2020 Year In Review — Apps

January 1, 2021
4 min read

Timery

Just when the pandemic hit, I’ve decided to try out time tracking as a concept. And now I recommend everyone to do it.

Just to be clear — I hate when work tracks how much time you spend working. If there is need for this, I think there are some deeper problems and tracking your employees won’t help. But time tracking for me was eye-opening. There were tasks I thought took a lot of time when in reality those were very minor and the opposite — some tasks that I thought I don’t spend a lot of time on, were taking a considerable amount of time.

Based on this information I made changes in my work. Moving some tasks around in the day, delegating others etc.

For time tracking I’ve used Toggl, which is free for individual use, but its iOS app is not good. That is why I’m using Timery. I’ve tried the free version and after about a week I paid for a yearly subscription, as I think it is very much worth it. The app is simple and has great widgets for iOS 14.

Halide Mark II

This year Halide published an amazing update to their app, which bring some education and also subscriptions. Although as someone who paid for the app before I got a free year, I still signed up for the subscription right away just to support the developers of my favourite iPhone photography app.

It is simple, yet powerful and with Apple ProRAW support and the addition of Instant RAW (which develops your RAW shots right inside the app) it is mandatory for iPhone photo enthusiasts.

I’ve set up Shortcut that opens Halide and now when I tap back of the iPhone 3 times it opens the app. Very helpful, especially during winter with gloves on.

Tot

The app actually came out in 2020 and at first I thought it was a bit crazy to buy it for €20. But after some consideration I decided to try it out (European laws on refunds help a lot in those kinds of situations) and I loved it. So much so, that since day one it is in my iPhone dock.

It is perfect for small things to write down. Thoughts, ideas. It delivered on a promise of Drafts, which I tried to use a couple of times because of a “where the text starts” tag line, but it was too geeky and overpowered for me.

Ulysses

This is where I type all the posts for my blog. Before I was all over the place, but now my blog starts here, in Ulysses. I even learned Markdown, so that I can use it to the fullest and actually enjoy it.

I like themes, integration with WordPress and new feature of text revision, which shows the most common stylistic mistakes. What I don’t like is the new update, which cut up the perfectly usable sidebar into 4 tabs which don’t occupy the whole height of the screen.

Reeder 5

I was using the previous version of this RSS reader or even the one before and didn’t think much about the update, but after reading MacStories review, decided to give it a try. It is every bit as beautiful as they describe. This app just feels nice. It is a pure pleasure — animations, speed, typography. It is simple to use.

I decided to try out the read-it-later service inside the app and so far, I like it. Of course Pocket was better in some places (I think just because of the experience), but I never liked the app itself. With Reeder 5, those things are not dealbreakers and the app is amazing.

iPhone Homescreen – iOS 13 Edition

September 16, 2020
6 min read

Before the end of the year 2019, I’ve decided to start a new tradition, by posting my homescreen and looking at what changed over the year. I feel like it is a bit different right now, because of the WFH situation and also with the release of iOS 14 with a lot of changes focused on the homescreen. So let’s look at the last iOS 13 homescreen, before updating to the iOS 14, which I feel like will change homescreen dramatically (I’m actually running public beta, but screenshot was taken right before installing it).

Stayed

There are some apps that stayed on the homescreen, although some of them changed placement. I still use Telegram, Messages and WhatsApp and the Phone app for communication. After an absence for a month Twitter and Instagram are back. And of course Safari is still in the dock.

For keeping up with the news and blogs I still use Reeder and Pocket, and YouTube for videos, while Overcast remains my podcast player of choice.

I won’t be replacing CoinKeeper any time soon. As well as all of the photo apps, like Halide, Lightroom and Photos.

The one app I am considering switching but which is still there is Notes. I don’t know what to replace it with. For writing I’ve found the replacement, but I’m not sure about the archival stuff.

Removed

There are a a couple of apps that are no longer on the homescreen, but I do use almost all of them.

App Store and Settings I can usually get to from search or from the second screen, but I don’t do it often.

I very rarely use ExpressVPN on iPhone and as I’ve mentioned in my previous overview its placement on the homescreen was temporary. Just like Gemini – I now use it only when it sends push notification once a week, so there is no need to keep it on the homescreen.

The last two are a bit of a different story. I’ve started editing mobile photos in Lightroom, as I enjoy the way it changes photos more, so I’ve cancelled my VSCO premium subscription and removed it from the first screen, although I didn’t delete it from my phone, yet.

