I was inspired by Hemispheric Views 097 - Duel of the Defaults! and this post by Robb Knight.
Below is the list I use in the various categories mentioned. I have excluded my strict work usage only applications.
📨 Mail Client: Mimestream (macOS) / Mail.app (macOS/iOS), Gmail (search only) (iOS)
📮 Mail Server: Gmail, Fastmail
📝 Notes: Notes.app (ad-hoc), NotePlan. I do still occasionally dabble with Bear and Obsidian.
✅ To-Do: Reminders, Things 3
📷 iPhone Photo Shooting: iOS Camera
🟦 Photo Management: Lightroom, Photos.app, Google Photos
📆 Calendar: Calendar.app
📁 Cloud File Storage: iCloud Drive, Google Drive
📖 RSS: Feedbin + Reeder
🙍🏻♂️ Contacts: Contacts.app, Cardhop (for birthdays)
🌐 Browser: Safari, Arc (when Chromium required)
💬 Chat: iMessage, Telegram, Discord, Slack
🔖 Bookmarks: Raindrop.io
📑 Read It Later: Matter
📜 Word Processing: Ulysses
📈 Spreadsheets: Excel
📊 Presentations: PowerPoint, dabble with Keynote
🛒 Shopping Lists: Instacart/Meijer app direct or Reminders
🍴 Meal Planning: N/A (use Shopping apps to plan)
💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: Copilot / Chronicle
📰 News: Apple News, RSS
🎵 Music: Apple Music, Tidal (via Vault subscription)
🎤 Podcasts: Apple Podcasts
🔐 Password Management: 1Password, but migrating slowly to Keychain
👨💻 Code Editor: Nova
✈️ VPN: Tailscale
Other Apps I rely on:
- Search/Utility - Raycast
- Screenshots - CleanShot X
- Clipboard Manager - Paste
