What's on my iPhone as a Software Engineer

Summary

The video offers a detailed walkthrough of the creator's iPhone 14 Pro Max setup, sharing how various apps and widgets help in managing productivity, finances, fitness, and daily tasks. It covers key apps like Notion, CoPilot, Heavy, and Superhuman, discussing their features and how they streamline different aspects of work, lifestyle, and creativity. The creator also touches on how iOS 17 features, like contact posters, enhance the user experience, and introduces some sponsor products. The video ends with insights on their favorite travel, finance, social, and media apps, making it an engaging guide for optimizing smartphone use.

Takeaways

• 📱 The creator showcases what's on their iPhone 14 Pro Max in Space Black, used without a case.
• 📅 The phone is organized with various widgets like weather, calendar, news, finance, and soccer match tracking, plus Apple’s default apps.
• 📝 For quick notes, the creator uses the Apple Notes app but switches to Notion for more complex tasks like software development notes and YouTube content planning.
• 🎧 The media section features Apple Music for its Dolby Atmos feature and Apple Podcasts for shows like Hidden Brain, Planet Money, and more.
• 🏋️‍♂️ The Heavy app helps track workout metrics, such as muscle distribution and workout streaks, which the creator recommends.
• 📧 Superhuman is highlighted as an expensive but time-saving email client, and ChatGPT is used for productivity-enhancing tasks.
• 💻 The creator uses GitHub for managing personal coding projects and Brilliant.org to learn STEM topics on the go.
• 💰 Co-pilot is the primary app used for managing finances, tracking budgets, and categorizing transactions, while Fidelity and Robinhood handle investments.
• 🎥 YouTube Studio is used to track channel analytics, interact with comments, and monitor the performance of their videos.
• 🚲 The creator uses the Cowboy app to manage their bike, including monitoring battery levels and ride history, and occasionally uses Apple Maps and Google Maps for navigation.

Q & A

What model of iPhone is the content creator using?

The content creator is using the iPhone 14 Pro Max in Space Black.

What are some of the main apps the creator keeps on their dock?

The creator keeps Email, Safari, Phone, and Messages on their dock for quick access.

Why does the creator prefer using Apple Calendar over other calendar apps?

The creator prefers Apple Calendar because it has everything they need without having to rely on third-party apps.

Which podcast apps and shows does the creator listen to regularly?

The creator uses Apple Podcasts and listens to shows like Hidden Brain, Colin and Samir, Planet Money, Lex Fridman, and How I Built This.

What is the creator’s go-to app for workout tracking?

The creator uses the 'Hevy' app for tracking workouts, muscle distribution, weight, and consistency.

Which app does the creator recommend for managing finances and tracking transactions?

The creator recommends the 'Co-Pilot' app for managing finances, tracking budgets, transactions, and net worth.

What productivity apps does the creator use the most?

The creator frequently uses apps like Notion, Superhuman (an email client), ChatGPT, GitHub, and the Brilliant.org app for productivity.

How does the creator use the Cowboy app?

The Cowboy app is used by the creator to manage their bike controls, check battery levels, air quality, ride history, and turn the bike on using Siri.

Which social apps does the creator use most often?

The creator uses Instagram, Reddit, and Team Blind frequently, with Reddit for engaging in programming-related subreddits and Blind for career discussions.

What app does the creator use to manage online payments?

The creator uses Stripe to manage all of their online payments, finding the app professional and easy to use.

Outlines

00:00

📱 Overview of My iPhone Setup

The speaker welcomes viewers back to the channel and introduces the topic—what's on their iPhone. They emphasize the importance of having useful apps to manage different aspects of life, such as work, finances, and fitness. They begin by showcasing their iPhone 14 Pro Max in space black, used without a case. The speaker explains their lock screen setup, widgets, and a focus on essential apps like weather, calendar, and finance-related widgets. They describe keeping their phone layout simple and organized, prioritizing functionality over heavy customization.

05:02

🌦 Widgets and Home Screen Essentials

The speaker dives deeper into their phone layout, discussing the 'Today View' with tech and news widgets, plus finance widgets from the Co-pilot app, which helps track transactions and budgets. They describe keeping third-party apps to a minimum, opting for Apple's native apps like Safari and Apple Calendar. They also showcase their use of default widgets for weather and reminders, noting their preference for Apple's ecosystem, including using Apple Maps for navigation. The speaker finds Apple's notes app most convenient for quick thoughts, although they occasionally use Notion for more complex tasks.

10:02

🎶 Media Widgets and Music Preferences

On the second home screen, the speaker introduces media widgets and apps for podcasts, music, and fitness. They share how Apple Music and Dolby Atmos enhance their music experience, switching from Spotify for its improved playlists. The speaker mentions favorite podcasts like Hidden Brain and Lex Fridman, and their use of the Hevy app to track workout progress and metrics. Additionally, they highlight the Cowboy app for managing their bike, including controlling it via Siri. This section reflects their organized and health-conscious phone usage.

15:03

📊 Screen Time and Sponsor Promotion

The speaker discusses their screen time widget and admits they spend significant time on social apps. They segue into a promotion for their video sponsor, Taurus, which offers iPhone cases with unique features like a circular kickstand. The speaker highlights the practical design and MagSafe compatibility, finding the product versatile for everyday use, especially at the gym or work. They then show their screen time usage, clarifying that some of the time is for managing content creation apps like the Creator’s app.

💼 Productivity Apps for Daily Workflow

This section covers productivity apps, starting with Notion, which the speaker uses for tracking YouTube videos, software development, and sponsors. They explain Notion's power lies in its databases, which are more functional than traditional note-taking apps. The speaker also mentions Superhuman, their favorite (and expensive) email client, as well as ChatGPT, GitHub, and Brilliant for various productivity tasks. They highlight how these apps help with managing tasks efficiently, especially in development, learning, and staying organized.

💻 Work and Team Communication Tools

The speaker explains the tools they use for work, mainly Microsoft's Outlook and Teams for communication, along with Jira for issue tracking. These apps streamline their workflow, especially for team collaboration and managing office-related tasks. The section is brief but emphasizes the importance of dedicated work tools for productivity in the workplace.

💰 Finance Apps and Expense Management

The speaker delves into their finance apps, emphasizing the Co-pilot app, which aggregates all their financial information in one place. They demonstrate how Co-pilot helps track their monthly budget, categorize expenses, and monitor investments. The app’s AI-powered features, such as transaction reviews, help prevent unexpected charges. The speaker also mentions using Stripe for online payments and briefly touches on investment apps like Fidelity and Robinhood, but notes that these topics will be covered in a future video.

📱 Social Media and Reddit Subreddits

In the social media section, the speaker shares their main social apps, including Instagram and Reddit, encouraging viewers to follow them. They recommend subreddits like r/learnprogramming for those interested in computer science. They also discuss Blind, an anonymous forum for tech employees to discuss career-related topics, and mention their own personal website as an app shortcut, where they share blog posts and gear lists.

📸 Photo and Video Tools for Content Creation

The speaker reviews their photo and video apps, focusing on YouTube Studio for channel analytics and comment management, as well as Epidemic Sound for music licensing in videos. They mention how Epidemic Sound provides recommended tracks based on past content, saving them time. Other tools discussed include the Creator's app for camera control and Lightroom for photo editing. The speaker uses these apps to enhance their content creation workflow.

✈️ Travel and Navigation Apps

This section covers travel and navigation apps, starting with Apple Maps, which the speaker prefers for biking routes, though they sometimes use Google Maps for better business info. They also highlight Flighty, a premium app for tracking flights, and discuss its unique features like passport tracking for frequent travelers. The speaker mentions other apps like the Cowboy app for their bike and ArtR, a new app they use for discovering hiking trails.

📋 Default Apps and Final Reflections

The speaker briefly covers some default apps that enhance productivity, like the Reminders app, Voice Memos for voiceovers, Shortcuts, and the Health app for mood tracking. They mention syncing workouts through the Hevy app and tracking cycling through the Cowboy app. The speaker concludes by reflecting on how their app usage could change over time, hinting at making this an annual video series to track their evolving phone habits and organization.

Keywords

💡iPhone 14 Pro Max

The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the specific phone the video creator uses and discusses in detail. It serves as the foundation for the 'What's on my iPhone' video. The creator shares their experience using it, such as its durability (no case) and preferences like its color (space black). This device becomes central to exploring how apps and productivity tools are used.

