Ask HN: What kind of personal software improved your life?
Users recommend software tools like Bitwarden, Google Photos, and Apple One for productivity. Fitness apps aid in customization, while meditation and learning tools are also highlighted. There's a call for integrated AI solutions.
The discussion highlights various software tools that users find beneficial in their daily lives, emphasizing their features and pricing. Notable mentions include Bitwarden, a password manager that offers both free and paid options; Google Photos, which helps manage storage for approximately $30 a year; and Apple One, a bundled service for $25 a month that includes music, arcade, iCloud, and TV. Fitness and health apps like Alpha Progression and Macrofactor are praised for their customization and effectiveness, with Macrofactor helping users track their diet and achieve weight loss goals. Meditation app The Way is noted for its straightforward approach, while Cursor is recognized for aiding learning in web development. Raycast is appreciated for its utility in accessing various tools quickly, and Obsidian is favored for note-taking and organization. The user expresses frustration over the abundance of software with limited feature sets, particularly in the context of AI tools, and mentions a preference for more integrated solutions. Overall, the thread serves as a resource for individuals seeking software that enhances productivity and well-being.
- Users recommend various software tools that improve productivity and well-being.
- Bitwarden, Google Photos, and Apple One are highlighted for their value and functionality.
- Fitness apps like Alpha Progression and Macrofactor assist in workout customization and diet tracking.
- The Way and Cursor are noted for their effectiveness in meditation and learning, respectively.
- Users express a desire for more integrated AI solutions amidst a crowded software market.
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15 comments(https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reflect-track-anything/id64638...)
For photography, Preview.app does nearly all my everyday chores. I use GIMP for anything more complex. I get such great results from Nikon jpegs that I haven't needed to do raw processing yet.
GIMP lets me adjust light along a curve, something that the old xv program did. It's really useful.
For music, I use ForScore. After countless years, I still haven't figured out all the gestures and such, but it does the job and almost all my music is either off copyright or scanned from my printed copies. The space and weight saving is enormous.
Others that have made minor improvements include a couple of image resizers (they change names), Clearview for epubs (Why Apple doesn't handle these natively and sends them all to the cloud/ibooks [1] astounds me.) Calibre helps with book conversion. And I rarely use others by comparison, besides the usual builtins.
[1] Anything "in the cloud" belongs to someone else. Disks are basically free. A Shugart 8" floppy cost $350 in 1984.
Microsoft Todo, a simple cross platform todo list app that is synced to the cloud and easily shared with family. We use it for grocery lists, packing lists, etc. Nice and free.
For hiking, AllTrails and Gaia. For mountain biking, Trailforks and MTB Project. For road biking, RideWithGPS.
For gaming, GeForce Now. This has totally replaced gaming PCs for me (way easier and cheaper).
Small utility apps for Mac: Lunar for brightness adjustments even on desktop monitors, Rectangle for better window management.
Google Photos works really well, been using that for decades. Maps too, especially with offline maps.
For vegetarian food while traveling, HappyCow.
For typing on a phone, Microsoft SwiftKey.
keybr.com - Retrained myself to type on an ortholinear ergo keyboard after 20+ years of bad habits and pecking at membrane keyboards. Went from frequent wrist pains and breaks needed, to being able to type for hours on end. I still take breaks, but not because of hand pain anymore. I used keybr.com to help retrain my typing skills in a few weeks
Rectangle - even though the latest macOS has window snapping, it did not for many, many years. I like how configurable this window snapper is, with hotkeys and customizable window sizes. Easily worth the $4 one-time charge
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Also - to each their own, but if you’re paying to meditate, you’re doing it wrong
- The mail is great, no ads etc. - I create email aliases for every site I visit, so I can kill spam by killing the alias. - Proton Pass is my password manager and alias creator/manager, better than bitwarden. - Plus 500Gb storage and Calendar.
Chrome web store dev subscription:
- Allows me to create browser extensions - Can make money from them
Wikipedia
- I usually donate - Good source of reading material/history
Claude/GitHub Copilot
- Fun for code
Apple Notes
- note taking - ideas etc
- Music: Windows Media Player, Spotify
- File Management: Syncthing, TreeSize
- Code: Vscode, Github Desktop
Bitwarden - same as notion, but for passwords.
Google Photos - same, for photos.
Obsidian is a markdown text editor and it is quite fun to take notes now.
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