THOUHGTS

Defaults & Dead Apps

I love high quality software.

…like, really love it. Probably more than most people.

I check the iOS App Store updates multiple times a day to see if someone wrote interesting release notes. I follow a Mastodon hashtag for #TestFlight so that I can see if people are working on something interesting. I’ve been closely following companies like Panic and the Iconfactory since the mid/late 90s. I’ve also scoured Mastodon’s @indieapps.space instance to find new software. I daydream about paying for Flighty even though I’m not currently flying enough to justify it, just because it’s good software. I’ve given talks internationally at conferences (I’m stretching it — once in Canada) about how we need more culture in our software.

And when bloggers started listing their “Default Apps” for various categories, I read over 350 of them. So I want to list mine, but I also found in reading through them all, the interesting stuff is on the fringes of the main categories, so I want to focus on that, too.

I also want to mention how much it leaves a hole in my heart when good software dies. I still feel frustrated every time I use email (RIP Sparrow and Mailbox) and use banking apps (RIP Simple Bank) — both killed off through acquisitions. When platforms get weird and kill off 3rd-party apps, I care enough that I leave the platforms (RIP Apollo, Twitteriffic / Tweetbot). It pains me that I feel unsatisfied when I use the Wikipedia iOS app and know that there used to be a better 3rd-Party app (RIP V for Wiki (though I’m working on something that scratches my itch in this space). All of this makes me really worried about Arc and their VC path.

Writing this is part of my grieving process over those “Dead Apps”, but I’m also wanting to hear what holes you have. Does anyone grieve over losing good software?

Mail Server

Gmail

★★

I have a feeling that this won’t be on my list for long with the way things are going. I’m sure Google’s going to do something to send me to privately host. But otherwise, it’s perfectly good.

Mail Client

Icon for Mimestream

Mimestream

★★
Icon for Spark

Spark

★★

This is one of those categories in which the right solution is so hard to come by. Apple Mail has never handled snooze the way I expect. Mimestream is perfect on desktop, but I don’t like that it’s exclusive to Gmail and doesn’t have a mobile app. Spark used to be better, but I feel like their focus on AI comes at the expense of features I’d prefer.

Notes

Icon for the Notes app

Apple Notes

★★★☆

It’s gotten very good! I’m sure that there are features that note-fiends will say are missing, but it hits every note I need.

To-Do

Icon for Things

Things

★★★

Even when they don’t do something “stock-iOS”, it still feels very “iOS” — minus the settings section. Dock’d a star because you can’t collaborate with others.

Photo Camera

Icon for Apple Camera

Apple Camera

★★★★☆

Strikes the balance I need. I’m impressed with things like Halide, but I am not focused on photography enough to bother.

Photo Management

Icon for Apple Photos

Apple Photos

★★☆☆

Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it. This is one of the more integrated apps on iOS, but is so engrained that competitors don’t exist. Bulk management needs to be rethought. Feels like there’s an opportunity here.

Calendar

Fantastical

★★★★

Still the king. Amie tries some interesting ideas, but I don’t want to bundle my calendar with to-dos and email. I’m more in the Offspring camp — keep ’em separated.

Cloud File Storage

Icon for iCloud

iCloud Drive

☆☆☆☆

Not rated as it’s not something I think about, but I’m sure I should…

RSS

Icon for Reeder

Reeder

★★★★

I use the classic version, and I wouldn’t change a thing for how it fits my needs. I can’t think of a single thing that needs improving upon.

Contacts

Icon for Cardhop

Cardhop

★★★★

On the Mac, I love the menubar app, but my 1 note is that compared to other menubar apps everything feels oversized. Works fantastic, otherwise.

Browser

Icon for Arc

Arc

★★★★
Icon for Safari

Safari

★★★☆

I absolutely love the ideas that Arc was regularly bringing and was following their every move. I understand why they’ve chosen to go a different route, but I’m not happy about it. If iOS allowed deeper integration for browsers, I’d likely use that on mobile, too.

Chat

Icon for Messages

Apple Messages

★★★☆

While I use WhatsApp, I can’t stand it and only use it because of people I know outside of the US. I’d much prefer to use Messages exclusively. I like Apple’s focus on it and the yearly updates are solid.

Bookmarks / Read-it-later

Icon for Arc

Arc

★★
Icon for Reeder

Reeder

★★★★

I don’t understand the need for apps specific to these needs compared to the built in features of the existing apps you are already using. What am I missing that I can’t do in these apps?

Word Processing

Icon for Pages

Pages

★★

I don’t have a strong preference in this space. I mostly spend time in Notes, but if I have to do something meaty, it’ll be in Pages. I’m just happy I’m not using Microsoft products.

Spreadsheets

Icon for Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers

★★★☆

I use this because it’s free and does what I need, but I will admit that Excel is the only product from Microsoft Office that deserves praise.

