It has become an annual tradition to share my device home screens around this time each year. This serves as a snapshot of what I’m using, which allows me to see its evolution over time.

This year, I’ve decided to omit my iPad from the collection because I barely use it anymore. My Framework and iPhone has replaced all of my iPad usage. The only exception to that rule is its occasional use to watch shows from our Plex server at the dining room table. But we don’t even use my iPad to do that anymore, instead opting to use an old iPad Air 2 that’s shared among the family and is used almost exclusively for this purpose.

I’ve also decided not to share my Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Nintendo 2DS home screens this year because their layout has not changed since last year.

iPhone 15 Pro

Some notable changes that I’ve made since the last update:

• Beeper now lives where Messages was. The majority of people I chat with is still over iMessage, but I can still access Messages by tapping on notifications or long pressing the folder on my second Home Screen when it has a notification badge. Becky and I have moved all of our messaging over to Beeper using its built-in Matrix protocol. I wrote a bit about it back in July.
• I’ve written about it previously, but I’ve moved from Wallabag to Linkwarden and from 1Password to Vaultwarden with the Bitwarden app. I’m still enjoying this new setup and don’t have any plans to change again anytime soon.
• I’ve migrated from Apple Mail to Spark. It feels a lot like a lateral change. There are things I like about it and things I don’t. Despite seventeen years of the App Store, I still feel like there isn’t a single email client that truly stands above the rest. But Spark comes the closest, I suppose.
• I fully migrated from Google Photos to Immich over the summer. I’m very happy with the move. I love having one less subscription in my life and further taking ownership of my data.
• I’m using Prism again. It’s the best music app for Plex and has become necessary now that Plex has removed music libraries from their main app.

Framework 13, running Ubuntu 24.04

Very little change on the Framework. I’ve moved to using ArcMenu instead of Gnome’s built-in app launcher. I’ve also set the icon for ArcMenu to Framework’s logo, which looks quite handsome.

The only other change is the wallpaper. I’m now using the Blue macOS Tiger wallpaper from Basic Apple Guy. I love how bright and vibrant it makes the machine feel to use.

It has become an annual tradition to share my device home screens around the new year. This serves as a snapshot of what I’m using, which I can use to see the evolution over time.

I’ve add my Nintendo 2DS to the list, which I recently acquired. I’m still playing games on my iPhone using the Backbone One, but i purchased a 2DS to play Nintendo DS and 3DS titles. Emulation for these systems isn’t great on the iPhone. The dual screen of the systems doesn’t make for a great emulation experience and existing iPhones just aren’t powerful enough for smooth 3DS emulation.

iPhone 15 Pro

iPad Pro, 11-inch

Framework 13, running Ubuntu 24.04

Nintendo 2DS

I have dozens of 3DS games installed, but most recently I’ve been playing Super Mario 3D Land, Mega Man X2 in Snes9x, and Plants vs. Zombies through TWiLight Menu++.

Apple TV 4K

I’ve enabled Display Zoom for larger icons on the Home Screen. This can be done in Settings > General > Appearance by setting Display Zoom to “Large”. I’m glad they introduced this as an option because I never liked the move to smaller icons that came with tvOS 17.

Apple Watch Series 5

Last year I published my home screens at the beginning of January and declared that it will be an annual tradition. Following up that this year with my home screens below.

It’s worth noting that I had a dedicated gaming handheld last year, but that is no longer the case. Instead I’m using my iPhone as my gaming handheld, paired with the Backbone one to play games in Steam Link, PPSSPP, and RetroArch.

iPhone 15 Pro

iPad Pro, 11-inch

13-inch MacBook Air with M2

This is actually a screenshot of a virtual machine running Ubuntu 22.04. The MacBook is primarily a work machine and I had previously setup a separate user account on it for personal stuff. This year I decided to move that to a virtual machine instead, which makes it easier to switch back and forth for quick breaks throughout my work day.

