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What hard- & software I use.

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Using software

First things first, I 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 work always 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 their user.

Phone

I use an iPhone 12 with iOS 18.

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, Bear, N26, NetNewsWire, a folder with travel apps, WhatsApp, Wise, Currency, Photos and Google Maps. There's a calendar widget in the top right and a weather widget in the bottom left.

My homescreen as of November 2025 in "travel mode".

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

    DuckDuckGo

  • feed reader

    NetNewsWire (with Feedbin Sync)

  • banking

    N26, Wise

  • music

    Spotify

  • podcasts

    Overcast

  • maps

    Apple Maps

  • weather

    CARROT

  • hiking

    Mapy.com (in the progress of ditching evil Komoot)

Desktop

I use a Surface Laptop 4 with Windows 11.

Desktop

My current desktop, with easy access to everything I really need in the taskbar. I don't use desktop shortcuts, to get a good view of my background image (which is currently sweet dog "Rocky", of whom I am the stepdad).

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 November 2025. Primary apps in the taskbar. Background image: A thousand Rockies.

Pinned to start

I like a decluttered taskbar that only contains my primary software. I pin secondary software, that I use less frequently to "start". That way, my taskbar stays free of clutter and secondary apps are only a press of the start button away.

The software tools that are pinned to the start menu are: Settings, Calculator, Clock, Notepad, Snipping Tool, Spotify, Figma, Microsoft store and VPN Unlimited.

Pinned apps, which I use less frequently.

Software

This is the software I use on desktop.

  • ide

    VS Code

  • ui design

    Figma

  • vpn

    VPN Unlimited

  • clipboard

    Ditto

  • mail

    Fastmail

  • calendar

    Fastmail

  • contacts

    Fastmail

  • search engine

    DuckDuckGo

  • maps

    Apple Maps

  • social media

    Mastodon (fosstodon.org)

Software Use Manifesto

As I started working on this page, it became a simple /uses page, showing all the hard- & software I use. Since this topic is so dear to me and I've been carefully picking tools over the last decades, I'm considering creating its own software usage manifesto™ page soon.

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