I ditched Google Docs for this app, and I do not remorse it

I feel I did it. I feel I lastly discovered a system that works for my mind. A system that brings my work and private lives collectively beneath one roof and permits me to remain organized throughout duties, paperwork, and initiatives — and it’s lastly obtainable on Android. That is, in any case, the holy grail of productiveness apps, proper?

Productiveness apps are a dime a dozen lately, and I’ve tried means too many in quest of one thing that works for me. However after persistently utilizing it for some time now, I really feel assured saying that the app Craft is definitely making a distinction in my life.

I believed I had it found out

I really feel like I’ve tried every little thing. Notion, Todoist, Trello, TickTick…. I may go on, however the entire article would include naming apps, each massive and small, that I’ve given an opportunity. Many excel in a particular space, however none caught for me.

My most up-to-date try at discovering a productiveness answer was switching every little thing to Google’s suite of merchandise. Calendar, Docs, Duties, and Hold are all nice instruments, and I particularly respect Google’s efforts to interconnect them lately. Duties is sort of actually constructed into Calendar now, for instance. Hold reminders present up in Duties. It’s an ecosystem that’s beginning to really feel extra cohesive, however most of those merchandise had been initially constructed as standalone instruments, and it nonetheless feels that means in too some ways.

One of many greatest points I confronted when trying to make use of Google’s suite is the shortage of clear group. The whole lot is in its personal place, with no option to carry all of it into one succinct dwelling view. Meaning, with a purpose to handle a mission, you’re working throughout at the least Docs, Calendar, and Duties.

Docs was imagined to be my dwelling base. In my thoughts, this could give me the flexibleness of a doc with the group of a to-do checklist. I created a doc that was imagined to function the house throughout all my initiatives, after which I’d use duties to trace the trivialities for every mission.

Why can’t I create a job immediately in Google Docs that can then seem on my Duties checklist and in my Google Calendar? Positive, the Duties app is tacked on to the best aspect of the display, but it surely doesn’t immediately work together with my doc as one may count on. To be clear, you truly can do what I’m describing right here with a piece or college account, however I’ve neither of these, and after seeing the implementation in motion, it’s a bit clunky for my tastes. This is only one of many such examples.

Craft, however, does have what I might think about a house base. I work throughout a bunch of various paperwork, relying on which mission I’m engaged on. To get a chook’s eye view of every little thing, I solely want to modify to the Duties view. Right here, all of your duties throughout all of your docs are introduced into one place, based mostly on due date and arranged by doc. This has actually helped me keep on high of the various various things I have to do in a day, and nonetheless seeing the duties organized by doc helps me prioritize what I have to do subsequent.

Maybe extra importantly for me, Google Docs feels stale. The toolbar design has been barely up to date through the years, however the doc itself simply doesn’t really feel trendy to make use of and take a look at. We’ll dive into some design and UX parts I like in Craft, and the distinction may be very clear.

Craft known as Craft for a cause. This app is a murals in an in any other case boring world of productiveness. When lined up aspect by aspect subsequent to Google Docs, opening up Craft looks like a step into the longer term, besides the longer term is now and Google Docs is simply previous. Each pixel of Craft feels rigorously positioned, right down to the smallest of particulars. If Google Docs looks like a chore to make use of, Craft looks like dwelling.

Paperwork are on the core of Craft, and creating a good looking doc is a central characteristic of the expertise. Like Google Docs, the same old black textual content on a white background is the default in Craft (though someway even the usual doc seems to be higher to my eyes than what you get in Google Docs), however with a couple of clicks, you possibly can carry your doc to life.

Each doc editors have the same old, baseline options — change the background coloration, the doc coloration, the textual content coloration, give the doc a header picture — however even with these fundamental options, Craft simply seems to be higher to my eyes.

Let’s take it up a notch. In Craft, you possibly can insert all forms of what Craft dubs wealthy blocks, together with a whiteboard, a spreadsheet-like assortment desk, a wise hyperlink with a wealthy preview, a file, or a card, which is actually a hyperlink to a associated doc inside your doc, however with distinctive designs that actually change the texture of the doc you’re working in. One other nice instance: as a substitute of utilizing a normal line separator, you possibly can select from totally different Washi Tape designs or create your personal. I by no means thought I’d be so excited a couple of doc; if solely I had had this after I was at school!

Sound design, in a doc app?

Consider it or not, one among my favourite particulars of Craft is its sound design. There are sound results tastefully sprinkled all through the app, and so they add an extremely nice contact to the expertise. Listed here are a couple of of my favorites.

A pencil on paper while you mark a job full:

The sound of paper ruffling while you create a brand new doc:

My private favourite is the sound that performs while you enter or exit focus mode, a characteristic I exploit fairly steadily when writing for this web site:

In my analysis for this text, I got here throughout a weblog submit from the Craft staff, which particulars the method of arising with the right sounds for what the staff envisioned. It’s price a learn.

A really energetic neighborhood

I actually admire an organization that clearly values its relationship with its clients. Craft has extraordinarily energetic communities on Reddit and Slack, full of a few of its most devoted customers who’re continuously giving suggestions. The founders and staff members may be seen replying to a lot of the posts, too.

With that useful suggestions, Craft iterates shortly. I can’t consider too many firms that ship updates and substantial new options as shortly and effectively as Craft does. Simply check out the launch log.

One of many causes I haven’t written about Craft till now’s as a result of, up till lately, it wasn’t obtainable on Android. Craft began out on the planet of Apple, however late final yr, it unleashed its app within the Google Play Retailer. Nonetheless, Craft for Android continues to be in beta, and I’m hopeful of some enhancements for future updates.

Whereas I’m grateful to lastly be capable of use Craft on my Pixel, the app is missing in some areas. For a primary launch, nonetheless, the extent of characteristic parity with its Apple counterpart is spectacular. That stated, in its present kind, the Android app appears to be an adaptation of the cell net app Craft launched shortly earlier than the Play Retailer model. The net app is technically spectacular with how practical it feels, but it surely doesn’t characteristic the identical clean animations discovered within the iOS and Mac apps. I’d prefer to see enhancements on this entrance sooner or later.

Moreover, Craft as a complete doesn’t assist end-to-end encryption. Whereas your information is encrypted in transit and at relaxation, I want Craft would assist full encryption. Craft makes use of related safety practices you’d discover in most of the instruments we use every single day, so this isn’t one thing that will cease me from utilizing it for work, however I might discover extra consolation in figuring out that my information is totally encrypted. I might additionally think about using Craft for different areas of life, like a spot to retailer medical data or different private information that I in any other case wouldn’t retailer in an app with out end-to-end encryption.

Lastly, I’d prefer to see Craft add assist for Gemini. Because it stands proper now, you need to use Craft Assistant with LLMs from Apple, OpenAI, or Meta. For now, I’ll probably persist with the native mannequin choices. Admittedly, I haven’t utilized Craft Assistant a lot but, so this hasn’t been an enormous problem for me.

I really feel like I’ve barely scratched the floor of what Craft has to supply. We haven’t even mentioned collaboration in Craft, publishing choices for sharing paperwork, or extra in regards to the AI-powered Craft Assistant.

Completely different instruments work for various individuals. In Craft, I’ve discovered a software so malleable that it really works throughout a number of aspects of my life and so well-designed that I truly get pleasure from utilizing it. Whether or not I’m writing my subsequent article for Android Authority or planning a birthday journey with my brother, Craft is the place all of it occurs.