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Default Apps

— October 20, 2025

Here you can find a list of all default apps that I use for personal things. I tried to follow Hemispheric Views podcast guidelines (you can see their deep and nice list!).

  • Mail Client: Mail.app. It’s not a perfect software. I think it’s the worst email client that I’ve used. It has many limits, but it’s well integrated into the macOS and iOS systems, so I find it useful.

  • Mail Server: iCloud Mail with custom domain on iCloud+.

  • Notes: Notion for its ability to allow me to organize any type of content in a structured and orderly manner. Bear for temporary notes.

  • To-Do: Todoist. I’ve been a pro user for years and use it for personal and professional reasons. I love the Shortcuts integrations with Apple Reminder and Calendar. It has many more functions than I need, but the convenience of managing tasks has no equals.

  • iPhone Photo Shooting: iOS Camera, because of the swipe to left shortcut.

  • Photo Management: Photos.app. I get bored looking for other solutions.

  • Calendar: Apple Calendar.app. It is sufficient for my personal and family meetings.

  • Cloud File Storage: iCloud Drive. Works.

  • RSS: Unread, synced with iCloud, for its aesthetics, the font it uses, and its ability to perfectly render newsletters (which I read via Kill the Newsletter!).

  • Contacts: Contacts.app. I’m very default with default things.

  • Browser: Safari. Works.

  • Chat: WhatsApp, but I hate it. I prefer Signal and Telegram, but I have fewer contacts there. I don’t like groups and channels. I don’t like that messages need to be instant. I like emails.

  • Bookmarks: Notion organized with tags.

  • Read It Later: GoodLinks, that now supports highlights.

  • Word Processing: Bear.

  • Spreadsheets: who uses spreadsheets in their private life?

  • Presentations: just at work.

  • Shopping List: Bring! shared with my partner. But, the broken sync system with Alexa is putting us in a crisis.

  • Meal Planning: nothing. If I will learn to cook, I want to use Mela.

  • Budgeting and Personal Finance: BudgetBakers Wallet, but then I bring everything into a google.com/sheets file that is organized and optimized for my needs.

  • News: see RSS section.

  • Music: Apple Music for myself and my family.

  • Podcast: Pocket Casts. I am a loyal user, and I love it. I have used it since 2016, and it’s the best for listening to podcasts. For now.

  • Password Management: Apple Passwords, from a few months.

  • Mastodon: Ice Cubes.

  • Code Editor: Sublime Text, done right! Sometimes Visual Studio Code.

  • Git Client: Sublime Text or Terminal.App for macOS, Working Copy on mobile on iOS and iPadOS.