My 2017 Phone Homescreen

I’m always fascinated by what apps my friends are using on their phones. Perhaps its because I run a mobile innovation company (Dragon Army), but the reality is that I’m just an app junky :)

Before I start, my homescreen comes from the Pixel 2, in my opinion the best Android phone on the market. I’ve tried the Samsungs and this device is simply rock solid and full of great features.

In order to spur you to share your homescreen and favorite apps, I thought I’d share what my homescreen looks like and what apps I use the most.

First, you’ll notice my staple apps on the bottom. Those include (left to right):

Chrome – my browser of choice on all devices

Slack – my company runs on Slack

Google Calendar – the best calendar app available

SMS app

Google Inbox – my favorite mobile email app, still trying to decide if its better than straight Gmail on my Mac

I think its interesting to note that I don’t even have the Phone app as one of my 5 most used apps. It’s way up on the top left.

Notable apps on my homescreen:

Google Sheets – if my company runs on Slack, then Google Drive (Sheets and Docs) is the infrastructure. I keep the Google Sheets app on my homescreen because I access it constantly to check on our numbers.

Flipboard – still my favorite news app

Clash Royale – the only mobile game I’ve played this year, and I’m probably going on two years with it (or however long its been out).

Runkeeper – my running app of choice

Google Keep – my note-taking app. I moved away from Evernote probably a year ago.

Instagram – the social network app I use the most

YouTube – I watch/listen to YouTube videos ALL THE TIME. I pay for the non-ads version, not because of the ads, but because I can play it in the background. Which means I can listen to videos while driving. YouTube has taken the place of podcasts for me in many ways.

Amazon app – Yes, the Amazon app is on my homescreen. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Well, maybe a little.

Please share your homescreen and favorite apps!

18 Comments

  1. Drew Hawkins on December 21, 2017 at 9:55 am

    My home screen is really just a collection of folders. I’m curious – how do you like the Pixel vs the iPhone? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9ae65d890e0e21a4729978ec5c22f2f8d0b9ea2af6a8dd161990ead64ff85178.jpg



  2. Jeff Hilimire on December 22, 2017 at 6:44 am

    Thanks for sharing DH. Glad to see another Flipboard fan in the house ;)

    I LOVE the Pixel 2. For me, if a phone can be just about as a good as an iPhone but be made to work with Google apps, then its the perfect phone. For the first time ever, I have an android phone that is extremely close to being as solid as the iPhone. Hardware and software made by the same company.

    A few dumb things: no wireless charging and that dang no-headphone-jack thing, but I guess everyone is moving in that direction. Otherwise, its a fantastic phone.



  3. […] Related post: My phone homescreen in 2017 […]



  4. David Felfoldi on December 29, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    I like to keep my homescreen clean with only the 15 apps I will use on a daily or weekly basis. I have no other panels — I will just use the app search to find it.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/78431d63f8b4d1387a88a685277de62d7fe4a172b8ddad9b14feb1d4967ed2aa.png



  5. Jeff Hilimire on December 30, 2017 at 7:56 am

    Yeah, I do like the clean aspect to yours. Is “Business” your work calendar? If so, what calendar app is that? Also, no email app in the bottom tray, I think that’s kind of unique! Do you not use email as much, or because you just have one screen it doesn’t matter as much what’s in the tray? Last question, is that a Pixel?



  6. David Felfoldi on December 30, 2017 at 9:59 am

    Check out Business Calendar. I have a dozen calendars that I need to toggle between and layer – each kid has one plus family – and I found it better than stock.

    I purposely removed email from my “quick actions” and instead focused on phone communication and tools. The logic is that a phone is a terrible interface for email, so I shouldn’t promote it. I dictate in Slack for my team and this web post. Email is for specific times of day.

    Pixel 2 with live Earth. I’m teaching my daughter about space.



  7. mickmel on December 31, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    Pixel 2 XL. Apps of note:
    – The “Brain” folder is Anki (daily), Peak, Duolingo and Brainscape
    – I use Pulse instead of the native SMS so it’ll sync to my computer.
    – I still use Swarm everywhere I go, and have it sync my checkins to a separate Google Calendar. It’s nice to be able to view that stuff at a glance
    – I don’t love the way the Google Calendar widget looks and may swap it out, but it’s very handy.
    – All of my “use often but not top 10” apps are in the folders at the top of page two.
    – I switch back and forth between my Moto 360 and Pebble watches, so both apps are on page two.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc917026cef2ca55e7783280e7143291986711caa92ae8d8caaf991cd6d0c70e.jpg



  8. Jeff Hilimire on January 1, 2018 at 8:37 am

    Awesome, thanks for sharing. How do you like the Pixel 2 XL (that’s what I have)? I’ll try out Pulse. I’ve been using My SMS for that purpose, but its not great.



  9. mickmel on January 1, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    I love it. Here’s a bit of my backstory with it: https://www.mickmel.com/the-galaxy-note-8-vs-the-google-pixel-2-xl/

    I’ve used MySMS as well as MightyText and PushBullet, but Pulse has worked out best for me.



  10. Jeff Hilimire on January 1, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    Ah, thanks for sharing that breakdown, and I 100% agree, the ONLY thing I wish the Pixel 2 has that the Samsung phones have is wireless charging, and even that is only a minor inconvenience.

    So I downloaded and tried Pulse on my Pixel, and it seems great. There is no iOS app currently (I use an iPad w/ keyboard when I’m on the go), but there IS a web experience apparently, so I could use that. But…it looks like you have to pay to have it on multiple devices. I’m not adverse to paying – good software deserves to be paid for – but before I do, do you pay for it? Is it that good?

    Last question, do you have thoughts on the new Pixel Chromebook?



  11. mickmel on January 1, 2018 at 9:38 pm

    I agree about the wireless charging. The metal on the phone makes it impossible, but makes the phone light and amazing to hold. They’ll have to include it next year, so we’ll see what they figure out.

    Yes, I pay for Pulse.

    I want a Pixelbook badly. I just can’t justify it (I already have a handful of Chromebooks, including the solid Acer R13), but I want it eventually. I need to convince either my wife or my work-wife to allow the purchase, and neither has conceded yet. :)



  12. mickmel on January 2, 2018 at 7:28 pm

    Separate thread — what clan are you in for Clash Royale? Mine is pitiful…



  13. mickmel on January 3, 2018 at 10:16 am

    Perfect! But, you’re full. Ideally I’d like to bring along a co-worker and my daughter too. Kick out a few non-donating slackers? :)



  14. Jeff Hilimire on January 3, 2018 at 10:25 am

    Just kicked out 4, hurry!



  15. Jeff Hilimire on January 6, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    Ever have lag issues with Pulse? I’ve been having trouble for a few days, texts going late, getting late ones…



  16. mickmel on January 6, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    Nope, but I agree that’s a problem. If it’s doing that to you (and MySMS wasn’t), I’d switch back.

    I kind of went round-robin with four of them for a while. I’d use one until it had a lag issue, then another until it messed up somehow, and I’ve landed on Pulse for a few months now without a problem.

    I don’t understand how Google can’t solve this. Hangouts was supposed to do it, but they’re clearly giving up on that. I’m often trying to convert my iPhone friends to Android, but if they’re heavy iMessage users I simply give up, because Google has nothing remotely close to competing with that.



  17. Jeff Hilimire on January 7, 2018 at 8:41 pm

    I was thinking the same, how does Google not do at least the same thing iMessage does. That’s nuts to me.



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