Uses

A list of hardware, software, and tools I use regularly, if not daily.

I change up things sometimes, so this page will serve as a living document and a place to point curious developers to when I get asked.

This is page is inspired by uses.tech by Wes Bos.

💻 Hardware

At home, I use a Macbook Pro and a custom Hackintosh build.

Macbook Pro 16” 2019

• Apple Macbook Pro 19” 2019 - My daily driver for mainly iOS development when on the go.
• Apple Magic Mouse 2 Space Gray - Not bad, neither great. I’m looking to replace it with a Logitech MX Master 3 in the future.
• Apple Magic Keyboard Space Gray - Only serves as a backup keyboard.
• Twelve South Curve Laptop Stand - I keep my Macbook Pro mainly in clamshell mode on the stand.

Hackintosh / Gaming PC

• LOUQE GHOST S1 Case - Simply put, this is perhaps the most premium SFFPC case money can currently buy with quality matching that of Apple products. The finishing and detail that went into designing this case are simply amazing! It also has a very minimal look which blends in well with the rest of my desk setup.
• Intel Core i9 10900K - With 10 cores, 20 threads, it is more than enough for my development workflow and casual gaming.
• Noctua NH-L12 GHOST S1 Edition CPU Cooler - The Noctua CPU cooler specifically designed for the GHOST S1 case. Does a pretty decent job at keeping the thermals of my 10900K under control while also being very quiet.
• Crucial Ballistix RGB 64GB Kit (2 x 32GB) DDR4-3200 Memory - Slightly overkill for my daily needs but it is great to have the extra headroom when needed, especially running multiple VMs.
• 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe SSD - Blazing fast read/write speeds with plenty of storage.
• 500GB Samsung 860 Evo SATA III SSD - Dedicated boot drive for Windows, mainly for gaming.

Peripherals and Accessories

• LG 38WK95C Ultrawide Curved Monitor mounted on a Ergotron LX Desk Monitor Arm - Great monitor with good color accuracy. It’s big enough to only need the one monitor on my desk.
• Keychron K6 mechanical keyboard (Gateron Brown switches) - I love this keyboard! The Gateron Brown switches have a great feel to it and also sounds nice.
• Samsung T5 External SSD - I have a few of these which I use to store my data and backups.
• Elgato Stream Deck - I use this to automate my workflow.
• Blue Yeti X Microphone attached to a Blue Compass Mic Arm - Mainly for video calls, meetings, etc.
• Logitech Streamcam - For daily video conferencing and meetings. Capabile of running at 1080p @ 60FPS.

🧩 Software

I use dark themes for pretty much everything, including all IDEs, apps, and macOS. The software I choose to use needs to either add value to my workflow or serve a specific purpose.

Development & Design

• Xcode - Being primarily an iOS Developer, this is where I spend most of my time in.
• VS Code - The best text editor in my opinion with a rich set of features and third-party extensions.
• iTerm2 with Oh My Zsh - For everything terminal related. No terminal setup is complete without tmux. I also use the terminal as my git client.
• Docker with Docker Compose - Helps me keep my machine lean when developing applications locally.
• Postman - For all backend / API development. I’m also using Postman for stubbing services locally during development.
• VMware Fusion - I run Windows and other operating systems as virtual machines.
• Sketch - My preferred UI/UX design tool.
• Rotato - Great tool for creating slick mockups and videos of mobile and other apps.

Desktop Apps

• Alfred - I only recently started using Alfred as a replacement for Spotlight and so far I’m loving the features it offers.
• Keyboard Maestro - Great for automating just about anything on your Mac. I have several useful automations I use daily.
• 1Password - Another app I use multiple times a day. Everything private and sensitive goes right to 1Password.
• Things - My preferred task management tool. I use it mainly as an inbox in my GTD system.
• Notion - What I use to organize my life.
• DEVONthink - For collecting and organizing all my documents and research.
• Obsidian - I’m currently looking at implementing the Zettelkasten method for my notes and research.
• Tweetbot - My Twitter client of choice. I like being able to set up my timelines based on specific hashtags etc.
• Karabiner-Elements - To remap some of the keys on my Keychron K6 keyboard.

📱Other Gear

• iPad Pro 12.9 2018 - This thing is a beast and although it is not a laptop replacement for me, I have it set up for writing, coding, and video editing.
• iPad Pro 11 2020 - Mainly used as a development device.
• iPhone 11 Pro - Not just my phone but also use it as my main development device.