I’ve removed Waze because this past half a year I’ve driven much less and it doesn’t get a lot of use. On the rare occasions I drive to work I have a Shortcuts automation running when I get into the car which launches Waze automatically with driving directions.

Replaced

Kindle – Books

A little while ago Kindle app introduced a bug, where it would forget the place you’ve stopped reading. So I had to remember and find the place every time I’ve opened the app, which was … not ideal. So I’ve switched to the Books app. Although it opens a book for quite some time, I liked it in the end. It opens on the right place, shows words, what more do you need.

Music – Spotify

In the begging of summer Spotify had a deal, where new users could get three months for free (including Family plan). I’ve long ago wanted to give Spotify another chance and it seemed like a perfect opportunity.

The free trial ended and I am still paying for Spotify. I think algorithms are better. Music is the same. The only advantage Apple Music has – integration. But I don’t have HomePod and rarely use Siri asking to play music, so I don’t feel like I’m loosing much.

Reminders – Asana

I’ve been using Asana for work for a long time and actually liked it a lot, so decided to use it as a personal task manager and for cooperation with my wife. It has all the features I want in the task manager and it is free. Hard to beat that.

Added

Apollo

My Reddit client of choice. Like how it looks and feels and it gets updated all the time.

Revolut

I’ve been using the app more and more. It is now one of the places I have investments. So it made sense to bring it forward from the second screen.

Audible

Since we’ve had a child, I started listening to audiobooks more and more. It’s perfect for walks with a sleeping toddler. She is a bit older now, so I turn the subscription on and off, mostly waiting for the deals, since I don’t have time to listen to all the books I already have.

Ulysses

The app I’m writing this post right now. I’ve been looking for a writing app for a long time, since I don’t actually enjoy writing in the Notes app. This felt perfect, so now I’m a subscriber. I even started using Markdown, which I didn’t get before, but now it makes sense.

Tot

You might say it’s silly to have three writing apss on the homescreen and I might actually agree. But they are all for different purposes and Tot is for short bits of text which I need for a short period of time. I’ve tried using Drafts for a similar reason before, but Tot fits much better. It’s a very pricey app, but sometimes it’s ok to overpay for something you enjoy.

Mimo

I’ve decided to learn programming. I probably won’t become a full time programmer, but I want to understand code. Also as a business analyst it’s very helpful to know at least some code.

Mail

I’ve been using Mail.app for a long time, only now did I bring it to the homescreen. It’s only for my personal use, I don’t have notifications turned on, so I check the app 1-2 times a day.

Formula 1

As I’ve said earlier, after watching the Drive To Survive documentary I decided to try to watch Formula 1 races. We are half way through the season right now and I enjoy it a lot.

Morning

Recently I’ve tried to delete all social media apps for 30 days (and was successful at it), the app gave me the rundown of the most important news of the day.

My Homescreen At The End Of 2019

January 13, 2020
5 min read

It is nice to look back and see how my homescreen has changed. It shows the most used and important apps at that moment. I would like to start the tradition of going through the apps on my homescreen each year to see what has changed or stayed the same (took the idea from M.G. Siegler).

For a couple of years, my first rule of arranging the homescreen is no folders. Just the most used apps I can open in one tap. I’ve tried to put folders in the first row recently, as it is hardest to reach, but it didn’t work aesthetically for me.

The top row consists of the rarely used apps and Telegram, which I open mostly from the Notification Center. App Store stays here since the days I’ve manually updated all the apps.

The second row is all about photography. Instagram is where I post my photos almost exclusively, Photos app which I love. My two main editing apps – Lightroom, where I edit my real camera photos and VSCO where all the mobile editing is done. I’m not sure why I still keep Lightroom on the homescreen, I almost don’t use it on the phone, but it is one of the top apps on my iPad.

There is another photography app on this screen, although it is a bit lower for easier reach – Halide. I’ve been using it a lot less recently, now I either take photos with the built-in camera app or with my real camera, but sometimes it’s nice to have RAW capture capability (I open the built-in camera app from Lock Screen or Control Center).

CoinKeeper is the app for tracking expenses . I’ve been using it for a long time, there is a new version out, but I’m so used to this one, I’m hesitant to move, lucky for me they keep both of them in the App Store.

I’ve been using TweetBot for years, until the summer of 2019. I wanted to use Twitter less and also have all the features that the service offers, so I moved to the official Twitter client. At first it felt like I was using completely different service, but after some time I actually began to like it.

Almost everything I read on the internet goes through Pocket. I have a couple of IFTTT rules that save all the articles from select blogs, I also go through the Reeder (yes, RSS reeder in the 2019) and save the articles that seem interesting for reading later (that is why I didn’t update to Reeder 4 this year, for what I am using it for, the previous version is enough).

