personal workloads. When you factor in that as leaders we are also often managing or tracking the workload of others, keeping track of it all is critical.

Todoist is another application that can be as complicated or simple as you would like. It has continued to be developed and enhanced regularly. The company has made many recent improvements that make it easier than ever to connect calendar views and work seamlessly between one’s calendar and tasks. However, the single biggest feature that keeps me with Todoist is the ease in which you can add tasks. It has natural language parsing that works flawlessly. So, “Take out the trash every Wednesday morning at 7:00am, P1, #Home” translates effortlessly to the task name, a priority 1 item, in my Home list of projects. It can do more, but you get the point. That can be spoken or typed. And it adds that as a repeating task, every Wednesday. You can set reminder times, like 10 minutes before a task is due, either as a default or on a per-task basis. This way, you’ll always get the nudge you need, exactly when you need it. That one function is what keeps me from switching to Apple Reminders (though I do plan to experiment again this fall with the updates coming in iOS 18).

4. Readwise Reader

Readwise Reader is a newer addition to my devices. It does serve multiple purposes. And Readwise actually consists of multiple components if you choose. I am going to focus on Readwise Reader, since that is the app I use more often, but I do have the companion application that goes with it. Readwise Reader is a ‘save it for later’ reading app. It is similar to Instapaper and Pocket, but adds more features. It allows you to save articles in different ways that may make it easier to sort through at a later time. This is definitely one of those apps where personal preference and use cases comes into play. With Readers integration with (sister app for highlights) Readwise, you don’t have to dig through multiple apps or search for that one elusive highlight. It brings your key points and highlights front and center, making your reading library far more useful and accessible.

I use this as much for my RSS feed as anything else, which automatically gathers articles from multiple sites (I select) across the internet and aggregates them in one place to read at my leisure. It takes some management and curating, but it is an excellent way to gather information and access knowledge from known ‘good’ sources easily. It can also be a way to prevent getting sucked into social sites or other news pages, and allow you to only see what you want.

5. Notion

Last on the list is also one that is newer to me and something in the budding stages. A year from now, I expect this will either be towards the top of my most used and relied upon, or it may drop from the list altogether. Notion is an application that I was interested in when it first released many years ago. Its database capabilities seemed to offer so much possibility. And it has. In fact, the best thing about Notion is also the worst, it is hyper-rich in functionality, but comes with a steep learning curve. Before any Notion-lovers email me, yes I know it doesn’t always have to be that way, but to get the most from this, you need to invest time in the set-up, or invest money in buying a template. All of those things are what make Notion possibly the one app to rule them all. But nearly everything I mention above regarding note-taking, document management, planning, calendars, or task management can be done in Notion. It could easily replace Apple Notes and Todoist tomorrow. GoodNotes would be a little harder due to a lack of good handwriting option in the application. And, while it would be very good as an archive of articles, it does not curate and work with RSS feeders the same as other applications.

Currently, Notion is my go-to tool for managing everything related to Effective Retail Leader. It’s where all the planning, article tracking, and archiving happens. The simplicity of my setup works well, though there’s a desire to expand it further. Eventually, I’d like to use Notion to manage both my daily workflows and team projects, but I haven’t yet made the time investment required. The potential to build my ‘perfect’ system within Notion is there, though the learning curve is steep. That’s why I’m curious to see where things will stand a year from now. Despite the complexity, Notion is a fascinating and incredibly useful app, and it might just be worth exploring for your needs too.

Bonus: Other daily use apps

The five apps above are not the only ones I use daily. I do still use Apple’s Mail app along with Microsoft Outlook for email management. That is probably a fifty-fifty split, as both apps have their benefits for specific instances. The work calendar in Outlook is difficult to drop, since it works so well in that setting. Even though I have everything in the Apple Calendar app also, it remains less useful than Outlook, especially for being able to color code and categorize the types of meetings. Apple News is my news source of choice. It allows me to see multiple sources in one place. It could use some improvement in what it serves up, especially since it occasionally shows older articles. However, it’s still a solid way to stay current with events and gather technology news in one place—without getting pulled into distractions. The last two applications I use most would be the Overcast podcast player. It is easy to use and just received a nice refresh, but best of all, it cuts out silences and the speed selector is second to none. Just those little things makes a 1.75x speed on Overcast a little better than others, getting closer to a 2x+ effect. I like that I can listen to an hour-long podcast in less than thirty minutes. Finally, MyNetDiary is still where I track food, calories, water intake, and other nutrient information. It feeds into Apple Health, where I can get a full view of my general health.

So, that’s a look at what’s on my iPhone and iPad and how I use them each day. All of these are solid apps and I would happily recommend any of them. As I mentioned at the start, these can be very personal choices though, so you may want to compare to other applications that you’ve heard of or even worked for you in the past.

Do you have any recommendations of applications I should be checking out in the future?

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