# 2026 Default Apps

Published: 2026-01-22

A lot has changed since I last did one of these. I've dropped a few categories altogether and have added a few that make more sense in the current times.

📨 Mail Client: [Apple Mail](https://www.apple.com/apps/)

📮 Mail Server: [iCloud mail with custom domain](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212514), [GMail](https://gmail.com), [Protonmail](https://proton.me/)

📝 Notes: [Bear](https://bear.app/)

✅ To-Do: [Analog](https://ugmonk.com/collections/analog) (I went analog)

📷 Photo Shooting: [iPhone 17 Pro](https://www.apple.com/iphone-17-pro/)

🎨 Photo Editing: [Apple Photos](https://www.apple.com/apps/)

📆 Calendar: [GCal](https://calendar.google.com/), [iCal](https://www.apple.com/apps/)

📁 Cloud File Storage: [Google Drive](https://www.google.com/drive/), [iCloud](https://www.apple.com/icloud/), [Proton Drive](https://proton.me/drive)

📖 ~~RSS:~~

🙍🏻‍♂️ Contacts: [iCloud](https://www.apple.com/icloud/)

🌐 Browser: [Arc](https://arc.net/), [Brave](https://brave.com/)

💬 Chat: [Signal](https://signal.org/), [Telegram](https://telegram.org/), [iMessage](https://www.apple.com/apps/)

🔖 ~~Bookmarks:~~

📑 ~~Read It Later:~~

📜 Word Processing: [Google Docs](https://www.google.com/docs/about/)

📈 Spreadsheets: [Google Sheets](https://www.google.com/sheets/about/)

📊 Presentations: [Google Slides](https://www.google.com/slides/about/)

🛒 Shopping Lists: [Apple Notes](https://www.apple.com/apps/) (shared with partner)

🍴 Meal Planning: [Gemini](https://www.gemini.google.com)

💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: [Google Sheets](https://www.google.com/sheets/about/)

📰 News: [NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/), [Kagi News](https://news.kagi.com/world/latest)

🎵 Music: [Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/)

🎤 Podcasts: [Overcast](https://overcast.fm/)

🔐 Password Management: [Proton Pass](https://proton.me/pass)

🧑‍💻 Code Editor: [Cursor](https://cursor.com), [Antigravity](https://antigravity.google/)

✈️ VPN: [Proton VPN](https://proton.me/)

🤖 ChatBot: [Gemini](https://www.gemini.google.com), [Claude](https://claude.ai), [ChatGPT](https://chat.com)

📝 Meeting Transcription: [Granola](https://granola.ai)

🧠 AI Coding: [Claude Code](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview), [Cursor](https://cursor.com), [Antigravity](https://antigravity.google/)