AppAddict Newsletter

Scrap Paper is the ultimate scratch pad for macOS and iOS. On the Mac it lives in the menu bar and can be brought to the front with a hotkey, giving you the same functionality as Raycast’s floating note. You can choose the text and background colors , as well as the font. You have the discretion to keep the open window on top of all other apps (recommended). When not in use, you just close the window and it keeps the content safe. You can export the text via the share sheet and because it’s text, you have access to tools like spelling and grammar, search and replace and even text to speech. You can even keep Scrap Paper synced between Macs and iOS with iCloud. I use the app a dozen or more times a day. You get all of this for $2.99 in the App Store.

If you’ve been on the Internet longer than about 15 minutes, you realize that there may, in fact, be people online who do not tell the truth. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Except this time, it’s true. Read the whole incredible offer on the website for the FreePrints app, which works with Google Photos and Apple’s Photos app, and delivers you up to 1,000 free prints a year and charges nothing more than $1.99 in shipping and handling when you order 4x6 prints.

WHAT DO I GET FOR FREE?

• Up to 85 free 4x6 prints per month
• Limit 1 free print per photo
• Up to 1,000 4x6 free prints per year

WHAT DO I PAY FOR?

• Additional 4x6 prints
• Other sizes — 5x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 12x18, 16x20, 20x30, Wallet
• FreePrints Shipping & handling — starts at $1.99, never more than $9.99, no matter how many prints you order

FreePrints on the App Store

Before Elon Musk ruined Twitter, in part by eliminating third-party apps, I was a big fan of Tweetbot. After the Twitter-pocalypse, I stayed away from social media for awhile (except for Reddit), until I found out that most of the tech folks I enjoyed following had moved over to Mastodon.  There are a variety of apps for accessing the network including a native app, Mona, Ice Cubes, Mammoth and Radiant but the one I chose was Ivory for Mastodon by Tapbots, the same developers behind Tweetbot.

Features include:

•  Beautiful design
•  Fast performance and  smooth scrolling
•  Many theme and app icon options
• Support for multiple accounts
•  Create and view content warnings
•  Create and participate in polls
•  Easily search for and post gifs
• Customizable push notifications and viewable notifications tab
• View post statistics for the day and graph for the week in the stats tab
• Powerful mute filters with regex support
•  Ability to follow hashtags
•  Bookmark posts to refer back to privately
•  View local and federated timelines as well as trending posts
•  Powerful timeline filters to quickly show/hide posts of different criteria
•  Never lose your place in the timeline across Ivory on multiple devices including iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Ivory for Mastodon on the App Store

If you are all in on the Apple ecosystem, you have plenty of choices for clipboard managers with iOS companions to simplify sharing between your Mac and your iOS device: PastePal (my favorite) and Paste.app are two well respected titles.

But what if you have to use a PC? Perhaps your job (like mine) requires you to use Windows. Maybe, for some strange reasons, you just plain out and out just like Windows more? What do you do about clipboard sharing with you iPhone then?

Luckily, there is a solution in Clipboard Fusion. (Web Site). The developer behind the app is so versatile that they actually make versions for macOS, Windows and iOS. I don’t use the Mac version, finding that PastePal has more features that I like. But, on my work PC, Clipboard Fusion is my app of choice to share my clipbaord with my iPhone. Its features include:

• Clipboard formatting
• Replacing clipboard text
• Hotkeys
• Macros
• Triggers
• Clipboard Palettes (saved clippings)
• Online Syncing (web version)
• 256 Bit Encryption

Clipboard Fusion on the App Store

If you enjoy investigating new apps, AppRaven acts as an interactive App Store for your browsing pleasure. Featuring full access to Apple’s App Store, it also includes user reviews with interactive feedback. The app runs on iPhone, iPad and macOS. Other features include:

• User curated app collections
• Charts for the most popular apps by category
• Lists of new releases
• The ability to follow your favorite developers
• The ability to follow certain categories of apps
• Notifications for free and reduced prices on apps
• App wish list with notifications for price drops
• Notifications for IAP price drops
• Detailed filtering to find just the apps you want
• Optional email notifications
• No ads or sponsored apps

AppRaven on the App Store 

Launcher is the king of widget apps. I use a launcher widget on my lock screen for ready access to my most used apps. I use multiple launcher widgets on my home screen to increase the number of apps above what iOS offers. Not only does Launcher open applications, it also allows you to create actions for specific messages, emails and social media entries. Launcher on the iOS App Store

Due is a hybrid of a reminders app and an alarm clock. You can set one time or persistent reminders for things like moving the trash to the curb, clocking in or out at work, changing the filter in your Britta, the time you need to make a phone call or visit someone’s office. You can’t ignore Due. It’s alarms repeat every minute on the minute until you turn them off, up to five times by default and configurable up to ten times. It also has reusable precise countdown timers for things you repeat constantly like brewing tea. It has natural language input capabilities. It’s a snap to set up a reminder on the fly. It cost $7.99 for all the features it has right now and has an IAP to insure your rights to upgrades. There is even a Mac app that syncs via iCloud. I’ve had Due on my homescreen since iOS 4. You should add it to yours.

Due in the iOS App Store

This one is on my wish list. I haven’t downloaded it yet. I hate relying on Google location for tracking because, well, Google. A problem with these types of apps is some of them are not that accurate and they can be real battery hogs. Based on the reviews (4,9 average on the App Store) this app has neither problem. The developer describes the app as “your companion for effortlessly tracking your daily adventures and transforming them into a captivating timeline of memories. Gain invaluable insights into how you spend your time with detailed time reports and dynamic charts that reveal highlights and trends with ease.” App Store Link

A primary concern for apps of this type is what they do with your data. The privacy policy states “Rond values your privacy and believes that your data belongs to you and you alone. Rond uses Core Data, which is supported by iOS, as its database to store your information. This means that all your data is stored only on your device. Even if you enable iCloud sync, your data will still be stored securely and encrypted on Apple’s servers, just like other native apps.”  Developer’s Web Site