# Software/Apps You Love **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387 "2016-06-15T00:51:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/21 "2016-06-15T20:58:01Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Interesting. > > I’m trying to determine if this would be of use to me. When I’m dealing with text it’s usually a grant proposal or a book-length document and I typically use MS Word and Scrivener, respectively. Formatting is key for grant proposals and Scrivener is critical for organizing, storyboarding, outlining, editing, and exporting long texts into a format of my choosing (docX, .mobi, PDF, etc.) > > I don’t know if a plain text editor is more of a coder’s tool or something I would find use for as an all-purpose writer. I’m an author and I wrote a 970,000 word autobiography and then edited it to a 97,000 word memoir all in a text editor. Only tossed it into a word processor when it was down to tweaks and expansions, in order to add fonts and other formatting. (If I had the freedom to not use MS Word, or to care whether the final product looked good in MS Word, I might switch somewhat earlier but I detest Word in particular). What does Scrivener do for you? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/22 "2016-06-15T21:27:48Z")
I always used to say to my kids when they were writing homework, “content first, then formatting”, but in a modern word processor, style is part of structure. For example, when I write a report, or a user guide (in Word) I use Outline Mode - write the headings, then the subheadings, then the paragraph headings, etc - then fill in the content - but just deciding that something _is_ a heading is the same as formatting it as such. I wouldn’t recommend a plain text editor for most everyday writing purposes - plain text editing is mostly for geeks to open config files, or write scripts. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/23 "2016-06-15T22:10:55Z")
**Finale** (desktop pro music notation application) I use this app two or three days a week, preparing professional sheet music for the weekend service. For the most part, I am taking songs from the hymnal and rearranging them to fit on a single sheet and adding chord notations, along with any embellishments my wife wants to add. It’s like Photoshop for sheet music, with a steep learning curve and hundreds of fiddly little tweaks you can make, but it can handle symphonies and the output is the gold standard in the music publishing industry. Once you figure your way through the jungle (and get a small midi keyboard) it is a breeze to work with. **Forscore** (sheet music app for iPad) Beautiful app. I can put music on my iPad from any source, as long as it’s in PDF or some other reasonable format. I make all kinds of cat scratches on it using Apple Pencil, and I flip my pages using a bluetooth page turner I tap on with my foot. **Scanner Pro** (pdf scanner for iPad) An amazing photo copy app. Just photograph the document and it will do all of the stuff needed to de-skew and increase contrast. Very nice. It’s how I get much of my sheet music into Forscore. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/24 "2016-06-15T22:19:29Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I’m an author and I wrote a 970,000 word autobiography and then edited it to a 97,000 word memoir all in a text editor. Only tossed it into a word processor when it was down to tweaks and expansions, in order to add fonts and other formatting. (If I had the freedom to not use MS Word, or to care whether the final product looked good in MS Word, I might switch somewhat earlier but I detest Word in particular). > > What does Scrivener do for you? First: 970,000 words? :eek: I thought my first draft of 145,000 was bad. You must have editing powers from the gods. Have I told you about my Lord and Savior **Scrivener?** You’re either going to really regret asking me this or be glad you did. I made screenshots! Where to begin? It’s feature deep. I’ve been using it exclusively for a couple of years to write fiction and I still don’t know about everything it can do. My favorite features: 1. [Split screen mode](https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jrlj1kdj4b4esw/Screenshot%202016-06-15%2018.08.38.png?dl=0) - can do vertical or horizontal and adjust the spacing, and even hotkey save the spacing arrangements, so for example when I’m comparing two drafts I want an even 50/50 split screen but when I’m just dumping excerpts from my main text into a scrap file, I set it up at 1:3 or 1:4. You can compare any two documents, including the same document to itself. 