My Daily Drivers

Well everyone seems to do it so why not? Plus it’s a pretty easy and quick post to write to finally get content into this blog. This is a revised version of a post I wrote last year, honestly little seems to have changed.

So here we go, as of July 2026, what I am using in the way of tools. Some of the following may be of no interest at all, but others like choice of email provider or what I use to edit photos may be of use, anyway here goes.

Firstly the hardware. My main machine is an Apple M5 15" MacBook Air with 24gb of RAM (in pale blue), I replaced my M2 13" MacBook Air earlier this month, and while supposedly a lower range model than a MacBook Pro, the Apple M5 chip is fast enough for my needs, the larger screen has allowed me to ditch my bulky external monitor and instead it is now paired with a Logitech keyboard and mouse and sitting on an adjustable desk riser at eye level.

My code editor of choice is now Nova, not the trendiest but the built in copy of Transmit which I use for uploading changes and it's remote and local preview options make it for me at least an ideal fit. The fact it's a native Mac app is always a bonus although the pace of development could be a lot better. I also keep a copy of Sublime Text editor around it's blazingly fast, runs on Mac, Unix and Windows and is extendable through plugins which give me all I need for writing and coding.

I do not "vibe code" neither do I have any intention of doing so but perhaps this is a whole future post.

Photo editing, for may years I used Adobe Photoshop, which was so standard it became a verb, to "Photoshop" an image, basically the same way that Hoover did with vacuuming. However a few years ago I switched to Pixelmator pro, a Mac only app as Adobes pricing model switched to a (rather expensive) annual subscription. Pixelmator pro is not as powerful, however it handles all I need, is fast and very easy to use when coming from Photoshop. Updates and improvements have been frequent and again it's fast to load and process images. Recently taken over by Apple we will have to see what direction it takes, I have my worries here.

Internet Browser, I am currently quite happy with the built in Safari browser, again not trendy, but fast, part of the Apple ecosystem and it's honestly good enough for my limited needs these days.

There are really three other tools I use daily, e-mail, task management and note taking For email I use Fastmail and have done for many years. It supports custom domains and while it is a paid service it has none of the privacy concerns of "free" services such as gmail or hotmail. On my Mac I still access mail through Mailmate, not the prettiest mail client but the most powerful with insane search and filtering rules allowing you file and find mail very quickly. Again something I have used for a good few years. On the phone I still use Preside, again not pretty but the nearest thing to Mailmate available on iOS.

Task and Project Management. I have tried them all (nearly). However I keep coming back to Things which hits that sweet spot between power and over doing it. Multi award winner for its UI it is software I rely on daily. I did try Omnifocus again and while its power and flexibility is probably unbeatable but I really no longer need that degree of complexity, although the setup tinkering is hours of fun.

For notes I am going back to Apple Notes, it's come a long way in the last few years and again for most things it does the job for me, and when coupled with saved PDF and markdown files on iCloud I seem to be covered.

An honourable mention must go to Raycast, at its simplest an application launcher, but much more more, and really something Apple should have built into its OS. I use this multiple times a day, quick notes, opening apps, managing windows placement, checking calendars and to do lists, searching via traditional search engines and the relatively new AI features which I need to get more into.

I hope this post may help someone out there, if it does or you need any more details please contact me, I am always happy to try and help.