Got a tip for us?

5 Best Mac Apps For Working from Home in 2020

by GeeksModo Staff

It’s no doubt
Working from home
is becoming an increasingly common practice. This has kept me searching for the best Mac apps that can increase my productivity and improve my workflow.

In 2020, the necessity to effectively
work remotely
is critical to productivity more than ever. Here at GeeksModo, we refuse to pretend as if remote work is a new trend.

Having said that, there is a delicate balance between working from home and effectively working from home. This delicate balance boils down to the apps a person could use to stay productive. 

For macOS users, there is a nearly never-ending list of native features and
apps
to carry out various tasks. The team here at GeeksModo has traversed through the internet to find the most useful macOS apps for everyone who is working remotely. 

Best Mac apps for working from home

Here are the best Mac apps for working from home in 2020:

1. DemoPro

($1.99)

An integral part of working from home is video conferencing whether it’s on Zoom or Google meet. If you are presenting your screen can sometimes prove challenging to grab the audience attention to a certain section of the screen.

Most peple just start wiggling the cursor around with half of the audience wondering what is happening with your computer.

DemoPro offers a solution to this by turning the whole screen into a canvas which allows you to draw or highlight any section of the screen.

2. CleanShot X

($29)

Sometimes it’s difficult to explain to your coworker what you mean via a slack message. I love taking screenshots as I know I won’t have to go back and forth explaining myself and we both are discussing the same thing.

Besides being able to edit and style the screenshots you take. The app also allows you to record your screen as a video or as a Gif.

3. Paste

($0.99/month or $9.99/year)

Imagine a clipboard that can save all your cuts and copies from the last month, Paste has all that ability. You can search through the clipboard and arrange them in different categories for easy access.

4. Duet Display

($9.99)/SideCar — free

It’s always a good idea to add an extra screen to be more productive. Now that’s where these two apps come in handy. Both perform the same task – Sidecar will turn your iPad into a seamless second display for your MacBook or iMac. It is free and comes in all devices compatible with iOS 13 (iPadOS) and macOS Catalina.

In case you are running an older Mac model not compatible with Sidecar, you should try Duet Display instead.

5. Time Out

($2.99/3 months, $4.99/6 months or $9.99/year)

Working from home made me stick to my computer for long periods of time. Consequently, I have had a lot of backaches and headaches.

Time Out offered me a solution. I love the Pomodoro method to keep myself productive so I have set up the Time Out app to hide my screen for 5 minutes after every 25 minutes of work.

The app offers several customizations according to the screen cover you want.

The best macOS apps for productivity during remote work should consistently serve the everchanging needs of the remote worker. Sometimes it’s hard to craft the best environment for productivity during working remotely. Still, I sincerely hope this list has helped you sort through tons of macOS apps that are available on the app store. Please, let us know what you think or if you have any recommendations for our list of the best macOS apps for productivity when working from home. 

And that covers everything about best Mac apps for working from home. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and comment if you have any favorite productivity apps for Mac of your own!

Tag: MacBook Pro
Show Full Article

How to Bypass Mac Password in 2020

by GeeksModo Staff

This is a very useful, but somehow also dangerous trick. Useful because you can still access your
Mac
even if you forgot your password. Dangerous because anybody could bypass your Mac password by changing it. As always it depends on the person’s intention. There are good persons, using knowledge and tools for the right things and bad persons misusing knowledge. Be a good person.
in this article, I’ll tell you how to bypass Mac password login and how I discovered the trick. Actually, you do not forget the passwords you use every day. That’s what I thought. One day at work I tried to access my MacBook and I was 100% sure it was the correct password. I tried several different variations. Turned it off. Thought about it. Tried again. Searched in my documents for the passwords. Tried again, but could not access it. Somehow I must have forgotten a tiny part of it, just a special character as ? or : or maybe any of the signs was uppercase. I tried to remember but could not figure it out.
So what to do?
The first idea that crossed my mind, was the apparently easiest solution: just asking the IT guys for help. However, I knew that the team was overloaded due to its small size. So asking for help regarding such an annoying problem was somehow embarrassing, but also stressing for them. Next to asking my co-workers, there was the more unlikely possibility of trying to do it myself. However, I thought that Macbooks have reputable security and it would certainly not be possible to gain access without having any kind of password or a third-party tool. Far from it! Actually, it is a pretty easy and quick solution from which I was really surprised.
You just need to perform a few simple steps, so let’s jump into it and see how to bypass Mac password in 2020. If you just want to try it, but know your password then you should load this guide on another device because the first step involves shutting down your Mac. And I guess you might still need to follow the instructions step by step when executing it. So let’s start by turning off the computer.
Next, turn on your Mac and hold immediately the keys “CMD+R” together until you see the  logo on the screen. The recovery mode of your Mac will launch. It should open a window with the header macOS utilities. On the uppermost part of the screen you can see the top bar with the following menu points as can also be seen on the image below:

Bypass Mac password

Click on Utilities and choose Terminal to launch the Mac Shell Terminal. It should appear a new window that looks like the window below.

