At the beginning of this year, I confidently proclaimed that I had discovered the quintessential simplification app. That app is Notion, and for a time, it truly transformed my productivity. The ability to harness advanced AI tools to elevate my to-do lists was incredibly useful, and for that, I owe a lot to it. However, as time progressed, I found myself drifting away from Notion. It wasn’t just boredom; the app gradually became cumbersome for my needs.
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This piece is part of an ongoing series that delves into the indispensable apps that enhance our lives. Explore more in this collection.
However, I’m not entirely giving up on note-taking apps. A delightful new contender has entered the scene—meet Craft. I’m enjoying it immensely. The big question is: will it stick? Only time will tell. Nonetheless, during my limited interactions, I’ve found Craft more intuitive and user-friendly, particularly impressed by its vibrant user interface.
Craft made its debut in November 2020, courtesy of Balint Orosz, who aimed to tackle the challenges he faced in gathering, articulating, and sharing his thoughts. He states, “I can depend on Craft wherever I am and whenever I need it. The option to organize documents with pages and cards allows for different structuring methods—writing lengthier pieces while maintaining clarity and control over all content.” Impressive, right? Let’s explore its features and see if it resonates with you.
Crafting Eye-Catching Documents
Craft enables you to produce documents featuring text, images, files, collections, tasks, and even whiteboards. Essentially, it serves as a personal digital notebook that accommodates all your ideas, thoughts, and even sketches. While apps like Notion and Google Docs offer comparable features, Craft stands out for its simplicity, particularly when accessed via smartphone.
Inserted elements function like blocks that you can easily rearrange throughout your document. If you’ve ever utilized web builders like Squarespace or Wix, this will feel very familiar. This drag-and-drop capability makes arranging your document feel as natural as handling physical items.
To enhance your document aesthetics, Craft features ready-made templates, styles, and backgrounds. Adjustments are instant and can be reversed effortlessly. One of the standout aspects for me is the text formatting. Not only can you alter text colors, but you also have the option to apply gradient fills. While this may not suit formal documents, it adds a vibrant touch when showcasing ideas.
Achieving Your Goals
Beyond document creation, Craft also excels in task integration within your workflows. Personally, I’ve found myself juggling to-do lists across various spreadsheets, scraps of paper, and my email inbox. Unfortunately, none of these are interconnected, leading to unnecessary frustration.
So, how does Craft remedy this situation? If your primary document creation occurs within Craft, you can seamlessly integrate your tasks and lists directly into your documents. Simply add a ‘task’ component, populate it with items, and you can interact with each task, checking it off once completed.
One feature I find particularly beneficial is the ability to assign dates to tasks. This populates the app’s calendar section, organizing all your tasks for the day. Essentially, it acts as a daily to-do list, streamlining your workflow and eliminating the need to navigate through multiple documents to check off tasks. However, it’s crucial to fully embrace the Craft methodology to maximize its potential benefits.
Craft Plus: Is It Worth It?
One appealing aspect of Craft is that the free version offers all the features found in the Plus edition. Specifically, you gain access to all element types, formatting tools, and task functionalities. The key distinction, however, lies in limitations: the free tier restricts the number of documents you can create, storage capacity, and the number of AI requests.
You can consider Craft Free as a fully functional experience, perfect for occasional users. For those who intend to utilize Craft regularly, upgrading to Plus is advisable. Priced at just $7.99/£10 per month, it’s an affordable option. Plus, you can benefit from group or friends and family discounts for added savings.
Craft is currently available on iOS, but alas, there is no native Android version yet.