Apple TV 4K

Apple Watch Series 5

I haven’t been sharing my home screens as regularly as I’d prefer, so I thought I’d just publish screenshots from each of my current devices at the beginning of the year and plan to do the same each year going forward.

iPhone 13 Pro

iPad Pro, 11-inch

MacBook Air with M2

Apple TV 4K

Retroid Pocket 3

Apple Watch Series 5

Since iPadOS 15, I’ve been struggling to find an iPad Home Screen layout that I actually like. I still haven’t found one, but this is the least offensive I’ve been able to come up with.

The biggest problem for me is that Apple decided to crunch the vertical spacing between icons when you don’t have a widget present. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t find a good use for widgets on my Home Screen. I’m just too accustomed to having them hidden in the Today View (or whatever it’s called now).

Hopefully Apple will give us a bit more control over the layout of our app icons in iPadOS 16. But until then, I guess I’ll just try to focus on the apps that are on my Home Screen instead of how they are organized.

The Apps

Messages — My friends and family still predominantly use iMessage and text messages work just fine for those who don’t.

Battery Widget — The only reason I have a widget on my Home Screen is because it’s the only way to get sane spacing on my app icons. The battery widget is one of the least obtrusive available and provides me with reasonably useful information (but I’d still rather keep it hidden in the Today View).

Fantastical — The best calendar app by far.

Automattic — A shortcut that displays a list of work-related apps and launches the one I select. I could use a folder for it, but I like having a nice clean icon without any notification badges.

Code Editor — It’s no longer available unfortunately. There doesn’t seem to be another app on the platform that offers the same functionality with even close to the same polish.

Plex — I maintain a large Plex library with all of the DVDs, Blu-rays, and iTunes content we own. Almost everything we watch as a family lives in Plex.

Screens — A great VNC client for managing my home server and for helping with some family tech support.

Broadcasts — I’ve been getting into radio a bit lately — it’s distributed and most stations are regionally owned, two things I absolutely love. Broadcasts let’s me setup collections and have quick access to the streams for my favorite local stations.

Odysee — I’ve been trying to reduce my usage of YouTube lately. To help with that effort, I’ve been trying to go to Odysee first in those instances when I just want to watch some random videos. Since the Odysee app doesn’t support the iPad, this is just the web app saved to my Home Screen.

Kiwix — A nifty little app that can be used for accessing archived websites offline. I have Wikipedia and Wikitionary saved locally, so this primarily fills the role of my dictionary app.

Day One — I started journaling more seriously before my son was born and I continue to this day. There’s less writing in each of my entries now, but a lot more photos.

1Password — My favorite password manager.

Pixelfed — An open source, federated photo sharing service. I manage my own instance and you can follow me on your favorite ActivityPub-compatible service (including other Pixelfed instances) — @mike@libertynode.cam.

Photos — Apple doesn’t let you set another app as the system photo library, so here we are.

Balance — Like Automattic, a shortcut that let’s me launch all of my finance-related apps.

⌘ Folder — This folder houses all of the other apps I have installed on my iPad.

Files — For managing files, obviously.

Prism — I maintain a music library in Plex and use Prism for playback. It reminds me a lot of the iPod app from the early days of the iPhone.

Unread – The best RSS app, which I have synced with FreshRSS.

Mastodon — It’s missing some features when compared to apps like Metatext, but the official client is rock solid and there’s been steady development since it launched — including the addition of iPad support.

Wallabag — A read it later service that I self-host. This is the web app that I simply saved to my Home Screen from Safari.

Spark — I recently tested just about every email app available on the platform. None of them are perfect, but Spark comes the closest.

Safari — I wish there was a healthier browser market on iOS, but Apple really hinders what third-party developers are able to do. Until they correct the error of their ways, we’re stuck with Safari.

Things — The first to do list app that really clicked for me.

Ulysses — Where I write everything that’s published on Initial Charge.

