Top 20 Apps for Google Drive for a More Productive Work Routine
Back in the early 1990s, people would store data on a hard drive. Today, uploading data to Google Drive is more secure and reliable than physically saving it. From hard drive damage to malware infections, the risks are very high.
We know that you’re probably already using Google Drive. But do you know that you can boost your productivity with third-party Google Drive add-ons? Read on and prepare to be amazed.
What is a Google Drive Add-On?
A Google Drive Add-On is an external application, much like a browser extension. It increases the capabilities of your Google Drive suite and helps you work more quickly and efficiently. There are many Google Drive add-ons to improve your productivity. Some are free, while others are paid.
Top 20 Google Drive Add-Ons
Google Drive has an extensive library of such add-ons. For many novice users, it can be quite confusing to choose from. We’ve compiled a list of top 20 Google Drive add-ons to make it simple.
Evernote for Gmail
Evernote for Gmail is an add-on from the popular note-taking app. We all have a lot of stuff in our Email communications, attachments, lists, etc. Use Evernote to take everything to a distraction-free environment where you can always stay focused and curate your content.
Video Recorder for Google Drive
As the name suggests, this add-on helps you upload videos recorded with your webcam. If you’re a teacher, you can upload recorded webcam videos to enable your students to revise their study materials. It also supports Google Classroom, Google Chromebooks.
Google Tasks Desktop
Google Tasks Desktop helps you organize your Google Tasks, collaborate with other colleagues, turn emails into actionable tasks, share customizable boards and tags. It speeds up your work by making tasks movable with drag & drop feature.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics add-on enables integration with the Google Analytics APIs to build dashboards, perform custom calculations, query data from different profiles, and schedule your reports.
Screenplay Formatter
Are you a scriptwriter? Do you work in the film industry? A simple Screenplay Formatter add-on will help you organize screens, write dialogues, set indents for speakers, and scene transitions.
HelloFax
Need to fax an official document but you don’t own a fax machine? No worries. Install the HelloFax plugin for Google Drive and send faxes wirelessly. HelloFax performs the entire process online without you having to own a fax machine.
Templates for Docs
Templates for Docs offers you hundreds of free as well as paid templates to speed up document creation. Much like Microsoft Word, you can start a document with a ready-to-use custom newsletter, resume, card, or other templates.
SEMRush SEO Writing Assistant
SEMRush is a popular SEO management platform. Using SEMRush SEO Writing Assistant add-on, you can optimize your content to increase the search engine visibility. It displays content score, readability score, target and recommended keywords, voice tone, and other parameters. It also adds plagiarism check functionality to check if the content is not copied from another source.
SpeakD
Too tired to read the contents of your document? No worries, the SpeakD add-on read-aloud text inside your Google Doc. It is a handy tool for totally/ partially blind users.
HelloSign
If you’re familiar with PDF documents, you must have heard about signing electronic documents. HelloSign lets you add signatures to your Google Docs.
Archive Data
Archive Data is a useful add-on for stock market traders, financial planners and data analysts. It automatically records the data in your Google Sheets before it gets refreshed from the data source. It populates historical data before it is overwritten with newer data.
Sketchboard
Want to brainstorm ideas but don’t have a dedicated software for creating diagrams and sketches? Try Sketchboard. Design sketches, roadmaps, mind maps, flowcharts and design patterns with real-time collaboration.
Piconion Photo Editor
If you own a touchscreen device, you can use the Piconion Photo Editor to paint with a stylus pen and design artwork. You can also transform, rotate, move or resize images. You can apply filters to add photo effects, crop or resize images, use gradient colors and overlays, brushes, pencils and eraser.
LucidChart Diagrams
Charts are extensively used for graphical representation of data. It can help your audience to better understand the current and forecasted trends. LucidChart Diagrams gives you the ability to create flow and organizational charts, insert custom shapes, and boxes.
Flat for Docs
Flat for Docs adds the capability to insert musical notations inside your Google Docs. It is helpful if you’re a singer or a music composer.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is an official add-on from Adobe Systems Inc. It gives you access to millions of high-quality images to use in your presentations. You can search for image stocks using keywords, or browse through the categories.
Auto-Latex Equations
If you’re a student or a teacher, this little add-on can be a great help. If you’re conducting online classes, sometimes you might have to insert mathematical equations, algebra, trig, calculus into Google Docs. You can do so using Auto-Latex Equations.
Zoom
Zoom needs no introduction at all. If you’re working from the comfort of your home, Zoom add-on could be a great personal assistant. Easily organize and schedule meetings, calendar events straight with Zoom.
Zoho Survey
Zoho Survey is an online survey and questionnaire add-on that lets you quickly create and run surveys. You can change the survey theme, style, and use a custom domain if you need. The surveyed data is stored on the cloud.
Conceptboard
Conceptboard is a visual collaboration platform that offers whiteboard functionality for the project management team in an organization. Using the Conceptboard, you can share your creative ideas, notes, sticky notes, comments. You can also choose a background color, add shapes, and use a SSL connection.
Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms.