As I mentioned in my last blog post, although I’m actively working on moving away from using Apple hardware, I’m still likely to continue to keep my iPhone for the foreseeable future. The reasons for this are vast, but the short version is that I don’t see Android (Google) as being more open than iOS in any concrete or practical sense, while at the same time having a less polished user experience and fewer reasons not to sell my user data for advertising and tracking purposes.

I mentioned that my uses for a mobile phone are limited, so I thought it might be fun to show how I actually use my phone day-to-day. This is a screenshot of my home screen:

My iPhone home screen, showing three rows of apps and four apps in the dock

I only have one page of apps on the home screen, and all the apps I use on a regular basis are featured there. You’ll notice (moving from top left to bottom right):

  • Wallet: This is where I store my grocery store loyalty cards, trigger tap-to-pay, and manage my Apple Card

  • Camera and Photos: These are self-explanatory. The only real “creation” I do on my phone happens in the Camera app. I can use Photos to look at some of the past pictures I’ve taken, but I almost never do. My primary use for it is simply grabbing the last photo or two to send to someone. When it comes to actually looking through old photos, this is always done on my laptop. When I copy photos from my phone to my laptop I delete them off my phone (once they’re safely backed up in a few different places)

  • Reminders: I use this for one purpose only: adding and crossing off items on my grocery list

  • Mail - Sometimes it’s handy to be able to get emails on-the-go

  • Maps - Very useful for turn-by-turn directions while I’m driving, or occasionally when I visit a new city and need help walking around

  • Bitwarden - Holds my passwords and 2FA tokens

  • Doppler - Holds all my music so I can listen in the car

  • Find My - I know this will be controversial, but my wife and I share our locations with each other so we can know the other person is safe, and also gauge when they’ll be home so we can help carry in groceries, etc.

  • Weather - Always handy to know when to bring an umbrella

  • Phone and Messages - Self explanatory

  • Bank app (not featured in screenshot) - Mainly used for moving money from savings to checking when I’ve overspent

  • Ice Cubes - An open source Mastodon client. This is really the only app I use for entertainment on my phone, and I only use it when I’m away from home.

  • DuckDuckGo - Just a quick ephemeral browser for the random occasional search / lookup

  • Overcasts - For podcasts

  • Signal - For messaging

These are the only apps I use regularly. I don’t have many other apps on my phone, apart from a couple convenience apps that I use for order pickup, ordering food, etc.

I don’t use my phone for making things, or storing sensitive data beyond what I outlined above. Apart from receiving calls and sending texts, I could really do without a phone and achieve 99% of what I need with a credit card, a post-it note, a car-mounted GPS unit, and an MP3 player.

Having these in one device and in my pocket is undoubtedly handy, but my phone could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn’t miss it much. Of course, one day when a proper OS that I am in control of is available, I’m sure I’ll sing a different tune. For now, though, my phone is best kept in a pocket or a drawer where it belongs.