Home Screens: Eugene Gordin


I love meeting fellow nerds on the Internet but I also like meeting them in real life. Recently I went to see a screening of the Steve Jobs movie with some friends and was introduced to Eugene Gordin (website). Eugene is a structural engineer and passionate about his Apple gear. I love to see how smart people use their technology and Eugene is no different. So Eugene, show us your home screen.


What are some of your favorite apps?

Hands down (see what I did there), I’d have to say Reeder and Tweetbot. When on my iPhone, I pretty much live in those. I use Tweetbot mainly for information consumption – I rarely actually tweet unless its to a specific person. With Reeder, I’ve been a big fan and loyal beta tester since before 1.0. I’ve tried every RSS reader out there, and always come back to Reeder.

I’m not a big social networker, but I do like sharing photos of my son with our extended family. We use a service called Lifecake, which despite its weird name is geared toward this very use. It has some very creative features, and although development seems to have slowed since they were acquired by Canon, its still one of my favorites on my phone.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Thanks to your recommendation, I’m now playing Alto’s Adventure. I’m not at all a gamer, but that game is highly addictive. In addition to beautiful graphics, its got a very gradual learning curve. I’d say I’m hooked because I’m also a snowboarder, but the game has little in common with actual snowboarding. It’d be nice if backflips were that easy.

What app makes you most productive? 

1Password – without a doubt. It seems like all day long I’m logging into things, and 1Password on the iPhone is so incredibly useful, beautifully designed, and with Touch ID, its blazingly fast to use.

Other than that, I’d have to say Mail. When on the go, responding quickly, or triaging incoming email is so easy. The iPhone Mail experience feels desktop class, so much so that I’m always surprised that I see people with signatures that say “Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse any typos.” In my experience, unless you’re not proofreading, there’s little reason why an email from an iPhone would have more typos. 

We use Daylite in my company so that’s definitely nice to have on the iPhone as well, particularly when I need more information about a certain project, client, or company. I’m an Omnifocus user for tasks, although I’ve really tried to simplify my to-do list as much as possible in order to stick with it.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

I’m so glad there’s no way to check. If you ask my wife, she’d say too many. I’m on it all day, and with the battery life that iPhone 6S Plus gets, I can do that without worrying much about running out of juice.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?

It’d be a toss up between Touch ID and 3D Touch, both of which significantly improved the iOS experience. While the lock screen is where I use Touch ID the most, it is also a great timesaver for apps like 1Password and Amazon. Touch ID feels like the future, each time I use it.

3D Touch has changed how I use my phone – I use the “peak” and “pop” gestures all day. It will be even better once more developers add 3D Touch integration. The latest update to Reeder (3.0) added support for 3D Touch, and it is much appreciated. 

What’s your wallpaper and why?

My lock screen wallpaper is a cropped version of Brock Davis’ Broccoli House. Why? Broccoli always reminded me of little trees, and this photograph was just so perfect. Also broccoli is delicious. 

Anything else you’d like to share?

One app that I haven’t seen recommended anywhere is Kinohunt, which monitors the iTunes and Amazon video stores for sales. I’m rarely in a rush to buy a movie, but I do have ones I’d like to buy. Kinohunt lets you make a list of movies you want to buy or rent, and it will notify you when they’re on sale.