I’ve always been intrigued as to what others’ iPhone home screen setups look like and put (too) much thought into my own. To look back on and share with anyone who may be interested, I thought I’d leave a screenshot of my home screen here along with a walk through of the what what and why of everything you see.

Weather Widget

The best iOS widget I’ve used. Always shows me exactly what I need to know and looks pretty.

First row

My utilities row I suppose. Stuff I use often and/or need to access quickly.

Photos

I use the photos app a lot because I’m a sentimental person and often the friend group photographer.

Clock

I will never trust that my alarm will ring unless I see the green toggle myself, so the Clock app will live on my home screen until my iPhone is no longer my alarm.

Transit

This is the app that I use for checking train times while I’m waiting in the freezing cold, hence its position for quick and easy access.

Halide

Halide is usually opened in a scramble to get a shot of a passing train or something. Near right thumb, quick access.

Second row

Productivity! Fittingly the least-used apps on the home screen.

Mail

My personal email is through iCloud and I don’t like using multiple email apps. Not industry-shattering but sufficient for my usage. Besides, any urge to switch has been thwarted by my reliance on iCloud custom domains which are, as far as I know, not supported by third-party clients.

Calendar

Not nearly the best solution for most nerds, but I’m not a big calendar guy and I like the smart stuff, like when Siri finds events in my inbox.

Notes

I use Apple Notes for everything personal, from taking notes in class to ranking Kanye albums. It’s quite good. Maybe I’ll write about that soon.

Reminders

Reminders from Apple is also quite good. It persistently reminds me of things and has natural language input and tagging features, which is good enough for me.

Third row

The most used apps I fear.

TikTok

My biggest time suck. I’m not mad about it.

Instagram

What used to be a good social media app that Meta turned to shit. Wish I could delete it.

Snapchat

A good social media app.

Twitter

My second biggest time suck. I am mad about this one.

Fourth Row

Daily Folder

A folder of apps that I use an average of 1.0 times a day.

Co – Star

For old people: Co – Star is an app that tells you what to do based on the moon and the tides and stuff(??)

I have been lucky enough to be indoctrinated with the ideas of astrology. I’ve made a habit of checking the app each morning.

Life Cycle

An underrated app for automatic time tracking that I use religiously with 1 minor complaint.¹

Day One

Unfortunately, the best journaling app that exists, even though it isn’t particularly good; well designed, polished, affordable. The important stuff works just fine though.

Books

Where I do most of my (not) reading. One of the most well-designed iOS apps I’ve used.

Instapaper

My read-it-later service of choice.

Product Hunt

A great platform for discovering software. iOS app is very meh, though.

Crossword

I do the Mini crossword just about every day and the big kid crossword on the occasion I’m in the mood to be humbled.

Wordle

I do the Wordle every day.

Yerdle

I do the Yerdle² every day.

Reeder

A very good RSS reader.

Drafts

Where these Writings start.

Overcast

My podcast client of choice.

Wallpaper

Direct link to wallpaper