2. [The binder and inspector panels](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ucb5rsl2ousuc5t/Screenshot%202016-06-15%2018.11.28.png?dl=0) - collapsible little panels to the left and right, respectively, the binder organizes your manuscript into separate documents - so I have a main MS folder which each has a respective chapter folder, which each has a respective scene doc, which only seems unnecessary if you don’t know how the Compile feature works. But I do. So it’s perfect, actually. The inspector panel has a notes section, including a space for synopsis (which shows up on your index cards on the Bulletin Board for an easy document summary when you’re storyboarding) it saves snapshots of your drafts, and it allows you to keep multiple notes, including notes for the entire MS, notes for that individual doc, and any other tab of notes you feel like creating (I have a notes tab for ‘‘Worldbuilding’’ for example.) You can also tag stuff and create custom labels for the individual docs. 1. [Compile](https://www.dropbox.com/s/syiwmu7sgj407hf/Screenshot%202016-06-15%2018.14.37.png?dl=0) - Scrivener is built not just for writing docs but for publishing them as well. So you can take anything you wrote and export it for any format (including standard publishing MS format) in any font with any chapter/chapter title/heading structure you want. So far my favorite use of this has been to create Kindle ebooks to share with my beta readers, complete with Index. 2. [Corkboard.](https://www.dropbox.com/s/rgdfsszwik30m2p/Screenshot%202016-06-15%2018.17.34.png?dl=0)Your manuscript, in a nutshell. Can easily rearrange sections by drag & drop and of course edit the synopsis text. I could go on. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/25 "2016-06-15T22:29:07Z")
Also, if you don’t love purple, that’s not default – everything is customizable including the color and default settings for the editor. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/26 "2016-06-16T02:31:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I always used to say to my kids when they were writing homework, “content first, then formatting”, but in a modern word processor, style is part of structure. > … > I wouldn’t recommend a plain text editor for most everyday writing purposes - plain text editing is mostly for geeks to open config files, or write scripts. I’ve gone back to using a plain text editor as my first tool of choice for just about any writing (even for forum posts, sometimes). Word Processors are too distracting. I may not actually _be_ a perfectionist, but I _try_ to be a perfectionist and instead of concentrating on my writing, I tend to place too much focus on presentation style. I learned to type on typewriters because I was too poor to own a printer and I’m not even sure there were printers for my 2KB [TRS-80 MC-10](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_MC-10). My typewriter wasn’t a fancy, correcting IBM Selectric something or other; it was a Royal with fabric ribbon and heavy, manual keys, and it caused me to write well the _first_ time. Going back to my archaic, formative habits has been a major productivity booster for me. Also, when I’m on Windows, yup, NotePad++ is my go to tool (BBEdit on my Mac, of course!) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/27 "2016-06-16T03:28:54Z")
My own list: •QuicKeys (macro app) • GraphicConverter (for everything up until I need Photoshop) • Photosweeper Lite (for identifying and getting rid of duplicate pix that may not have duplicate names) • GrandPerspective (what’s eating up space on the hard drive and where does it hide?) • Toast (so much nicer than the silly built-in “burn folders” thingie) • Timbuktu (yeesh what am I going to do now that they’ve folded? freaking TeamViewer?) • Audio Hijack Pro ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/28 "2016-06-16T06:31:56Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’ve gone back to using a plain text editor as my first tool of choice for just about any writing (even for forum posts, sometimes). Word Processors are too distracting. I may not actually _be_ a perfectionist, but I _try_ to be a perfectionist and instead of concentrating on my writing, I tend to place too much focus on presentation style. > > I learned to type on typewriters because I was too poor to own a printer and I’m not even sure there were printers for my 2KB [TRS-80 MC-10](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_MC-10). My typewriter wasn’t a fancy, correcting IBM Selectric something or other; it was a Royal with fabric ribbon and heavy, manual keys, and it caused me to write well the _first_ time. > > Going back to my archaic, formative habits has been a major productivity booster for me. > > Also, when I’m on Windows, yup, NotePad++ is my go to tool (BBEdit on my Mac, of course!) This is an interesting discussion which I would like to continue - but to avoid hijacking this thread, I’ve spun off another: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=795896](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=795896) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/29 "2016-06-16T14:49:38Z")
AutoHotkey - If you do repetitive steps in Windows, this is a huge time-saver. For example, if you use a computer to interface with scientific instrumentation that is used for repetitive work (connect to sensor, read sample, output data, input data into Excel, use Excel macro to massage data, repeat 100 more times), you cannot live without it (there are other macro tools but I believe this has the best documentation and user support). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/30 "2016-06-16T15:31:41Z")