Bypass Mac password

Click in the terminal and type resetpassword. A new window will appear with the header Reset password. On this window, you can see all user accounts with their names and profile pictures. Choose the user account for which you intend to change the password. Enter a new password, confirm it and hit save. Boom, a new password has been set. Restart your Mac and login with your new password. It should work. In case it does not, repeat the above steps. So in case you are forgetful, don’t worry. The above solution should help you bypass Mac password in no time.
Considering my slightly embarrassing situation, the above solution was a quite quick and easy fix. So, what lesson can you learn from the story?
As soon as a problem arises, there is already an answer to it. You just have to go out there and find it. I hope you learned something and maybe you were as surprised as I was.
You can achieve the same on Windows or Linux-based systems such as Ubuntu. If you are interested in a similar article for other operating systems, please let me know down in the comments.

Tag: MacBook Pro
Show Full Article

Top 5 Accessories for MacBook you Need Right Now

by GeeksModo Staff

A lone
MacBook
is a powerful and impressive device. However, add some accessories into the mix, and they’ll enable an almost magical experience. There are numerous options of accessories for a MacBook, even so, many that it is difficult to see which ones will help you to get work done on your Mac. Finding the accessories that suits your needs can prove challenging, so it helps focus on the essentials. However, some accessories benefit power users as well as casual ones.

1. Mouse

It’s a good idea to have a reliable, precise mouse for your MacBook. Even though MacBook’s comes with best in class trackpads you can ever find in a computer, they don’t quite manage to beat the experience a mouse provides.

There are tons of outstanding mice out there. Which one you should get to accompany you, and your MacBook heavily depends on your needs.

When purchasing a new mouse, I suggest that you look for wireless connectivity, preferably via Bluetooth, and a USB-C charging that lets you use it even while on the charger (sorry Apple Magic Mouse 2).

Accessories for MacBook

Personal Recommendation

My personal recommendation for a mouse is the Logitech MX Master 3. It features all the things I want it to have plus so much more. Starting with the essential features, it has wireless connectivity via Bluetooth and even has multi-device support. With just a press of a button on the mouse’s underside, you can switch the device you want it to control. It charges via USB-C and has an excellent battery life. Over the half-year I’ve owned it, I had to charge it once.

On top of these major features, the mouse has Logitech’s Magspeed scroll wheel. It is the best scrolling you’ll ever find, switching seamlessly from precision scrolling to the fast, 1’000 lines of text in a second scrolling.

In addition, the mouse comes with a gesture button that is perfect for the Mac, a thumb scrolling wheel, and two customizable buttons. The sensor is also brilliant and works smoothly on almost any surface.

The only minor downside of this mouse is the size. Since it is an ergonomically designed and feature-packed mouse, it is a bit bulky.

Having said that, if you are looking for one of the best mice in the market, you cannot go wrong with the Logitech Master MX 3.

2. USB-C Hub

When getting a new MacBook, you’ll get four Thunderbolt 3 ports at most. Because not everyone uses peripherals with USB-C connectivity, owning a USB-C hub can prove helpful.

Having one protects you from the awkward moment when you have to explain your coworker that you can’t read a USB stick, but it will also increase your flexibility.

When buying a USB-C hub, you should always make sure the one you choose has all the ports you want it to have, such as an SD-Card reader and HDMI.

It is also important to look out how many ports the hub will need to work. There are a couple of options out there, some only need one Thunderbolt 3 connector others need two.

Accessories for macbook

Personal Recommendation

As far as I’m concern, a USB-C hub ought to be portable and have a lot of input options. With that in mind, I chose the Satechi ST-SCMA2M. It comes in proper Mac colorways, and henceforth doesn’t take away the beautiful aesthetics of a Mac, it also gives me a broad range of input options. It comes with an HDMI, an SD-Card reader, a micro SD-card reader, two standard USB type A readers, and a USB-C port, which allows for passthrough charging.

The Satechi ST-SCMA2M also only needs one Thunderbolt 3 port to connect, and that’s all what I need.

The sleek form factor and the multitude of ports are pretty good, which makes me recommend this hub for everyone.

3. Headphones

Love listening to music while getting work done? Well, if you want to be able to listen to your music all the time, you should grab a pair of headphones.

