Our top five apps for getting organised in 2014
If one of your new year’s resolutions wasn’t to be more organised, we can only assume that you are part robot. Power down now, if that’s the case. For all other humanoids, here’s our crack list of Windows apps to get smart, get efficient and to help grab back some precious time this year.
SkyDrive
Keeping track of the growing multitude of files and documents that we amass daily can be mind numbing. The clever solution is to use a cloud storage application and keep everything in one place across all your devices. Microsoft’s SkyDrive app is one of the best around. It’ll give you 7Gb of storage from the get-go and will automatically sync your Camera Roll photos – a great instant back up. You can customise other folders to sync from your computer, Nokia Lumia phone/tablet and other supported devices. You can also share files and photos to others who can access everything via their web browser. Use it right and you’ll never be caught short again.
Price: Free
One Note
Making handwritten to-do lists is so 2013. What you need is a digital scrapbook, such as OneNote. Built into the Windows Phone 8 operating system and thus free with Nokia Lumia devices, this portable note-taker not only allows the creation of text lists (with check boxes) but also allows you to insert photos, screenshots and embed voice notes. If you’ve got a SkyDrive account you’ll be able to sync, share and access your notes via a web browser. Give the right permissions and others will be able to collaborate and edit your notes, too. Oh, and you can locate any word or phrase within any note by using the simple search tool. The OneNote Windows desktop app offers a more powerful range of note-taking tools for students and businesses.
Price: Free
Cal
The built-in calendar app for Nokia Lumia is a great, if basic, diary tool. For something with a bit more clout and flexibility, check out Cal. Here you can sync your local, Microsoft and Gmail accounts with ease and double-tap a day to add a new appointment. You can also link to your Facebook account, integrating events and friends’ birthdays. A great feature is the LiveTile personalisation; adjust themes, match colour accents, customise the viewable info (dates, locations, etc) and add a background image. It looks great on the Start screen.
Free to try. £1.49 to buy.
Unify Universal Search
One of the simplest, yet most powerful tools we’ve come across for finding stuff on your Nokia Lumia device in super-quick time. Just 2Mb in file size but immeasurably omnipotent, Unify is a universal search engine that will locate Music, Pictures, Contacts, Calendar and Settings entries. Either type what you’re looking for into the search field or use voice recognition. Pin it to your Start screen and you won’t look back.
Price: Free
NextGen Reader
The mack-daddy of RSS readers, this powerful app will keep all of your feeds organised, in one place and up to date. Add feeds by choosing from pre-determined categories or search for your favourites (not forgetting Conversations!) and enjoy well-designed, easy-to-read articles. There’s a whole bunch of settings to configure how much of an article you see, adding Twitter accounts and enabling subscription-fed LiveTiles. Excellent.
Free to try. £1.49 to buy.
What apps are you using this year to get organised? Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments below…
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