Defaults 2026
the /defaults slash page has originally been added to this blog in 2025. it's a list of apps i use for various tasks, based on the list from a podcast called hemispheric views, episode 097. there's a compilation of more than 520 default pages on defaults.rknight.me and an easy way to copy the list and make your own!
while my slash page only contains the list of apps, this post also adds some explanations as to why i am using these apps or what i've been using before.
for my 2026 update and the future of the apps and services i use, and also the future of my privacy, i decided to rely less on apple, google, amazon, and other dominating us-based providers but instead move a few things to europe 🇪🇺. if you have any suggestions, let me know. i'm not looking to completely replace icloud, but i'd love to run something else beside it to be ready when i stop using macos or ios.
let's get to my defaults:
📨 Mail Client: Apple Mail, eM Client
i've been through a few mail clients like spark, airmail, and hey in the last 15 years and recently was very happy just using apple's default mail app on both iphone and mac. UNTIL this happened and i moved my new custom domain to mailbox.org and started using eM client.
📮 Mail Server: iCloud, Mailbox.org
after being on gmail, self-hosted, hey, and then for many years all-in icloud, i have started to use mailbox.org, as mentioned before.
📝 Notes: Apple Notes
i've been using apple notes for a really long time now. probably since the iphone 5 came out in 2012. i am ready to switch to another service/app, but i have scanned many documents which are living in notes and are sometimes shared with my wife. we'd need a completely new workflow for managing digital documents.
✅ To-Do: Apple Reminders, Due
i really liked todoist and things, but i eventually moved to apple's reminders app because it was easier to add location based reminders, which i use almost every day.
📷 iPhone Photo Shooting: Halide, iOS Camera
apple's default ios camera is still the fastest way to take pictures on iphone and at the same time gives me the awesome live photos feature. i use it for casual photo taking and photos of the baby. but for a little more thoughtful photography i use halide for #ProcessZero and #Monochrome picture.
🟦 Photo Management: Apple Photos
well 'management' is a little too much. i take photos and they're just sitting in my camera roll.
📆 Calendar: Apple Calendar & Mailbox.org
i've been using and loving fantastical for years and years, but after checking out apple's default ios calendar app with ios 18 and 26 again, i finally made the switch. my calendars are being synced via mailbox.org.
📁 Cloud File Storage: iCloud Drive
i have abandoned dropbox for icloud drive many years ago. i don't have to share a lot of files with others and icloud is easy to access with all my apple devices.
📖 RSS: NetNewsWire
i'm a long time user of reeder but recently exported my opml file to netnewswire, a very nice and free open-source rss reader for ios and macos.
🙍🏻♂️ Contacts: Apple Contacts Phone App
not much to say about this.
🌐 Browser: Firefox, Quiche
i didn't want to use chrome on my macbook anymore and moved to firefox a few years ago. on ios i'm currently using quiche, made by an indie dev from tokyo.
💬 Chat: iMessage, WhatsApp
it's hard to go without whatsapp in germany if you want to chat with real life friends and family. i've tried for almost two years but realized it was a mistake since not everyone can or want to use imessage nor wants to install apps like signal or telegram. i do keep those installed too, but there's not much happening. discord used to be on this list but just as of two weeks ago i deleted my discord server and disabled my accounts.
🔖 Bookmarks: Nothing?
there are bookmarks in my browser, but i don't use any third party services right now.
📑 Read It Later: Instapaper
i used to be a fan of instapaper but stopped using it in 2018, when the service was down for a few months. i did not use any read-later app until 2025, when i rediscovered instapaper.
📜 Word Processing: Drafts
used to be either apple notes or sometimes ia writer, but right now i'm back into drafts.
📈 Spreadsheets: Apple Numbers
🛒 Shopping Lists: Local Supermarket App
we're ordering our food for delivery most of the time, that's why the shopping list is happening inside our local supermarket's app.
💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: Apple Numbers
📰 News: RSS, Mastodon, Reuters
i definitely need a better workflow for news. after deleting and unfollowing every news source a few years ago because it has always either been war or covid, right now i get my news from many different places. sometimes i even find out what happened through carrot weather's snarky current observation text…
🎵 Music: Apple Music
rdio was my first music streaming subscription. when it died, i moved to spotify. when spotify became shit, i moved to apple music.
🎤 Podcasts: Overcast
12 years with overcast! i've been using this app since it launched in 2014. i've tried other podcasts app like queue or castro, which are both really good apps, but always went back to marco's overcast.
🔐 Password Management: iCloud Keychain, Bitwarden
bitwarden is my main password manager after cancelling my 1password subscription. but i also keep icloud keychain around as a handy little system-integrated tool. it's a little too handy as i keep forgetting to save new logins to bitwarden after icloud generated a password for me.
🈚️ Translation: DeepL
deepl has been my favourite translating tool since uninstalling google translate and apple translate.
🗺️ Navigation: Waze, Apple Maps, Organic Maps, Komoot, Transit
way too many apps, but i'm a sucker for maps. i'm using each app for specific purposes. waze for navigation at work, apple maps for quick walking directions, komoot for hikes, transit for subway or bus, and organic maps if i want to use openstreetmap.
🔒 VPN: Mullvad
anonymous, no-logging, privacy-focused vpn. i've been using nordvpn before, but they're dodgy and their prices are arbitrary.
🤖 LLM: Le Chat by Mistral
my chatgpt replacement. sometimes i just want to talk to an ai chatbot.