My iOS

Apps/tools I use on iOS

Applications
- Productivity
- Social
- Photos
- Learn
- Write
- Music
- Travel
- Automation
Widgets
Shortcuts
Control Center
Games
WatchOS
iPad
My macOS
Related
Contributing

Applications

This is extension of my macOS overview. Best read it first as many apps below I use on mac too and describe in more detail there.

I only use 2 active spaces on my phone without any folders to minimize hand movement. Everything is optimized for reachability and partly aesthetics. I nearly always use dark mode as I prefer it unless I am outside and it's hard to read the text.

iOS for me is a consumption and communication device primarily so I try to offload heavy busy work to macOS.

I minimize push notifications I actually receive to only messaging apps. Mostly just Telegram. Everything else I have to go inside the apps to check what's new so as to not distract me from day to day life. I also keep it on Do Not Disturb nearly always too. Especially when I work on my mac and keep the phone on the side so as to not duplicate notifications.

Productivity

Fantastical use to manage my calendar and events. I like their widget to show my current schedule of the day.
GitHub don't use often but is nice when I need to reply to an urgent issue.
Safari absolutely love it for reading and opening pages. Works fast. I like keeping top used sites in bookmarks bar so I can open them fast.
1Password use it whenver I need to find some specific secret file like Passport photo or details.
Wipr - Safari ad blocker. Works well.

Social

Telegram use it chat and read groups. Want to start using it more heavily by creating specialized bots.
Spark use it to check on mail. I don't have notifications set for email.
Slack & Discord to check up on communities I am in.

Photos

Photos does good job of managing and searching for photos I need. I have few albums I made for myself to make finding things easier too. Love its Memories feature and use the Photos Widget to remind myself of the past photos I took or saved.
VSCO & Darkroom for photo editing. Don't pay for VSCO as it's quite expensive but they both do a good job at editing photos.
Slidebox use it to quickly clean up photos, especially duplicates or bad takes.
Instagram not a fan of how many ads IG pushes to the feeds/stories but I do love content of many accounts there so I still use it. Share some photos and stories of my life in there.

Learn

Overcast use it to listen to podcasts I like. I love its smart speed feature to cut out on silent pauses.
Audible listen to audio books there.
Books use it to read some books. It recently added a nice digital narration.

Music

Spotify use it to stream all my music.

Travel

Google Maps use it as my main navigation app and a travel guide. Collect lists of places I want to visit and places I loved seeing.

Automation

Scriptable don't use it much but want to.

Widgets

I use 3 widgets in lock screen.

Show upcoming event with Fantastical
Create new task with Things
Create new event with Fantastical

I keep common shortcut actions as widgets on the side (just need to scroll left to access):

Shortcuts

I color all shortcuts I use with gray color for consistency.

Shortcuts - Open Shortcuts app
Next - Get Google Maps directions for next event
Phone - Open Phone app
Places - Search for Restaraunts/Attractions/.. on Google Maps
Ride/Food - Open Uber app
Translate - Open Google Translate app
Weather - Open Weather app
Workout - Open Caliber app
Sort - Open Slidebox app
Photo - Open Camera app
Podcast - Start playing Overcast podcast
Voice - Start voice conversation with ChatGPT
Memos - Open Voice Memos app
Record - Create voice recording
Focus - Open Endel app
Contacts - Start searching Cardhop for contacts

I use Test shortcut to prototype new actions/ideas quickly. I then duplicate the working prototype & give it appropriate name. I use the same prototyping idea with KM macros.

Control Center

Here is how my control center looks:

Third page for other + testing apps

I only use the 2 pages of apps and that's often enough. The third page is mostly 'other' apps I rarely need plus a way to test out new apps or develop apps of my own.

WatchOS

I stopped wearing a watch. But when I did I mostly used it to track my health and fitness and view useful information at a glance like current time and events.

I used only one Infograph Modular watch face. It showed the current time and day, the weather and my current or future calendar events (with Fantastical). It also let me quickly start cardio workout (running/biking) or bodyweight workout (with Streaks Workout). I could also start a timer or see the time of a timer if one is already running.

iPad

I don't use iPad either. When I did, I mostly used it to draw with Procreate or noting/sketching in Notes/Muse with the pencil. I also sometimes use it as second screen with Sidecar.