Using Apps to Enhance Your Remote Work Experience

As you continue to work from home during this quarantine period, it's essential to explore new ways to stay productive and efficient. One app that stands out as a game-changer is OmniFocus. This task management app allows you to create a virtual sticky note system with colored circles at the top of the screen. Each circle can harbor different notes and be color-coded, making it easy to jump to the relevant note when needed. The app also offers support for markdown, takes advantage of dark mode, and is free in the Mac App Store.

For those who need a tool to help them focus during video calls or online meetings, Crisp is an innovative app that can mute background noise. This feature is especially useful if you live in a noisy household with family members or pets that can be distracting. With Crisp, you can flip a switch to cut out the background noise, allowing others on the call to focus solely on your voice. The app is available for both iOS and macOS devices.

When it comes to sharing large files with your team, File Mail offers secure file transfers with data encryption, virus scanning, and two-factor authentication for sensitive data. You can keep track of where your files have been sent and who has opened them, providing an added layer of security and transparency. The app is available as a web browser extension, desktop client, or mobile app.

For those looking to upgrade their workspace, there are several accessory recommendations that can enhance productivity and comfort. One tip is to take advantage of Apple's Sidecar feature, which allows you to extend your Mac desktop to an iPad wirelessly. This feature is especially useful for those who prefer working with multiple monitors. If you don't have a compatible device, other options like Duet Display or Luna Display can also be used.

Investing in a solid pair of noise-cancelling headphones can be a godsend when working from home. With the rise of background noise, it's easy to get distracted, but a good pair of headphones can help you focus. Some recommended models include the AirPods Pro, Beats Solo Pro, Bose HDS 100, and Sony WH-1000 Mark III.

A comfortable keyboard and mouse combination are also essential for remote workers. Logitech's Ergonomic line is a popular choice, including the MX Ergo Mouse with its trackball feature. This design helps prevent strain on your hands and wrists, promoting comfort and productivity. While it may take some time to get used to, this ergonomic design can be a game-changer for those who spend extended periods typing.

