Two years ago, I haplessly expressed excitement about my task list manager of choice being updated soon.

Speaking of @culturedcode, looks like Things 3 is progressing nicely. Hope “more structure” is code for dependencies. pic.twitter.com/ctwycDyL1e

— Miloš Miljković (@Miljko) February 2, 2014

It hasn’t yet. Two iterations of iOS and an Apple Watch later, Things 3 is still not available, and I am becoming increasingly annoyed. Inside my mind, two kinds of costs—Ms. Sunken and Mr. Opportunity—are battling it out.

Mr. O has me thinking about time wasted on not being able to turn a next action into a project; or having to make too many taps to edit anything in the iOS app. And then I stress out even more contemplating all the features I don’t even know I’m missing out on—not wanting to find out about those is why I not dare read reviews of the competition.

Ms. S, meanwhile, is raising dread whenever I thinking about moving to Omnifocus, Taskpaper, or whatever the GTD app du jour is—knowing that I would be trading a set of known deficiencies for a potentially grater set of unfamiliar ones.

The mister and missus are irrational beings—even though Things 3 remains vaporware, there have been a few 2.x updates that iOS7-fied the experience—from going flat to adding extensions and notification center widgets. All that considered, I should not spend so much time thinking about an app.

And yet, it is 6pm on January 2, 2016, and instead of writing about getting back to the lab, finally finishing the PhD thesis, or being a haughty gastro-tourist in unseasonably warm New Orleans, I am being much too first-worldly for my Balkano-Serbian comfort.

Which I will add to the pile of absurd reasons for why I dislike Cultured Code.

First they came for the nerds.

Now they are coming for the doctors (see What’s New in Version 3.0.5). The makers of MedCalc, the best medical calculator app out there, explained what happend in detail¹. This was the rule they were supposedly infringing:

22.9 Apps that calculate medicinal dosages must be submitted by the manufacturer of those medications or recognized institutions such as hospitals, insurance companies, and universities.

Nevermind that many doctors view themselves as institutions—this is an idiotic rule. Is University of Baltimore, which has no biomedical science courses or programs, allowed to publish a drug dose calculator? Is GEICO?

The FDA has issued guidance for mobile medical apps. It specificaly allows calculators that use generally available formulas, and forbids apps which calculate radiation dosage, but does not mention drugs. Where, then, did this rule come from?

It is, of course, the same App store rules that allowed these pearls of quackery.

It’s madness, and it’s maddening.

In the olden days, back when I could keep all my photos on Facebook, photo management was simple. I didn’t have that many to begin with; the ones I did have were grouped around events—birthdays, vacations, etc—and easily organized into albums. I also didn’t care much for privacy, or backups.

Then two things happened: iPhone 4S, and Dora. Every day became a photo-op, with two cameras in our pockets ready to shoot. The DSLR was still there for big trips and Dora’s modeling yet another outrageously expensive dress. This gave us:

• hundred of new photos and hours of video each month coming from four different sources (our two iPhones, a Nikon DSLR, and friends with their own cameras);
• no time to sort them;
• more respect for privacy, but at the same time a need to share baby photos with everyone;
• panic attacks whenever I thought about having to organize the mess of file names, formats, storage, and backup solutions.

We needed a good method to collect all the photos, organize them for easy access, retrieve them quickly for show-off purposes, and back them up both locally and in the cloud.

Having children usually comes at a point in your life when you care less about money and more about your time—though your progeny will do their best to relinquish you of both. The willpower-depleting effects of a toddler’s tantrum are also well-documented. No surprise then that many of the tools listed below have at some point sponsored a certain Mac-centric podcast that has destroyed many family budgets³. No regrets, though—it all works.

Collecting, with Transporter Sync

For simplicity’s sake, I like systems with multiple inputs to have one central gathering node. Unfortunately, our only desktop computer is a ridiculously noisy four-year-old Windows PC which sits in a usually occupied guest bedroom. The fans that buzz with the sound of a thousand bumblebees instantly disqualify it from a job as a media server, so I had to use my Macbook Pro. Thanks to Transporter Sync, that was easier than I thought possible for an SSD-only machine.

Transporter, similarly to Dropbox, has an iOS app that automatically uploads new photos to a predetermined folder. Unlike Dropbox, there is no monthly subscription—you pay once for the device, and keep using it as long as the hard drive is working. It can also act as a NAS-lite—having access to the folders kept only on the remote hard drive without them occupying the limited space of an SSD, through a Transporter Library folder.

Organizing, with Hazel

A folder full of unsorted cryptically named JPEGs and RAWs is less than useful when your parents want to see all the photos from that trip to Naples back in January.

