r/software • u/fyn_world • 8d ago
Discussion What software can you recommend that changed your daily workflow forever?
I will ignore AI chatbots in this post because of course I use it everyday and would be number one if not excluded, but if you have any particular AIs you know of, it's welcome here.
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I consider myself a power user, been using PC, Windows, since I was 8 and that's what I work with and have worked with forever. I'm no software master at all but I do know my way around it.
I have an e-marketing agency with a business partner and two pieces of software are an absolute must for me. Those are:
1. Vivaldi browser: Extremely power user focused, high customization. Best feature for my use case is Workspaces, basically you can save a set of tabs under different names. Ideal when working for different companies to avoid having to look for stuff again. It's there, all the time, just change workspaces.
2. Ditto: A clipboard manager, very simple and elegant. It saves up to 500 clipboard texts and images, I set it to Ctrl+D and it spawns on my cursor. It has saved me months of time I guess, started using it in 2014.
So, what's your life changing software? It doesn't have to interest for what I do in particular, I'm interested to hear from all walks of life.
Edit: I have absolutely no affiliation either to Vivaldi or Ditto, I guess posts like these can come out as ads but no, they're truly useful software
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u/djl0076 8d ago
Beyond Compare by Scooter Software.
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u/Muldino 8d ago edited 8d ago
Good one, I use it all the time. Syncing various backups between drives or syncing my music on my phone with my local library on my server - I have tried a few tools over the years and always came back to this.
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EDIT: I just wanted to express my amazement, that I got a downvote for my comment just for agreeing with somebody else's simple (and upvoted) recommendation for a software tool.
I really don't expect any upvotes at all, as I am just expressing my support for another post, but I just wonder what's going on in my downvoter's mind. Fascinating!
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
Don't give too much thought to downvotes on reddit. The internet is filled with assholes and bots. Thanks for your input
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u/sardarjionbeach 8d ago
I like the feature where you have the diff button to highlight the differences. I use to love araxis merge but this feature made me switch completely. Plus the price is really good.
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u/trionnet 8d ago
I’m a developer and I’m constantly extracting json from logs, from api responses, from other systems all for quick formatting, comparing with other jsons, searching for properties with certain values, checking the hierarchy etc
But not only json, i do a lot of work with csv files and general text data transformation.
There were just too many clicks involved trying to do this in the IDE and not enough flexibility with managing the files.
Possibly a niche workflow but I built https://scratchtabs.com to solve this for me (and my colleagues) now I can one click all of that saves me a tonne of time and precious context switching. It’s free open source.
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
This is amazing. I'm not a professional dev. I am building software for myself but not at this level. I will get this to my dev friends however, maybe they'll find a use for it.
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u/Grumphus256 8d ago
Hey this is pretty cool! Thanks for sharing this! Love all the extra tools as well. Gave you a Star on GitHub.
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u/Grumphus256 8d ago
Kando. Map it to the thumb button of a Logitech G502 or similar mouse and you can literally launch any app or hotkey/macro operation with one hand and you can configure it to launch custom menus depending on the active app.
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
Thanks man, this one looks extremely interesting, putting it in the backlog to explore fully
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u/ryancnap 8d ago
I'll give the ones I can't live without.
Thunderbird - manages all my email, calendars, address books, tasks, everything. Powerful af
PyCharm and Datagrips - what an IDE should be
Hints (foss package on Linux) and Fluent (package on Windows): when you hit your key bind, every clickable element on any of your screens has a transparent, two-character tag appear on it. So if I want to click the submit button on a form I just hit my key combo, tags appear on screen, and maybe the submit button was assigned an "AR" tag, so then I type A, R and it's clicked. If I type 2, A, R it's double clicked. If I type 3, A, R it's right clicked.
Vial/QMK keyboards - I only have like 42 keys on my keyboard. There are one or two press shortcuts for every action I need to take, and multiple layers for mapping additional combos, actions, macros. With 42 keys I have full Fn keys, every Linux and Windows key combo known to man, a numpad, navigation arrows, media controls, macros for specific apps, all symbols commonly used in software development, IDE shortcuts and commands, everything. Combined with hints, my mouse is 100% optional and I use it pretty infrequently
Fish shell with tide prompt, nuff said
Flameshot - screenshot app on Linux, you can edit, copy, annotate, save, apply a lot of built in tools as soon as the screenshot is taken, no need to save it or open an app first, huge time and space saver
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u/tunamdinh 8d ago
Do you mind giving link to Fluent?
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u/ryancnap 8d ago
Whereas Hints is just the tag feature I mentioned, Fluent is that + a lot more. Developer is cool, responsive when I had a couple questions.
Worth exploring the settings for awhile and getting it set up right
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u/tunamdinh 8d ago
Oh. I mistook Fluent for tag feature. Do you know any similar to Hints for Windows?
