Default apps, 2026

January 27, 2026

I first published this list after seeing a similar post by Robb Knight (2023, 2026) and many others. For each category, I’m listing the app I’m using now, plus my response in 2023 for comparison.

• Mail Client
  • 2026: Fastmail.app
  • 2023: Mail.app
• Mail Server
  • 2026: Fastmail
  • 2023: Pobox (Pobox has been owned by Fastmail for a while; they eventually discontinued it and migrated all the accounts to Fastmail proper.)
• Notes
  • 2026: Obsidian, iA Writer
  • 2023: Bear, Tot, Bike, iA Writer
• To-Do
  • 2026: Things, Obsidian
  • 2023: Things
• Phone Photo Shooting: n/a (Camera, but I don’t/can’t really take photos myself)
• Photo Management
  • 2026: Photos.app
  • 2023: Photos.app
• Calendar
  • 2026: Fantastical. This should be the default calendar in macOS.
  • 2023: Fantastical
• Cloud File Storage
  • 2026: Dropbox, iCloud Drive
  • 2023: Dropbox, iCloud Drive
• RSS
  • 2026: Feedbin web. I still don’t find myself reading much from my RSS feed, but I’m trying to take some time this year to collect some more feeds.
  • 2023: Feedbin web
• Contacts
  • 2026: Cardhop. I don’t love it but I get it bundled with Fantastical and it’s better than Contacts so…
  • 2023: Cardhop
• Browser
  • 2026: Chrome for work, Firefox and Vivaldi for personal
  • 2023: Arc
• Chat
  • 2026: Discord, Brainwave Chat
  • 2023: Discord
• Bookmarks
  • 2026: My DIY bookmarks app
  • 2023: My DIY bookmarks app
• Read It Later: n/a
• Word Processing
  • 2026: Pages
  • 2023: Pages
• Spreadsheets
  • 2026: Numbers
  • 2023: Numbers
• Presentations
  • 2026: iA Presenter
  • 2023: iA Presenter
• Shopping Lists
  • 2026: My DIY groceries app
  • 2023: My DIY groceries app
• Meal Planning
  • 2026: lol
  • 2023: n/a
• Budgeting and Personal Finance
  • 2026: Numbers
  • 2023: Numbers
• News
  • 2026: Mastodon (Ivory), Hacker News, Tangle
  • 2023: Mastodon (Ivory), Hacker News
• Music
  • 2026: Spotify
  • 2023: Spotify
• Podcasts
  • 2026: n/a, haven’t really been listening to podcasts
  • 2023: no dedicated podcast app, just a web browser
• Password Management
  • 2026: 1Password
  • 2023: 1Password

Bonus stuff:

• Code
  • 2026: Visual Studio Code (a different theme/font all the time because I get bored)
  • 2023: Visual Studio Code (Rainier theme)
• Terminal
  • 2026: Warp. For one reason and one reason only—you can manipulate text with all the Mac keyboard shortcuts you are used to and it just works, including highlighting text and using your mouse.
  • 2023: iTerm2
• Search
  • 2026: Kagi, ChatGPT (😭). Kagi really is great. I rarely ever bounce out to Google with the !g shortcut, and when I do the results aren’t any good anyway.
  • 2023: Kagi