Enter Hazel, the Swiss army knife of file automation. With the rules I’ve set up, it renames photos based on the date and time taken, tags them according to the device that took them, and moves them to the proper Year/Month subfolder. It does the same with our DSLR’s RAW files, placing them in a separate folder. Since the laptop only has 256 Gb, it moves any files older that three months to Transporter Library, the “special” folder kept only on the external hard drive.

We therefore have the last three months’ worth of photos and videos organized by year and month on the laptop, and our entire collection on the external Transporter hard drive.

Access, with Picturelife

In theory, we could get to all those photos using the Transporter iOS app, but we’re not a masochists. It’s slow, ugly, and not meant for browsing media.

Thank FSM for Picturelife! It sucks up all our new photos and videos from the Transporter—though we’ve excluded RAW files since we do have to pay for all that data²—presents them in a nice web and mobile app interface whenever we want it, and can pass them on to Facebook, Shutterfly, Flickr, or wherever else we choose. It will also, from time to time, send you a “this day in the past” email, with photos taken years ago. When you have as many unprocessed photos as we do, it is a great discovery mechanism.

Did I mention it can send photos to Shutterfly with just a couple of clicks? I still have flashbacks of the last holiday season, progress bar dragging glacially, the upload finishing just in time for me to miss the shipping deadline. Good times.

Backup, with Backblaze and SuperDuper!

Keeping everything on the Transporter and Picturelife as on-site/off-site backups would probably be enough for some. Unfortunately, counting on a VC-backed company that might at any point pull an Everpix to hold all our photos does not seem optimal⁴.

Which is way Backblaze and SuperDuper! keep copies of all those photos as a part of my general backup system¹. If you have a Mac and an extra external hard drive, you should also turn on Time Machine. This way, there are three local copies of all the photos, RAWs, and videos (Transporter, SuperDuper! image, Time Machine), a cloud backup of the same (Backblaze), and an easily-accessible collection of JPGs and videos (Picturelife).

Setting this up is neither cheap nor simple⁵, but it gives you quick and easy access to all your photos, has several levels of backup, and—most importantly—requires little effort to maintain.

It is always a pain clicking on a link to a journal article only to hit a paywall. It’s doubly painful when I know I have institutional access via my library’s proxy server, but have to jump through hoops to get it: go to the library website, log in, copy and paste the article name or PMID into its PubMed search box, and finally download the PDF. Arduous, and—turns out—unnecessary.

Enter Alfred 2 workflows. Here’s a nice article I found on Twitter today. The NEJM link in the top right corner leads to an abstract, but I need a special archive subscription for the full PDF. No matter—I can just highlight the PMID and hit my special Alfred 2 keyboard combo:

Since I’m not already logged into the Welch library proxy, I hit a login wall. It’s nothing 1Password can’t solve, but you can also just type in your username and password yourself, like an animal.

And Bam! The ugly but magic button is where it should be. Your institution might have a prettier one.

To make it clear—this simple workflow will do a PubMed search of any selected text anywhere in OS X, all through your institutional proxy server. Finding an interesting reference while reading an article, highlighting its title, and hitting ^⎇⌘P to get to the PDF always feels like magic.

You can download the workflow here.

January 1st seemed to be a good day to install Brett Terpstra’s Slogger. Every night, its army of gnomes will go over my tweets, blog posts, completed to-dos, etc. and record them in a Day One journal entry. Not a replacement for a real journal, true, but better than anything I could do on my own.

It’s a Mac-only app that runs from the command line—not user friendly at all. Even so, the installation instructions are straightforward, with some caveats for the not-too-bright, like me:

• Plugin configuration is done in each individual plugin.rb file, not slogger_config.
• All config strings (URLs, file paths, usernames…) should be in quotes (“…”), even when in an array (i.e. in square brackets). The Twitter plugin instructions wrongly give an example without quotes.
• The Instapaper plugin doesn’t work since RSS feeds for folders are no longer supported. I’m still not switching to Pocket.
• You will need an IFTTT account to log your Facebook posts, using this recipe.
• Instructions for logging RunKeeper activity are convoluted, but work.

Slogger’s default time for sucking in your data is 11:50pm, when my laptop is usually in sleep mode. The scheduler should still be smart enough to start the app on wake-up. Nevertheless, it’s one more reason for me to get a used Mac Mini. In 2015, perhaps.

After 18 months of intensive use, here are some of the apps left standing on my iPad 3, sorted by category. I like to think I’m a semi-advanced user, so for some of them I have also listed simpler alternatives. It goes without saying that you should download all the free iWork and iLife apps.

Medicine

MKSAP 16

• For: all medicine residents
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free (if you bought online MKSAP access)

MKSAP question bank. No-brainer if you are studying for your internal medicine board or MOC exam. Less page-flipping and instant gratification. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow you to highlighting or annotate the explanations. Also, it can’t make custom quizzes, can’t review unanswered/wrong questions, and doesn’t allow you to copy any of the text to your notes. Lot’s of cants, but it’s the only MKSAP app available. Free if you purchase the electronic version of MKSAP 16.

Download MKSAP 16 from the app store here.

ACP Guidelines

• For: all interns
• Recommendation: ok, sort of
• Price: free

It seems like a good idea, and the content is great, but it is more of a branded PDF reader than anything else. Doesn’t have search or favorites, and you have to download each recommendation one by one. The download is fast, but good luck getting what you need without internet access. So, good for night-time reading, particularly if you’re an intern, but not a good POC tool.

Download ACP Guidelines from the app store here.

Stanford 25

• For: everyone
• Recommendation: just OK
• Price: free

If you haven’t heard of Stanford 25 before, see this TED talk and see the blog. It’s another good, if ugly, night table app.

Download Stanford 25 from the app store here.

Productivity

Things for iPad (or Omnifocus)

• For: everyone
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $19.99 for Things, $39.99 for OmniFocus

Whether you’re a GTD fan or not, this or it’s more powerful and more expensive sibling OmniFocus are a must-have for anyone shuffling between more than two areas of responsibility. It still hasn’t been updated for iOS 7, but is very functional. Only two missing features for me, really: there are no nested tasks/dependencies, and you can’t filter by more than one tag.

I’ve been thinking about switching to OmniFocus, but this works well enough for me that the hassle of complete overhauling my system wouldn’t be worth it. Not to mention the >100$ price tag.

Download Things for iPad from the app store here. You can find OmniFocus for iPad here.

Boxer

• For: everyone who gets more than 5 emails/day
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $0.99

The best mail client on the iPad. Apple’s Mail.app was OK until I realized I spent way too much time scrolling through my list of 20 IMAP folders whenever I wanted to move an email. Boxer works with Gmail, IMAP and Exchange accounts, has smart email sorting, and integrates with Sanebox.

Download Boxer here

Dropbox

• For: everyone
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free

If you use Dropbox on your PC—and you must—then this is a no-brainer.

Download Dropbox for iOS from the app store here

iThoughts HD

• For: nerds
• Recommendation: OK
• Price: $9.99 for either

I found Tony Buzan’s book on mind mapping as a first-year medical student and used the hell out of it for my biophysics, chemistry and genetics coursers. As the material got more complicated, shuffling huge stacks of A3 paper became unwieldy, so I went back to plain old Cornell notes for biochemistry et al. This app is what got me back to making maps, this time when writing review articles and planning out other research. Also good when contemplating the GTD 50,000 ft view.

Download iThoughts HD for iPad from the app store here. It’s prettier new cousin Mindnode 3 is available here

Calendars 5

• For: all busy overachievers
• Recommendation: ok
• Price: $6.99

The default calendar used to be ugly and impractical. With iOS 7 it’s just the latter. This is a good replacement. Fantastical for iPad would be nice, though.

Download Calendars 5 from the app store here.

Drafts

• For: advanced users
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $3.99

Quick note-taking and automation rolled into one. I use it as the default inbox for anything and everything, mainly by appending a dump.txt file in my Dropbox. There is a separate iPhone version that is just as useful.

Download Drafts for iPad from the app store here.

Pinner

• For: pack-rats
• Recommendation: ok
• Price: $1.99

Pinboard is an excellent almost-free bookmarking and discovery service. There are plenty of iPad clients available, but Pinner seemed to be the most cost-effective. I haven’t regretted the purchase.

Download Pinner from the app store here.

GW Mail

• For: anyone who is forced to use GroupWise
• Recommendation: meh
• Price: $9.99

I have to use GroupWise email for work. This is the only decent client I found for iOS. Stopped looking for a replacement since my last day of residency is less than six months away.

Download GW Mail here

Reading

Reeder 2

• For: serious feed readers
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $4.99

I’ve been using RSS feeds since the days of Bloglines (circa 2001) and switched to Google reader after the first big redesign. It’s sad that Google decided to murder it instead developing its potential as a social service. Feed wrangler is a good replacement, Feedly is a free one. Reeder 2 is the best iPad feed reader there is, and works well with both.

Download Reeder for iPad from the app store here.

Instapaper

• For: everyone who reads
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $3.99

If you read any text that’s longer than 500 words with any regularity, you need a service that will keep track of the articles and remove all the annoying cruft surrounding the text. Instapaper is the first one of its kind, and the best way to read articles on it is on an iPad.

