The community manager Craft, one of the apps I use, found out I use it for managing D&D campaigns and asked if he could write a story on my process. About a month ago, we had a video chat, where I surprised him by telling him that I use D&D in the classroom, and we spent the next half hour or so focusing on that experience.
Today, he posted the story that came from our conversation.
Innovation often emerges from the unlikeliest of sources. Kyle Callahan, an educator in the US, found his inspiration in the legendary tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). While most associate D&D with fantastical adventures and epic battles, Kyle has turned it into a tool for enhancing classroom experiences.
– Using Dungeons & Dragons to transform the lives of kids (with a little help from Craft)
Back in December, I mentioned I really needed to write a review of Craft. With their recognition of my work now online, it seems like a good time to write that review. And so…
I first downloaded Craft as a note-taking app after it won the Mac App of the Year in 2021. I’ve tried a bajillion different note-taking apps over the years, but none of them ever fit seamlessly into my workflow, and, more importantly, most of them were aesthetically displeasing.
My dad bought our family our first Mac (on my insistence) in the early 90s, an all-in-one Mac Performa, and I’ve been happily locked into the Mac universe ever since. As a teenager, I read the Apple Human Interface Guidelines (1990s version) for fun, even though I didn’t know a lick of code and wasn’t planning on learning any. I was there for the transition to the PowerPC, the return of Steve Jobs, and the introduction of the iMac, iBook, and iTools. I helped beta-test the horrendously buggy first versions of Mac OS X, bought the first version of the iPod, weathered the transition to Intel processors, derided the first iPhone as just an expensive iPod but changed my mind when Steve Jobs changed his and allowed third-party developers to build software for it with the introduction of the App Store in iPhone 3G. I’m writing this on a MacBook Pro while wearing my Apple Watch and listening to Apple Music through my AirPods. If I were a rich man, I’d be counting the days until the arrival of my Vision Pro, but alas, I am just a teacher.
I only bring this up to say, when it comes to software for the Macintosh, I’m very particular about the way it feels. It has to be, in a word, Mac-like. This is a very difficult feat to accomplish.
A few days after I started using Craft, I mentioned to my wife that Craft is the first app I’ve used since Scrivener (my primary long-form writing app) that totally feels like it gets me. I bought Scrivener in 2007-ish, so it’s been 16 years since an application has impressed me as much as Craft has.
It’s not just that it’s pretty, though it is.
It’s not just that I can share attractive documents easily, though I can.
It’s not just that it includes a built-in AI Assistant, though it does.
It’s not just that I can link to other documents by simply typing the @ symbol, though I do love that.
What makes Craft such a great app is that using it is fun. The software just flows. When I need to focus on my words, it gets out of the way. When I want to focus on the way my words look, it gives me some attractive options without letting me get distracted by an infinite number of choices.
And when I need to connect a new idea to an existing one or make a note of a new new idea without leaving the one I’m working on, it gives me a smooth process for building the link that doesn’t require me to abandon my current thought.
Craft is there when I need it and invisible when I don’t. In short, it is software for effortless engagement. It helps me reach and maintain my flow state, and as a writer who spends an inordinate amount of time at his keyboard, I can’t think of a better goal for software.