Finally, exploring new accessories and apps can help you streamline your workflow and stay organized. By investing in the right tools and technology, you can enhance your remote work experience and stay productive during this quarantine period. If you have any recommendations or favorite apps and accessories, please share them with us in the comments below.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enworking from home can be a wonderful and relaxing way to work unless you're not quite set up to make it happen seamlessly by now you probably have your work set up all ready to go but just in case you're still trying to find your footing we asked some of our viewers and readers what apps and accessories they use to make working from home a better experience before we get started be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video now a lot of the things mentioned in this video were recommended to us from you and I'll try to throw in a few things that I'm doing to help streamline my work from home setup but starting off with some apps we have the obvious Microsoft teams and slack for communicating with your team's at work but another helpful app is quit let's just say you're a heavy Salesforce user qyp helps bring slides sheets and chat for your team all with important data and Salesforce numbers built right in this eliminates having to bounce back and forth between websites and apps and just kind of gives you a one-stop shop for all of your work you can find quip on iOS and Mac OS and there are different pricing options for you and your team's needs another user recommendation is taught taught is meant to be a simple out of the way ready when you need it text aggregator for your notes and lists if you're a stickies person or maybe you use the actual stickies app on your Mac or you use TextEdit to write out a bunch of quick notes and text taht can replace all of that for you in one neat and tidy app each colored circle up at the top can harbor different notes and color coded so that you can easily jump to the appropriate note when you need it the app offers support for markdown takes advantage of dark mode and much more it's free in the Mac App Store if you want to give it a shot our next recommendation is one that I could not get a chance to test out but a couple of you swore by it and if the demo is true then this app could be a game-changer for some of you out there crisp which is spelt with the K can mute the background noise of your environment during a conference call so if your household has some noisy children constantly barking dogs or whatever the other day-to-day sounds might going on in your background just flip the mute switch and the app essentially cuts out all the background noise so that everyone else on the call can focus on you and hear you better I don't know how all of this works but it seems pretty incredible you can download the iOS app to call in for conference calls or zoom meeting calls and you'll be able to flip that switch whenever you need it or for video calls just download the Makah there are tons of file sharing services out there like Dropbox Google Drive a bunch of them but if you're looking for something new to use to share large files with your team maybe check out file mail file mail offers secure file transfers with data encryption virus scanning and two-factor authentication for your most sensitive data you can keep track of where your files have been sent and who opens it offers fast transfer speeds and can be downloaded through the web browser the desktop client or even on your phone the prices seem reasonable if working at home is what you're going to be doing for the next few months and you need something a little bit more streamlined and secure for file transferring maybe check out file mail now as far as accessories go the most common recommendations from everyone seem to be pretty common knowledge at this point but I'll go through some of them just in case the first tip that I can offer is if you're used to having multiple monitors and you happen to have an iPad handy take advantage of Apple's sidecar feature this feature on Mac OS lets you directly extend your Mac desktop to an iPad making it the perfect external wireless monitor it's kind of incredible how well it really does work especially wirelessly and if you have an iPad and a Mac that supports this feature I highly recommend trying it now if you do not have any devices that are compatible for this feature there are other ways to use your iPad as an external display like downloading the app duet display or Luna display we did make a video already on how Luna display works but if you're interested in checking that out you can click the link in the top right corner these next few tips are also pretty well known but still worth mentioning if you're now working from home a solid pair of noise cancelling headphones can be a godsend if you're in a noisy household so pick up something like the air pods Pro beat solo pro Bose HDS 100 or Sony WH 1000 mark threes the reason why I mentioned those specific pairs are because those are ones that I have tested out personally I've been switching back and forth between the air Potts Pro and the Sony WH 1000 mark three four over ear headphones until I moved down to the basement here full-time because it's pretty much soundproof and I can use external monitors instead also invest in a solid keyboard and mouse combination I personally really like the ergonomic line from Logitech so that includes the MX ergo Mouse yes it has a trackball and yes it's awesome it holds your hand in this super comfortable position very ergonomic way to prevent any pain or carpal tunnel and your wrists and you can match it up with the MX Peugeot keyboard which I do like but know that you're typing abilities will take a hit you're gonna slow down a little bit and that might not be the best time to do that but the keyboard has a unique design so it's probably going to take some time to get used to for now I switch back to the magic keyboard 2 and then I just recently pulled out the Logitech MX keys which I really do like so I'll leave links in the description down below for some keyboards that you might want to check out so that's it these are some apps and accessories that were recommended by you all because it's what you are currently using to work from home and get through this quarantine like we all have to and do our part I would love to know your thoughts in the comment section down below or you're all using as far as apps and accessories just go ahead and let me know in those comments this has been Dan with Mac rumors thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next videoworking from home can be a wonderful and relaxing way to work unless you're not quite set up to make it happen seamlessly by now you probably have your work set up all ready to go but just in case you're still trying to find your footing we asked some of our viewers and readers what apps and accessories they use to make working from home a better experience before we get started be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video now a lot of the things mentioned in this video were recommended to us from you and I'll try to throw in a few things that I'm doing to help streamline my work from home setup but starting off with some apps we have the obvious Microsoft teams and slack for communicating with your team's at work but another helpful app is quit let's just say you're a heavy Salesforce user qyp helps bring slides sheets and chat for your team all with important data and Salesforce numbers built right in this eliminates having to bounce back and forth between websites and apps and just kind of gives you a one-stop shop for all of your work you can find quip on iOS and Mac OS and there are different pricing options for you and your team's needs another user recommendation is taught taught is meant to be a simple out of the way ready when you need it text aggregator for your notes and lists if you're a stickies person or maybe you use the actual stickies app on your Mac or you use TextEdit to write out a bunch of quick notes and text taht can replace all of that for you in one neat and tidy app each colored circle up at the top can harbor different notes and color coded so that you can easily jump to the appropriate note when you need it the app offers support for markdown takes advantage of dark mode and much more it's free in the Mac App Store if you want to give it a shot our next recommendation is one that I could not get a chance to test out but a couple of you swore by it and if the demo is true then this app could be a game-changer for some of you out there crisp which is spelt with the K can mute the background noise of your environment during a conference call so if your household has some noisy children constantly barking dogs or whatever the other day-to-day sounds might going on in your background just flip the mute switch and the app essentially cuts out all the background noise so that everyone else on the call can focus on you and hear you better I don't know how all of this works but it seems pretty incredible you can download the iOS app to call in for conference calls or zoom meeting calls and you'll be able to flip that switch whenever you need it or for video calls just download the Makah there are tons of file sharing services out there like Dropbox Google Drive a bunch of them but if you're looking for something new to use to share large files with your team maybe check out file mail file mail offers secure file transfers with data encryption virus scanning and two-factor authentication for your most sensitive data you can keep track of where your files have been sent and who opens it offers fast transfer speeds and can be downloaded through the web browser the desktop client or even on your phone the prices seem reasonable if working at home is what you're going to be doing for the next few months and you need something a little bit more streamlined and secure for file transferring maybe check out file mail now as far as accessories go the most common recommendations from everyone seem to be pretty common knowledge at this point but I'll go through some of them just in case the first tip that I can offer is if you're used to having multiple monitors and you happen to have an iPad handy take advantage of Apple's sidecar feature this feature on Mac OS lets you directly extend your Mac desktop to an iPad making it the perfect external wireless monitor it's kind of incredible how well it really does work especially wirelessly and if you have an iPad and a Mac that supports this feature I highly recommend trying it now if you do not have any devices that are compatible for this feature there are other ways to use your iPad as an external display like downloading the app duet display or Luna display we did make a video already on how Luna display works but if you're interested in checking that out you can click the link in the top right corner these next few tips are also pretty well known but still worth mentioning if you're now working from home a solid pair of noise cancelling headphones can be a godsend if you're in a noisy household so pick up something like the air pods Pro beat solo pro Bose HDS 100 or Sony WH 1000 mark threes the reason why I mentioned those specific pairs are because those are ones that I have tested out personally I've been switching back and forth between the air Potts Pro and the Sony WH 1000 mark three four over ear headphones until I moved down to the basement here full-time because it's pretty much soundproof and I can use external monitors instead also invest in a solid keyboard and mouse combination I personally really like the ergonomic line from Logitech so that includes the MX ergo Mouse yes it has a trackball and yes it's awesome it holds your hand in this super comfortable position very ergonomic way to prevent any pain or carpal tunnel and your wrists and you can match it up with the MX Peugeot keyboard which I do like but know that you're typing abilities will take a hit you're gonna slow down a little bit and that might not be the best time to do that but the keyboard has a unique design so it's probably going to take some time to get used to for now I switch back to the magic keyboard 2 and then I just recently pulled out the Logitech MX keys which I really do like so I'll leave links in the description down below for some keyboards that you might want to check out so that's it these are some apps and accessories that were recommended by you all because it's what you are currently using to work from home and get through this quarantine like we all have to and do our part I would love to know your thoughts in the comment section down below or you're all using as far as apps and accessories just go ahead and let me know in those comments this has been Dan with Mac rumors thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next video\n"