Technology is enabling us to complete the same tasks regardless of where we are – at the office, at home, in the cafe, on the train, etc. However, when you work from home, you can encounter many distractions and difficulties. At Applover, we have been able to adapt to operating 100% remotely when the global pandemic started. In order to do so, we use various tools for remote work that enhance our day-to-day activities and boost ours development team productivity.
Project management tools
Project management system helps to organize documentation and activities. Task lists don’t capture a lot. For a project with a wide range of tasks, you should consider a fully-fledged project management platform in your remote work. If you are looking for team management tools, you can also check what remote team management tools you should know while outsourcing.
1. Sourcetree
Who among us isn’t familiar with GitHub, BitBucket, or any other source control platform? Sourcetree makes it easier to work with your Git repositories, allowing you to concentrate on coding. Use a Git client to ease distributed version control and examine changesets. With a single click, you can get details on either branch or commit.
2. Jira
Atlassian’s well-known issue-tracking platform for developers is perfect for monitoring glitches in the codebase. It allows us to track the development process and deploy quality software. Widely used in IT project management, Jira Software is indispensable in today’s market. Also, you can streamline your workflow with hundreds of other development tools.
3. Confluence
To ensure that everyone is up to date, have all your use cases in the same place. Confluence is the primary tool for this reason, and it works flawlessly with other Atlassian products. Though Jira is designed to handle tasks, this is a remote-friendly workspace where information and teamwork combine. Confluence is designed specifically for teams that need a safe way to work and meet industry-verified security requirements. This is especially useful for developing teams as they operate from distant locations.
4. Notion
Notion is an all-in-one workspace that comes with a variety of resources. Given a workboard with a customizable drag and drop editor, Notion works perfectly as a note-taking solution and a personal checklist. It also has a web clipper for storing notes in the app. All this can be used individually or together with other colleagues to manage projects. The advantage is that it works on all platforms, including Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and Web.
Communication and collaboration tools
It is often said that proximity and being in the same space is enough for teams to communicate successfully. Distributed teams have forced these beliefs to be reconsidered by incorporating teamwork into day-to-day processes. Nowadays remote workers can collaborate with each other regardless of time zone or workplace. The right communication software is a good place to start and improve your workflow.
5. Miro
Miro is a shared whiteboarding tool that allows team collaboration on everything from brainstorming with sticky notes to organizing agile workflows. It’s simple to use and feels like you’re working on a real whiteboard when in fact you work remotely. You are able to share ideas visually with team members. Additionally, you can easily integrate most common platforms, such as Google Suite, JIRA, Trello, or Slack, with the current workflow inside a flexible online whiteboard.
6. Twist
You’ve probably heard of Slack communicator. Users can immediately discuss in real-time, share files or directly message each other. What’s different about Twist is that it’s designed to be asynchronous. It’s a collaboration tool for people that value structured organization, allowing you to stay concentrated on efficient work without missing out on conversations. Twist organizes messages by specific subjects. It promotes in-depth conversations on particular topics. Team members’ discussions will always stay in context.
7. Google Suit
Anything you need to finish your work is in one place. With integrated Google Workspace, you have access to tools like Gmail, shared Calendar, Meet video conferencing, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more. The advantage is that it’s accessible securely from a desktop, phone, or tablet. Inviting others to access, import, and work on any file is a matter of seconds with no attachments needed. Also, it’s easy to chat or turn a meeting into a video conference.
Software development tools
There is always space to improve in programming and the same comes into discovering new tools. There’s a lot in the market and choosing the right software could be a challenge. To save you an effort, here are the most common tools used in remote software development.
8. Visual Studio Code
Many developers at the Applover team use Visual Studio Code as their code editor. By installing plugins, the possibilities are infinite. Extensions add new languages, themes, debuggers, and connect additional services. Directly from the editor, you can review diffs and commit changes with Git or other SCM providers. Developers Survey of Stack Overflow in 2019 ranked Visual Studio Code as one of the top popular development tools.
9. Tuple
Programming doesn’t have to be lonely. Tuple is a remote pair programming app available on macOS. It provides all parties mouse and keyboard access. Control is transferred with a single press, so that you never have to tell your partner what to do. Amazingly, the app offers incredible low-latency audio and video calls up to 5K. When you are operating in an IDE, this is the best choice for pairing.
10. CodePen
CodePen is a common collaborative programming platform for frontend designers and developers. It serves as an online code editor and open-source learning platform where developers can test code snippets. You may use it to easily show off your work to someone, build test cases, or even find inspiration within the community.
11. Embold
Embold identifies the most problematic components in your code and how they affect the whole codebase – for example, Embold detects bugs such as memory leaks. It’s an essential part of the toolchain allowing you to track and control the quality of development projects. Integrable with tools we already recommend like Jira Software.
12. Draw.io
Draw flowcharts, UML and method graphs with this free online diagramming tool. The software can be used to illustrate both simple and complex problems. Allows to easily create presentation graphics of different forms, such as business diagrams, tables, flowcharts, and so on.
13. Zapier
The most common platform for automating tedious tasks. Zapier automates the transfer of data between your web applications. It allows building processes more quickly and efficiently with no coding involved. This editor was designed specifically for DIY automation. Zapier supports tons of apps which workflow can be automated and getting direct messages on Slack for new GitHub mentions is easier than ever.
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Exploring remote software development
Working remotely is difficult, but it’s also a chance. This can be simplified and much more efficient by choosing the right tools rather than operating in the same space. Make sure you stay focused and within the right strategy you can make it work. More information about maximizing productivity you can find in our recent article on remote team productivity tips.
