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Reeder 2.1 now out

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You can argue whether this is screamingly productive of me or not, but I use Reeder perhaps forty times a day. In case you don't know it, Reeder is a newsreader so when I have a moment standing by my kettle, I'll flick through headlines and read articles there. At least it's quicker than going to each of the 200-odd news sites I read. And definitely quicker than going to them and finding that nope, they don't have any new news since the last time I checked them three minutes ago.

There are many newsreaders: just search the App Store for the phrase 'RSS' as it's that little-used Really Simple Syndication that powers them all. RSS makes news come to us and I can't fathom why it hasn't taken over the world.

But I got into it very many years ago and have used very many RSS apps yet now it would take primacord explosive wrapped around my waist to make me stop using this particular one. Reeder is that good. It used to be even better when there was an iPhone, an iPad and a Mac version and it will be better again in the same way. Some day. Hopefully soon.

In the meantime, Reeder was updated for iOS 7 while I was away on holiday and I bought the new version immediately. You and I hadn't met on here then or I'd have rushed to enthuse about it to you. Instead, I had to tell everyone in earshot and they all looked like thank you, yes, that's really great, William, whatever makes you happy.

Now that you're here and version 2.1 has just this minute dropped on the App Store, let me enthuse about it live. Here's the only bit you really need to know, here's the App Store link: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/reeder-2/id697846300?mt=8

But I'd also like you to know that among the myriad bug fixes and semi-demi-myriad new features, there is a particular fix I am going to enjoy. Recently when you ran Reeder in the iPhone and there was a new story with an embedded video, no power on Earth would make that play in landscape. It as solely in portrait. This was the only thing that ever made me think I preferred the previous version of Reeder. But now it's apparently fixed. At least on the iPhone it is.

I say apparently because that's how quickly I've rushed the news to you: the update dropped this minute, this moment, and as we've been speaking, the app has been updating itself on my iPhone. Off to watch some video landscape and also to go get it all for my iPad.

Time magazine: “5 Things Zapping your Company’s Productivity”

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Is it possible to give you half a link? I want to recommend Time magazine to you: I have it in my RSS feed and it's a regular, meaty read. I find I enjoy it online vastly more than I do on paper: the magazine has such a small size and thin paperstock that it doesn't physically feel like the quality read it really is.

Or rather, that it usually is. Today there's an article on the things that stop people in offices being productive and it's okay: it's certainly worth a skim. But it's a bit thin and it's all a bit obvious too. We all think things are obvious when we already know them so maybe it's just that they happen to hit things I've come across. Maybe the five will include one you've not thought of.

So for that reason but more for saying 'ere, this is usually a very good read, here's Time magazine's article on the 5 Things Zapping Your Company's Productivity: http://business.time.com/2013/11/25/5-things-zapping-your-companys-productivity/

Tremendous new book about mastering email

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My own book, The Blank Screen, has plenty about when and how to use email so that you get what you want – at least a lot more of the time. And so that you get a lot more time for writing. But David Sparks has just published an entire iBook on emails and it is first class.

I've had email for thirty years and yet before I'd read two chapters of this, he'd changed my mind about the whole thing. I stopped reading long enough to do what he says and then I went right back to it.

Inevitably, there are whole sections that don't apply to everyone: I only use gmail when I have to, for instance, so I've no need of advice on how to make that a better experience. A shorter one, yes. (If you're a gmail fan then let me say first that I know it's very good, I just got burnt with trivial problems that left a bad taste. And since I get such a lot of strong, hassle-free use from Apple's own Mail app, I've not been compelled to try again. Then let me say second and more usefully, you in particular should get this book because it's got oodles of advice on gmail.)

There shouldn't be all that much you can say about email yet it turns out that there is and it turns out to be a very entertaining read. You can hear a lot on the same topic by the same man in the Mac Power Users podcast he does with Katie Floyd but just buy the book. Here's a link to the specific MPU episode: http://www.macpowerusers.com/2013/11/17/mac-power-users-164-tackling-email/

He does say in that podcast that there is a PDF version: listen to it for brief details of that. Otherwise, Email: a MacSparky Field Guide by David Sparks is an iBooks exclusive that you can get here:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/email/id743560201?mt=11&uo=4

 

Time out: best recipe app for iOS

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The thing that shocked me about being productive is that I sometimes got to stop and look around. To take the odd evening off. And even, whisper it, to cook. You can't be a writer with an interest in food and at least a couple of iOS devices without hankering after recipe apps and the new site The Sweet Setup has just covered what it calls the best one.

I don't doubt it. The Sweet Setup is a guide to the best apps in any category. Not new, not necessarily updated, just the best and usually proven over time. The Sweet Setup is so new that I'm still pretending to try it out: in my head, it's on notice until I've tried some of its recommendations, but in my heart, I'm sold. This is the Wirecutter of app advice and I agree with its recipe choice.

Actually, with its recipe choices, plural. Because I like the runner-up too.

The Sweet Setup says Paprika is the bee's knees and Basil is the bee's, what, foot? Toes? Have a look at their extensive breakdown of what these two apps do and why they're the ones to buy:

http://thesweetsetup.com/apps/best-recipe-manager-ios-mac/

Grab quickly: TextEver Pro free for today only

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Don’t read this, go straight to the iOS app store and get TextEver Pro while it’s free: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textever-pro-take-evernote/id542597312?mt=8

But hurry. Seriously, hurry: it’s free there for today only and the day is ticking away like mad.

TextEver Pro is a universal app for both iPhone and iPad which usually costs £1.99 or  $2.99 (though, confusingly, the price varies a lot and there are different editions just to throw you). It’s similar to Drafts in that it is a notebook app that opens up ready for you to start writing immediately. However, it’s keyed in to your Evernote account so it’s really a rapid way of creating notes and doing some quick editing of recent ones.

I’ve found it slightly confusing: I want to be able to knock up a note swiftly and I particularly like that it has one-tap buttons for adding the date or the time but once I’m done, I’m done. I want it saved. So far I’m really not clear when the note goes away and when you can carry on editing it or when you can call up a recent one.

You can set a passcode on it but that seems to me to add a beat longer and, if not defeat, then at least nobble the purpose. Plus, if it can recall older Evernote notes to edit, then unless I add a passcode to TextEver Pro, I’m losing the whole benefit of having one on Evernote itself.

Nonetheless, it’s here and it’s free: I’ve grabbed it for both iPhone and iPad. And I like it enough so far that I’ve added it to Launch Centre Pro.

William

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Bad Days

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When you’re under so much pressure from deadlines that you have to hold your chest. When you’re so lost for which urgent project to start next. The last thing you need is a book to read. But the first thing you need is a chapter.

Take a look at the free sample chapter from The Blank Screen book. If things are really bad today, just read the first page and do what it says. Then come back to the rest when you have time. It will help you.

Here’s the free PDF of Bad Days from The Blank Screen: http://theblankscreen.co.uk/sample/TheBlankScreen_BadDays.pdf

If you’ve read that and you’re looking for the whole book, here’s what you need to know: the UK paperback is right here, the US paperback is waiting thisaway – and there are also UK Kindle and US Kindle editions.

But think about the book later. For now, we need to get you working.

William