Home Screen Update 2.0

Overdue

The last time I updated my blog with my home screen app set was December of 2012, so it's time to show you my latest set of most valuable apps. Something also worth noting is that I was on iOS 6 a year ago as well.

Here is my latest setup:

The Dock

I stopped kidding myself and made some changes here. I swapped out 3 of the 4 slots. Switching out the Mail app for Downcast is evidence of the lesser priority I've decided to allow email to have in my life. I think Messages will always be used at such high frequency I can't imagine it not being in the dock. Chrome garnered a spot because I started using it more on my Mac due to Firefox munching too much memory, but I am considering going back to Safari all around. Launch or Launch Center Pro has become invaluable to me on both my iPhone and iPad for automating texts, emails, Dropbox file sends, and quickly launch apps without hunting through my folders. I love Launch and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in efficiency.

Top Row

Once again, I swapped out 3 apps from this row. I absolutely love Fantastical for schedule viewing and appointment entry with every day language syntax. I've also made my life more secure in the last year by adding 1Password to my life as well as two-factor authentication. My app of choice for authentication is Authy.

Second Row

I recently started using Pocket over my previous choice, Instapaper, because of the more enhanced IFTTT integration, thanks to David Sparks of Mac Power Users for this tip. I still use Voice Memos to record the cute things my little boys say or other important thoughts. Last summer I installed a new Nest thermostat, so it has become a frequently used app. Google Maps works better for me in terms of feature set than the default Apple Maps app.

The Next Three Rows

I have been enjoying Beats Music app and I still have about 2 months left in my free trial period. I first heard about it on the The Prompt I don't know if I will pay to continue using it, but it is impressively good in terms of UI and the curated playlists. I like the aesthetics of the Yahoo! Weather! app. Omnifocus 2 is a great update to the previous version, but I've also started using simple lists for certain things. This Week is one of the best list apps I've used. For notes I like to use Evernote, but for automation and posting to various services, I've really been drawn to Drafts. Drafts features actions for text. Think of it as if Launch Center Pro was adapted for automation of text manipulation.

So there are my latest home screen apps. They continue to evolve and change, and change again. If I could have one more app that doesn't exist now, it would be an app that works like Mailbox for Exchange server mail. It would be most helpful in triaging my work email and prioritizing response timing. Boxer comes close but doesn't integrate seamlessly with all Exchange servers.