14 DAY TRIAL // I always get asked questions like "I want to find a good email app for iPhone or Mac. What do you recommend?" My first answer will always be simple: The Default Mail app.
And that caters to all similar questions. I will never understand the need for a good app that does x or y when you already have a good enough app that integrates well with the OS your device is running. OK, when it comes to a Windows PC or that new Samsung phone, the question may be understandable.
Bloatware
There are a lot of Windows or Android machines that are filled with the so-called "bloatware," the pre-installed software that will eat up your hard drive space and then ask you to buy the next-best anti-virus or some office package.
Fortunately, if you are an iPhone or a Mac user, you are not going to find bloatware on your device. Surely, there are people that will not be using apps like Stocks, Compass, but that doesn't mean they are not good and they do not serve a purpose on your phone. Best thing about these apps: they will not be asking you for money or have trials that expire after a month.
You may say that you can uninstall the apps on your Samsung phone or get the same app to uninstall all the trial software on your PC, but why would you spend time and effort doing that? On a Mac or iPhone, you don't have that issue. Anyway, this is a totally different story.
Siri makes it faster
Going back to the default apps on your system, whenever you need to do something with your iPhone or Mac don't jump on the AppStore. See if there's a native app that can do that. You will be amazed how convenient it is to use Safari, over Chrome, because all the links on your iPhone already open in the default browser app.
Mail is exactly in the same situation. You have Mailbox and a bunch of other email apps, but the default one will do the job just fine. You've got a simple, straight design with all the features a regular user needs.
Fantastical is great on iOS, but Calendar does the job. WhatsApp connects you to your friends, but so does Messages and so on.
Another great advantage a native app has is that it works with Siri. Go ahead and press the home button to activate Siri and say something simple like "Set a timer for 2 minutes." Siri will reply with "2 minutes and counting." That means the digital assistant on your iPhone has opened the Clock app, started a timer.
Now do the same and ask Siri "Remind me to buy butter when I'm near Walmart." The app will then open Reminders, add a new task, make it location-aware and will pop up the message when you are next to Walmart.
Try and do the same thing with any of the hundreds alarm clocks in the AppStore or set a task like that with Wunderlist or Todoist. It will simply not work. The same idea applies to Podcasts (soon to be a pre-installed app in iOS 8), Messages, Maps, Music or Contacts apps.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you should dismiss all 3rd-party apps from the get go. Simplenote or Vesper are way much better than the Notes app and Google Maps is thousands of miles ahead Apple's Maps. No smart user will stick with the default apps in that case, but you need to first try the pre-installed ones and make the most of them and use Siri more.
It will save you time, money and your iPhone or Mac will work faster.