App defaults
This "defaults" list is inspired by Robb Knight's collection of app defaults posts, where a huge number of bloggers share their default apps and services. I like how these lists make it easy to find and explore other personal blogs and setups, similarly to what happens with "now" or "uses" pages.
These unassuming and reliable everyday tools are deeply integrated into my habits/routine, and handle life's background tasks allowing me to focus on what actually matters. My approach is to stick with default apps until they can't do what I need, only switching when the built-in option genuinely can't handle my use case.
- Mail Client: Gmail web client on my laptop, Mail.app on my phone
- Mail Server: Gmail, iCloud with custom domain
- Notes: Apple Notes
- To-Do: Reminders
- iPhone Photo Shooting: Camera.app
- Photo Management: Apple Photos
- Calendar: Google Calendar via Calendar.app on both my laptop and phone
- Cloud File Storage: iCloud Drive, Google Drive
- RSS: NetNewsWire
- Contacts: Apple Contacts
- Browser: Safari
- Chat: Messages, WhatsApp
- Bookmarks: Browser's built-in tool
- Read It Later: Instapaper
- Word Processing: iA Writer, Google Docs
- Spreadsheets: Google Sheets
- Presentations: Remark, Google Slides
- Shopping Lists: pen and paper, Reminders
- Meal Planning: n/a
- Budgeting and Personal Finance: custom spreadsheet
- News: ABC News, The Guardian
- Music: Apple Music
- Podcasts: Apple Podcasts
- Password Management: Bitwarden
Here's some extra categories I also wanted to include:
- Weather: BOM, Apple Weather
- Reading: Physical copies from local library, Kindle
- Book tracking: Goodreads
- Code editor: Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text
- Git GUI client: Sublime Merge
- Terminal: iTerm2
- Launcher: Raycast
- Clipboard manager: Raycast
- Screenshots: Mac's built-in tool
- Social: Mastodon, BlueSky, Reddit
- Search engine: DuckDuckGo
Edit October 2025: replaced Spotify with Apple Music, and stopped using Signal, Xnip and Simplenote. Still using the DuckDuckGo browser on my laptop but had to go back to Safari on my phone as some core functionality is still unsupported, e.g. adding events to my calendar from the browser or persistent website blocking via Freedom.