💡Widgets

Widgets are small, interactive app elements on the home screen that provide quick information without needing to open the full app. The creator highlights their favorite widgets like the weather, calendar, finance tracking, and fitness streaks, showcasing how they optimize their phone setup for productivity and quick access to vital information.

💡Apple Calendar

Apple Calendar is the default calendar app on the iPhone and is favored by the creator for its simplicity and comprehensive features. It is part of the overall productivity setup, allowing the creator to manage their schedule seamlessly without needing third-party apps.

💡Notion

Notion is a popular all-in-one workspace app used by the creator for tracking software development, YouTube video planning, and general note-taking. The app's powerful database features make it a go-to tool when more organizational capabilities are needed compared to simpler apps like Apple Notes.

💡Heavy App

The Heavy App is a fitness-tracking app that the creator uses to monitor their workout streaks, muscle distribution, and volume lifted. It plays a significant role in helping the creator stay fit and measure progress over time, contributing to the overall theme of staying productive.

💡Apple Music and Dolby Atmos

Apple Music is the creator's primary music streaming platform, with Dolby Atmos being a key feature that enhances the listening experience. The creator mentions transitioning from Spotify due to the superior audio quality on Apple Music, indicating a focus on high-quality media consumption as part of their digital setup.

💡Co-pilot App

The Co-pilot App is a comprehensive finance management tool that allows the creator to track budgets, transactions, and net worth. It consolidates various accounts into one dashboard, helping the creator stay on top of their finances and avoid unexpected expenses.

💡Superhuman

Superhuman is a premium email client app that the creator uses for managing their inbox efficiently. It offers advanced features like AI composing and inbox zero strategies, making it a powerful productivity tool for the creator's professional and personal communication needs.

💡GitHub

GitHub is a popular platform for version control and code hosting, which the creator uses to manage personal software development projects. The creator appreciates its large community and considers it superior to alternatives like Bitbucket and GitLab. GitHub reflects the tech-savvy nature of the creator's work.

💡ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI tool that the creator frequently uses to generate templates, brainstorm ideas, and solve coding problems. This app is highlighted for its ability to boost productivity by serving as a starting point for creative and technical work. The creator also notes that it integrates with Siri for voice commands.

Highlights

Introduction to the video: What's on my iPhone and productivity tips.

Showcasing the iPhone 14 Pro Max in Space Black without a case.

Organizing home screen with default apps, widgets for weather, calendar, and notes.

Utilizing the co-pilot app for finance management and daily transaction tracking.

Preference for Apple Calendar over third-party apps for simplicity.

Transition from custom home screen setups to a simpler, more efficient layout.

Using the heavy app to track workout metrics like muscle distribution and progress.

Switch from Spotify to Apple Music due to Dolby Atmos and improved playlist features.

Demonstrating smart tech integration with Siri to control the user's bike via the cowboy app.

Highlighting Superhuman as an essential email client for productivity and reaching inbox zero.

ChatGPT app utilized for coding solutions, boilerplate code, and starting points for creative tasks.

Preference for GitHub over other repositories for personal projects.

Use of copilot for finance management, tracking expenses, and investments.

Stripe used for managing online payments and creating a professional brand impression.

YouTube Studio app for managing channel analytics and viewer interactions.

