Apps I use 2026

Posted 6 days ago

I have seen several people (Chris Coyier, David Bushell) post about their default apps for 2026 so I thought I would join the party. I also updated my Uses page.

Desktop

• Operating System: macOS Sequoia 15 (work) and macOS Sonoma 14 (personal) – I didn’t want to update my OS last year when I was unemployed in case I had an issue. And now I only use my personal computer at times of the day when I don’t want to take the time to update to Sequoia.
• Email: GMail
• Calendar: Google Calendar
• Code editor: VS Code
• Browser: Chrome (Work), Brave (Personal) – I switched my personal default from Firefox as I was concerned about changes that Mozilla was making. I decided to switch to Chrome for work since we are using Google ecosystem.
• CMS: WordPress, Django CMS (Work) – I have been learning to use Django CMS over the last nine months.
• Git: GitHub Desktop, through VS Code for work
• Design Mockups: PhotoShop, Illustrator, and InDesign
• Code Snippets Library: SnippetsLab
• Notes: Obsidian
• Photo editor: Affinity Photo, PhotoShop (I started reusing it this year with my job)
• Messaging: Slack and Google Chat
• Meetings/Video calls: Zoom or Google Meet
• Project Management: Asana
• Time tracking: Toggl Track
• Password management: Bitwarden, Keeper (Work)
• Music: Spotify
• Local Web development: Local, customized environment for Django CMS
• Inspiration library: Eagle
• FTP Client: Transmit (personal)
• SVG creation/editor: Affinity Designer
• RSS: feedly
• Read it later: Instapaper – I switched back to Instapaper after Pocket declined.
• Bookmarks: Raindrop
• Image optimization: Squoosh
• SVG optimization: SVGOMG
• Social: Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram
• Track book reading: Goodreads
• Contacts: Google Contacts
• Word processing: Google Docs
• Screenshots and Videos: CleanShot X, droplr (Work)
• Accessibility testing: Lighthouse and axe DevTools browser extension
• Backup: Time Machine (personal)

Mobile (different than desktop)

• Phone: Samsung A23
• Exercise tracker: Strava
• Messenging: What’s App
• Budgeting: Every Dollar
• To Dos: Todist
• Read it later: Instapaper
• Food: McDonald’s – My new default is to always use the app to order the food and then go through drive-thru. I have used the Culver’s app a few times recently.

Tablet (different from desktop or phone)

• Reading: Kindle app, Hoopla Digital
• RSS: feedly
• Read it later: Instapaper

Related articles or pages

• Uses
• Apps I use 2024
• Apps I use 2023