Although all MacBooks comes with a headphone jack, when purchasing headphones to go along with your MacBook, I highly recommend looking for wireless headphones.

No matter your budget, you’ll get good wireless headphones in every price range, from sub 100$ to +300$.

When looking for a good headphones to complement your MacBook, I suggest that you think about the essential features. Do you need good microphones because you find yourself in conference calls a lot? Do you need active noise canceling because your workspace is too loud otherwise?

Outline all the features you want to have and then look for the headphones that suits your needs. Nowadays there are a wide range of valuable options, there is one for everybody.

Of course, getting Apple headphones (Beats also included) you’ll get some features the other headphones can’t provide, so I advice you to look into the Apple headphones first. However, the features they offer are not game-changing at all, and if you find yourself liking the headphones of a different company more, go for them.

Accessories for MacBook

Personal Recommendation

As far as I’m concerned, one of the best headphones to complement your MacBook are the
Apple AirPods Pro.
The AirPods Pro have a super active noise canceling feature. In addition, they are super portable and perfectly integrated into the
Apple ecosystem.

If you are looking for one pair of headphones for all your needs, including to pair it with other devices, then your MacBook, the AirPods Pro Might be only headphones you’ll ever need.

AirPods Pro offers a great sound, and the battery life of about 4.5 hours with active noise canceling should be enough for almost everybody.

The only downside of the AirPods Pro is that they are quite expensive , and when compared to other headphones in their price tag, the sound isn’t that superb anymore.

However, due to their small size, the one headphones for all needs aspect, and their excellent active noise canceling, it’s pretty easy to recommend the AirPods Pro as headphones Companion for your MacBook. Additionally, the fact that they are designed by Apple gives them a unique connection with the MacBook and makes them easy to use.
See also:
AirPods 2 Vs. AirPods Pro – FIGHT!

4. External storage

One of the best utility apps that come pre-installed on the MacBook is Time Machine. Apple’s backup program is fantastic, and everyone should take advantage of it. To do so, you need a reliable external hard drive or SSD storage.

In addition, having an external storage solution allows you to free up space on the MacBook’s internal storage.

When looking for the perfect external storage solution, the most important thing is reliability. If you find yourself needing the backup, you want to be sure that your external storage can handle it.

Another essential factor to consider is the type of storage, hard drive, or solid-state storage (SSD). Both have their pros and cons, but they are both greatoptions.

SSD’s usually come in at a little higher price but have higher write and read speeds, where hard drive mostly costs a bit less but can’t provide as fast speeds. It is said that SSD’s don’t have the same lifespan as hard drives, however, although this is technically true, no regular user will ever have problems with this.

Accessories for MacBook

Personal Recommendation

I wouldn’t recommend going all out on a high capacity, lighting-fast external SSD as your solution for external storage, except you need the fastest speeds to transfer data.

As far as I’m concerned, western digital’s “my passport” line is a perfect option for everyone. The hard drives offer a quick transfer speed and very high capacities while maintaining a reasonable price. They also have no known reliability issues, and personally, I use two of them as my storage solutions.

For time machine, I use a LaCie rugged 4TB hard drive that I got as a present. However, while it’s quite appealing and also is very reliable, the price of this hard drive is only justified by its looks, and there are more great options out there.

5. A backpack

Laptops standout feature is their portability. MacBooks are powerful machines that’ll go where ever you take them. Whether you use it to get work done on the train, edit videos in the airplane, or take your lecture notes in the auditorium, the MacBook is part of your daily carry.

In order to facilitate that portability of a MacBook or, for that matter, any Laptop, you’ll need a means of transportation for it. I highly recommend a backpack for transporting your MacBook. It is easier to carry than a sleeve, and it also has room for additional stuff you bring around.

When getting a Backpack for your MacBook, ensure it has a good pocket for your device. It should be padded well, and if there are zippers close to it, look for a lining that separates the zipper from the MacBook.

Once you’ve made sure that the backpack has a functional pocket for your MacBook and does not damage it while carrying around, find a bag that fits your needs. If you carry around a camera with you a lot, maybe you want a backpack that allows you to take your camera with you also. Do you need waterproofing?

As with the headphones, make a list and look for the backpack that ticks all the boxes for you.

Accessories for MacBook

Personal Recommendation

To carry around my 16’ MacBook Pro, I use Douchebags the “Backpack”. With a dedicated Laptop compartment right against your back, it keeps the MacBook safe from all the other stuff I lug around on a daily basis. The main compartment is also easily accessible and has sufficient space for all the stuff I need to carry around.

In addition, the “Backpack” has a simple, yet modern and fresh look that perfectly complements the MacBook. If you are also into photography, there is a camera inlet that fits perfectly into the “Backpack”. So carrying around your camera and the MacBook is easy and secure.