I’ve tried to watch more YouTube videos, but it is hard. Twitter and Instagram allow for a short bursts of usage, with YouTube you have to be in the right place and have a lot of time.

Although most of my reading is done on the iPad before going to bed, Kindle is one of the aspirational app placements – I wanted to read even more, so I’ve put it on the homescreen.

It is impossible to live in Europe without Waze and WhatsApp (in the case of the latter – unfortunately). Most of my work chats have moved to Slack (which I have somewhere in the folder and I have notifications turned off on my iPhone, it’s enough I get them on the computer), I chat in iMessage with my wife and in Telegram with most friends. But there are still couple of groups in WhatsApp (mostly family) which I can’t move anywhere else.

I use Apple Music mostly because of all the integrations. We have a family plan between me and my wife and I like using Siri when trying to play something.

Last two apps are temporary – I use Gemini in the short bursts, almost like using Twitter or Instagram, to go through all of the photos and delete similar ones. Once I go through all of them, I plan to remove it from the homescreen and do the cleaning periodically, probably using a reminder.

ExpressVPN is the app I literally installed on the December 31st. While at the hospital, I’ve had some time to kill, so I wanted to watch a couple of TV shows. Netflix in Latvia, as it turns out is so bad, it’s not even funny. So it is totally worth it to pay for the VPN service in order to get content I want.

Since iOS 13 came out, I’ve moved Reminders to my homescreen and use it as my one and only to do list app. The new design, integrations and simplicity is what keeps me using it. I’ve tried a lot of different apps for tasks, but my needs are very simple, so all those apps mostly drove me away from productivity.

In the dock there are Messages, Notes, Overcast and Safari – those are probably my most used apps. I listen to a lot of podcasts and the sound engine of Overcast is the best in class.

I’ve been using Bear for a year and moved back to Apple Notes. It works for me. I like to use rich text while editing and nothing can beat its price.

Because of syncing, battery life and privacy focused features I use Safari on all my devices.

So here it goes, my homescreen at the end of the year. I know that it’s far from perfect, I know a couple of improvements I want to make already (actually some of them are already made), so it will be fun to take a look at the same screen next year.

Subscription Fatigue

September 20, 2019
2 min read

Millennials invented cable! This is one of the better memes in the long time, but it works so well. I’ve been reading tech blogs for a very long time and couple of years ago one of the most popular themes was cable cutting. There was a lot of talk, how you can cut the cable, subscribe to a couple of services, buy antenna and save a lot of money.

For some time Netflix and Hulu (in the US) were the ones to have. There was a lot of content, some old, some new, some originals. Now, every company wants to build its own subscription service and charge for it about 10$ a month. And as this is the golden age of the TV you’ll want to watch them all. Subscribing to Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney, for example, would be about 30$ per month. Add to it Apple Music or Spotify (that’s another 10$) and probably gaming service or two (Apple Arcade and PSN). 50$ and that’s not even trying. Want to watch Office next year – another service.

This all adds up very easily. Apps are implementing subscriptions more and more. Weather apps, Twitter clients, writing apps, Podcasts apps. Everything is a subscription.

For the video services, my plan would probably be keeping Netflix and adding one other services. The service I add will depend on the content it has. There is something new on Disney+? Subscribe for a month or two, until I watch it and something else pops up on another service.

When music streaming became a thing, it destroyed piracy in some markets, as it was much easier to pay and listen to all the music you want, without the need to download, clean meta-data, upload to the phone, etc. Now, with all those video services coming out, I have a feeling, piracy will again rise. You either look for it on some shady website, where it is all lumped together or you take your time to figure out which service it is on. Sure, something like Apple TV could help (app, not a device), but already not every streaming service is in there (and Netflix will never agree to be added).

I hope I’m wrong and those services will prosper and companies will have funds and willingness to produce more great shows.

Hockey and Today Widgets

May 24, 2016
2 min read

IIHF World Championship is over and I’ve already deleted the official app, but there is one thing that stays and that’s the habit of using Today widgets. It was so easy to look up scores in Notifications center and not by opening an app that it got me thinking – maybe other widgets can be useful too. 

Right now I’m trying to better understand which widgets I would like to use, so I add/remove one every couple of days and see which ones stick with me. Excluding IIHF Today there are currently three other widgets – MyFitnessPal to quickly glance at my remaining calories (I’ll post about my diet and logging food later), CoinKeeper – for quickly adding expenses and I’m experimenting with using different Weather app instead of default one, so the last widget is WU Weather. 

