# Which apps do I use?

> Peter on Discord wonders 'what apps I use to organise yourself, your website, and your business?'

> 18/31 daily posts as part of [WeblogPoMo2024](https://weblog.anniegreens.lol/weblog-posting-month-2024). Expect (and forgive) more words and less editing.

Peter asks on Discord, [what apps do you use to organise yourself and your website and your business life?](https://discord.com/channels/822215537589354566/822216448268697698/1240989030879854672)

I'm in-between tools at the moment; part of the '[organisational bankruptcy](/22.00.0044/)'. But I'll give a run-down of what I've used in the past, and where I'm leaning for the future.

## Notes apps

I've always preferred the really simple style of note-taking app that I think was popularised/invented by the legendary [Notational Velocity](https://notational.net), which was forked to the also-legendary [nvALT](https://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/). The former dates back to 2009.

They have a list of notes, and a search box. Typing in the search box instantly – and _instantly_ is really important – filters the list of notes that you see to only include those that match the search.

That's it. That's the feature. Anything else is a bonus: any sort of folders, tags, whatever. You don't need anything else. You just need text search.

<JDImage
  alt="A screenshot of nvALT. At the top is a search bar. Then a list of notes. Then the selected note. Just in one column. That's it."
  folder="blog"
  src="0049A-Nvalt_startup-397x518.png"
  width={397}
  height={518}
  caption="I'm not kidding – this is the whole app"
/>

This works amazingly well with Johnny.Decimal because your numbers provide a really powerful built-in filtering feature. Want to search for `melbourne` but only inside your category `16 Travel`? Well then search for `16. melbourne`.

### ResophNotes

There was a clone for Windows: ResophNotes. [Slightly different layout](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=resophnotes&ia=images&iax=images), exactly the same features. Which is to say, no features.

Alas as of last month (April '24), the website is offline. It had a good run.

### RIP nvALT

Nothing good lasts forever, and nvALT is also no longer maintained. It's tough being a notes app.

### Bear

Enter Bear. By now I guess a decade old,[^research] it's one of the most respected Mac notes apps.

It has a ton of features but what I love about it is that most of them stay out of the way until you need them. This is important because...

### I seek simplicity

This is my job now, and people look to me for recommendations. So part of my new thinking is that I want to be using the simplest apps that _anyone can use._

If you're reading this you've probably heard of Obsidian. I don't use it. Because the first time I opened it I thought, _whoa, this is complex,_ and I closed it immediately.

There is no way that your average person is going to use Obsidian. I'd be bad at my job if I suggested that they do so.

And I believe that my system will be better, more focused, more deeply considered, if I'm not leaning on some obscure Obsidian plug-in to get something done. No. You can do everything you need to do with nvALT. And if you _want_ to write yourself a plug-in, go nuts. I'm not going to discourage you.

Currently, Bear is in that sweet-spot. It has an amazing sync service and native, beautiful apps for every Apple platform. It's very reasonably priced. It's well supported and has a secure future. It doesn't lock you in: you can export all of your stuff whenever you want.[^database]

You should probably use Bear.

## To-do apps

For a long time [I used OmniFocus](https://theomnishow.omnigroup.com/episode/how-johnny-decimal-noble-uses-omni-software/). And really heavily: I replicated my Johnny.Decimal structure entirely in the app, every ID having its own project.

This works really well. But I don't do it any more.

I'm not sure why. I think I just got sick of having so many 'to-dos' that were never getting done. It was making me feel bad.

I think my job was _really_ hectic at the time. So I'd come home and have all of these tasks and maybe I just rejected it.

I don't actually enjoy being task-list driven. I usually have a sense of what needs to be done. Maybe I'll plan a thing out on [paper](/22.00.0033/).

### Due

One app that I can't live without is [Due](https://www.dueapp.com).

It has one killer feature: it nags you, forever, until you tell it to stop. Over and over. This makes it basically impossible to forget to do a thing.

I use it sparingly, for what I call `P1` tasks in [this post](/22.00.0034/).

### Apple Reminders

We're a HomePod house. The kitchen has a stereo pair of the big ones, and the office and bedroom have a mini each.

This makes shouting 'hey Siri, remind me to do a thing' _really_ convenient. Mostly for this reason – I think the app is garbage – I use Reminders.

Also see above re: simplest tools. But this **is not** a recommendation at this point. I need to consider this and get back to you.

### Fantastical

I almost forgot Fantastical! I use this to interact with my reminders more than I do Reminders. Great app, indispensable, worth every penny of the subscription. It's how I use my calendar, 100%. Never open Apple's _Calendar_ ever.

## This is all up in the air

That'll do for now, because 10% of my daily thinking currently goes towards this problem. I'll have properly thought out recommendations and strategies for each of these classes of app later this year.

[^research]: I'm not going to research all of this data, this is just off the top of my head.

[^database]: Some will say that the fact that Bear even _uses_ its own proprietary database of notes – vs. storing your stuff as hand-written parchment in your underground bunker – is a deal-breaker. I think those people have perhaps strayed too far over in to idealism.