Note: I still keep the last homescreen spot open for one app to try out, in this case, the new version of Facebook’s Slingshot. Also, I’m still keeping Instagram off my homescreen until they fix their icon ☺

The Apps I Actually Used In 2014

Just like last year, I thought I’d take some time as we end one year and start another to list out the apps I actually used in the previous year. Same rules apply: 25 apps in alphabetical order with a few caveats which I’ll mention below.

I’ll also note the apps that fell off the list from last year, since that’s the trend that’s perhaps most interesting to me (which apps rise and which apps fall). Both phone and tablet apps are included here, and this is obviously iOS-heavy as those are my primary devices (though I do have a new Nexus 6 now for testing purposes — thoughts on that still to come).

Here we go (new entrants in bold):

• Byword
• Facebook
• Facebook Messenger
• Fantastical
• Flipboard
• Foursquare
• Google
• Google Hangouts
• Instagram
• Inbox
• Medium
• Nuzzel
• Pinterest
• Pocket
• Rdio
• Secret
• Simplenote
• Slack
• Snapchat
• SportsCenter
• Swarm
• Tumblr
• Twitter
• Uber
• Vine

A few things to note:

First, I left some notes on the side of the new entrants for more context.

Second, I decided to remove Apple’s default apps from the list this year. By my count, there were ten I used regularly: Calendar, Camera, Clock, Maps, Messages, Photos, Podcasts, Reminders, Safari, Weather (not including “apps” like App Store, iTunes Store, and Settings). This number is actually up a bit from last year because the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus allowed for another row of apps on the homescreen, so I took things like Weather and Clock out of folders and put them front and center.

But all of those Apple defaults are pretty obvious and not terribly exciting. I think it’s more interesting to know which third-party apps I use.

Third, there are some apps that are more newly released that aren’t on the list simply because I tried to take into account the whole year, rather than just recent usage. Likewise, there are some apps I’m testing and using a ton that aren’t public yet, so I won’t list them here obviously — look for them soon in 2015!

Fourth, there are some apps I used quite a bit as an investor (through Google Ventures), both for support and feedback. I love them all, of course, but my usage is perhaps not indicative of a “regular” user so feel free to discount. Those include Medium, Pocket, Secret, Slack, and Uber. Consider this my disclaimer.

Fifth, as just mentioned, as a partner at Google Ventures, I obviously have some usage of Google products that is perhaps more than the norm. But many of those apps are huge in their own right (Google, Hangouts, etc). An interesting one is Inbox, the new app by the Gmail team. I think it’s really, really, well done and has removed my need to use the Gmail app and is starting to eat into usage of the default iPhone Mail app as well. Sadly, it also ate into my Mailbox usage because of my need to access work email.

Speaking of, here are the apps from last year’s list that have fallen off:

• Day One
• Loom
• Mailbox
• Moves
• Path

It’s worth noting why each dropped off in terms of my usage, so I left a note on the side of each one!

A few more honorable mentions that came close to my top 25 at various points of the year, but not quite there: Confide, Fitbit, GiFmojo, Goji, Google Maps, Hanx Writer, Hyperlapse, MagiCam, N3twork, NYT Now, Paper, Pixelmator, Product Hunt, Slingshot, SoundCloud, Taptalk, Tiiny, Tweetbot, Withings, Wut, Yahoo Finance, and Yahoo News Digest.

Until next year, happy 2015!