Matt Bischoff’s 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.
New setup interviews are posted every Monday; follow us on RSS or Twitter to stay up to date.
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Matthew Bischoff, but most of my friends call me Matt. I’m a twenty-three-year-old software developer and designer in New York City. By day, I work on the iOS team at Tumblr and by night I help run an app development studio with my best friends called Lickability. I’m also known for being the first teenager to start a podcast, appearing on Jeopardy!, and recently giving talks about making better software. I’m trying to write more, so I’ve started a blog just for my long-form articles.
What iPhone do you have?
Since this stuff is part of my job(s), I always update to the latest and greatest. This year, I went with the 64 GB iPhone 5s in Space Gray, and I’ve been extremely happy with it so far. If only iOS 7.0 were a bit more stable.
What apps do you use the most, and why?
Tumblr is probably the app I use most during the day because I develop it from 10:00 — 6:00. Messages, Mail, and Tweetbot keep me connected to the people I care about. Calendar and Maps keep me on time and in the right place since I’d be horrible at either of those things on my own. Camera and Photos let me capture and enjoy the wonderful and sometimes quizzical sights of New York.
Vesper and Day One are the apps that are just for me; specifically for my copious notes and infrequent journal entries, respectively.
iBooks and Castro are where I go for entertainment depending on whether I’m in the mood for the written or spoken word. Sunday morning podcasts are a bit of a ritual in my apartment.
News is the only folder on my home screen because there are so many great news apps, but I just don’t have room for all of them. My news folder contains NYTimes (which I worked on for two years), The Magazine, Circa, Instapaper, Reeder, and Jared Sinclair’s excellent new Unread.
Then there are the apps I use less but still adore enough to adorn my home screen, like Sophia’s Articles for settling arguments, Moves for tracking my steps, Dropbox for all of my files, and OmniFocus for getting things done.
Finally, the apps I make at Lickability: I wouldn’t make them if I didn’t want to use them constantly. Quotebook stores and organizes the hundreds of meaningful quotations I’ve come across over the years, and Velocity helps me fly through my Instapaper queue at over 500 words per minute. I’m incredibly proud of both of these applications, and even more excited about the things Lickability has in store.
Why is there blank space at the bottom right? To give me the opportunity to dream up something new.
Which app could you not live without?
Instapaper. Marco nailed it early on and the folks over at Betaworks have continued its legacy as the best app for reading later. Since I process so much incoming news and information, there has to be somewhere to toss the stuff that I really want to sit down and digest later, and Instapaper fits that bill perfectly. It’s the app that most inspired me to start making apps myself.
There are more Sweet Setup interviews right here.