My default apps 2025

Inspired by Robb Knight's App Defaults post list, I am here to share my default apps in 2025.

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📮 Mail Server

• Gmail

• 📨 Mail Client

  • Apple Mail

• 📝 Notes

  • Obsidian right now for more than half a month. I used to use Apple Notes for quick capture, long-form notes and blog writing, see

    • Why Apple Notes?

    • Why Apple Notes (2)?

    • On iA Writer and Microsoft Word; as well as Apple Notes

    • On Apple Notes or other tools — no need to centralise your data or build a second brain

    • On Obsidian — am I designing a pilot dashboard?: this article shared my questions when I started using Obsidian, and I will update my thoughts later.

• ✅ To-Do

  • Reminders App

• 📷 iPhone Photo Shooting

  • iOS Camera

• 🟦 Photo Management

  • Photos App

• 📅 Calendar

  • Apple Calendar

• 📂 Cloud File Storage

  • iCloud Drive

• 📖 RSS

  • NetNewsWire

• 👩‍🦲 Contacts

  • Apple Contacts App

• 🌐 Browser

  • Testing Brave and Firefox. See Exploring browsers other than Safari

  • Used to use Safari on all devices

• 💬 Chat

  • Signal, WhatsApp

• 🔖 Bookmarks

  • N/A

• 📑 Read It Later

  • N/A

• 📜 Word Processing

  • Obsidian mainly, or iA Writer connecting to Obsidian's vault

  • Pages if there are more visual elements needed

• 📈 Spreadsheets

  • N/A

• 📊 Presentations

  • Keynote. Considering iA Presenter

• 🛒 Shopping List

  • Reminders

• 🍴 Meal Planning

  • N/A

• 💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance

  • None

• 📰 News

  • N/A

• 🎵 Music

  • Used to be Apple Music

• 🎤 Podcasts

  • Apple Podcasts

• 🔐 Password Management

  • Keychain

Additional Categories

• ✍️ Sketching/illustrations

  • Procreate

• 📸 Photo Editing

  • Photos app

• 🗺️ Navigation

  • Google Maps, Strava