My 2018 Homescreen
A farewell to Facebook…
I know I’m late. I know I’m later than normal. I was all set to publish this list when some other Apple-related news got in the way. My apologies, but here we go: my iPhone homescreen as we end 2018 and enter 2019. (And, as always, for reference, here was the situation in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.)
So what has changed? Well, the top row is exactly the same (and has been for years). But row two kicks off with an interesting change: Google Maps has replaced Apple Maps. I know, I know — what year is this? But while I had previously had Google Maps on my second screen and used it a ton, I finally got fed up with Apple Maps while traveling this past year. It’s perfectly suitable in the Bay Area, and, I suspect, the rest of the U.S. But overseas, Google’s product is just far superior. And when I need to trust the directions, I always go with Google.
Next, you might notice that I’ve pushed Reminders into the “More” folder (with many other default Apple apps). I still use Reminders a lot, but have actually found myself accessing it more and more from either the notification area or, more interestingly, the widget area. Yes, the area of iOS you get to when you swipe to the right. This past year, for whatever reason, I’ve found myself using this more and more. And it’s great because it has allowed me to remove quite a few apps from prominent and valuable spots on my phone. (Dark Sky is another great example.)
Next we have a bunch of holdovers — though I am considering giving Spotify a go instead of Apple Music after seeing all the love for the personalized “best of year” lists — something Pocket does as well, which I love.
Then we have two apps that moved from my second screen to my first this past year: iA Writer and Day One. iA has been my go-to writing app for a while now, but I do most of my writing on the iPad. But in 2018 I started doing quite a bit of initial writing on the iPhone, so there it is. Day One is an app that I’ve long loved and used for visual journaling. But recently, I’ve started using it for saving links and thoughts for my newsletter. It’s quite useful for that as well!
In that final row (on top of the dock) you may notice what’s not there — two Facebook apps: Messenger and Facebook itself. Facebook has obviously had quite the year. And while I still use it, I no longer do nearly enough to constitute having it on my homescreen. And I’ve basically stopped using Messenger entirely (which had more to do with them constantly injecting ads — or other nonsense — into my conversations list).
All that said, one Facebook app remains: Instagram. Which I’m arguably using more than ever. So there’s that.
Lastly, it has been a busy fall sports-wise. As such, in came the ESPN app, from screen two to screen one. It has made the jump to the big leagues before, but now I think it’s here to stay.
So there you go, the more things change… Part of me is annoyed by these lists each year because I wish we were still in the era of app expansion — that is, new apps launching monthly, if not weekly, that had the potential to be homescreen-worthy. But the biggest constraint is now time. We all have our apps that we use on a daily basis. And for new ones to break in, they don’t just have to be better, they have to be so much better that they’re worth replacing another app. More specifically, the time you spent in another app. It’s just really, really hard for such apps these days in our mature mobile market.