Maybe this is stretching the notion of “app” all to hell and gone, but… Adobe Creative Suite. Just gets better with every update, with the mega-leap of fully integrating all the major tools several years ago. It’s even affordable to mere mortals these days. Very small stuff? EverNote and Trillian. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/31 "2016-06-16T15:38:55Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’ve heard great things about this. Is it just a calorie tracker or does it manage daily goals as well? Like right now in my life I’m nowhere in the neighborhood of nearly ready to start restricting my calories. I just achieved ‘‘eating regular meals.’’ Like my next step would be making more of those meals home-cooked and less of them eating out. Drinking more water. Taking a few supplements. When I started with it, I just followed prompts to enter my current stats and goals, and it provided a daily calorie goal with a bunch of nutrition details behind it. It’s free. Install it and see if it can help you. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/32 "2016-06-16T17:10:18Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > • Photosweeper Lite (for identifying and getting rid of duplicate pix that may not have duplicate names) Damn, I could use that…but it’s a Mac app. Is there anything similar for Win7 that does the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/33 "2016-06-16T19:46:49Z")
I second VLC media player… it is the second thing I install on a new pc (first being an antivirus of some sort). Then I grab [http://www.irfanview.com/](http://www.irfanview.com/) for my photo needs. It’s free, has drop and drag capability (I learned on [ImageMagick](http://transloadit.imagemagick.org/MagickStudio/scripts/MagickStudio.cgi) which requires you inputting coordinates) and does just about everything IM can do but quicker (I still use IM for compositing or making a .gif). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/34 "2016-06-19T02:57:50Z")
I use the [LeechBlock](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock/) add-on in Firefox to limit my online timewasting at work. You can use it to block sites during part of the day (e.g. from 9am-5pm), after a certain amount of time (e.g. 15 minutes), or both (you’re allowed only 15 minutes on the site between 9am-5pm). I set things up to allow myself only a brief social media break and brief reading the news break during work hours. I also blocked games and the SDMB altogether during work hours. LeechBlock can be circumvented fairly easily so it wouldn’t be much good at preventing kids from accessing sites they’re not supposed to be on, but it’s great if you need a little help limited your time on certain sites. Can anyone recommend a good timer? I’ve also been using the Simple Timer add-on to remind me to get up from my desk and stretch regularly, but it seems to no longer be available and has become erratic since I last updated Firefox. There seem to be plenty of other timers out there, but most do not seem to have the features I want. I want to be able to set it to run for 45 minutes (work time) and then 5 minutes (break time) and save this setting. I want a visible countdown that’s easy to read so I know how much time I have left. I’d also like it to have a noticeable but not too obnoxious pop-up notification when time is up, preferably one that doesn’t go away until I click on it. If I’m focused on something I tend not to even notice a pop-up that only appears for a few seconds and then goes away. > [@Crotalus](#): > > [My Fitness Pal](https://www.myfitnesspal.com/). When I decided to lose weight about a year and a half ago, I searched in the app store for an app to keep track of calories. I don’t recall what, besides it being free, made this one stand out from the others, but I chose it and began using it consistently. Forty pounds later, I still use it every day. I’ve been using it for about three and a half years now and it has been very helpful for me as well. It took me a little more than two years to lose the weight – over 50 lbs! – and I’ve kept it off so far. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387/35 "2016-06-19T21:46:00Z")
**MediaMonkey** - A while back, I decided to finally rip all my old audio CDs (hundreds of them) to digital files. For each song, I wanted a FLAC copy for archiving and an MP3 copy for general listening. I used EAC for a bit and it’s a good program (and free), but MediaMonkey has an interface that’s a bit easier/quicker to use and for the amount of ripping I was going to do it was worth it to pay the $30 for the unlimited version. It also searches online databases to add metadata (cover art, album, artist, studio, year, etc.). I’ve been ripping the CDs a little at a time, but I’m nearing the end–only a few more to go! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-apps-you-love/757387.md?page=1)