Homescreen ●
September 2, 2025
For the second year in a row, I've not bothered installing any iOS/macOS/iPadOS/watchOS betas.
I'm actually quite excited to try out Liquid Glass, amongst other things. But, between work and running, I've preferred to ensure all my devices remain in a reliable place as much as possible.
Before upgrading to iOS 26 later this month, I thought I'd document the current state of my home screen. Some notes:
- I've recently shifted toward Apple's default apps, albeit with a few exceptions. I've been looking for privacy-minded, simple options which may (or may not) provide (a) better battery life or (b) better Apple Watch (and other ecosystem) support.
- I have started using Mail on iOS. It's imperfect. (I find it to be quite slow and the lack of snoozing is not ideal.) But I was increasingly uncomfortable with Spark and felt compelled to try something different.
- I am beta testing Mimestream on iOS. I won't comment too much on an unfinished product, but have found it to be good. I'm not sure it really scratches more of an itch than Mail.app, though.
- I also use Outlook for work email.
- I recently switched from Overcast to Podcasts. I think Overcast is generally a superior product. It's a shame to lose Smart Speed, in particular. There's also a lot of clutter in Podcasts, which I don't enjoy. But it also works seamlessly and syncs effortlessly with my Apple Watch. I'm looking forward to the Voice Enhancement feature with iOS 26.
- Of the apps I've switched, I'd say this is the most vulnerable to me going back.
- On a similar note, I switched from Spotify to Apple Music in July. Spotify pricing has been creeping upward and, given our entrenchment in the ecosystem, a move to Apple One made a lot of sense. For my purposes, I've found Apple Music to be good, but perhaps not great. It feels more focused and streamlined, but lacks a lot of Spotify's nice-to-haves. I don't think I fully appreciated that the bulk of the playlists I enjoyed on Spotify were heavily personalised for me. Apple Music just doesn't match up in that regard. But, again, syncing with Apple Watch is enormously better with Apple Music, unsurprisingly.
- I still like Spotify a lot. I have a cellular-capable Apple Watch Ultra, but it cannot be used in the UK. Perhaps I'll revert to Spotify when I can stream during runs again. But I've generally had a positive experience with Apple Music and don't have much reason to shift as it stands.
- I had also been enjoying Quiche as my iPhone browser. I love the experience and design flexibility. But it was ultimately a dealbreaker to lack 1Password support, so reverted back to Safari.
- I have started using Mail on iOS. It's imperfect. (I find it to be quite slow and the lack of snoozing is not ideal.) But I was increasingly uncomfortable with Spark and felt compelled to try something different.
- As one key exception, I'm still using and enjoying Fantastical over Calendar.
- Things is — and has been — my to-do app of choice for years. I put a lot of time and effort into it years ago, which has paid off. The reliable, native feel, great-performing sync, and the minimal design just work perfectly for me. I can't imagine switching away.
- I've been a loyal Reeder user for, what, over a decade? I was sceptical when the new design/concept was launched, but have actually loved it. I've found I have much less anxiety around unread counts and whatnot. I don't have to dwell on any particular story. It's great.
- I've been a similarly loyal 1Password user for as long as I can remember, but can't say I enjoy it any more. I'd love for something more native and tactile to come along, but haven't seen any compelling options. (If Apple's Passwords app could store a broader spectrum of things, I'd likely switch in a heartbeat.)
- I always struggled to understand the purpose of Drafts when it launched. Everyone in the indie Apple universe gushed over it, but I just couldn't quite work out the purpose. In 2017/2018, I started to use it as a scratchpad for email and text — as well as a means to quickly clean formatting and whatnot — and it was revelatory for my day-to-day use. I now use it constantly for a broad variety of tasks. (I've still barely scratched the surface of its more advanced capabilities. Maybe I'll have more bandwidth to do so one day.)
- I've been pushing to improve my health and wellbeing over the past 4-5 years. I have a lot of apps on my phone for tracking all of this, but three have made it to the home screen:
- Foodnoms is the best calorie/nutrition tracker I've come across. It's well-designed, native and tactile in the vein of Things, and has some of the best AI implementation I've come across. I've found the AI estimates of nutrition for given meals to be directionally accurate and really easy to use. The Health integration is great too.
- Health. Duh. I find it a little slow on occasion, but it's a great resource. I love the Vitals feature.
- I've written about Tempo before, but it's a phenomenal run tracking/planning app.
- I recognise that our corner of the internet has complicated feelings about AI. I do too. But ChatGPT has become a key component of my day-to-day work. I don't use it for creation whatsoever, but have found it to be useful as a resource for a variety of tasks. With my running/wellness journey, for instance, I sometimes share plans, progress updates, and the like, which generally yields some useful analysis. Similarly, I largely work as a team of one on a broad, broad variety of tasks. I've found it to be a useful partner in that journey.
- I am a firm believer in the importance of studying the Liberal Arts. It helps you develop and hone — amongst other things — critical analysis skills. During my 18 years in the US — and thanks to my involvement with SMU (both as a student and via their Executive Board) — I've seen first-hand the parental push for kids to study subjects directly correlating with prospective careers. It's not that this thinking is invalid, but it cuts away the potential for curiosity and well-rounded perspectives. Education becomes purely transactional. I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of those people — particularly the parents — are now some of the most vulnerable to misinformation.
- I think usage of tools like ChatGPT can be an entirely productive and exciting means to improve your work and, perhaps, quality of life. But it can only be done if you sustain a critical perspective. You identify when the information is wrong or unhelpful. You retain the agency to actually create and drive forward. It's more like a great, supportive intern assisting you. Sometimes they'll be spot on and catch something you've not considered. Other times they'll be naive or flat out wrong.
- Obsidian has been a key component of my life for years. It's become my home for daily journaling, keeping up with our son's milestones and sayings, working on fiction, logging big ideas, and beyond. I've been sustaining a habit where I write yearly goals and then write monthly logs in line with those objectives. More recently, I've also started to write weekly notes to set out my big picture objectives for the week and, conversely, write a wind-down each Friday too. Writing provides a sense of mental cleanliness and control for me and, in my case, Obsidian is a key tool to do so.
- Parcel. It's fine. I miss Deliveries.
Maybe I'll be back in a few weeks feeling frustrated about Liquid Glass, but I don't expect I will. I think a lot of the changes look exciting.
I recognise the problems, but I think the persistent efforts to get just the right negative screenshot have jaded me to the realities. I'll be excited to try it on my own. I may ultimately agree, but the tick-tock of (a) iOS 26 beta release and (b) myriad social posts showing apps scrolled to extremely specific angles has been exhausting.
Having shown my wife Apple's iOS 26 Preview page the other day, she didn't immediately notice a lot of the changes, but was particularly excited for the transparent icon option. For what it's worth.