Gear Envy: What's on Our Mobile Expert's Phone Screen?

When you've reviewed hundreds of phones, from the latest glass-clad flagships that cost half a month's salary to the less spectacular phones you can buy with loose change, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that what makes a smartphone useful is not just the hardware: The apps you use matter just as much.

In my time as a mobile analyst at PCMag, I've refined the process of setting up phones and installing apps to an art form. I can start benchmark-testing the average smartphone in a matter of minutes. But my daily carry, the Samsung Galaxy S9, requires a bit more thought about what shows up on my home screen. Here are some of the apps I use on a daily basis.

Audible

I don't have time to read. OK, that's not completely true; I could certainly find the time if I wanted to, but reading is still hard to fit into my schedule. Audible is a lifesaver for me as a book lover (and aspiring fantasy writer), because it lets me listen to audiobooks while I'm commuting, doing laundry, working out, washing dishes, and filling out spreadsheets—essentially, it turns all the dead time in my day into entertainment time. A testament to Audible's awesomeness is my listening time: I clocked over 64 hours in October, which equals four weighty tomes I'd never have read otherwise. (For more, check out PCMag Editors' Favorite Audible Books.)

Pocket Beta

When I scroll through Twitter in the morning, I see plenty of links to long, interesting articles and think pieces. Pocket Beta lets me open links and save articles offline, so I can read them while I'm stuck on the PATH train. There's also a handy AMOLED theme that sets the background to black and makes the text white, saving juice while I read. Pocket is one of the few things that keep me sane during interminable commuting delays.

Boost for reddit

Plenty of apps can browse reddit, including the official ones—but I use Boost for reddit because it has a great range of customization options. You can control the theme and fonts, decide where various panels appear, set up post and content filters, back up content, and easily switch between multiple accounts. All it's missing are push notifications to your phone, but you can set those up by linking Boost to the official reddit app.

Signal

I use quite a few messenger apps to keep in touch with friends and family, but I never use the default one that comes with the phone. To send my text messages, I rely on Signal. It’s private and fully encrypted end to end (when you text another Signal user), and you can lock the app to make it require fingerprint verification. You can also link other devices to send messages securely from your desktop. Maybe I’m paranoid, but it works as well as Samsung or Google’s default messenger and gives me peace of mind regarding privacy. Now if only I could quit social media, too.

Rev Voice Recorder

As a journalist, I often interview people, but it’s tough to have a natural conversation when you’re peering at someone over a laptop screen. Rev is a voice-recording app that’s connected to a transcription service. When I start an interview, I turn on Rev, save the recording, and send it off to the service’s human transcriptionists, who produce a full, fairly accurate transcript of the interview within a very reasonable time (depending on the length of the recording). From there, it’s a breeze to find quotes for my articles and pick out relevant statements.

iSmartAlarm

I live in a rental apartment, so most smart-home security systems aren't really relevant to me. But I did set up a couple cameras and motion sensors so I can be sure no one's rifling through my Nintendo amiibo collection when I'm not home. With the iSmartAlarm app (which requires the separate installation of a hub, camera, and motion sensors), I can check on my apartment, view what the cameras by the door are seeing, and make sure that the window sensor was set off by an overeager squirrel rather than a burglar. The app is simple but works well enough: I can arm or disarm the system remotely, hit a panic button to ring a siren, and easily reset it when I'm home. And I haven't been robbed yet.

About Our Expert

Ajay Kumar

Contributor

Ajay has worked in tech journalism for more than a decade as a reporter, analyst, and editor. He got his start in consumer tech reviewing hundreds of smartphones and tablets at PCMag as a Mobile Analyst, and breaking the hottest Android news at Newsweek as a tech reporter.

In his most recent role, he’s worked in content marketing for a B2B SaaS company and in a PR capacity at an AI startup. Previously, he was Managing Commerce Editor at Android Police and Section Editor, Mobile at Digital Trends, where he spearheaded his team's coverage of breaking news, features, reviews, roundups, deals and more. He also worked at Lifewire as a Tech Commerce Editor, putting together tested best-of lists and assigning product reviews.

As an avid tech enthusiast and traveler, Ajay loves tinkering with the gaming PC he built, adding new smart home devices to his apartment, and scoping out ancient ruins in new countries.

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