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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 its user.

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!)

Homescreen

My current home screen in travel mode, with easy access to all the necessary travel apps. Just getting back into the mindset, so it'll take me a while to optimize it according to my needs.

A homescreen on iOS showing the following apps: Apple Maps, Settings, Spotify, Overcast, Forest, N26, NetNewsWire, Reminder, a folder with travel apps, Photos, Roborock and Wien Mobil. There's a calendar widget in the top right and a weather widget in the bottom. In the favourites bar are the following apps: Firefox, Bear, Signal and Fastmail.

My homescreen as of April 2026.

I stick to a single homescreen with all the essential apps at my fingertips. Other apps, which I use less frequently, are hidden away from the homescreen. I use a calendar widget to show today's events and a weather widget to show the weather in my current location (bonus: a snappy remark by CARROT).

Apps

In total, I have 35-40 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)