I downloaded the Drafts app to my iPhone quite a while ago, but it took me a while to get into the habit of using it. As time has passed I've started to incorporate it more and more into my workflow.
On the surface Drafts is incredibly simple. When you open the app you're presented with a blank screen that allows you to just start typing. So it's a notetaking app, you ask? Well, it can be, but it's so much more. After you've typed (or, better yet, dictated) your text, you can can take apply a large number of actions to it, such as emailing it, sending it out as a text message, a Facebook post or a Tweet, and a whole slew of other options.
So why use Drafts as opposed to the email app, text messaging app, the Facebook app, etc.? Well, if you can make using Drafts a habit, it's very fast. When you use the same interface every time you want to enter text you become very efficient. In addition, this app presents you with a cursor and a keyboard a split second after you open it. Contrast that to the Facebook app, where you have to open the program, find the "status" button, then wait for the compose screen to pop up. This actually doesn't take that long, but I find that every app I use is set up a little differently. The "compose" buttons are in different places in my Facebook app, my email app, my text messaging app, my Twitter client, my blogging app, etc.
In essence, I feel that Drafts reverses my writing process. In a good way. When I have a brilliant thought, I capture it first, then send it where it needs to go. Without Drafts, I find the place where the thought needs to go, then I compose it.
It doesn't end there, though. The newest versions of Drafts added the ability to pass text on to files in Dropbox and Evernote. With these additions, and the fact that it can be heavily customized, Drafts starts to become an automation tool.
In my next post I'll write up a little blurb about how I'm using Drafts to keep track of expenses.