I’ve compiled a list (excluding core MacOS and iOS applications) of the essential software that drives my workflow as a physician and tech nerd.
This post was last updated 11/29/2020.
MACOS
MacOS Big Sur powers my workhorse desktop (dubbed “Odin“) as well as my MacBook Pro (dubbed “Leviathan”). I essentially run the same suite of applications on both devices, but use Odin for more processor/GPU intense tasks like rendering, gaming, and XCode simulators. Here are the applications I routinely use that are not already built into MacOS:
- Alfred (MacOS productivity app)
- App Cleaner & Uninstaller (application uninstall utility)
- Attributed String Creator (attributed string Swift generator for EchoTools)
- Bartender 4 (menu bar icon organizer)
- BetterTouchTool (tap-to-click and gesture utility)
- Bitwarden (password manager)
- Boom 3D (volume booster and equalizer)
- Carbon Copy Cloner (backup and cloning utility)
- Disk Expert (disk space analyzer)
- Drobo Dashboard (Drobo DAS interface)
- EndNote (research reference manager)
- Fantastical 2 (calendar/reminder app)
- Final Cut Pro (video editing)
- GoodNotes (note taking)
- Google Chrome (web browser)
- IINA (modern MacOS media player)
- ImageOptim (image compression utility)
- iZotope RX 8 (audio repair plugins)
- JPEGmini Pro (image compression utility)
- Jump Desktop (remote desktop)
- Logic Pro X (digital audio workstation)
- Magnet (window manager)
- Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, and Word office suite)
- Monolingual (removes unnecessary language resources)
- Nikola (desktop app for Tesla)
- NordVPN (virtual private network)
- Nova (web programming, SSH, FTP)
- PDF Expert (cross-platform PDF viewer)
- Pixelmator Pro (image editing tools)
- Plex (personal media library server-client)
- Spotify Premium (digital music)
- The Unarchiver (compressed media utility)
- Things 3 (personal task manager)
- Xcode (the integrated developer environment I use to create my EchoTools iOS app).
iOS/iPadOS
Here are the applications I use on my iPad Pro and iPhone devices listed by their folder categories. Keep in mind that some apps are only compatible with the iPhone and others only with the iPad. I’ve also excluded applications that are built into the core of iOS/iPadOS.
- Main Screen: Dark Sky, EchoTools, Fantastical, Instagram, Personal Capital, Tesla, YouTube, YouTube TV, WhatsApp
- Buy & Explore: Amazon, JetBlue, Lyft, METRO TRIP, OpenTable, Sky Guide, Starbucks, Uber
- Games: Among Us, FROST, Hungry Shark, LIMBO, Alto’s Odyssey, The Room – Old Sins
- Google: Analytics, Drive, Gboard, Google Photos, Google Wifi, PhotoScan, Voice
- Medical: 3D Medical Complete Heart, AutoSleep, Butterfly iQ, Doximity, EndNote, Figure 1, Hub, MDCalc, MOCA Minute, UpToDate
- Photo & Video: Afterlight, Layout, mematic, Phonto, Pixelmator, Plex, Vidstitch, Vont
- Productivity: Fidelity, GoodNotes, NetBenefits, Office, PerfectServe, PDF Expert, Webex Meet
- Social: 23andMe, Business Suite, Discord, Facebook, LinkedIn, Messenger, Twitter, YT Studio
- Utilities: Authy, Bitwarden, Bank of America, Jump Desktop, NordVPN, Scanner Pro, Shazam, RoboKiller
On my bottom bar, I have Phone, Messages, Chrome, and Spotify.
Thoughts on the security/privacy concerns using Spark as your mobile email client?
Totally unrelated, but who do you use for email/web/ftp hosting?
Thanks!
Hey Andrew! I admittedly forgot to remove that from my iOS/iPadOS list. Ever since I (recently) switched to Postbox for my Windows/MacOS computers, I also transitioned away from Spark in favor of the Gmail app. I figure Google already has to my data, so at least I’m not extending my data elsewhere.
I use SiteGround (referral link) as my web/FTP host. For email, I was grandfathered into Google’s G Suite (from Google Apps for your Domain back in the late 2000s).
Strictly out of curiosity Rishi, is there any particular reason that you use Google Chrome over any other web browser that is out there? You’re a lot more technology savvy than I am so it made me curious as to whether or not there was a certain reason you would choose one over another. In terms of your other apps, I too use 1.1.1.1 and although I found that it worked quite well, it seemed to drastically reduce my battery life on my iPhone.
Hey Adam! I use Chrome on all of my devices for several reasons:
1.) It’s the most widely used browser, and being derived from the open source Chromium project, there is PLENTY of development in terms of user interface, security, features, etc.
2.) I can easily synchronize my bookmarks across all devices, regardless of operating system (MacOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and iPadOS in my case).
3.) In Google, I trust. Simple as that. 🙂
I haven’t really had a reason to switch to other browsers, so I’m sticking with Chrome!
One other comment/question I wanted to make Rishi is that your desktop setup is one of my favorite ones that I’ve seen up to date. I was wondering if sometime in the future you could do an article regarding where you purchased everything needed and as well as any advice you had for people (or) first time buyers who are looking build up a desktop setup that is similar to your own. As with anything in life there’s a correct way and an incorrect way to do things. With that being said input from someone such as yourself who has the knowledge and who can also speak in layman’s terms would be far easier to understand than reading a very technologically literate post published by a tech magazine.
Great content Rishi, I look forward to reading more.
Thank You!
Appreciate the kind words! I’ll definitely consider this for a future post!