My 2021 Essential iOS Apps
Every year towards the end of December I evaluate the apps that I’ve been using and what I will use for the next year. I find that writing this out helps me better evaluate the apps that best fit my workflows. Once I complete my evaluation, I summarize it in a post on this blog.
Another reason for this post is that visitors are always asking me which apps I use for specific tasks. To keep from repeating myself over and over, here’s the list of apps that I use.
My setup:
- MacBook Pro early–2015 13” (soon to be replaced with a MacBook Air M1/8gb)
- iPhone 11
- iPad 5th Generation (which I rarely use these days)
- Apple Watch 44 mm Series 4
Web
Safari — Safari is my browser of choice. I use Wipr with Safari to block ads, trackers, cryptocurrency miners, and other annoyances.
Communication
Fastmail — I’ve been using Fastmail for email ever since I left Gmail over 6 years. I also use it for calendar, and contacts.
Fastmail has an iOS app, that I use.
Messages — Messages is how I communicate with family and friends.
Calendar and Tasks
Fantastical 3 — Fantastical is my calendar and task app. It integrates perfectly with my Fastmail calendar appointments and events and Apple Reminders tasks.
Due — Due is where I keep all my reminders. What I love about Due is that it repeatedly notifies you of overdue reminders until I mark them complete or reschedule them.
Reading
Reeder — Reeder is what I use for my Feedly RSS feeds. Anything that I want to read I save to Instapaper for reading later.
Twitter — Twitter is for news and the feeds for apps that I use.
Writing
Drafts 5 — I’ve been using Drafts for several years. Drafts is a launching-off point for text — use the actions to copy it, share it, or deep link into other apps and services.
1Writer — I don’t write on iOS but I do some proofreading and editing and for that I use 1Writer.
Apple Notes — Notes that I want to keep long-term go in the Notes app.
Day One Journal — I keep a lifelog in Day One.
Utilities / Productivity
Bitwarden — Gotta have a password manager.
Scanner Pro — Scanner Pro is also part of my paperless workflow. I use it to scan paper documents into PDFs with OCR that look clean and professional.
TunnelBear VPN — TunnelBear is my VPN for security on public WiFi and web browsing privacy.
PCalc — PCalc is my stock calculator replacement. I use it for its additional features and customization.
Health and Fitness
Apple Fitness — I use the Workout and Fitness apps with my Apple Watch to track my daily activities.
To keep my mind occupied during workouts I listen to podcasts in Overcast.