Simplenote — I’m likely biased, but I appreciate the simple nature of this app for note taking.

Calcbot — You need a calculator app and Calcbot is a great option with a lot of character.

Pocket Casts — It was acquired by my employer last year and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s so nice to have a well-designed podcast app that also supports video podcasts.

It’s been a while since I last published my iPhone Home Screen and quite a bit has changed. I’ve swapped out a lot of apps, started using a new social networking solution, and have made efforts to minimize the prominence of work-related apps.

I’m not going to get into the tedium of my second Home Screen, mostly because it’s comprised of apps that I use significantly less than the ones on my first Home Screen. If you have any questions about the apps, feel free to get in touch.

Messages — My friends and family still predominantly use iMessage and text messages work just fine for those who don’t.

Fantastical — The best calendar app by far.

Automattic — A shortcut that displays a list of work-related apps and launches the one I select. I could use a folder for it, but I like having a nice clean icon without any notification badges.

Camera — I have a two-year-old, so I take a lot of photos.

Screens — For managing our home server and assisting with the occasional issue on my mother-in-law’s iMac.

Ulysses — Where I write everything that’s published on Initial Charge.

LookUp — A great dictionary app with some well-designed icon options.

Plex — I maintain a large Plex library with all of the DVDs, Blu-rays, and iTunes content we own. Almost everything we watch as a family lives in Plex.

Things — The first to do list app that really clicked for me.

Wallabag — A read it later service that I self-host. This is the web app that I simply saved to my Home Screen from Safari.

Day One — I started journaling more seriously before my son was born and I continue to this day. There’s less writing in each of my entries now, but a lot more photos.

1Password — My favorite password manager.

Edit — A minimal, single sheet text editor that I use for quick, disposable notes.

Photos — Apple doesn’t let you set another app as the system photo library, so here we are.

Balance — Like Automattic, a shortcut that let’s me launch all of my finance-related apps.

Simplenote — I’ve tried a number of note taking apps, most recently Bear, but I can’t help but appreciate the simple nature of Simplenote.

Clock — For setting alarms and time zone referencing, which is especially handy now that my new team at work spans many more time zones than my previous team.

Calcbot — You need a calculator app and Calcbot is a great option with a lot of character.

Spark — I think I’ve tried every email app available on the platform. None of them are perfect, but Spark comes the closest.

Prism — I maintain a music library in Plex and use Prism for playback. It reminds me a lot of the iPod app from the early days of the iPhone.

Unread — The best RSS app, which I have synced with FreshRSS.

Mastodon — It’s missing some features when compared to apps like Metatext, but the official client is rock solid and there’s been steady development since it launched earlier this year.

Safari — I spent most of this year using Firefox as my default browser, but with the introduction of extensions in iOS 15 and the removal of 1Password’s share sheet extension, I’ve moved back to Safari for now.

Pocket Casts — It was acquired by my employer earlier this year and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s so nice to have a well-designed podcast app that also supports video podcasts.

Not included in the image is my Today View, which I use frequently throughout the day. It’s a great place to glance at data and launch shortcuts from. I currently have the following widgets:

• Hello Weather
• A Smart Stack of Photos, Day One, and Google Photos
• Shortcuts
• A Smart Stack of Deliveries and WordPress
• Batteries

I have smart rotate enabled on both of the Smart Stacks. The first of which simply shows me featured photos and entries from Day One. The second Smart Stack generally shows me Initial Charge’s stats unless I have deliveries that I’m tracking.

It’s been a little while since I published my home screens. But after seeing my buddy Josh Ginter publish his, I thought I’d share what my current iPhone Home Screen is like these days. It’s undergone quite a lot of changes over the past month or two — at least by my standards.