Transcripts

hello friend and welcome back to the

channel after a bit of demand down in

the comments today I'll be sharing

what's on my iPhone we spend more time

than ever on our phones so it's

important to have the right apps and

utilities to keep us in the right space

and stay productive at times I'll be

showing you how I manage my work time

finances Fitness and so much more so

let's just get straight into it so

here's my phone the iPhone 14 pro Max

and space black and I've been using

without a case for a while now people

call me crazy but no things are cracked

check out this neat little mac SAA

attachment by moth okay so let's start

by taking a quick look at my lock screen

and the overall layout of my apps and

widgets to get a general idea of how I

organize my phone and then we'll hop

into some specific apps and I just keep

the weather and Calendar home screen

widgets have a weird habit of rotating

my wallpapers when I'm bored but for the

most part my widgets stay about the same

so let's take a quick look at the side

panel here and I think this is called

the today View here I keep some news

widgets related to programming and

technology and a widget from the F mob

app to track soccer matches and at the

bottom here I just have a couple Finance

widgets using the co-pilot app like

budget Network tracking and transactions

tracking I find it nice to have my daily

transactions quickly visible that way I

don't get surprised by any unexpected

expenses this is one of my favorite apps

actually which I'll cover more in depth

later so let's look at the home screen

and you may notice that I have a lot of

the default widgets and apps a long time

ago I really spent a lot of time

customizing my home screens using custom

widgets and launchers but I like to just

keep it simple now and pretty much just

keep my home screen free of third party

apps and starting with the dog really I

just keep the things I need quickest

access to of course for me it's email

the Safari browser I don't use Chrome or

anything else on mobile then of course

the phone and messages so let's take a

look at the cool new iOS 17 contact

posters what do you think

then a widget for quick access to

weather because Houston is pretty

bipolar so I have to be alert of any

weather changes then quick access to the

calendar widget which I should just go

ahead and mention that I use Apple

calendar a lot more than other calendars

I feel like Apple calendar just has

everything I need already so don't have

to rely on other apps then I have

reminders and a quick look at my Apple

card widget for maps and my air tag

items and my contacts locations and a

widget for quick reading list that I

have bookmarked from Safari and on the

right side I have all my applications

but here what's important is the notes

app I've tried many apps like Tod doist

among others but for anytime that I need

to jot something down very quick the

notes app just gets the job done for

me but with notes in the case that I do

require more features I rely on other

apps which I'll show later like notion

and lastly here there's Apple Maps which

is my go-to app for navigation cuz I

really like that they have built-in

support for bike routes so let's move on

to the second screen and this is where

it starts getting a little bit more fun

very similar layout where I have my

widgets on the left and my apps on the

right and I kind of set this up

subconsciously but it makes perfect

sense considering just how big the

iPhone 14 pro Max is the bottom right

region of the phone is easiest to reach

for someone who's right-handed so let's

start with the widgets and then we can

dive deep into the apps that I use most

first off a mediumsized widget here for

media like podcast and music which my

go-to apps for these things and I widget

for quickly checking out my battery

levels and surprisingly I get a bit of

compliments on my music I'm guessing

from the album covers that I've shown I

think it's all right it's kind of a mess

actually from genres like hip-hop

alternative to Indie and Spanish music

like regon I was a loyal Spotify user

and would often discover lots of good

artists but for Apple music Doby Atmos

really just made that difference for me

and actually Apple music has gotten

better with her playlist creation and

similar thing with apple podcast where I

used to just listen to my podcast

exclusively on Spotify but here are some

of my favorite shows like hidden brain

Colin and Samir Planet Money Lex

Freedman how I built this and a couple

more podcasts that I tune into when I'm

just not in the mood for music so then

we'll hop into my other widget here

which is the heavy app and here you can

see my streaks and the volume I've

lifted this week and going into the app

you can see a lot more useful metrics

like muscle distribution you can keep

track of your weight over time and see

your calendar to see how cons assistent

you've been I'd really recommend for you

to check out this workout app which is

free

actually oh and also of course I'll be

listing every single app down in the

description as well and moving on to

this other widget here which is the

cowboy app and this is the app that I

use to manage on my bike

controls and now I can conveniently turn

on my bike with Siri Siri turn on

bike course it's not going to work right

now cuz I'm not

nearby so yeah in here there's a lot of

other useful metrics like checking the

climate battery levels air quality and

seeing your right history also there's a

cool leaderboard and for my all time

looks like I've ridden 371 miles which

is nothing compared to these people over

in Netherlands and Belgium but before I

