Patryk Chojecki

Patryk Chojecki

Research & Business Development

My Default Apps - 2023

1 minute read

Published:

Last updated on 27 March 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan 🇹🇼.

I always enjoy reading or watching YouTube videos about how people use their devices, and more specifically, the apps that catch their interest. When I came across this post by Birchtree, I quickly decided to create my own list.

I also included some brief explanations for why I chose to stick with these apps and services. It’s worth mentioning that I’m a dedicated Apple user, and I tend to favor Apple’s default apps unless there’s a third-party option that offers significant advantages.

  • Mail Service: Gmail - It’s been the same for about 15 years; however recently I’ve been exploring iCloud Mail with my custom domain.
  • Mail Client: Apple Mail
  • Tasks: Apple Reminders
  • Calendar: Apple Calendar on Mac and Calendars 5 on iPhone.
  • Notes: Apple Notes for all personal stuff, Obsidian for most work-related notes, TextEdit if I need to draft something quickly when I’m working on my Mac.
  • Text Editor: Visual Studio Code
  • Messaging: Signal and sometimes LINE because it’s impossible to live in Taiwan without it.
  • Maps: Google Maps - I wish I could use Apple Maps more often but from my experience in Taiwan they are significantly less useful.
  • RSS Client: NetNewsWire
  • News: I get most news through my RSS Client, about once a day I also check Reuters and the Financial Times.
  • Launcher: Raycast
  • Cloud Storage: iCloud and Google Drive for some projects.
  • Presentations: Keynote if I work alone and (unfortunately) Microsoft PowerPoint if I collaborate with coworkers.
  • Photo Library: iCloud
  • Photo Editing: Photomator
  • Web browser: Safari and Firefox for some work-related stuff.
  • Weather: Apple Weather
  • Bookmarks: Raindrop.io
  • Podcasts: Overcast - Smart Speed saved me over 200 hours already.
  • Music: Apple Music
  • Clipboard Manager: Maccy
  • Password Manager: Bitwarden - I hope to move to Apple Keychain in the future (most likely once passkeys fully take over).
  • Budgeting: Expenses - I want to mention that I manually log every single purchase I make in this app and I’ve been doing that for about 2 years.
  • Mastodon: Elk on Mac and Mammoth on iPhone.

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