While it a bit pricy, it ticks all my boxes and is the perfect means of transportation for my MacBook.

Tag: MacBook Pro
Show Full Article

How to Update Apps on Apple Watch: Help Guide

by GeeksModo Staff

Wondering how to update apps on your Apple Watch? It’s easy to do manually and there’s an option to do it automatically.

Update Apps on Apple Watch

It’s important to keep the apps in your
watch
updated all the time. You can either set your Apple Watch to automatically download new updates, or check for them manually yourself. In this guide, we’ll discuss both methods of keeping Apple Watch apps up to date.

While setting your apps to update automatically is the easiest and most convenient way to ensure you’re running the latest versions, there might be times where you would prefer more control over when an update is installed. We’ll leave you too choose the option that you prefer.

How to Set Apple Watch Apps To Update Automatically

Like
iPhone apps
,your
Apple Watch
apps also need to be updated. When you update an app on your iPhone, its effect will be seen on your Apple Watch too. For this to work, you need to turn Automatic App Install ON in your My Watch section. You can take this approach if you don’t want to keep updating apps yourself.

  1. Press the Digital Crown to bring up your apps and then tap the “Settings” icon.
  2. Now, tap on “App Store”.
  3. Here, ensure that the switch next to “Automatic Updates” is turned on.

How to Update Apple Watch Apps Manually

You can choose this option if you prefer to read release notes before installing the update.

  1. Press the Digital Crown to bring up your apps and then tap the “App Store” icon.
  2. Now, scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen and tap “Account”.
  3. Next, tap on “Updates”.
  4. Next on, tap “Update” next to any app that you want to install the update for. If you want to update all apps at once, tap “Update All”.

Whichever method you choose, whether automatic or manual, you’ll be able to update apps to the latest versions made available by the apps developer.

And that covers everything on how to update apps on Apple Watch.

Tag: Update
Show Full Article

How to Make FaceTime Audio Call on Apple Watch

by GeeksModo Staff

Making FaceTime calls on your
Apple Watch
might not seem like something you would do, especially taking into account there’s no camera built into it (yet anyway). But
FaceTime
can do more than video calls. Your Apple Watch can make crystal clear audio calls over the internet, too. And the Cupertino based company has bundled a high quality speaker and a microphone inside the Apple Watch.

Or, even better, why not make calls using AirPods and Apple Watch? However you decide to do it, making a FaceTime audio call on your Apple Watch is quick and easy. In this article, I’ll walk you step-by-step’s on how to make FaceTime audio call on Apple Watch.

Just like
making FaceTime audio calls from a Mac, iPhone or iPad,
you can start a FaceTime call on an Apple Watch in a number of ways. The easiest is to use Siri, but you can also tap your way through the built-in Phone app as well. And, of course, we’ll discuss both methods. Without any father Ado, here are the instructions for how to make a FaceTime call on Apple Watch.

How to Make a FaceTime Audio Call on Apple Watch Using Siri

Siri
isn’t always smart in everything, but it is very good at making calls for you. Here’s how it works with Apple Watch:

  1. Say “Hey Siri” or if you’re using Raise To Speak, raise your watch to your mouth. You can also press and hold the Digital Crown, too.
  2. Say “FaceTime” and then the name of the person you’re trying to call.
  3. The full command could be something like “Hey Siri, FaceTime Dad”.
  4. Siri will then initiate the call using either the built-in speaker or any
    Bluetooth
    audio devices that are paired at the time. Like
    AirPods,
    AirPods Pro,
    or any other headphones.

How to Make a FaceTime Audio Call from Apple Watch Using the Phone app

You can use the Phone app to make FaceTime calls on your Apple Watch if you prefer to use this method. The call will be the same, it’s only the method to place a call which is different.

  1. Press the Digital Crown to bring up all of the apps installed on your Apple Watch.
  2. Now, tap the Phone app’s icon.
  3. Next, tap “Contacts”.
  4. Next on, tap on the contact that you want to call.
  5. Finally, tap the phone icon followed by “FaceTime Audio”.
    A FaceTime Audio call will then be started, and you can talk and chat away as much as you like.

Again, any headphones that are connected via Bluetooth at the time will be used to make the call.

The Apple Watch’s microphone and speaker will be used if no audio device is connected, so if you don’t use AirPods or another wireless audio solution than you can simply talk through the Watch.

It’s worth noting that Apple Watch will need an internet connection to be able to make a FaceTime call. That means if the Apple Watch is a cellular model, or if Apple Watch is paired to an iPhone that has cellular service it will work perfectly, and if Apple Watch is on a wi-fi network it will also make the call too. But if the Apple Watch is not near a paired device, on wi-fi, or doesn’t have it’s own cellular capability, you won’t be able to initiate a call from watchOS of course.

