A week of working with iOS and OS X

For the next seven days I’m going to work only with Apple devices, software and services. Along the way I’ll write regular updates on my progress.

Working exclusively with Apple technology should be no big deal, thousands of people who do the same. It’ll be interesting to see just how easy it is to make a clean break with Microsoft and Google.

Next week I’ll repeat the exercise staying entirely in the Microsoft world. I may try Google later, that’s dependent on getting my hands on enough suitable hardware, including a Chromebook.

This week looks set to include the usual mix of working at home, meetings and press functions. There will be some working while on the move.

Apple stack kit

My Apple kitbag includes a 2013 MacBook Air, an iPad Air and an iPhone 5S. Depending on how things go, I may also use Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard.

I’ll use Safari on each of the three devices. For writing I’ll mainly use Pages. I’ll probably use web-based tools like WordPress as well. Facetime should cover me for any online communications.

Apple’s Calendar, Contacts and Notes will handle day to day admin tasks. This may or may not include iCloud versions of the tools. If I need to crunch numbers, Numbers will get the job. And photo processing will be done by iPhoto.

Problem areas

There are two problems. While I plan to use Apple’s Mail app exclusively, I have to route messages through Google Apps. That’s because I have a personal domain. I don’t think there’s a straightforward Apple-only way to do this.

I’ll have to use Google for search as Apple doesn’t offer anything similar.

Otherwise, it’s strictly Apple all the way.  Let’s see how it goes.