Springboard's Best App Picks – May 2025
May tends to be a quiet time for apps. Developers (and writers) are waiting to see what's behind the WordArt logo at Apple's WWDC conference from June 9.
It also means it's been a quiet time of spotting major updates to existing apps, as well as new ones. However, there have been some that I need to mention, as well as a couple that I've found myself using on my iPad when working on a secret project.
Focus - Timer for Productivity
I've written about Focus before, and for good reason. I've always had a rough time with focus-based apps, as I can easily get distracted. If an app alerts me with timers and sounds, I simply switch them off. But Focus, developed by Kerstin Schmidtmann, does the impossible by helping my workflow when I need it to. Available on every Apple device you can think of, Focus lets you set tasks and track them. Useful widgets can be placed on your iPhone's home screen, or a Mac's desktop, or as a Live Activity on both iPhone and iPad if a task is in progress.
A big update launched recently, which redesigned how the statistics look, as well as new types of visual data like pie and bar charts, to help give you a better picture of your workflow. You can also select which types of data you want to see more prominently. It's a great update, and I'm already discovering how my time is used on certain projects. You can use the full suite of features for $4.99 a month, or $39.99 a year on all your Apple devices.
DynamicLake
Although I was never a fan of the iPhone's notch that debuted on the X model until the Dynamic Island replaced it with the iPhone 14 onwards, I've never minded the notch on my MacBook Pro. I always use apps in full screen, so it's never there, and even when I do use some apps on my Desktop, the notch is never an issue for me.
It's why I've tried several apps that take advantage of it in several innovative ways. From NotchNook to Forehead, there are plenty of ways to tailor the notch to your liking. But Dynamic Lake is an app that, to me, comes as close as possible to what Apple may try to do to match how the Dynamic Island works on iPhones.
Essentially, imagine how the feature works on your iPhone 14 and above, then move that to the MacBook's notch. That's what DynamicLake does — from managing incoming calls to replying to messages, every action and notification gets moved to the notch. It's what Apple should look into for a future release of macOS, as the current state of notifications feels outdated. But for now, you can see for yourself, as Dynamic Lake is currently 20% off.
Transcrybe
I've always been a strong advocate for highlighting accessibility where I can, and Transcrybe, developed by Chris Vasselli, is a great example of how one app can benefit so many on the Mac by offering one simple action. If you have something playing through your Mac's speakers — whether that's a Zoom call, a YouTube video, or something else — Transcrybe will create and display subtitles in real-time, and locally on your Mac without requiring an active internet connection.
I've tried it with several videos already, and I'm very impressed. It almost feels like magic in how well Transcrybe works. I thought having the subtitles in a separate window would be a hassle, but I've found it to be very useful when multitasking between different apps.
You can download Transcrybe from the Mac App Store for free to try it for 60 minutes, but you can get rid of the time limit for £2.99 a month, £24.99 a year, or lifetime access for £69.99.
Vivid
It may be a sign of me getting older, but I've found myself using Vivid, an app that can brighten your Mac's display beyond the limits of macOS, even more lately. I prefer to work outside when it's not raining or cold, but that can mean working against a dim display on my Mac. Using Vivid, it unlocks the extra brightness that my MacBook Pro is capable of, thanks to its HDR screen, resulting in being able to see everything without having to squint.
I've written about Vivid before when it launched back in 2022, and even now, it's an app that I launch via Spotlight whenever I find myself in a bright place, needing to do some work on my Mac. If you're finding yourself in similar situations, you can download Vivid for free, which will display your screen in a split-screen mode to showcase the extra brightness on one side. If you decide that you need your whole display to be brighter, it's a one-time fee of $17.
That's it for this month! June and July's editions are bound to be very busy with WWDC 2025 on the horizon, as well as developers looking into how Apple's latest features may shape their apps in the near future.
As always, let me know about anything you're working on that may be based on next month's reveals. Let's just hope the keynote doesn't revolve around AI again, and we get features that can help users this time, instead of being a distracting hindrance.
Thanks for reading.
