The 10 apps I can’t live or work without – on Windows, Mac, and mobile

Each 5 years or so, I make a list of the apps I exploit most incessantly. It is all the time fascinating to see how the record has modified over time, and it normally says one thing in regards to the computing panorama. Once I did that train this yr, I used to be astonished on the adjustments.

Half of the apps I used five years ago are now not on my record in any respect in 2025. They have been changed, usually, by apps which can be tightly linked with web-based providers and cloud storage and may run on any desktop, laptop computer, or cell system.

Additionally: A decade of Windows 10: Chaos, Cortana, and conspiracy theories that never panned out

Seven of the ten apps I exploit on daily basis supply absolutely purposeful free variations, typically with paid choices to unlock further options or to take away some utilization limits. Of the eight apps I pay for, none nonetheless supply a conventional perpetual license, favoring a subscription mannequin as an alternative. I do know that is a hot-button problem for some readers, who’re adamant about their distaste for paying month-to-month or annual charges. I want the predictability of those arrangements as an alternative of the large jolt to the finances that comes with main upgrades. And I am additionally glad to assist unbiased builders.

The most important shock for me is how a lot much less I exploit the Microsoft 365 desktop apps (previously referred to as Microsoft Workplace). If it weren’t for Excel, I am unsure that I might nonetheless be keen to pay for my Microsoft 365 subscription. I’ve stopped utilizing OneNote utterly, and I exploit Phrase quite a bit lower than I used to. I lastly received bored with Quicken, Spotify, and Adobe Acrobat, all of which had simple replacements.

After all, this choice displays my work habits and my private preferences. Your wants are undoubtedly completely different, so your record will not be the identical as mine. I encourage you to share your favorites within the feedback part under.

1. Microsoft Edge 

A contemporary browser has one job: to render webpages that work as they had been designed to work. Given the realities of the fashionable net, meaning a browser that is primarily based on the de facto commonplace, utilizing code from the open-source Chromium project. For most individuals, the apparent alternative is Google’s Chrome browser, however you can even select one other Chromium-based browser: Microsoft Edge, or Brave, or Vivaldi, or one of these even more obscure options. I’ve used Microsoft’s model, Edge, for 5 years, and see no purpose to modify now.

Additionally: I made Microsoft Edge my default browser because of these three killer features

The present iteration of the Microsoft Edge browser is, so far as most web sites are involved, simply one other occasion of Google Chrome, with assist for all of the extensions written for that juggernaut. However three options which can be constructed into Edge are sufficient to make me comfy utilizing it as my default browser. Crucial is Monitoring Prevention (proven right here), which stops a good quantity of on-line surveillance and serves as an efficient advert blocker. I am unable to think about seeing this applied in Chrome.

The opposite two killer Edge options for me are vertical tabs, a function that makes it potential to differentiate what’s on every webpage even when you have dozens of tabs open, and the immersive reader, which strips away muddle from a web page so you may focus on the content material. (For extra particulars, see “I made Microsoft Edge my default browser because of these three killer features.” )

I nonetheless make a copy of Chrome put in on my Home windows desktop, however I hardly ever run right into a web page that requires me to modify. I additionally use Edge on my MacBook Professional and on iOS and Android, with historical past and favorites synced throughout all these platforms.

2. 1Password 

• Goal: Password administration
• Value: Subscription-based. Particular person, $3 a month; Household (5 customers), $5 a month; Group and Enterprise plans obtainable
• Information: 1Password

Once I arrange a brand new PC, Mac, or cell system, the very first thing I set up, with out exception, is the 1Password app and its companion browser extension. (For a full evaluation, see: 1Password: My favorite password manager is an essential security tool.) 

Additionally: I replaced my Microsoft account password with a passkey – and you should, too

It has each function you anticipate from this class of software program, together with a sturdy password generator that may create and save really random, unguessable credentials, assist for two-factor authentication, and the power to create and sync passkeys throughout a number of units. I’ve a household plan ($5 a month, billed yearly), which makes it simple for my spouse and me to maintain particular person credentials in addition to a shared vault for providers we entry with a single account.

1Password can also be obtainable as an app for iOS, Android, MacOS, and Home windows and makes use of the identical synced, encrypted database for all platforms.

I am comfy with permitting 1Password to retailer and sync my encrypted password information. As a result of it is a zero-knowledge structure, nobody on the firm has entry to the contents of these encrypted information; that information can solely be opened utilizing my distinctive native password, accompanied by the encryption key.)

3. Workona  

• Goal: Tab administration
• Value: Subscription-based. Free, with limits; Professional plan $7 a month, Group and Enterprise plans obtainable
• Information: Workona

By any cheap commonplace, I’ve too many browser tabs open proper now. However I do not care, as a result of I’ve a secret weapon that helps me maintain these tabs underneath management — a service referred to as Workona. I have been a paid subscriber for greater than 5 years, and it is grow to be an indispensable a part of my on-line toolkit (see “Too many browser tabs? This impressive extension is my favorite solution.”) 