show you around this one I have to

quickly tell you about the sponsor of

today's video which is Taurus honestly I

prefer the look of no case on my iPhone

but if I'm going out or doing any kind

of activity it's essential to have one

around the Highlight for today is the

Taurus upro oand K series this is what

they look like on the new iPhone 15 I'm

testing out the oand r and the oand SS

Shield The oand Shield provides just a

bit more protection if you prefer that

and a pretty cool bubble like design but

the key thing here is the circular

kickstand which is of course in the name

which you can use to prop your phone up

either vertically or horizontally and

the ring is practical for many everyday

things I use it to set timers while I'm

at the gym or to just set my phone up

when I'm working at my desk and I was

quite surprised by just how strong the

ring actually is it's not like a flimsy

rubber also these are Max safe

compatible so you can keep using your

favorite Max safe accessories to them no

problem overall these did all the check

marks for me they're super practical and

have a really simple design at the same

time thanks Taurus for making this video

possible check them out with my link

down in the description and let's keep

going so the last widget I have here is

my screen time do you really want to see

my average whatever let's look at it so

yeah I probably spend more time that

they need to be on social applications

but a lot of this is skewed sometimes

for instance check out the creators app

which I use to control my camera and

next we'll start by looking at some of

the folders that I have on here so let's

start by looking at productivity so

quite a bit to unpack here in the

productivity folder and we already

looked at the heavy up but let's look at

what else is in here and first off we

have notion notion is like a Swiss knife

for me currently I track so many things

on Ocean like my notes for software

development tracking my YouTube videos

and brand sponsor ships to get the most

out of notion you have to use databases

instead of traditional note pages and

whenever I do need a little bit more of

organization compared to the Apple notes

app notion is my go-to option I use it

almost daily now here you can see where

I plann my titles and

thumbnails and where I track my software

development notes like

standups and also notion just gets even

more powerful on the desktop

version so let's take a look at

superhuman superhuman is probably my

most EXP expensive app but superhuman is

probably the best email client out there

but besides that this app saves me so

much time when managing my inbox and

helps me reach the famous inbox zero

with features like

Snippets reminders to send your emails

which is really useful when you want to

follow up and AI composing overall this

email client just saves me so much time

and that's why I justify its

price next up you have Chad GPT so if

you're not using chat GPT already you're

missing out on a pretty valuable tool

that can double your productivity I

found that it's not perfect to reach a

final product on what you're trying to

do but it's awesome to use that as a

starting point for many things from

things like video scripts and templates

to email templates and even coding

Solutions when I get stuck on a quick

problem or I just forget how to do

something and it's awesome for

generating boilerplate code Snippets and

also a little bit more hidden with the

chat GPT app is actually connected to

Seri so you can ask it questions that

way then I have GitHub which is my go-to

for managing my personal projects and

all I've tried others like big bucket

and gitlab but GitHub is the winner for

me and it just has a much bigger

Community overall as

well next up I have the brilliant.org

app which brilliant is a sponsor of the

channel actually but really quick I

think brilliant is an awesome way to

quickly learn things on the go from a

bunch of stem topics and their user

interface and progression system is

pretty nice and makes the learning

material feel digestible

and then I have medium which is nice to

read articles on a wide range of topics

then I have Gmail which is what I ended

up going for my account management on

this channel and it comes with a lot of

other useful things like Google meet and

much more and last up on the

productivity I have the CW app which is

a pretty new app to me now I did mention

that I use apple calendars but this is a

new one that I've been testing which I

believe was recently acquired by notion

so a current problem with notion is that

it's not the easiest or most seamless to

integrate with Google Calendar

but there's a fix with using cron and

syncing it that way which I'll be trying

out cuz I would love to have all my

important dates that I have on otion

sync easily and visible on my calendars

and now let's switch over to my work

folder and pretty much as described

these are the apps that I used to get

around work and to get around my office

and for team Communications as you can

see we use the Microsoft stack with

Outlook and teams then we have Jiro for

our actual issue treking so hang tight

we're almost at the finish line here

guys and next up I want to start looking

into some of my finance apps so of

course there's a couple Bank

applications that I use but there is one

single app that pretty much brings

everything that I use together into one

single application and that's co-pilot

or copilot

domoney so this is what you open up to

on the co-pilot app which is the

dashboard and here you get a quick

overview with this graph of your monthly

budget another cool thing is the AI

categorization and also I really like

