I’m a low-volume mobile app user and prefer accessing corporate data on a large screen with a full-size keyboard. I install apps on my device very selectively, keeping them to a minimum. My limited use of mobile apps is primarily due to ergonomics—less is definitely more for me.
To see what I was using at the beginning of last year check out the article:
My daily driver when it comes to a phone is an iPhone 12 Pro Max. The other device I occasionally use apps on is my iPad mini.
My most used business apps on mobile devices over the last year were:
Outlook – for email access across multiple Microsoft 365 accounts secured via Intune.
Spotify on iOS to listen to all my podcasts.
Lastpass password manager and authenticator for general password management. I spilt my authentications across multiple app to provide some way to minimise a single point of login failure issue.
Microsoft Authenticator – I use this for a number of select web sites as well as Microsoft 365.
I have Microsoft Defender protecting all my devices with Global Secure Access enabled full time.
Car Play – Connects to my daily drive to provide the ability to listen to podcasts as well as use Waze for navigation.
OneNote – is a must on every device I own. Syncs all my notes to every device. Allows me to not only truly have my information everywhere I am but also capture information quickly and easily.
OneDrive – This mobile app now not only allows me to manage my Microsoft 365 files but it also incorporates the more advanced Office Lens technology that scans and uploads, documents, whiteboards, etc.
Tripview – One of the few apps that I have happily paid for. I use this to let me know the Sydney train schedule to help me get around when I need to negotiate the ‘real world’. Although not much travel is happening at the moment, this app is super handy for negotiating local public transport.
Qantas – Given the amount of interstate travel I generally do having all my business flight information is handy. It also has my boarding pass so I can remove the need for paper.
Audible – This app allows me to listen to my audio books where ever I am.
Amazon Kindle – If I don’t have access to my Kindle then I can still read my books. In my case that will most likely be on my iPad. I also use the Kindle app on the iPad when the ebook has a lot of images that sometime don’t display well or are too small for the Kindle device.
Of course I have all the social media apps, such as X, and Linkedin on my devices, although I will say that I’m not a big users of these apps at all. They are used occasionally but I really limit my usage of these apps which I find very distracting.
I’ve been trying to understand Instagram in a business context so that app is now on my phone. I still struggle to see the point or how to use this effectively for my business. I’m going to keep trying but I honestly find Instagram such a distraction and of little business value but I do appreciate that I am the minority.
I also have all the Microsoft/Office 365 apps. The ones I use the most are probably To-Do, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, although Word and Excel also get used regularly. Just about every Microsoft Office 365 service has an app that you should have on your mobile device. I also have the Brave browser on my devices as I no longer use Chrome at all.
I have most AI services on my phone with Microsoft 365 Copilot being the main one I use. I prefer to use the desktop with AI services so I can copy and paste the results into OneNote say. I don’t spend much time ‘talking/dictating’ to AI services but will use them in the car to carry on a conversation if needed.
I’ve also added the Intune app to all my devices so they can be better managed.
I use the Signal messaging app for private conversations and groups that I am part of.
Some occasional ones I use include:
– Uber
– Amazon music
I use the normal personal apps for things like Internet banking, fitness, payments and so on.
One my iPad, which also serves as a personal entertainment device, I have the streaming services Youtube, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. I also try apps regularly just to see what they do and whether they can benefit me. However, most don’t and summarily removed.
I will generally also update the apps on my mobile devices manually, so if there issues for some reason I know what has happened recently.
The above are my used apps across my various mobile devices. My aim to try and keep the apps standard across all the devices and as few as possible. I try and standardise on the Microsoft apps on all platforms and use these as much as possible. I certainly use a wide variety of apps on my devices by prefer the desktop versions if available.
CIAOPS 