Do you make FaceTime calls from Apple Watch? What do you think of this feature? Do you have any nifty tips or tricks for making FaceTime calls on Apple Watch? Let us know your tips, experiences, and thoughts with using FaceTime chat from Apple Watch in the comments section below.

Tag: FaceTime
Show Full Article

how to put iPhone SE 2020 into recovery mode

by GeeksModo Staff

If you own the latest
iPhone SE
model (from 2020), you might want to know how you can put your device into recovery mode. Recovery Mode can come in handy when you want to troubleshoot various software related issues you’re facing on your
iPhone.

You can take advantage of recovery mode when your iPhone is acting up, whether it’s
stuck on the Apple logo
,Flashing apple logo
or if it’s asking you to
connect to iTunes
for whatever reason, especially if your computer is not able to
recognize it through iTunes
or Finder as usual. These could be signs of a failed iOS firmware upgrade amongst other issues. You can put your iPhone into Recovery mode if you are facing these more extreme issues while trying to update or restore the software on your iPhone.

To properly put iPhone SE 2020 in recovery mode, you’ll need a Lightning to USB cable and a computer running the latest version of iTunes.

In this guide, we’ll walk you step-by-step on how to enter and exit recovery mode on your new iPhone SE 2020.

How to Enter Recovery Mode on iPhone SE (2020 model)

Before you jump into it, make sure you have your
data backed up to either iCloud or iTunes
on the computer, to avoid losing your data. Now here are the steps for how to put iPhone SE 2020 into recovery mode:

  1. Start by pressing and releasing the Volume Up button on your iPhone. Next, press and release the Volume Down button. Next on, press and hold the side/power button. Your device will reboot and you’ll see the Apple logo on the screen.
    how to put iPhone SE 2020 into recovery mode
  2. Keep holding the power button even after the Apple logo appears and after a few seconds, your iPhone will indicate you to connect the device to a computer.
    how to put iPhone SE 2020 into recovery mode
  3. Now, simply connect your iPhone to the computer using the Lightning to USB cable and open iTunes. You’ll see a pop-up in iTunes indicating that there’s a problem with the iPhone and you’ll have the option to either restore or update it.
    how to put iPhone SE 2020 into recovery mode

Assuming you were successful, you now know how to enter recovery mode on your new iPhone SE.

Exiting Recovery Mode on iPhone SE 2020

In order to manually exit recovery mode, disconnect your iPhone from the computer and just continue holding the power or side button until the “Connect to computer” indicator disappears.

That’s all what it takes to exit if you accidentally put iPhone SE 2020 in recovery mode or if you don’t want to update or restore your device.

Once you exit Recovery Mode, your iPhone will return to whatever the previous state was before it was placed into recovery mode in the first place.

Having said that, your iPhone SE should automatically exit recovery mode once iTunes or Finder updates or restores the device.

Show Full Article

8 Incredible iPhone Apps to Make Your Life Easier

by GeeksModo Staff

I admit, my iPhone is an extension of whom I am. The apps I have on it should serve two simple purposes; to make my life easier and to allow me to do the things I want to do. Here are 8 of the best iPhone apps to make your life easier in 2020. Enjoy!

Best iPhone apps to make life easier

Without any further ado, here are the best iPhone apps that make life easier:

1. Pocket Casts

Free

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

Love listening to podcasts? Well. Having a dedicated podcast app that isn’t
Apple Podcasts
can be greatly beneficial. Unlike Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts is highly customizable.

With Pocket Casts, you can create filters to organize episodes in a range of ways. I have a filter for new releases, downloads, and episodes that were released in the last week. Filters are essentially playlist with conditions. They’re great for tailoring the podcast experience to you and your favorite podcasts.

Another great feature of Pocket Casts absent in other apps of it’s nature is “Trim Silence”. This is especially useful if you want to cut out periods of empty audio to make your listening experience a little more efficient.
Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

If you are looking for the best entertainment apps for
iPhone,
you should definitely give Pocket Casts a try.

2. Carrot⁵

$4.99

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

The inbuilt weather app is boring and can be very unintuitive at times. Carrot⁵ has a fantastic UI, shows you the most important information first, and has a great looking rolling forecast. There’s not much to say about this app other than that it’s one of the absolute best weather app out there.

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

3. Unsplash

Free

Unsplash is a platform for professional-looking royalty-free photos. If you traverse across the internet, you’ve most likely noticed how most photos in popular Websites are from Unsplash. It’s no coincidence. It’s a great resource for finding photos for your blog posts, graphic design projects, or any project that requires nicely edited and professional-looking photos. Having Unsplash on your iPhone can prove helpful when you need to grab an image without so much effort.

