Topic 2 lists · 11 apps

Work

Product teams, first jobs and the thinking that happens before the to-do list.

The lists

• 6 apps for the thinking you do before the to-do listMindNode · Framework · Drafts · Freeform · Readwise Reader · Obsidian
• 6 apps for your first product manager jobLinear Mobile · Framework · Figma · Loom · Notion · Otter Transcribe Voice Notes

Every work app on these lists

11 apps in total. Each line is what that app does differently from the others here — the reason it made a list rather than being a second copy of something already on it.

• DraftsOpens straight to a blank page with the keyboard up. Type the thought first, decide later where it goes — actions send the text on to Reminders, mail, a file, anywhere.
• FigmaOpen the design files, play the prototype full screen, leave comments and mention the designer, all from your phone. Mirror a frame from the desktop to see it on a real device.
• FrameworkFor when you know the question but not the shape of the answer. Pick one of 100+ thinking models — Premortem, Five Forces, 10-10-10 — and the AI fills it in, then pressure-tests your logic.
• FreeformApple's flexible canvas. Sketch with a finger or Pencil, drop in photos, PDFs, links and stickies, draw diagrams from 700+ shapes. Up to 100 people can brainstorm on one board.
• Linear MobileWhere the team's issues, projects and roadmap live. The phone app is for filing a bug the moment you see it and keeping up with the streams you care about, away from your desk.
• LoomRecord your screen or camera with one tap and share the link, so a walkthrough replaces the long email. Time-stamped comments come back on the video.
• MindNodeScattered thoughts go on an infinite canvas as a mind map, then flip to Outline view and the same map becomes a structured list. Nodes can turn into tasks when you're ready.
• NotionNotes, docs, tasks and projects in one workspace. The spec, the meeting notes and the roadmap table can live on the same page, and the AI can answer questions about what's in there.
• ObsidianA knowledge base on a folder of plain-text Markdown files, yours forever. Link notes to each other and the graph view shows how your thinking connects.
• Otter Transcribe Voice NotesRecords the meeting and transcribes it live, then writes the summary. Every call is searchable afterwards, so “what did we decide” has an answer.
• Readwise ReaderAll the reading in one place: articles, newsletters, RSS, PDFs, EPUBs. Highlight as you go, so what you read this month is there when you need it.