this kind of inbox feature where you

have to review your transaction

that way by reviewing all of your

transactions you won't have any

unexpected expense that you didn't

remember about some time later and this

is another paid service but it's been

pretty invaluable for me to check on my

transactions and manage all of my

accounts from just one place here's an

example of your Investments tracking and

you can just track so many things here

on the co-pilot app like net worth and

income so that was just a quick overview

of the co-pilot app I did want to get

into my salary and expenses as a

software engineer but that would make

this video extra long so let's save that

for another video real soon I'm a

co-pilot affiliate as well so I'll be

linking my special code down below if

you want a free trial then for

Investments I use Fidelity and Robin

Hood which I won't get too much into

I'll St there for the video where I talk

about my salary and how I manage it

another app that I'm constantly getting

into is stripe and stripe is really how

I manage all of my online payments so

the stripe application itself is

actually quite Bare Bones this is pretty

much what a payment look looks like when

I send it over to a customer and again s

is really professional know and leaves a

really good impression on your brand so

then we have our social apps and of

course these are pretty self-explanatory

what I spend most of my time in is

Instagram and Reddit if you haven't

already go ahead and give me a follow on

Instagram and for Reddit I would

recommend a couple subreddits if you're

into computer science like as career

questions experience St and learn

programming there's just a lot of

interesting conversations and threads

going on in here so next up in socials

we have Team blind so the way blind is

is that you have to sign up with a

company email that way it kind of

legitimizes everybody's posts in a way

and it's kind of like a way to get an

inside scoop in some companies there's a

bunch of interesting forums and posts

from real workers in Tech here you can

discuss things like career tips and

compensation or salary and a bunch of

other useful things and one last thing

here in the socials is my own app well

it's not really an app but just an

installed Safari shortcut kind of just

threw it in here randomly and this is my

own personal website where I have blog

post gear lists and here you can also

just learn more about me so check out if

you haven't already all right so let's

move on to our other photos which I'll

be covering a little faster and here in

our photo and

video some of the standouts are the

YouTube studio app which is of course

where I see all of my channel analytics

and see how my videos are performing

these last two videos are actually doing

pretty good so thank you all and if you

haven't noticed I tried to get it to as

many comments as possible and this is

how through the YouTube studio app and

another insightful part that I like of

the YouTube studio app is to see similar

content that you guys enjoy and some

similar popular channels channels as

well so that's the YouTube studio app

and next up is epidemic sound where I

get about 95% of all the music I use on

my videos and what's cool about epidemic

sound is that it saves you a lot of time

you get a lot of recommended tracks

based off the content that you already

have uploaded and also epidemic sound

just skips you the hassle of having to

worry about licensing and copyrights so

here's just some of the songs that I've

used already on my

videos and I may just go ahead and start

creating a public playlist to share with

you all then next for photo and video I

have the creators app which I use to

control my camera and the Lightroom app

which is how I edit most of my photos

and the last folder that I wanted to

cover was the travel folder oh and quick

note on Google Maps because I do use

Apple Maps as my primary navigation but

sometimes I find that some of the info

or data is incorrect on Apple Maps like

business hours and of course the review

system is just much better on Google

Maps then we have flight Le which is a

Premium app but it's a pretty cool way

to track your flight and it has a pretty

unique passport feature where you can

see all of your travel history so let me

find an example

flight and the flly app has some really

nicely designed lock screen

widgets the cowboy app for my bike which

we already talked about and artrs RR is

kind of new for me actually but it's a

really neat way of finding biking routes

and Hiking TRS and I really love the

overall design of this app as well so my

last page is really just all of the rest

of my default apps and some of the

things that I use here that help my

productivity are mostly the reminders

app voice memos shortcuts and the health

app which I have been using the new

State of Mind tracking just a nice way

to track your overall mood for the day

and to have a history of your mood over

time let me togg a it into dark mode cuz

it's a little hard to see but also on my

health app I have my workouts synced

through the heavy app and my cycling

through the cowboy app voice memos like

I mentioned this is what I use for a lot

of voiceovers actually and shortcuts

which I have a couple useful ones like

starting a pomodora timer and how I had

already shown there's a way to lock and

unlock my bike okay so that wraps up

what's on my iPhone and I'm thinking

about maybe turning this into an annual

thing to maybe get a feel for how my

habits and organization change over time

let me know if you found some of these

helpful and if you like the video you

know what to do and I'll see you on the

next one