Simple Solutions

For the last few weeks I’ve been trying, again, to find alternatives to apps I know actually do work well for me.

In the case of email I’ve tried native Gmail for my work mail, Outlook (work is moving to MS365) and Thunderbird. All failed to simply handle my email like Apple’s native email client does just fine, even if it is slower since MacOS 15.4.

Next, due to various IT restrictions, I experimented with a number of solutions for my to-do list, calendar and notes. The goal was to make them available both on my work-issued laptop as well as my phone where I often need to access information after hours.

I went through Google’s native solutions (we’re still on Workspace), Microsoft’s alternatives (we’re moving to MS365) and Notion, an app we rely on heavily at work. None of them simply handled the data like Apple’s native Notes, Reminders and Calendar app.

Today I’m back to what simply works, Apple’s apps. The biggest change is that I can no longer access this data on my phone and… fine. I’ll take data where I can use it at work, even if it isn’t on my phone, over data in apps that don’t work for me anywhere.

I would bet I have enough content for a full app review site, given all the things I’ve tried over the years. In the end, however, it’s always the simplest apps that win out for me.