I’m using an iPhone 11 Pro with the linen wallpaper and the following apps on my Home Screen:

• Messages
• Fantastical — I’ve tried a lot of calendar apps, Fantastical is the best.
• Jetpack — a shortcut that launches a modal view of site stats in the WordPress app.
• Camera
• Headspace — an excellent meditation and mindfulness app. Full disclosure, Automattic allows me to expense the costs of the subscription.
• Ulysses — my favorite writing app on the platform. Everything I publish on Initial Charge starts in this app.
• LookUp — I don’t think most people have a dictionary app on their Home Screen anymore — Siri does a lot of that work for many, I suspect. But I still prefer a dedicated app for looking up definitions and LookUp is the best one I’ve found.
• Simplenote — I do support for Simplenote at Automattic and I may or may not be running a beta version with a different icon. I use this to store all of my work-related notes.
• Things — there’s no to do list application that has ever clicked for me like Things has.
• Reeder — I use this app to follow a single RSS feed — the one generated by Shaarli. I have it configured to only mark items as read manually. It syncs read status over iCloud and acts as an excellent read later client.
• Day One — the best journaling app on the market. I use it to save thoughts, long term storage of my bests photos — with context — and to generally document my life.
• P2s — this is a custom icon for ReadKit, setup through Launch Center Pro. I use it to read P2s, the internal weblogs that we use at Automattic for company-, team-, and division-wide communication and documentation.
• Edit — a simple, in a good way, text editor by Kyle Dreger.
• Photos
• Balance — a shortcut that combines all of my finance-related apps into a single launcher. Like a folder, but with a nifty icon.
• Bear — my personal notes app. I’m actively looking for alternatives at the moment — ideally, I’ll find something that’s self-hosted or works with markdown files on an FTP server.
• Clock
• Calzy — I go back and forth between this and Calcbot. I’m in a Calzy-type of mood at the moment.
• Spark — I’ve spent far too much time switching between email clients. None of them do everything I want in exactly the way I want it to. But Spark comes the closest.
• Prism — I’m not much for streaming audio services. I like owning my audio files. Prism, combined with Plex is the perfect setup for me.
• Unread — my favorite RSS application. It’s the best for reading feeds. I use Tiny Tiny RSS as the backend service with the Fever API.
• Icro — with my newfound adoration for Micro.blog, it’s only natural for me to have a client app in my dock. I’m cycling through the options now to see what one is the best.
• Safari
• Overcast — I’ve been getting the itch to try out other podcast clients lately. But I sort-of expect I’ll come back to Overcast when I’m done. It’s solid.
• Pandora — I use the service for their excellent customized radio stations. I have a 90s Alternative station that has been meticulously tuned for years.
• Maps
• 1Password — the best password manager available.
• iTunes Store — I default to purchasing CDs, but when I buy digital, I use iTunes. I also launch the app regularly to look up artists and albums for the previews.
• Screens — I use this to manage our Mac Mini home server and to help out my mother-in-law with tech support.
• TestFlight
• Find My
• Code Editor — I wrote Initial Charge’s WordPress theme on my iPhone and iPad, all in Code Editor. It’s also invaluable for managing files on my web server over FTP.
• Shortcuts
• Airport — a nifty app that allows you to discover joinable TestFlight betas.
• App Store
• WordPress — another app that I do support for at Automattic. I use it for work as well as publishing on a few private family sites.
• Prologue — from the developer of Prism, Prologue is an audiobook app that syncs with Plex.
• Settings

I’m hoping to start publishing these more regularly again. I really enjoy sharing my home screens and reading about others’ too. Perhaps doing one device at a time is the best way to lower the barrier to entry.

With iOS 14 bringing widgets to the home screen, I suspect my iPhone setup will go through a substantial transformation this fall. So this will likely be my last iPhone home screen update under the current iteration of Springboard. Although, to be fair, I thought similarly during the beta period in which iPadOS gained widgets on the home screen and that didn’t turn out as I initially thought.

