15 Most Useful Tools for Software Devs in 2021

This post was inspired by Wes Bos and his brilliant project - https://uses.tech/ in which I recently participated. So, today, I would like to tell you about some tools and software that I use on a daily basis. Here we go, Top 15 Most Useful Tools in 2021.

1) Notion

I would like to start with Notion, which is almost an ideal tool for organizing things. It feels like Evernote on steroids. I could definitely recommend a Notion to anyone who likes planning and getting duck in a row.

https://www.notion.so/

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

2) Todoist

Simply the best todo app that I have ever tried so far. Runners-up: Google Tasks, Things, Microsoft Todo.

https://todoist.com/

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

3) Spark

I never really liked the standard Gmail app. I mean, it is ok, and I use it a lot, but on the other hand, I was always looking for a better alternative. I did use Newton for a couple of years, but then it became paid, and I switched to Spark. That decision was just right.

https://sparkmailapp.com/

Mobile / Desktop

Free

4) Endel

For me, the Endel was an absolutely surprising and unexpected choice since I have never used any musical apps on a daily basis. Well-designed, energetic, but calming.

https://endel.io/

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

5) Grammarly

Grammarly improves the quality of my texts by a lot. Must have for writers. Even the free version (that I actually use) is very impressive.

https://www.grammarly.com/

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

6) Pocket

A Pocket is an ultimate tool for saving things for later. I have been using it for years.

https://getpocket.com/

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

7) VS Code

The one IDE to rule them all, I guess?

https://code.visualstudio.com/

Desktop

Free

8) Nova

A new trendy IDE from creators of Coda. Quite pricey, but absolutely adorable.

https://nova.app/

Desktop

Paid

9) Pocket Casts

I truly like podcasts, and I have tried a lot of podcast apps, like Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and so on. Anyway, I feel that the Pocket Casts app is the most elegant, simple, and powerful.

https://www.pocketcasts.com/

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

10) Transmit

"The gold standard of macOS file transfer apps" - as it described on its official website. By the way, it is made by the same company that created Nova.

https://panic.com/transmit/

Desktop

Paid

11) OneNote

One of the best applications for handwriting on a tablet. A little bit too high an entry barrier at the beginning, but it is worth it.

https://www.onenote.com/

Mobile / Desktop

Free

12) Strava

It is time for coming out. I am a statistics nerd, so I really love this kind of apps allowing you to record and store training data. Strava goes even further, it is more like Instagram for sports, not one more boring stats app.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/42251423

Mobile / Desktop

Free / Paid

13) Telegram

The better WhatsApp.

https://web.telegram.org

Mobile / Desktop

Free

14) Calendars 5

Respectively, the best calendar app. Unfortunately not available for desktop.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calendars-5-by-readdle/id697927927

Mobile

Free / Paid

15) Tweetbot

I am an old user of Tweetbot, the first time I heard about it in 2011. I still have not found anything better.

https://tapbots.com/tweetbot/mac/

Mobile

Paid

Also published on dev.to

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