Workona permits me to arrange tabs, bookmarks, notes, and duties into teams referred to as areas that sync throughout units; I can share areas with crew members, and join cloud-based productiveness providers (like Slack and GitHub) to increase the capabilities of an area. I apply it to Microsoft Edge, however it’s additionally obtainable as an extension on Chrome and Firefox on all main desktop platforms.

Additionally: I use Edge as my default browser – but its new AI mode is unreliable and annoying

The free version of Workona limits the variety of areas and assets you may create, however it is likely to be adequate in case your wants are modest. I pay $7 a month for a Professional plan that provides me limitless areas for a single person and some other useful features, resembling Google Drive integration. Group and Enterprise editions are additionally obtainable.

At any given time, I may need greater than a half-dozen areas open, every in its personal browser session. On Edge, these areas combine with tab teams, so I can shortly transfer tabs between areas. Better of all, if a browser crashes or I must restart my laptop, I can reopen all these tabs shortly with out dropping any work. I am unable to think about working with out it.

4. Obsidian

• Goal: Textual content editor 
• Value: Free, with subscription-based sync and publish choices obtainable
• Information: Obsidian 

For a few years, Microsoft Phrase was my primary textual content editor. It was completely important within the days when at the very least half of what I wrote was destined to be revealed in guide kind, with intensive formatting and a concentrate on web page structure. Today, although, nearly every little thing I write is revealed on-line — as a webpage or a publication. For these makes use of, Phrase is overkill, and its formatting is usually as a lot of a hindrance as a assist.

Additionally: Microsoft at 50: Its incredible rise, 15 lost years, and stunning comeback – in 4 charts

My longtime colleague Mary Jo Foley would little doubt recommend I exploit Notepad, however that is a bit too barebones for my style, even with recent feature additions. Which is why I now do most of my writing in Obsidian. This easy-to-use app, developed by a small team that began in 2020, makes use of the light-weight Markdown language to create structured paperwork with wealthy formatting that may be saved as textual content information. It is also an effective way to seize and retailer interview notes and snippets of analysis — it is utterly taken over that position from OneNote, one other Microsoft Workplace app I used for many years that I now not use usually.

I’ve mapped Obsidian hotkeys to some acquainted Phrase shortcuts, and I’ve additionally put in a plugin that provides outlining capabilities to my paperwork. It is all remarkably simple. (The Obsidian group has created thousands of plugins.)

Obsidian will not be open supply, however it has a sturdy plugin mannequin that permits third-party builders to increase its options. This system itself is free, with no limits. I pay $8 a month (billed yearly) for optional add-on services that permit me to sync as much as 10 vaults and 10 GB of storage throughout units, with a revision historical past of 12 months. There’s additionally an choice to make use of Obsidian as a back-end for a easy web site.

5. deck.blue

• Goal: Bluesky feed administration 
• Value: Free. Superior options obtainable with membership, $2 a month
• Information: deck.blue

Earlier than Twitter modified its identify and have become an arrogance challenge for the political obsessions of the world’s richest man, it was an important supply of data and a approach to construct communities. It was additionally a firehose of data, and the one smart approach to maintain observe of that torrent of tweets and threads and lists was with the assistance of an app like TweetDeck, which turned a subscribers-only function referred to as X Professional in 2023.

Additionally: How to migrate from X to Bluesky without losing your followers

I’ve since changed Twitter with Bluesky, which follows lots of the similar person expertise conventions nearly as good ol’ Twitter and might be simply as overwhelming. To get essentially the most worth out of Bluesky, it’s essential to comply with a whole bunch or 1000’s of accounts, which might flip your property web page right into a river that flows so quick no human can sustain utilizing the web-based app.

The answer is a third-party web-based app referred to as deck.blue, which helps you to slice and cube your feed into completely different views, every contained in its personal column. Like TweetDeck, it permits you to present lists in columns and has a sturdy set of choices for filtering undesirable content material. You’ll be able to run deck.blue in a browser or do as I do and set up it as a progressive net app. It is free, however I pay $2 a month for a membership that unlocks assist for a number of accounts; it additionally pays the developer, Gildásio Filho, for whom this can be a full-time job.

6. NewsBlur

• Goal: RSS reader
• Value: Free, open supply. Premium subscriptions, beginning at $36 a yr, unlock some superior options
• Information: NewsBlur

They advised you RSS was useless. I’m right here to let you know that is not precisely true. The RSS feed could be very a lot alive, albeit not fairly as vigorous as in its heyday, earlier than the Google Reader app was abruptly discontinued. (When you’ve by no means heard old-timers discuss of Google Reader, here is my obituary from 2013: Embrace, extend, extinguish: How Google crushed and abandoned the RSS industry)

RSS is brief for Actually Easy Syndication, an ordinary that permits publishers to create “feeds” you could learn in an app that understands RSS. Amazingly, many giant web sites nonetheless assist RSS, which makes cross-platform apps like NewsBlur extremely helpful. It is obtainable as an online app on the desktop and as a local app on iOS and Android, and its function record is genuinely spectacular.

