I ditched Google Docs for this app, and I don’t regret 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 out there on Android. That is, in spite of everything, the holy grail of productiveness apps, proper?

Productiveness apps are a dime a dozen lately, and I’ve tried approach too many looking for 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 assumed I had it found out

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

My most up-to-date try at discovering a productiveness answer was switching every part to Google’s suite of merchandise. Calendar, Docs, Duties, and Hold are all nice instruments, and I particularly recognize Google’s efforts to interconnect them in recent times. 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 approach in too some ways.

One of many largest points I confronted when trying to make use of Google’s suite is the dearth of clear group. All the pieces is in its personal place, with no technique to carry all of it into one succinct residence view. Which means, so as to handle a venture, you’re working throughout no less than Docs, Calendar, and Duties.

Docs was presupposed to be my residence base. In my thoughts, this is able to give me the flexibleness of a doc with the group of a to-do checklist. I created a doc that was presupposed to function the house throughout all my initiatives, after which I’d use duties to trace the trivia for every venture.

Why can’t I create a activity 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 appropriate aspect of the display, nevertheless it doesn’t immediately work together with my doc as one would possibly anticipate. To be clear, you truly can do what I’m describing right here with a piece or faculty 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, alternatively, does have what I might take into account a house base. I work throughout a bunch of various paperwork, relying on which venture I’m engaged on. To get a chicken’s eye view of every part, 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 numerous various things I must do in a day, and nonetheless seeing the duties organized by doc helps me prioritize what I must 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 have a look at. We’ll dive into some design and UX components I like in Craft, and the distinction may be very clear.

Craft is 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 long run, besides the long run is now and Google Docs is simply outdated. Each pixel of Craft feels fastidiously positioned, right down to the smallest of particulars. If Google Docs looks like a chore to make use of, Craft looks like residence.

Paperwork are on the core of Craft, and creating a wonderful doc is a central function of the expertise. Like Google Docs, the standard black textual content on a white background is the default in Craft (though by some means even the usual doc appears to be like higher to my eyes than what you get in Google Docs), however with just a few clicks, you possibly can carry your doc to life.

Each doc editors have the standard, baseline options — change the background colour, the doc colour, the textual content colour, give the doc a header picture — however even with these primary options, Craft simply appears to be like higher to my eyes.

Let’s take it up a notch. In Craft, you possibly can insert all kinds of what Craft dubs wealthy blocks, together with a whiteboard, a spreadsheet-like assortment desk, a sensible 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 basically change the texture of the doc you’re working in. One other nice instance: as an alternative of utilizing an ordinary line separator, you possibly can select from totally different Washi Tape designs or create your individual. I by no means thought I’d be so excited a few doc; if solely I had had this after I was at school!

Sound design, in a doc app?

Imagine it or not, one among my favourite particulars of Craft is its sound design. There are sound results tastefully sprinkled all through the app, they usually add an extremely nice contact to the expertise. Listed below are just a few of my favorites.

A pencil on paper whenever you mark a activity full:

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

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

In my analysis for this text, I got here throughout a weblog publish from the Craft workforce, which particulars the method of developing with the proper sounds for what the workforce envisioned. It’s price a learn.

A really lively neighborhood

I actually admire an organization that clearly values its relationship with its clients. Craft has extraordinarily lively communities on Reddit and Slack, stuffed with a few of its most devoted customers who’re continually giving suggestions. The founders and workforce members could be seen replying to many of the posts, too.

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

One of many causes I haven’t written about Craft till now’s as a result of, up till just lately, it wasn’t out there 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 function parity with its Apple counterpart is spectacular. That mentioned, in its present type, the Android app appears to be an adaptation of the cellular net app Craft launched shortly earlier than the Play Retailer model. The net app is technically spectacular with how useful it feels, nevertheless it doesn’t function the identical easy animations discovered within the iOS and Mac apps. I’d prefer to see enhancements on this entrance sooner or later.

Moreover, Craft as an entire doesn’t help end-to-end encryption. Whereas your information is encrypted in transit and at relaxation, I want Craft would help full encryption. Craft makes use of related safety practices you’d discover in lots of the instruments we use daily, so this isn’t one thing that might cease me from utilizing it for work, however I might discover extra consolation in realizing that my information is absolutely 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 help for Gemini. Because it stands proper now, you should use Craft Assistant with LLMs from Apple, OpenAI, or Meta. For now, I’ll probably follow the native mannequin choices. Admittedly, I haven’t utilized Craft Assistant a lot but, so this hasn’t been an enormous challenge 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 folks. In Craft, I’ve discovered a software so malleable that it really works throughout a number of sides of my life and so well-designed that I truly take pleasure in 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.