The difference this time around, though, is that adding widgets to the iPhone home screen doesn’t force you to shrink the size of the rest of your app icons or push all of your app icons to one side for no good reason. Even considering how widgets on the iPad home screen played out, I’m far more hopeful that I’ll actually use widgets on my iPhone home screen.

iPhone

• Fantastical: The best calendar app for iOS.
• Instagram: a little shortcut I put together that launches the Instagram app on iPhone and opens the Instagram website on iPad.
• Headspace: An excellent meditation app, highly recommended by The Sweet Setup, and something that I can expense at Automattic.
• Ulysses: My favorite writing app — everything I publish on Initial Charge is written in Ulysses.
• Define: A simple shortcut that asks for input and then searches for the definition of the given term in Terminology.
• Simplenote: An application that I occasionally do support for at Automattic and all of my work-related notes and weekly updates I share with my team.
• Things: The first and only to do list application that ever clicked for me. I’ve stuck with it for years and I have no interest in even attempting an alternative — at least not in their current iteration.
• Reeder: My Instapaper client of choice. It gives me the ability to sort my saved links by domain and makes it much easier to load the original web page.
• Day One: This has become more and more important in my life with Josh around. I do my best to journal all the most important moments and it has become my repository for all of the bests photos I take of family and friends.
• Apollo: I probably spend more time on Reddit than I should, but Apollo makes it so darn enjoyable.
• Edit: A simple scratchpad/note taking app. I use it for drafting email, composing tweets, and taking notes that I don’t intend to keep long-term.
• Balance: a shortcut that displays a menu listing all of my finance-related applications and launches the chosen app. It’s a simple way to keep my home screen tidy while still giving me quick and easy access to these types of apps.
• Bear: For all of my non-ephemeral, non-work-related note taking.
• Calzy:My favorite calculator app for iOS.
• Prism: I maintain a music library in Plex and this is my preferred method of playback. It’s more akin to the simple, straightforward Music app for iOS that existed before the introduction of their streaming music service.
• Unread: A gorgeous RSS reading application with native support for sharing to read later services.
• Tweetbot: The best Twitter app ever.
• Overcast: I’ve tried just about every podcast client on the platform, Overcast is the best. It offers all of the most useful features — strip-silence, voice boost, the ability to subscribe to password protected feeds — and can has iPad support.
• Pandora: With my Plus account, I can pick a station and listen to ad-free music that I’ve curated over the course of nearly fifteen years with their thumbs up/down system.
• Dark Noise: I just recently switched to Dark Noise from Noisli when I discovered at the app had the ability to create custom mixes. I’ve been enjoying the custom icon options.
• 1Password: My favorite password manager on any platform.
• Screens: I use this to manage our home media server and help out when my mother-in-law runs into trouble on her iMac.
• Wegmans: Given the state of things, we’ve been ordering groceries for delivery more frequently. Wegmans our favorite store in general and by far the best grocery store in our area.
• last.fm: A shortcut that opens the last.fm website so I can check the services recommendations.
• WordPress: Another app that I do support for at Automattic, but I also use this to manage a few websites alongside a few family members.
• Google Photos: My wife and I use the service for backing up our photos to the cloud. We prefer it over iCloud because of its ability to automatically share our photos with one another.
• Slack: For work-related communication.
• YouTube: For watching videos on politics, board games, video games, comedy, and more.
• Blink: The app is no longer available on the App Store, but it’s still the best way to quickly grab links to applications that I can share here on Initial Charge or on Twitter.

Apple Watch

Pride Digital

• Fantastical
• Carrot

Modular

• Noise
• Activity
• AutoSleep
• Timer
• CardioBot

My strategy for watch faces has changed since Josh was born. I use my Watch more as a status and information screen instead of using it to actually perform actions — like marking items off my to do list, logging my weight, or starting meditations. Josh has a tendency to play with the Watch’s screen while I hold him and this altered complication setup mitigates his ability to perform actions that I’d prefer he didn’t.