5 min read

Often, I have to explain to people why I “waste” money on expensive Apple products. Granted, I could come back with the old, “it’s my money, and I can do what I want with it,” but it’s a bit rude, and I like Apple and appreciate all the work Apple Developers do, so I’ll do some word of mouth marketing for them.

I was not paid to write this, and I am not an Apple fan girl, contrary to popular belief. I buy Apple because it works. Right out of the box. I support technology that works well, or any product or service for that matter, and if I like your brand philosophy too, I’m a buyer for life. We all have different reasons why we purchase items. I’m just one of those who would be patient and save to get the higher quality stuff, rather than just rush to buy what’s right in front of me.

When I got a third iOS device that synced everything in the same time it took a Windows 8 laptop to boot up, I was sold on exactly what Apple has spent the last five years working on. Yes, that was a stab at Windows, if it wasn’t obvious enough. I don’t hate Windows, I just prefer macOS. Everyone is entitled to their own preference. Let’s move along now.

The reliability of iCloud is something most don’t pay attention to. That being said, they won’t notice it until it stops working, and then they pay attention. I haven’t had a lot of issues with iCloud recently. Keychain does and has given me nothing but hell in the past, but it seems that Apple has been working on these issues. Nothing exists without flaws and I am far more forgiving than most people are to technology. iCloud is one of those features that I use all the time, and never pay attention to. It exists in silence, providing me with all my files from the comfort of the toilet seat. 💩

I am still fascinated by the fact that I can save a document on my desktop 20 miles away, and have it available literally at my fingertips anywhere in the world. There is something almost magical about that. I don’t have to physically be in an office to get my work done. I can work in transit right from my iPhone on presentation files in Keynote. I can edit large spreadsheets (with some difficulty because of the small screen) in Numbers for iOS. And I can’t rave enough about Pages. iCloud makes life really simple.

When Apple showed off handoff (at WWDC 2014 I think?) I nearly peed myself. This was the answer to all my problems. I could pick up where I left off. This was incredible for me. No more forgotten email drafts. No more struggles between my phone and desktop. Finally. And it’s something that has become a part of my workflow, and I’m still amazed by it today. There isn’t a day that I don’t use handoff.

Continuity allows me to make and receive phone calls from my iPad or MacBook via my phone; which prevents me from having to scramble to the other side of the room where I absentmindedly forgot my iPhone. The ability to quickly switch on the personal hotspot from my iPad to get some internet without having to pull out my iPhone is another feature I use daily. It’s the small details that make the Apple ecosystem work.

Mail, calendar, reminders, notes, voice memos. Coming from Android, I know the pain of trying a dozen calendar and task apps to find the right one, and then not finding a single one that fulfils those needs, so you settle for three different apps. And still, nothing really works well across devices. I’m grateful to manage my calendar and tasks in split screen on my iPad and know that everything is synced everywhere else, all in the native apps.

I really appreciate the work that Apple’s developers have put into making the core apps work really well on their own, but also work in harmony. The only request I’d have would be to get reminders to show in calendar, and have a duration on them. That would be amazing, because tasks should have a duration on them.

No matter which Apple device you use, whether it’s iOS or macOS, you have a consistent experience. And that saves a lot of time for me.

Take spotlight for instance, I abuse that. Spotlight is my saviour. I have all my non-essential apps tucked away on my iPhone and iPad into a single folder and when I need something, I just use spotlight instead of flipping through screens. There are two reasons for this: I won’t waste time flipping through all my apps and get distracted, and it makes me think about what I’m actually looking for. It also prevents me from making the grave mistake of “accidentally” opening Twitter and losing three hours of my life, two or three times a day.

I can literally talk about the amazing experience it is using Apple’s ecosystem, but it is not for everyone and it is not without its flaws. Everything has growing pains, but for the most part, I’m happy with the direction Apple is going in and appreciate all the thought that goes into ensuring that iOS and macOS work great, natively.