rjgrune.com

View Original

Mac OS Apps for Youth Ministry

apps [This post is a part of the series Technology in Youth Ministry]

Handbrake. There is not a better tool around if you are trying to get something off of a DVD into a file that is playable directly from your computer's hard drive.

iBooks Author. iBooks 2 and iBooks Author greatly expands the potential of what can be created in the world of digital books. iBooks Author makes it very easy to create a very attractive and high quality eBook for the iPad or iPhone. The potential of youth ministry curriculum that could be created with a resource like this is huge.

MarsEdit. The best way to blog. I use this app to connect to my blog and it does everything that I could want it to do. I keep a running list of post ideas, write first drafts and store them locally, and then proofread, edit, and add media to my final posts before pushing them to my self-hosted wordpress site.

Spotify. Spotify on the computer is completely free and allows you to listen to nearly limitless library of music. If you want to make your music portable, you'll have to pay a fee, but if you are okay with it being only on the computer and putting up with a few ads, the free version will work just fine.

Reeder. If you follow way too many blogs like myself, you likely need some sort of RSS reader program. I use Reeder for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac which all are connected to my Google Reader account.

ProPresenter. This is the best presentation software that is available right now. I've had a bit of trouble getting in working on a network with several machines (probably a user error), but in all my experiences using it on our retreats and weekly programs it works great.

Things. I cannot start my work week without updating my to-do list and looking at the items that need to be carried over from previous weeks. Things allows me to have my tasks scheduled, have recurring agenda items, and divide my tasks into projects.

Logos. Logos provides an incredible Bible study resource. It costs quite a bit of money, but once you have the work of searching for verses, the original greek or hebrew, and finding commentaries is incredibly simple.

What apps to use for your mac?