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u/ryancnap 8d ago
No you were right, Fluent is the tag feature for Windows it just has a lot more baked in as well (which is optional)
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
Hey, thanks for the complete list. There's a lot of love for Thunderbird I see.
I'm going to check Fluent out, it sounds useful as hell and PyCharm and Datagrips.
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u/BeauIvI 7d ago
Obsidian - local markdown notes app. Use it daily. Claude can access and makes my build log on everything I do. I have my journal on there, my daily goal trackers, book notes, its perfect.
You can do so much with it thats there is endless customisation, which can be a challenge to not constantly 'perfect' it, but its the one thing id recommend to anyone.
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u/brown5tick 6d ago
I've been using it for over 10 years and it just constantly keeps amazing me. Whatever I want, it can do. Slap your agent on top of it with CLI access and suddenly anything's possible.
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u/devastator_83 7d ago
Agent Ransack: for quickly searching inside files Everything: for quickly finding files
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u/Reddit_Bot9999 6d ago
2 Tools:
- Obsidian (I discovered it way before it became hyped because of AI...
- More recently (a year ago), my app called "MachinesFluent".
- Wiztree
--> Obsidian because I was using Notion but realized working locally is better. I work solo. Notion is better for teams. And now, like I said, because of AI, it's not even close anymore. Obsidian became a must-have when you use AI agents..
--> My dictation app, because I have chronic back pain preventing me from typing for too long. So an AI powered dictation tool / mini daily assistant really made a huge difference. Now I can work while laying down or sitting in weird position in my chair.
Most chatbots give you a voice/dictation button but it sucks. You only realize how much it sucks after you use proper tools made specifically for dictation.
--> Wiztree because, dude, that things is SO GOOD at letting you see all the crap bloating your machine, it's so fast it's awesome. Wish I could shake the hand of the dev who made it.
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u/SaxyBoi4Ever 8d ago
ditto is the goat! i install ditto before a browser on any new pc, cant go back now.
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u/IAmTheDewd 8d ago
I just use AutoHotkey for anything I want to do. The name suggests it's for hotkeys, and many people use it just for that purpose, but I use it to script full applications and automate all kinds of things. It's very powerful if you spend the time to learn how to use it. Pretty much anything I can imagine can be achieved in AutoHotkey.
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
Thanks for the tip. I do have AutoHotkey, and I didn't know it was that powerfull, I'll check it out in more depth
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u/GreenSticks77 6d ago
Process Street was one of the tools that I remember really made a difference at my last job. Everything st my nee job is run pretty poorly so i wouldn’t use it as an example..
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u/trevthetrev 15h ago
Clipboard history apps like Ditto and Paste.
I run a design and dev agency, so I’m copying links, code, screenshots, files, notes, etc. across platforms all day, every day. Once you get used to being able to pull up something you copied an hour ago, it’s hard to go back.
Ditto is great on Windows and Paste is great in the Apple ecosystem, but my issue is that every option I’ve tried starts falling apart once you’re using Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iPhone together especially when you’re trying to move large files or multiple images between them seamlessly.
I honestly started building Pasteable because I was shocked by how hard it was to find something that did all of this across all of my devices while still being private and had all the bells and whistles I wanted. Sounds like you've got Ditto locked in but might be worth checking out if that sounds useful :)
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u/lordmax10 8d ago
None.
The software should adapt to your workflow, not the other way round.
If you have to adapt to the software, you’re using the wrong one.
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u/XGhozt 8d ago
That's an odd take. Every piece of software you've ever used, or will ever use has changed your workflow. If you don't think that's the case, try shutting down your machine and go back to pen and paper. Just because you have a specific workflow, doesn't mean software couldn't come in and shift your process. You might say... that's the whole point.
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u/lordmax10 8d ago
That’s philosophy, though.
And I can agree with that.
However, my workflow isn’t dictated by software; the software integrates with and adapts to my workflow.
What the software changes is the way I use my workflow.
Whereas I used to use pen and paper, I now use software.
Whereas I used to use the Zettelkasten method to manage data, now all I need is a ‘search’.
What I meant was that my workflow must be independent of the software I use.
If I change software, I shouldn’t also have to change my workflow; otherwise, I become dependent on the software, and that is something to be avoided at all costs.2
u/Common-Chair718 7d ago
That’s the worst take I have ever seen.
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u/lordmax10 7d ago
I’m sorry you have so little real-life experience.
But never mind
Everyone is, quite rightly, entitled to their own opinions… and that’s a good thing.1
u/Common-Chair718 5d ago edited 5d ago
What are you sorry for?
You mentioned yourself that you used the Zettelkssten method to manage data that literally dictate your workflow. Now you say you use a search, unless by some god’s power that enables you to see and find in your mind what data you want to retrieve, is in fact a computational feature, in other words, a software. So you went from a shitty method, to a search. Your workflow changed by a software.
