Skip to content
Skip to footer

HomeHome

Uses

What hard- & software I use.

Last updated on .

Using software

First things first, I try to use software out of conviction, not out of convenience, meaning I usually accept a worse user experience for better privacy, better accessibility or tools by companies, whose values I support.

That doesn't always work because sometimes you can't get around using a particular tool, app or piece of software. Even worse, a software company that used to represent values that I agree with oftentimes turns into evil big tech over time.

Using well-intended software is a commitment because the software that we use tells a little story about the users that we are. By the way, I also appreciate using software built in Europe.

Phone

I use an iPhone 12 with iOS 18. It's old, has too little space (64GB) and the battery life is awful. But I'm stuck with it for the moment—until I can replace it with an iPhone SE with 128GB in the near future (and have a home button again!)

Or you know, maybe I'll leave iOS behind me. Only time will tell.

Homescreen

My current home screen during my 30-day Digital Declutter.

A homescreen on iOS showing the following apps: Contacts, Apple Maps, Settings, N26, Roborock, Austrian Railway Ticket App, Vienna Public Transport App, Overcast. There's a calendar widget in the top and a weather widget in the bottom. The favourites bar is empty.

My strongly restricted homescreen as of August 2026. Background: solar system (live!)

During this time, all that's left of my smartphone is a device to do banking, vacuum clean and ride public transportation in Vienna. Yes, I still have my podcast app whenever I feel insomniac.

Apps

In total, I have 30-35 apps installed on my phone. Here's the essentials of what I use.

  • messaging

    Signal

  • browser

    Firefox

  • mail

    Fastmail

  • notes

    Bear

  • calendar

    Apple Calendar

  • contacts

    Apple Contacts

  • search engine

    Kagi

  • feed reader

    NetNewsWire (with Feedbin Sync)

  • banking

    N26/Wise

  • music

    Spotify

  • podcasts

    Overcast

  • maps

    Apple Maps

  • weather

    Apple Weather

Desktop

I use a Surface Laptop 4 with Ubuntu 24.04.

Desktop

My current desktop, with all the applications I use regularly in the dock. I don't use desktop shortcuts, to get a good view of my background image (which is currently the "Face holding back tears" emoji.).

A Windows desktop showing a background image of a repeating pattern of the same dog lying on the carpet flower. Pinned to the taskbar are the following software tools: Windows Explorer, Signal, Firefox, VS Code and Fastmail.

My desktop as of April 2026. Background image: Face holding back tears.

Software

This is the software I use on desktop.

  • ide

    VS Code

  • ui design

    Figma

  • vpn

    VPN Unlimited

  • clipboard

    GPaste

  • mail

    Fastmail

  • calendar

    GNOME Calendar

  • contacts

    GNOME Contacts

  • terminal

    GNOME Console

  • search engine

    Kagi

  • maps

    Apple Maps (via DuckDuckGo)

  • social media

    Mastodon (fosstodon.org)