Recently, folks have been sharing their default apps in a bunch of different categories. (I’m told the podcast Hemispheric Views started this. I plan on listening soon.)
I’m a sucker for learning about other people’s workflows and seeing how I can make better use of my time, so this was right up my alley.
In recent years I have drastically simplified the amount of third party apps I use. I felt like I was on a hamster wheel of finding and using the latest mail client, RSS reader, to-do list, etc.
I still keep my ear to the ground about the hot new productivity app but I have to be really sure it’s sticking around before I swap away from the default Apple option. Apple’s apps don’t always have the latest flashy features but I generally expect them to be around for the next five years.
Without further adieu, here are my default apps:
📨 Mail Client
- Apple Mail
📮 Mail Server
- GSuite (Is it still called this? I’m considering switching to FastMail but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.)
📝 Notes
- Apple Notes
✅ To-Do
- Apple Reminders
📷 iPhone Photo Shooting
- Apple Camera
🟦 Photo Management
- iCloud Photos / Apple Photos
📆 Calendar
- Fantastical
📁 Cloud File Storage
- iCloud Drive
📖 RSS
- N/A (I used Feedbin after the death of Google Reader but I no longer use RSS much at all anymore.)
🙍🏻♂️ Contacts
- Apple Contacts
🌐 Browser
- Safari / Firefox / Chrome in that order.
💬 Chat
- Apple Messages and one Slack
🔖 Bookmarks
- N/A (I usually save links in Apple Reminders or Apple Notes, depending on the context.)
📑 Read It Later
- Ephemera (This one is my app. It’s simple and unique. Check it out!)
📜 Word Processing
- Apple Notes / TextEdit / Pages
📈 Spreadsheets
- Numbers (I would use Excel in a heartbeat if I had any services spreadsheeting to do.)
📊 Presentations
- N/A
🛒 Shopping Lists
- Apple Reminders
🍴 Meal Planning
- Mela
💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance
- Copilot (I’m not convinced this is the app for me. It’s pretty but the Fidelity integration does not work. I’m fielding suggestions. Let me know!)
📰 News
- Apple News
🎵 Music
- Apple Music
🎤 Podcasts
- Overcast
🔐 Password Management
- 1Password (Thinking about switching to the native keychain implementation, but I’ve got my family on the 1Password family plan and it sounds like a pain in the butt for me to switch.)