Download Instapaper for iOS from the app store here.

NextDraft

• For: everyone
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free

Ten good articles hand-picked by an expert hand-picker and delivered (almost) every weekday. My only source of news for the past six months.

Download NextDraft from the app store here

ReadQuick

• For: dabblers
• Recommendation: ok
• Price: $4.99

The second book from Tony Buzan that I read was on speed reading. This app will flash words from any article you find online or in your Instapaper/Pocket queue one-by-one at a set rate. Good for those who are too lazy to swipe.

Download ReadQuick from the app store here

Writing

Day One

• For: everyone
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $4.99

A journaling app. I don’t use it for the Dear-Diary types of texts—though I have no doubt it would be perfect for that. Instead, I use it to keep an archive of meeting and lecture notes (usually started in Drafts and sent to Day One), with an occasional milestone in between. Feature request: multiple journals.

Download Day One for iOS from the app store here

Byword

• For: beginner iPad writers
• Recommendation: ok
• Price: $4.99

If you want to write a long text on an iPad and don’t need automation, text expansion et al. then this is the app for you.

Download Byword for iOS from the app store here

Editorial

• For: advanced users
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $4.99

If you want to write a long text on an iPad and like mucking about with workflows, text snippets and Python scripts—which I most certainly do—this is your only choice on any platform. This will become essential next July when I start my long commute.

Download Editorial from the app store here

Social

Twitterific 5 or Tweetbot

• For: everyone
• Recommendation: meh… you might want to wait for the newest version of Tweetbot to come out
• Price: $2.99 for Twitterrific, $2.99 for Tweetbot

If you are on Twitter—and if you are a physician you really should be—please get a decent iOS client. The official one is definitely not it. Tweetbot used to be until iOS 7 came and made it look and feel ancient. Twitterrific is a good—if slightly annoying—substitute, with the added benefit of being universal (i.e. iPhone and iPad with the same purchase). I’m using the old version of Tweetbot and waiting for the new one, since Twitterific tended to make a mess of my position in the stream.

Download Twitterrific 5 here and Tweetbot for iPad here

Facebook

• For: everyone who uses Facebook (why?)
• Recommendation: my wife likes it
• Price: free

OK, I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Download Facebook for iOS here

Skype

• For: everyone away from family
• Recommendation: OK
• Price: free

This is the international default for long-distance communication, I guess. It gets choppy and drains the battery, but it’s the only thing my mom knows how to use so I’m stuck with it.

Download Skype for iPad here

Games

Letterpress

• For: everyone who can spell
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free (with in-app purchase)

An excellent turn-based word game. The only multiplayer game I play with any regularity. You need an in-app purchase if you want to play more than two games at the same time, but it’s well worth it. I have five going on right now.

Download Letterpress here

10000000

• For: nerds
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $1.99

Bejeweled meets a 2D RPG. Hours of fun, even when you get to 100000000000 or however many points.

Download 100000000 here

Aquaria

• For: adventure gamers
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $4.99

A 2D side-scrolling action-adventure game set under the sea. At my pace I will finish it in about two years, but it’s great even in 15-minute increments.

Download Aquaria for iOS here

Shopping

Deliveries

• For: serious shoppers
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: $4.99

Forward an email containing a tracking number to a special email address. Boom, you can now track your package through this app, with push notifications if you’re into being interrupted whenever a case of -diapers- Wild Turkey is delivered to your front door.

Download Deliveries for iOS here

Eat24

• For: serious eaters
• Recommendation: OK
• Price: free

Good app for ordering food in the Baltimore area. Don’t know about rest of the country.

Download Eat24 for iPad here

Hipmunk

• For: world travelers
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free (you pay for the plane ticket, though)

The best flight comparison engine there is. Find the most affordable and least annoying plane route. Also does hotel rooms, which I haven’t tried.

Download Hipmunk for iOS here

Entertainment

Netflix

• For: everyone with a Netflix subscription
• Recommendation: OK
• Price: free

I have used this app exactly once, to watch a couple of episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while waiting for an Amtrak train. Well worth it, though.

Download Netflix for iOS here

AppleTV Remote

• For: everyone with an Apple TV
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free

I don’t have my original remote any more. We assume Dora ate it. This app is even better, since you don’t have to muck around with the tiny remote buttons when entering your wifi password or searching Netflix.

Download AppleTV Remote here

comiXology

• For: everyone who reads comics
• Recommendation: strong
• Price: free (the app, not the comics)

The only way to read comics on an iPad.

Download comiXology here