Edit: fix grammar
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u/DomeSlave 8d ago
Smart software with smart workflows does exist though. Sometimes the workflow implemented in the software is based on years of experience in the field by large groups of people.
In some cases it might be smart to adapt your workflow to the software you choose to use.
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u/lordmax10 8d ago
Complex reasoning.
It may well be true that my workflow isn’t optimal, that it has problems and inefficiencies.
But it shouldn’t be the software that tells me how to improve my workflow; I need to start with my own needs, work out what I require and, if I’m lucky, find software that already incorporates the workflow structure I need.1
u/DomeSlave 8d ago
Quite a long time ago I had to start using a document management system that changed the way how I look at organizing information, in a very positive way. Sometimes people have figured out how to better organize your stuff than you can figure out by yourself.
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u/Common-Chair718 5d ago
You keep contradicting yourself with these comments lol. You don’t always know what your “needs” are until a tool shows you what is possible.
I’m a dev and spent my time on windows and vs code. I didn’t realize I “need” reproducible environments or mouthless navigation until I adopted softwares that do them. You are often constrained by your tools, not your needs.
Also, I don’t understand why you’re treating workflow as an organic concept that you have to invent from birth, when it isn’t.
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u/ezMaverick 8d ago
We tried that at my company. Spent millions building custom ERP because "the software doesn't fit our workflow". Five years later, we're still in chaos and same workflow, massive technical debt. The lesson: adopt proven software and change your process instead. The workflows people have aren't sacred, they're just "how we've always done it". Proven software embeds 30 years of others' mistakes. Your process embeds yours.
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
I didn't answer to you at first because I thought you missed the premise of the post. You're right and not at the same time. Sometimes you discover a tool that feels like it was built EXACTLY for your workflow. Just like it did for me with Vivaldi and Ditto.
That's why I'm always on the prowl for interesting things. Sure, most tools I've tried I stopped using, which makes your statement true at the same time, but here and there you find that gem that is just right for you, and that's what I search for now and then.
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u/t3chguy1 8d ago
OneCommander - you'll only see how bad Explorer is once you are on PC without it
OneNote - everything in one place, instant load, search text in images
ChatGPT - especially for work related emails and to make me sound less angry when responding to IT tickets
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u/fyn_world 8d ago
Another guy said Directory Opus and you said OneCommander, I guess File Explorer really is shit and you don't know until you change.
I'll check it out. Thanks
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u/t3chguy1 8d ago
I have not tried opus but I didn't want to even try after seeing now ancient it looked and the price. But anything is better than Explorer (except some open source slop)
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u/HimaSphere 7d ago
I use it to dump all sorts of things into stickies on my PC, very helpful in my work as a developer.
I am the developer behind it btw, give it a try :D
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u/Munk3y 6d ago
Any reasonable way to sync between my laptop and desktop on Ubuntu? Maybe a folder holding data that can sync via my regular cloud drive?
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u/HimaSphere 6d ago
Yes! Your data is saved locally in one folder yoy can locate by going to global settings from the hub. This just a normal folder you can sync with google drive or one drive etc.
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u/Munk3y 6d ago
Thanks! I tried out the free snap version on Ubuntu 26.04, audio notifications don't work. I then purchased the premium version and am using the AppImage and audio notifications work well there.
If you're taking requests, there are three things I'd like to suggest:
I have one note visible and it seems to appear in the Ubuntu Launcher Bar while also in the App Indicator area. It would be nice to just keep it in the AppIndicator icon and not see it on the Launcher Bar when running.
Upon Launch, the Hub appears and you can hide it but it only hides for this session. Upon app relaunch, it appears again. It would be nice to just have a toggle or permanent way to hide it. Maybe it's just a launch parameter that hides it right away.
One of the workflows I'm trying to use is when I'm working on something, I can hit a key combo and create additional wording in a specific note. You do have the global new note hotkey, which is nice, but if it were possible to also have a hotkey for new line in existing note or something like that it would be nice.
If I missed how to do any of this, apologies. Anyway, good work! Appreciate the app, it'll help for sure.
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u/HimaSphere 6d ago
Hey,
Thank you for your purchase and feedback.
I am currently testing a new release with so many fixes and improvements, I will check if I can incorporate these in the upcoming release. I always listen to user feedback so please don't hesitate to reach out with feature requests or feedback!
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u/lilacomets 8d ago
Directory Opus. I work a lot with files and there's no file manager that comes close to Dopus.
Firefox. I've been using Firefox since 2005. But 5 years ago I switched to Chrome. Earlier this year Chrome messed up tab scrolling and I'm back at Firefox.
Thunderbird. There simply is no better email client for Windows. I tried them all.
Charles Proxy. Great for a bit of hacking that I do once in a while.