I recently told you that I (almost) only use Apple apps and my reasons for doing so. Now, in this second part, and as requested by various comments and posts on Twitter, I will talk about which apps pass my filter and which I use on my devices. A short list, but I think interesting.
How do I audit the apps I use?
Privacy has been paramount to me for a long time, so I’ve spent many years analyzing the apps I decide to include in my devices. In this sense, I learned little by little and, moreover, Apple added more and more tools to facilitate the work.
The first thing I look at before considering an application is the app store privacy report. Ideally, I’d see a big “No data collected”, but if I see “Data not related to you”, especially if it’s usage and diagnostic data, I usually move on.
As soon as I install the application, I do the following: go to my firewall to see what is blocked. As a firewall, I use the Lockdown app, which also allows me to configure my own rules, of which I have a lot. I open Lockdown, check the block history, open the app I’m looking at, and see what new requests have been blocked. here Facebook logins often trigger alarms
The truth is blocked connections don’t worry me too much because they don’t happen, but they allow me to get an idea of how the app is focusing. If I like it, if it’s essential to my daily life, I block what I consider and continue, but if not, it usually ends up being eliminated for good.
The next thing I do is use the app normally for a few days. After this time, I go to Settings > Privacy and Security > App Privacy Report. I neglect access to data and sensors, since in general I deny access from the app to everything, but I pay close attention to network activity. here I study what the app connects to and my firewall didn’t filter. Once done, I block whatever connections I deem appropriate, always checking that the app continues to work without them, either I keep the app or delete it.
After completing the process, I therefore establish that I can trust, always according to my personal standards, the application and I include it in my devices.
What apps should I use?
So let’s talk about the apps I use. You will see that the vast majority of them are universal applications
- NordVPN: my go-to VPN app for years, always installed on all my devices and always connected to servers.
- iA Writer: the application with which I write all the articles both in Applesfera and in other media. All synchronized with the cloud in real time.
- Soft: the communication tool that we use at Webedia to coordinate and that I have also adapted to receive notifications from sources that interest me.
- 1Blocker: my go-to safari content filter.
- The vinegar: an application that replaces the YouTube player with the system one. Ideal for using PiP in Safari and enjoying better integration with the entire Apple ecosystem.
- Brave: a third-party browser that I use to log into certain services, including Twitter, so cookies and usage itself doesn’t confuse Safari in the least. On Mac I replace it with Safari Technology Preview, with the same objective.
- Confinement: my firewall application.
- Affinity photo: the photo editing application that I use, among other things, to create the covers of all the articles that I publish. Only available for Mac and iPad. On the iPhone, I very occasionally install Pixelmator to replace it.
- Procreate: a great drawing app that I use exclusively on the iPad.
- Uber: for traveling. Only on iPhone and with a multitude of duly blocked connections.
- Wise: my trusted financial institution. Multi-currency, with the possibility of creating virtual cards for any transaction and of which I only have to block the connection with Google’s mixpanel.
Out of curiosity, I can explain that a few years ago Wise connected to Facebook’s servers during startup. I realized this and wrote to the app development team. Within weeks, they removed that connection. Something similar happened with iA Writer, which connected with revenuecat (something I was blocking), but it stopped doing so in the last update. This brings me to audit applications on an ongoing basis from time to time and to adapt according to what I find.
Ultimately, as this article shows, privacy is paramount to me. I like to know, as much as possible, what happens to my data. The trust I build with the services I use is something I take very seriously. Doing it differently is fine, me I would never tell anyone that my approach is the bestit is simply the one that I have chosen and with which I feel that, being able to take full advantage of everything that my devices and services offer me, I maintain maximum confidentiality and security.