Presentations

Icon for Apple Keynote

Apple Keynote

★★

For various roles I’ve held, I’ve done a lot of presentations — Keynote is the best. I’ve gotten great at PowerPoint out of necessity, but I use Keynote if given the opportunity.

Shopping Lists

Icon for Apple Reminders

Apple Reminders

★★★☆

I wish tags were something that could be shared in collaborations, but otherwise it’s great.

Meal Planning

Icon for Crouton

Crouton

★★

I know that people love Mela, but Crouton is the OG and Devin keeps adding great features. It’s not often I get my wife to actively use an app, but this was an instant hit.

Budgeting

Icon for One

One Finance

★★☆☆

I’m still mourning the loss of Simple Bank, but One had promise. Then Walmart bought them. It’s still okay, but I just get too many ads for deals with Walmart.

News

RSS / Lemmy / Mastodon

☆☆☆☆

This keeps me relatively in the loop — I get news of my choice through RSS, and everything else from what people post. Every now and then I miss stories that travel in right-wing circles, but I catch a lot.

Music

Icon for Apple Music

Apple Music

★★★☆
Icon for Sleeve

Sleeve

★★

I like Apple Music, but I feel that for a company that makes Mac Apps, it feels too “web” for my tastes. Sleeve is a great companion app that has a ton of customization.

Podcasts

Icon for Castro

Castro

★★★☆

I try other podcast apps, but I keep coming back to Castro. The way they handle the queue is what I need

Passwords

Icon for Apple Passwords

Apple Passwords

★★★☆

I was really happy they made this a separate app in the latest round of OS updates. Having it in my menubar is perfect. I choose this over the other password managers because of it’s OS level integration.

IDE

Icon for Nova

Nova

★★

I’m not a programer by trade, but I did this site by hand and ported it to WordPress to be the CMS — so I have a limited take on what an IDE should be. That said, it’s great and I love it.

Design

Icon for Figma

Figma

★★
Icon for Sketch

Sketch

★★

Figma has become the juggernaut of the UI industry, partly because of the constant innovations they’re bringing to the table, but mostly because it’s cross-platform. Sketch is going to struggle to keep up, but I love the fight in them and that they’re “mac-assed“.

DAW

Icon for Logic Pro

Logic Pro

★★★☆

Naturally, I gravitate towards things that feel natively Mac, so I land here over ProTools and Ableton.

Music Practice

Capo

★★★☆

I use it frequently when I get a gig with complex parts, but it hasn’t been updated in a long time.

Social

Icon for Ivory

Ivory

★★
Icon for Voyager

Voyager

★★

Because I’m a sucker for great software, once Twitter and Reddit swore off third-party clients, I jumped ship and won’t do corporate social media again. Ivory is fantastic, and Voyager seems like it’s lost some steam. I’d love to see it handle video much better.

Weather

Icon for Weather

Apple Weather

★★★☆

Since they’ve integrated the Dark Sky features, I’m really impressed with the stock weather app. I enjoy Carrot weather, but not enough to switch.

Media Reference

Icon for Callsheet

Callsheet

★★★☆

Like IMDB, but without the noise. Lots of great features — and I love the integration with Plex when it runs well (which it often doesn’t).

Media Management

Icon for Sequel

Sequel

★★

I have this mapped to Trakt, which maps to my Plex server and Sonarr / Radarr. It’s very well designed and the “share sheet” integration is magic. (needs to be on MacOS)

Media Player

Icon for Plex

Plex

★★
Icon for Iina

Iina

★★

I’ve been a Plex user for about 15 years, and it’s crazy how far it’s come. And I like the moves they’ve been making. Iina really came out of nowhere for me. I was a VLC guy, but the amount of polish in this is impressive.

Media Management

Icon for Ruddarr

Ruddarr

★★★☆

This one just started, and is a well-designed interface to Sonarr / Radarr. They need to rethink the UX on the calendar, though.

VNC

Icon for Screens

Screens

★★

Really well polished software. Great way to tunnel in from my phone (and laptop) and get things done.

SFTP

Icon for Transmit

Transmit

★★

Easily the oldest continuous use of a software product that I still actively use (since ’98!). It’s as impressive today as it was then.

Maps

Icon for Apple Maps

Apple Maps

★★★☆

I know it’s almost blasphemy to some that I don’t use Google Maps, but there’s too much noise for me in Google Maps and the results now are just as good. I just wish I could share and collaborate on my guides.

Shipment Tracking

Icon for Deliveries

Deliveries

★★

I know everyone is using Parcel, but even though they seem so similar in the feature sets, I’ve loved the design of Deliveries.

Time Wasiter

Icon for Threes

Threes

★★

I’ve spent more time on this game than any other, and still play it daily until I at least get a 1536. I haven’t looked in a long time, but I used to be raked #144 in the world and still feel proud of that.