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

4. Things 3

$9.99

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

Things 3 is a fantastic task manager that integrates very well into the Apple ecosystem. The app allows you to sort your tasks into projects, which can be further sorted into areas. Even better, you can drop your tasks into different categories with different functions, like “Today”, “Upcoming”, “Anytime”, or “Someday”.

Projects display a small progress pie-chart so that you can view your progress at a glance. Things 3 is designed to be simple and intuitive, which makes the process of storing and organizing tasks very easy.

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

5. VSCO

Free

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

When I’m writing a blog post I don’t always have the time to sit down and edit a featured image. VSCO’s presets and simple editing interface makes editing photos on the go pretty easy.

The presets are well crafted, and adding your touch on top of a preset is super easy. The featured image of this blog post was shot with an iPad Pro and edited on my iPhone 11 Pro using VSCO with the HB2-preset.

VSCO is definitely worth a try if you mind making your photos look a little bit professional!

6. Google Maps

Free

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

The quality (or lack thereof) of Apple Maps has been a heated debate for the past few years. If you are looking to have a much better experience, with fewer hiccups, more features, and a more reliable navigation system, you should definitely give Google Maps a try.

If you love biking, you should give Google Maps a serious look. The app has fantastic cycling routes, while Apple Maps doesn’t offer any. It’s crazy that an app as big as Apple Maps doesn’t offer the simple feature of bike routes. Google Maps is the the only app you’ll ever need.

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

7. Forest

$1.99

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

Keeping your hands off your iPhone when you need to focus can prove challenging. At times, we are required to physically limit our impulses, which Forest does in an enjoyable way. With Forest, you can set a timer in which you plant a tree, and if you leave the app the tree dies. This gives you the incentive to stay away from social media and other distractions. It’s not good to kill an innocent tree, right?

Every minute you spend in an active timer gets tracked in a virtual forest which gives you an overview of the time you’ve spent focusing. For each timers you complete, you are offered coins, which you can spend on various tree species, or even to plant a real tree through the organization Trees for the Future!

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

8. 1Password

$2.99/month

When it comes to password managers, 1Password is simply the best in the market. It does exactly what it describes, and it does it very well. The data you store in 1Password is end-to-end encrypted, so you can sleep well knowing you’re the only one with access to your information.

1Password can come in handy especially if you want to remember credit card information, passwords, or other information that you’d need ona daily basis.

Best iPhone apps to make your life easier
Best iPhone apps to make your life easier

And that covers everything about best iPhone apps to make your life easier. If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and comment with your app suggestions!

Which one of the above apps have you chosen? Do tell us about them and also let us know the names of the apps, which you think should be featured in this article.

Show Full Article

5 Best iPhone Productivity Apps in 2020

by GeeksModo Staff

Over the years here at GeeksModo, we’ve talked about plenty of iOS apps that you can use to improve your overall productivity. There are certain ones that many of our contributors and editors (past and present) have adopted over the long-term — there are always the stalwarts that stick around. But there are also new
productivity apps for iPhone
that emerge every day, adding more and more depth to the app category.

Some of iPhone productivity apps are incredibly basic and simple, while others are more robust and offer more features than you can shake a stick at. And everyone has the one they prefer.

It’s been our responsibility(and still is our responsibility) to keep abreast of all of the best iPhone productivity apps out there. As a result — and as a bit of a refresher — we’ve put together a list of 5 best iPhone productivity apps to make your day more productive, focused and entertaining

Best iPhone Productivity Apps 2020

Without any further ado, here are the best iOS productivity apps 2020.

1. Streaks

$4.99

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

Streaks is, while pricey, considered to be one of the (if not the) most robust and full-featured productivity apps for iPhone on the market. As far as getting into new habits is concern, some initial motivation is, in most cases, not enough to make you commit to them. For me, getting into an exercise routine and meeting my daily study goals were habits I wanted to build, but found it challenging to keep up… until I discovered the app Streaks.

On the surface, Streaks appears simple and plain, but beneath the straightforward landing screen, there are loads of features. Streaks allows users to create tasks and goals to achieve regularly (daily, or on certain days during the week). By keeping up your streaks, you’ll be less likely to break the habits you’re seeking to build. You can check your progress and reflect on what you need to do to improve your habits from the statistics screen.

The ultimate goal should be to not need Streaks at all since you want to get into a regular routine of getting things done. But it’s a great way to get into the mindset of building a lasting habit if you find it challenging to adopt one.