I couldn’t find much use for widgets for half a year I use iPhone, until I found one use case which was appealing enough for habit to stick. When I’ve used Android I’ve used widgets a lot, but those were on the home screen and it was easier, because they were always there, on iOS, you have to remember to go to Notification Center and then scroll to the side. I still think that widgets as they are implemented on Android make more sense, but iOS widgets are not as useless, as I thought before.

Windows Software

September 24, 2014
3 min read

Previously, in my days of (possible) piracy of everything, installing all the software after reinstalling Windows was a pain. You had to download the latest version of the program from the website or torrent tracker, you had to install every program by itself, if it was from torrent tracker, you had to apply some kind of crack or jump through the goops in order to make it work. Later, came one of the greatest tools ever – Ninite, you could choose programs you want to install and get this bundle of apps (only those, that were free, of course). You still had to install cracked apps separately, but it was much lesser pain.

Today I don’t have questionable software on my computer and this time I’ve decided to download programs only as I need them. That way I won’t have cluttered laptop right away and it’s pretty easy to download and install something if I need it. So, I wanted to take time and write about all those apps that allow me to do my work, study and helped me not to lose all the data.

Microsoft Office 2013. I’ve mentioned it in previous post about reinstalling Windows. This is a great piece of software. You can start using it even before it installed on your PC, streaming apps is a very cool idea. Also it comes with 1TB of OneDrive storage space, I’ll talk about that a bit later. And for the price I paid It’s almost free – 70€ for 4 years. The greatest deal.

Microsoft OneDrive. Let’s get all the Microsoft products right out of the way. I’ve used Dropbox for a long time and love the product. They have some very interesting features, like saving Screenshots. (Windows 8 also saves screenshots if you press Win+PrintScreen). Also it offers integration with all sorts of services, but since I’ve started using Office 2013, I’ve migrated all my documents to OneDrive, integration with Office makes using it a lot easier.

Dropbox. I’m using it for the photo backup. It would make more sense to use 1TB of OneDrive for that, but Dropbox works with photos so much better, especially automatic photo uploader on Android.

Evernote. This one is interesting. Like Dropbox, I’ve been a user of Evernote for a long time, but I still have trouble managing it. I can’t find the system that works for me. Mostly I’ve tried everything tied to Notebooks, I still have to try managing everything using tags or try to use Google Keep. I dump all the articles I find interesting there, but then rarely read them.

Spotify. After Spotify came to Latvia, it became the only place I listen to the music. I’ve had couple of albums bought in iTunes, but I don’t have iTunes installed on my laptop for a long time. I cache one big playlist to my laptop, so I have something to listen to at all times.

Chrome. I’ve tried to use the newest IE for a couple of weeks and really liked it, but the lack of extensions just kills it. So still using Chrome as my main browsers. Ones in a while, I try every other of big browsers, but nothing matches Chrome, unfortunately.

That’s all the software I’ve installed after installing new OS and this is mostly stuff I do use daily. There are probably other programs I’ll install later, but I use those rarely, comparing to the main ones. 

Choosing the right one

March 7, 2014
2 min read

It looks like user base is all that matters right now. Facebook bought WhatsApp and Instragram mostly for their users, you won’t use a service (especially social one) if your friends aren’t there. It was the case with me. I’ve chosen WhatsApp, not Viber or Line, because more friends are using the first one. It wasn’t as fun using Foursquare before more of my friends joined.

Finally I’ve found one space, where it’s not true, for me at least.

I’ve been trying (successfully) to lose weight since the New Year’s. I’m currently on a diet (which desires a whole blog post by itself) and also I’ve started running. Although I have Fitbit, I’ve decided to use running app, for more detailed information.

My choice was between two apps – Endomondo and Runkeeper. I’ve used Endomondo couple of times before, when I had a Symbian phone and the website looks the same ever since. Runkeeper is cleaner and more modern looking service, so I’ve started with that one this time.

When I wanted to add friends, I’ve discovered that all the friends who track their activities, are using Endomondo. That made me to return to the Endomondo. After couple of runs I’ve came to conclusion, Runkeeper pushes me more than my friends.

I’m a novice runner, which means it doesn’t matter to me, that my friend ran 10k today. I can’t do that. My record right now is 4.37km. It’s more fun to compete against myself, so all those stats and encouragements from Runkeeper (like showing couple of times, that you beat your distance/time/etc. record) make me feel good and, what’s more important, encourage me to try harder next time.

In the end, I’m using Runkeeper despite not having any friends on that service.