I exploit NewsBlur to maintain observe of all kinds of data. The RSS feed for Microsoft’s Windows Blog, for instance, makes it simple to trace new Home windows Insider builds. To remain in contact with Apple information, I comply with John Gruber’s Daring Fireball. The New York Occasions and the Washington Submit have RSS feeds, and a few actually enlightened publishers like Talking Points Memo even have members-only feeds, so paying subscribers (like me) can learn posts in a local app as an alternative of subscribing to an electronic mail publication. That, to me, is the largest benefit of NewsBlur — serving to to maintain muddle out of my Inbox.

7. Microsoft Excel

• Goal: Charts, spreadsheets, and lists 
• Value: Included with Microsoft 365 Private, Household, and Enterprise subscriptions: $100 a yr and up
• Information: Microsoft 365

For greater than 25 years, the 4 desktop apps that make up the core of what was once Microsoft Workplace had been a completely important a part of my working day. (I even wrote a half-dozen books about them!) That has all modified prior to now few years.

Outlook (Traditional) continues to be the primary app I open within the morning, however Microsoft says I’m going to have to modify to Outlook (New) eventually, and with out making a gift of my emotions in regards to the substitute, I can let you know I’m wanting significantly at alternate options. I open Phrase a couple of times every week, principally for studies, letters, and invoices, and use Obsidian for every little thing else text-related. I sometimes stumble by means of PowerPoint a couple of times a yr, at most.

Additionally: How to create a drop-down list in Excel and save yourself hours of time

However I exploit Excel on daily basis. I exploit it to research information and create charts, like those on this article about why those “Windows 11 market share” numbers aren’t reliable. I exploit it for lists, easy and sophisticated, and to match merchandise earlier than making main purchases. I lastly received bored with utilizing Quicken and found out easy methods to maintain observe of my private and enterprise funds in a set of spreadsheets that may make my late father, a CPA, proud.

The web model of Excel is free, however I pay $12.50 a month for a Microsoft 365 Enterprise Customary subscription that features Excel and all the opposite desktop Workplace apps, plus an Change On-line license, and 1 TB of OneDrive for Enterprise storage.

8. VLC Media Participant

VLC Media Participant is a free, open supply software that may play almost any audio or video file, no matter its format. It has been round ceaselessly, maintained by the nonprofit VideoLAN organization, primarily based in France. I wrote about it almost a decade in the past, when it was one of the best free alternative DVD player available on the market, and as we speak it handles each bodily and streaming codecs with aplomb. It does not require downloading dodgy codec packs to work, and it runs on each conceivable platform.

I have never touched a DVD or a Blu-ray disk in ages, however I nonetheless have a set of saved video information, that I often wish to watch, and that is the best software for the job.

On Home windows PCs, make certain to obtain and set up the full Windows package. That model can also be available in the Microsoft Store; simply keep away from the outdated, limited-feature VLC UWP app. The best approach to set up it’s with the built-in winget bundle supervisor. When you’re comfy at a command line, simply kind this: winget set up videolan.vlc.

9. MediaMonkey 2024

• Goal: Music organizing and taking part in
• Value: Free; $40 improve to Gold version unlocks premium options
• Information: MediaMonkey

Regardless of the benefit of streaming tunes from providers like Apple Music and YouTube Music, I nonetheless have a considerable private music assortment in digital format. A few of the tracks in that assortment are copies ripped from outdated CDs that are not obtainable on any business service. Others are reside recordings, obtained straight from the artist or from authorized on-line providers and in addition unavailable for streaming. With slightly additional effort, I can add these information to the cloud, however I nonetheless should handle them regionally.

For these tunes, MediaMonkey 2024 (obtainable on Home windows and Android, however not MacOS or iOS) is an indispensable software. Its built-in participant handles nearly any audio or video file, together with lossless music tracks in FLAC and ALAC codecs, in a vogue that is extra organized than the one-track-at-a-time VLC. It may possibly rip CDs, stream music to exterior units, routinely tag MP3 information and add album artwork, and even sync tracks with my iPhone and Android units. The free Customary model is completely succesful, however I paid the $40 improve worth to take pleasure in quite a lot of very useful advanced features within the Gold version.

10. Snagit 2024

• Goal: Screenshots and display recordings
• Value: Subscription-based, $39 per yr
• Information: Snagit

Actually, I’m not certain after I started utilizing TechSmith’s Snagit to seize, crop, and annotate screens for my books and on-line posts. It was undoubtedly on the insistence of my guide writer within the earlier century (the corporate and its flagship product have been round since 1990), and it is among the only a few survivors from these years.

The nice of us at TechSmith have performed an important job of conserving that software program related greater than three many years later. Each new model will get a couple of new options, like the power to seize a fast display video for posting on-line. I am glad that I can save screenshots within the cloud service of my alternative, so I can discover that excellent screenshot with a fast search.

Snagit switched to a subscription mannequin a couple of years in the past. The default worth of $39 a yr, which permits a subscriber to run the software program on two units, is cheap. As a result of I purchased my licenses years in the past, I am locked right into a legacy plan that is a couple of third of that worth. I will not swap.