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

2. Audible

30 day free trial, then from $14.95/month

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

Audiobooks are becoming more and more common — and for good reason. You can listen to your favorite books any time and anywhere. As such, your are no longer limited by how much time you have during the day. Audible lets you absorb informationwhile also getting stuffs done, like doing the dishes, cleaning, or going for a walk.

Audible boasts a massive library of both books and podcasts, and you’ll be sure to find whatever book you need on Audible. For $14.95 a month you get One credit each month that you can redeem for any audiobook, irrespective of price, which is a great deal.

New users are offered one audiobook for free when they sign up for Audible membership.

If you join Audible, an expert tip is to slowly increase the speed at which you listen to books. At the beginning, I was listening at 1.0X speed and quickly found it way too slow, so over time I cranked it up to 1.8X which I find to be the most comfortable speed for getting through a book reasonably fast while still absorbing the knowledge.

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

3. Apollo

Free

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

Reddit is a fantastic source of meaningful discussion and entertaining content. In case you’ve never heard of Reddit (which is probably unlikely), it’s a forum platform where users can create forums or post in already existing ones. The topics range from tech news to the most niche subjects you’ve probably never heard about. Subreddits, as the forums are called, such as r/photoshopbattles or r/moviedetails are a good way to spend a few minutes to take your mind off a busy day.

If you’re a frequent Reddit user you may not have heard of an app called Apollo. Basically, Apollo is a Reddit client that enhances the experience of browsing Reddit greatly. With a an easy to navigate user interface, smooth comment sorting system, and many more features, you’ll want to use Apollo instead of the native Reddit app.

Best iPhone productivity apps

4. Calendar by 44

Free

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

I’ve tried dozens of calendar apps, and most of the time they are either too jam-packed with too much information going on at once or too bare-bones where I feel that they’re falling short of features. Calendar by 44 hits the sweet spot of being just in the middle.

Calendar by 44 is about being able to change your schedule without much effort on your side. It has a clean calendar view, and loads of features while still showing you only what you need to see. According to 44, the company behind the app, the goal of this app is for it to be used by only your thumb and to offer a simplistic take on the calendar.

It feels like Calendar by 44 shaves away the unnecessary details of some calendar apps and adds functions that others lack. It’s a fantastic combination of Gorgeous design and tremendous functionality, and definitely worth a try.

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

5. Hour Blocks

Free

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

I’ve been trying to move away from the to-do list and towards scheduling my tasks in a calendar, but I find there are advantages to both that partly get lost by only using one of the two systems. Hour Blocks offers a new take on your daily tasks.

By showing your tasks as a to-do list, but at the same time in a day-by-day format, Hour Blocks lets you enjoy both worlds. The app can come in handy when you want a very basic overview of what you need to get done. Having said that, I’m not sure if the app is ready to replace my to-do list app (or calendar for that matter) just yet, but it’s got huge potential of becoming a core part of my productivity arsenals. What separates Hour Block’sfrom the park is it’s clean user interface, which is lacking in many other scheduling-apps. With a clean and easy to navigate user interface, it achieves clarity when you might feel overwhelmed or busy.

If you’re looking for a free iPhone productivity apps, you should definitely give Hour Blocks a try.

Best iPhone Productivity Apps

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and comment if you have any good iOS productivity apps of your own!

Tag: Productivity
Show Full Article

5 Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone in 2020

by GeeksModo Staff

Well, I concede. I’m somewhat of an app junkie. But I’ll blame that on iOS being such a great operating system, partly due to the support for developers to make fantastic apps that makes our lives a little bit easier. With that in mind, let’s look at the best free productivity apps for iPhone in 2020. Enjoy!

Free productivity apps for iPhone

This list of free productivity apps for iPhone highlights only the very best in class based on our (the writers and editors at GeeksModo) experience with the platform and our knowledge of
productivity.

With that in mind, here are the Best free Productivity Apps for iPhone

1. Shift

Free

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

Shift is a bit of a niche app when it comes to workout apps for iOS. Basically, the app allows you to quickly switch between listening to podcasts when you’re resting between sets and listening to music while you’re working out. You just need to tap pause and it’ll switch over to the other mode. This app is a fantastic workout companion in the era of working out at home.

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

The app features one of the cleanest user interface of any app on the market. It’s incredibly easy to tune the timers for each mode, and the main screen simply features a toggle button between podcasts and music. One feature that I truly like about this app is that you can import podcasts from your favorite podcast player. I use Pocket Casts and the process of importing my podcast library was smooth and quick.

If you’re looking to make your workouts just a little more fun and focused, Shift might be the app you’ll ever need.

2. Collect

Free

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

Collect is a simple idea and image sharing platform created by WeTransfer. It allows users to save images, files, documents, and notes in board-style formats, and then share it with others in an easy way. It’s perfect for collaborative assignments or projects, particularly now that remote work is becoming the order of the day.

