Eivind Hjertnes’ sweet iPhone setup
Every week we post a new interview with someone about what software they use on their Mac, iPhone, or iPad. We do these interviews because not only are they fun, but a glimpse into what tools someone uses and how they use those tools can spark our imagination and give us an idea or insight into how we can do things better.
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Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Eivind Hjertnes, and I used to work with software development and IT before I went back to school.
I study philosophy at the University of Bergen. I write on my own site Hjertnes.me, and I do street fundraising for Greenpeace.
What iPhone do you have?
I recently upgraded my old trusty black 32GB iPhone 4S, to a new and shiny 32GB space grey iPhone 5S.
The upgrade was well worth it. It’s amazing how much lighter and faster it is. My favourite features on it is the “new” size and TouchID. I’m really excited to see what third-party developers will do with it in iOS 8.
What apps do you use the most, and why?
My dock is the place I have the four apps I launch all the time; two productivity apps, and two entertainment apps.
In other words: Castro, Unread, Drafts and Editorial.
Drafts is the centre of everything text on iOS. Almost everything I write starts there. The brilliant thing about it is that you can write and then worry about where it belongs later.
Editorial has been my main Markdown editor and app for managing my notes since the iPhone version came out. I don’t use it for the workflows. I use it because it’s so easy to switch between the built-in browser and the editor. The workflows don’t hurt though, and I know I can do almost anything if I need to.
The entertainment part of my dock consists of Unread and Castro. I started to use both of them recently, and both of them replaced apps I have been using for a very long time: Reeder and Instacast. Neither of them are as powerful as the apps they replaced, but they do what they do in a simple and brilliant way. And they’re a breath of fresh air in something that I think is a stale market.
My home screen is organised a little bit differently than what I see most other people do. The only apps I have are the apps I use all the time or need to access very fast.
I use 1Password to store everything from passwords to software keys, to banking information and notes that I can’t or won’t save as plain text. And the iOS app is critical to be able to make sure I use unique and strong password everywhere. It’s not the cheapest password manager out there, but it’s the one that I think looks and works the best.
Spotify is my current music streaming service. I used to use Rdio, but I switched back to Spotify a few months ago. I think Rdio looks better, but Spotify syncs much faster. It doesn’t hurt that they have Led Zeppelin in their catalogue.
The first app I installed after I got my 5s was Pedometer++. It’s a great app to keep track of your steps, with the M7 chip.
I think Instapaper was the first iOS app I bought. It’s a great read it later service and the app looks good. It does what it does really well.
Fantastical is the perfect calendar app for me. It’s easy to add events with plain English, and it gives me an overview of the current day.
I replaced PasteBot with Command-C a few months ago, and I love it. I think Command-C is what AirDrop should be – a simple way to send text between OS X and iOS.
I downloaded Check the Weather the day it came out. It’s such a wonderful weather app. I get a nice overview of the current weather on the main screen, and I swipe left to see the weather for the next seven days, or right to see hour by hour forecast for the next twelve hours.
I don’t think I would use Twitter nearly as much as I do if it weren’t for Tweetbot. The apps is amazing. There are two reasons I have used it for so long, and still use it every single day: It syncs my timeline position over iCloud and it’s easy to send links to Instapaper.
Day One is the app that all iPhone users should have. It’s such a great app to save memories. I try to journal every day, and I do it in Day One. It’s a great app to add memories, thoughts or ideas; both text and pictures.
Messages is not the best IM solution out there, but it works most of the time. I use it just because all of the people I’m texting daily have an iPhone.
Which app could you not live without?
There is just one app on my phone that I couldn’t live without, and that’s Drafts. It’s the only app that I haven’t seen any alternatives to. It’s also the app I launch almost every time I unlock my phone.
There are more Sweet Setup interviews right here.