Mac software recommendations

Posted by satis
Jun 6, 2021 at 04:01 PM

You’re asking a probably too-broad question, especially for this forum. Vellum, for example is designed as a sophisticated tool for ebook creation, and is really outside the scope of the kinds of discussions here. Apps like Devonthink shine as ‘shoebox’ apps, not as good writing or notetaking tools.

So you’re asking about three different kinds of apps. I’d recommend delving into the included apps and researching reviews of replacements when you hit pain points. LOTS of articles out there that compare apps, from which you can do research, like this

https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-app-for-mac/

For notetaking you could always start with the included Notes app (which is so good some people migrated to it from EverNote) and Pages, and see what you think you’re missing. Pages has advanced layout options to create ebooks.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202066

Personally I use Ulysses ($49.99/yr subscription) for most medium- and longform writing. It outputs text, HTML, PDF and DocX, as well as to blogs like Medium and Wordpress. But for pure writing there are good free to cheap text or Markdown tools, with differing abilities, from CotEditor or Typora (free) to IA Writer ($30) to Bear ($15/yr), to Highland 2 or Scrivener (both around $50). If you’re writing a book for a publishing house you’ll have no option but use Word, as the markup and versioning is both industry standard and without peer. (Some writers can write in Word; most of the rest just import their writing into it as a last step before sending it to their agent/publisher.)

For now I’m using my purchased upgrade of UpNote ($20) as a replacement for Apple Notes, but I’m not sure I’ll stick with it as for my needs it doesn’t do too much more, while being rough around the edges compared to other notes apps I’ve used.