App Defaults

Late 2026 Edition

2026 was a tricky year! This list changed a lot!!!

Since 2025, I've been trying to move away from Apple apps and start using cross-platform apps. So I can choose between Apple and Android.

Unfortunately, my plan didn’t go well. Committing to cross-platform apps means lots of subscriptions, and in the middle of this cost-of-living crisis it doesn’t make much sense. And with sadness, I rolled back everything, and my App Defaults for 2026 are really close to a Default Apps golden trophy for Apple users!

Email, Calendar and Contacts Server

Fastmail
Apple iCloud+

Fastmail continues to be the best email, calendar and contact service on the interwebs. My decision to leave them was strictly financial.

Email Client

Fastmail
Apple Mail

Calendar Client

Fastmail
Apple Calendar

Contacts Client

Fastmail
Apple Contacts

To-Do

Personal: Things Apple Reminders
Family: Todoist CulturedCode Things

Notes

Personal: Bear Obsidian Apple Notes
Family: Apple Notes
Scribble: GoodNotes
Quick Notes: Iconfactory Tot

Word Processing

Apple Pages

Spreadsheets

Apple Numbers

Budgeting and Personal Finance

Monzo Bank, Apple Numbers and Bobby

Cloud File Storage

Personal and family: Synology Drive and Apple iCloud Drive

Browser


Mac: Apple Safari and Google Chrome
iPhone and iPad: Quiche Browser and Apple Safari

Quiche is one of the best browsers ever. It is light, highly customisable and gives you easy control over enabling JavaScript or not. I hope they release a macOS version soon.

Bookmarks and Read It Later

Goodlinks
Raindrop.io
Apple Safari and its Reading List

Chat

Apple Messages
Signal
Meta WhatsApp

Music

Player: Plexamp
Discovery: MusicHarbor and Qobuz

My Qobuz subscription ends in March 2027. After that, I will go old school: visit music stores and use YouTube as MTV from the 90s.

Photo Management

Synology Photos and Apple Photos

Photo Shooting

Apple Camera, Google Snapseed, Spectre and trying Very Good Cam

Podcasts

Overcast
Pocket Casts
Apple Podcasts

RSS and Social Media

Iconfactory Tapestry and Aniline Indigo

VPN

Proton VPN
IVPN and Tailscale

DNS

NextDNS

Password Management

1Password
Bitwarden
Apple Passwords

Maps

Apple Maps
Google Maps

I've always tried to use Apple Maps and contributed by reporting issues and etc. Unfortunately, I find it dangerous. It shows traffic lights where they don't exist, and sometimes where there is a roundabout. Not to mention when there is a roundabout, but Apple Maps doesn't show it. From what I read, it seems great in the US, but in the UK it is rubbish. I don't want to risk my life, so I chose Google Maps.

Diagramming

draw.io

Typing Assistant

Grammarly

Font Management

Iconfactory Fontcase

It’s 2026, and we still need this kind of app.

Mac Utilities

Downie
CleanMyMac
CleanShot 4.8
CleanupBuddy
PDF Expert
Pixel Perfect
Soulver 4

Mac App Launcher

Alfred 5

Mac Menu Bar

Supercharge
Amphetamine
AlDente
Menu Bar Spacing

Other people have also shared their Default Apps inspired by the Podcast Hemispheric Views 097 - Duel of the Defaults! Click here to see the complete list. And you can also share the link to your list on this Hemispheric Chat topic.