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

3. IFTTT

Free

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

IFTTT is one of the most interesting productivity and automating services available today. The service allows users to automate processes and link different apps and services together to customize and automate workflows. An example of an applet (IFTTT’s name for workflows) is one that turns your Philips Hue lights on at your porch when the pizza delivery from Dominoes is on its way.

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

IFTTT works by the simple formula “if X happens, Y will happen”. You set a trigger (pizza delivery on the way, for example), and then an action that will take place (Philips Hue lights turn on). As of 2020, IFTTT had over 500 connected services, so the supply of possible workflows is massive.

If you’re into smart homes and automation, IFTTT is definitely worth trying.

4. MindNode

Free

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

I’m a visual learner, so I’m generally a huge fan of mind-mapping software. when it comes to creating really Fantastic mind maps, MindNode is one of the best tool in the market . The free iOS version has limited features compared to the pro version or the macOS app, but it gets the job done if you simply want to quickly create a mind map.

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

5. Cardhop

$4.99Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

This is the only paid app in this list. If you’re looking to replace the native iOS apps with even better, third party apps, you should definitely try Cardhop. It’s a contacts app created by the company behind the fantastic calendar app Fantastical.

Just like Fantastical, Cardhop features a natural language input for search, adding and editing, and interacting with your contacts. The app gives you the ability to sort your contacts using groups (seriously, I don’t understand why Apple removed the group function for the iOS Contacts app!?) and Smart Groups. With Smart Groups, you can automatically group your contacts based on criteria that suits your needs, like contacts from a specific company or contacts that don’t have a listed birthday.

Best Free Productivity Apps for iPhone

Cardhop syncs with your iCloud contacts, so you don’t have to manually transfer your previously saved contacts to Cardhop. It’s the app
Apple
should’ve made, but choose not to.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and comment if you have any favorite free productivity apps for iPhone of your own!

Tag: Productivity
Show Full Article

4 Best Free iPhone Apps in 2020

by GeeksModo Staff

Your iPhone is only as great as the apps you have on it. Finding great apps on the App Store can be quite challenging, which is why I’ve compiled four best free iPhone apps for you to try. Enjoy!

Best Free iPhone Apps

1. Apollo for Reddit

Free

Best apps for iPhone

Reddit is a very useful platform of knowledge and opinion that I use on my
iPhone.
There are forums for everything, no matter how niche. Some of my favorite subreddits are r/Apple, r/iPhone, and r/iOS. Apollo is a Reddit client that works a lot better than the original Reddit app.

Ever since I discovered Apollo (which, ironically, was recommended to me by a Reddit app user,) I haven’t looked back. The app has a clean user interface, and navigating the app is far way easier when compared to Reddit app. The app allows you to choose between different app icons and themes for the app, as well as other cosmetic settings and usability features.

Best apps for iPhone

If you use Reddit, you should definitely give Apollo a try.

2. VSCO

Free

Best apps for iPhone

If you ever want to edit photos on your
iPhone
, VSCO might be the only app you’ll ever need. The app offers you multiple great-looking filters and a super simple yet functional editing tool which makes it the best photo editing app in the market.

If you don’t want to edit your photos manually, you can simply use one of the filters built into the app. With a tap, your photos can be transformed from boring to amazing.

Best apps for iPhone

In case you’re looking to touch up your photos in a simple way, VSCO is worth a serious look.

3. Fantastical

Free

Best apps for iPhone

The inbuilt iOS Calendar app is plain and not very feature-rich. I discovered Fantastical a few years ago and has used it as my default calendar app since. Fantastical not only looks better than the iCal app, but it offers fantastic features that’ll speed up your calendar workflows and make your life a little bit easier.

Best apps for iPhone

Fantastical offers support for “natural language input”, a feature which allows users to enter a calendar item (and all its information) in one single line. Let’s say you type “Pick up dry cleaning at 6 pm”, Fantastical automatically sets the title to “Pick up dry cleaning” and the time to 6 pm. As such, you don’t have to manually type in the information, but can instead treat Fantastical as an assistant that types it out for you.

4. Vellum

Free

Best apps for iPhone

You might already know that finding great wallpapers is not easy. Most of the wallpaper apps in the App Store are plain and barebones. I like having a completely black wallpaper on my home screen but something stunning to display on my lock screen. Vellum is a super unique wallpaper app that regularly curates high-quality wallpapers by incredibly talented graphic designers and artists.

Best apps for iPhone

I trust you enjoyed this quick list of four best iPhone apps. If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and comment with your own app suggestions!

Show Full Article