Thoughts on following others default apps

Amendment: Dec. 11, 2024: It was pointed out to me that I have misunderstood these lists. The idea is to see how many default apps you use, which originated on the Hemispheric Views podcast. So, I am incorrect about how these lists come to be and why people are writing them. I have no plans of listening to the podcast and still think iPhone and Mac users are boring as hell.

About a month ago I started following an RSS feed that compiles a list of posts from people listing their app defaults. These posts are where people list what apps they use to perform the most common tasks or apps used the most based on categories. I am fascinated with how people use their devices and so this felt like an intriguing feed to follow.

I would say that people who blog and write a post about their “default apps” are more than likely tech enthusiasts.

What I’ve learned in my time following this feed is tech people are boring.

Turns out y’all just use the literal stock apps on your iPhone and Mac. Seriously, for being tech people who follow the tech industry, y’all are really, really boring. Not only do you just buy Apple devices, but you literally default to the default apps.

Yes, there are some exceptions and everyone has one app off the beaten path. So, if you wanna follow a feed of everyone listing they use iCloud, Mail.app, Notes.app, and all the default Apple apps, plus a FOSS RSS reader, have I got the feed for you.

I’m disappointed because I was hoping a feed of tech enthusiasts listing their default apps would include the people doing cool stuff with customized hardware. I thought I’d see people with repaired Thinkpads from 2011 dual booting Win10 and Manjaro Linux and carrying a phone running a custom ROM. You know, the oddball stuff people who love to play with technology do.

At least that’s what I thought they did.

Instead, everyone just uses the stock apps and do boring things 😂.

I’ll post my default apps list in the next few days. I might be boring, but I can guarantee there will be very few, if any, stock apps on my list.

Until then, check out my uses page to see what I have installed on my phone, desktop, homelab, and more.

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