Back to Apple defaults
My friend Saadia has been gently challenging me to try Apple default apps for as many things in my life as possible.
He’s been right in every case.
It started with Apple Calendar. I switched from Google to Apple, and suddenly most things worked better. Events showed up on my Watch the way I wanted, and calendars synced across all my (and my spouse’s) devices with less headaches.
Then I switched from Bear Notes to Apple Notes. You can’t customize the app as much as I’d like, but I was shocked at how good the whole writing process has gotten. In my mind it was still the app with the weird leather design. The team working on it has continued to iterate year after year, and it’s a fantastic app.
Freeform came next. I abanded Miro and Linea Sketch in favor of a relative newcomer from Apple, and I can’t be happier with it. This app is so fantastic, it’s at the level of quality I’ve come to expect from the best indie app developers (I mean that as a compliment). That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its issues, but it’s become a daily driver in my work.
A few months ago I switched from Overcast to Apple Podcasts. The reason for my switch had nothing to do with the new design, but rather the fact that the app just stopped working for me. I’d start listening to something, pause with my AirPods, resume, and the episode would start back from the beginning. I then went through the manual effort of pulling all my shows into Apple, and have been there since. I think it’s fixed now, months later, and I want to go back, partially because I love Marco’s work, and partially because the Smart Speed and audio boosting are still the best. But I don’t know if I’m ready for the potential pain of things acting up again.
The next pillar for me came over Christmas break. I was assessing all of the subscriptions I pay for, and decided to axe HEY.com, a fantastic app I’ve been paying for since launch (now for both my wife and I’s email).
With relatively little effort I used Apple’s custom email domain to switch over my personal email from being powered by HEY to Apple mail.
I’m happy with the result. I’m saving money and finding some of the benefit of things just linking up better. I may write about this more later, as I’ve noticed lots of little things about Mail that I wish could be better, but on the whole I’m happy with it.
That doesn’t mean I won’t continue to use great apps from other companies. Things is still one of my most used and beloved apps. Audible beats Apple Books, and 1Password is still better than Passwords (although it’s got the greatest chance of being switched out in 2025).
Using defaults by default feels like the right move.