Zack Blum (Website)(Twitter) is a clever guy that runs Fleetsmith, a company that helps folks manage fleets of Macs. Zack is also serious about his iPhone. So Zack, show us your home screen.
What are some of your favorite apps?
A few of my favorite apps are:
My notes app. It keeps my plain text notes synchronized on all my iOS devices and my Macs via Dropbox. It’s also how I keep track of my work, brainstorming, and ideas, so I can access and edit while on the go.
My public transit app. There’s something comforting about having the same, simple interface at home and while traveling!
My weather app. Knowing when rain is coming in advance is a sixth sense.
My podcast app. Features like Smart Speed and Voice Boost are game changers. I listen to podcasts like SaaStr and the Google Cloud Platform Podcast to stay in the loop.
My RSS app. I’ve tried them all and Unread nails the quick skim and the deep dive.
Which app is your guilty pleasure?
Snapchat. It has allowed me to connect with an entirely new generation, which has been eye opening. I’m older than most Snapchat users, so I had a few late teens/early 20s family members show me how they use it. I feel like I’m getting an authentic view into their lives for the first time. Social, visual storytelling has never been so frictionless.
What app makes you most productive?
Slack. Aside from the chat component, which is beautifully executed, the breadth and depth of integrations means information from other SaaS (and some non-SaaS) products we use at Fleetsmith is consumable by Slack.
Data like Fleetsmith customer support tickets, payment information, news, and other data gets to me instantly. I don’t have ask my team for recaps because I’m updated in real-time—as if I were in the office, or if I were to check each integration source individually.
What app do you know you’re underutilizing?
Photos and Camera. The latest Photos release feels closer than ever to something that aligns with my photos consumption workflow. The Memories, People, and Places albums are great for automatic organization. As far as the camera, I’m an enthusiastic (but still very much amateur) photographer, so there’s a lot more I could be doing to take better shots. Third party camera app recommendations anyone?
What is your favorite feature of iOS
Stability and security are a killer combination. With iOS, Apple delivered both in spades.
I also love that Apple innovates most around their devices’ unique human interface experiences. It makes each platform feel special while maintaining enough coherence ”whether you’re using macOS on a Macbook, iOS on an iPhone, or watchOS on an Apple Watch” to make them feel warm and familiar.
Do you have an Apple Watch? Show us your watch face tell us about it.
I do and I love it! I’m actually new to Apple Watch: my first one’s a 42mm Series 2, Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band arrived couple weeks ago. I regularly rotate between three watch faces: Activity Analog, Modular, and Solar.
Activity Analog is my standard daytime watch face. It keeps me motivated to get up from my computer and move around. Paired with the battery, Dark Sky, and heart rate complication, I get a little more information on the watch, the weather, and how serious of a workout I’m actually getting.
The Modular face is my travel watch face. It shows me local time in the upper right, any alarms I’ve set in the upper left, the date in the middle, and the current times in San Francisco, New York, and UTC at the bottom.
The Solar face is my calm, evening watch face. It’s mostly black, with the date, time, and sun position. I’d venture so far as to call it relaxing!
Anything else you’d like to share?
I just launched a new Mac-focused company, Fleetsmith! My co-founders and I wanted to build something that made managing Macs as easy as setting up G Suite. Fleetsmith empowers anyone who manages Macs—IT, ops, security, office managers, and more—to manage an entire fleet easily, quickly, and securely.
It also automatically manages apps, settings, and security preferences across a Mac fleet, and offers fleet-wide upgrades to macOS Sierra with one click. You can find out more and try it for free at fleetsmith.com.
We’re in beta, so we’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback!
Thanks Zack. Good luck!