[Editor’s note: We asked our writers and editors to name the iOS or Android productivity tools they can’t live without.]
Pocket: I make sure to read a lot of ZDNet’s articles first each day.
For me, mobile productivity isn’t just about the tools I use when away from home, it’s about the tools I use while working from home. I work from home and have a workshop and a studio here. I grab my iPhone 6s Plus and carry it everywhere and use it to get my daily work done.
Here are a few apps I can’t work without.
Free, in Google Play Store and iTunes Store
I probably spend more time in Pocket (both on the Web and on my phone) than any other app. Since my job requires me to be informed about the latest tech, policy, and security issues, I have to read constantly.
I read 30-50 articles a day, every day and I do most of it in Pocket. I first scan all my news sources and then later, throughout the day, read the items Pocket has saved for me. I could be at lunch, on the couch, out somewhere, or even in the privy. No matter what, I can continue my daily reading.
MakerBot printing a Dalek
Workshop tools
I’m going to combine three apps for this. When I work in the shop on 3D printing projects, I have three go-to tools I use. Both the MakerBot app and the OctoPrint app present video images of what’s being printed. The OctoPrint app is really a saved Safari page on my launcher using the TouchUI plugin, but it works exceptionally well.
The OctoPrint app lets me completely control the printer from my phone and I use it as a console to load and unload filament. The MakerBot app allows me to monitor prints when away from home. And Smart Tools is a collection of meters and measuring devices in a single app.
Using iPhone 4K video to provide operator-free pan and zoom
iPhone 4K camera
When I bought the iPhone 6s Plus last year, I never expected to use 4K video. It’s now the killer app of the device. I use it to shoot all my 3D printing shop videos, and as this article shows, it allows me to do operator-free pan and zoom, which means I can shoot these videos at any time, and edit them as if I had a camera crew. It’s powerful as heck, but if you decide to do this, get a phone with a lot of memory. I bought the 128GB version last year and I’m definitely going for the 256GB version this year.
Our master coordination list for my daily work.
AnyList
AnyList is a list-making, shopping list app. It’s also the app my wife says is her primary reason for using the iPhone. She uses it to manage recipes and shopping lists and we use it together to manage household projects, various lists we need to share, and our food selections. Because it works virtually identically on the Web and the phone, it’s flexible, powerful, and consistent. But it’s iOS-only which means as long as we rely on AnyList, we’re sticking with the iPhone.
There you go. I use a lot of additional apps (Gmail, especially), but these are my on-the-phone killer apps. Stay tuned. We’ll have more killer apps from our top columnists coming soon.
Previously: Matthew Miller’s favorite mobile apps
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