Welcome to What’s On My Phone, a weekly column where we will be snooping in on people’s smartphones and figure out how they use them, what apps they are using, and why plus tips too.
We’ll include new entries with different and notable people about what’s on their smartphones and if they are a reflection of their personalities or not.
This week, we’re featuring Techweez culture editor Kiruti Itimu who covers the intersection of tech, social media and web culture.
Now, onto what’s on his phone:
I consider myself an enthusiast which means I tend to own more apps than the average person. On my Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 which has 128GB of internal storage, I have managed to install 262 apps on it, which may sound ridiculous but they all have their place in my phone. They range from the usual social media apps to games to streaming apps and also other quirky apps that I like. I will highlight the apps that I like the most and are a must download when I switch phones which is a nature of my job.
Homescreen
I have a 3 homescreen layout comprised of Google Discover and two other pages. I have enabled Google Discover to show me the latest news which I find quite important. The next homescreens are dedicated for apps.
The first homescreen is populated with apps that I use the most. This includes my streaming apps (Spotify, Netflix, Tidal), my favourite social media apps, photo editing apps and others. I use this section the most and it prevents me from accessing the homescreen often. I decided to use the dual clock system to be in touch with news from the US which is important to us.
The next screen is populated with apps grouped into specific sections as shown in the screenshot. The folders I use the most include Google and Gaming.
Lockscreen
My lockscreen is pretty simple. The wallpaper is from an Android only wallpaper repository called Backdrops that I’ve used for the past 5 years. It is great, check it out. The only customization trick I have added to my lockscreen is adding the clock and my name.
Notification shade and further customization.
I have customized my notification shade to have a specific look for easy access to some settings. When the notification shade is not fully extended, it shows the Wi-Fi, Torch, Mobile Data, Location and Rotate options which I use the most. Extending it further adds other quick settings like dark mode, hotspot and more.
I use dark mode religiously and this means my settings page and some apps are usually on dark mode 24/7. Huawei has implemented this on their first party apps too which is nice.
I use what I consider the best theme for Huawei devices, which is called Dynamic Nebula. It is not gaudy looking and it has the effect of rounding off the icons well. I highly recommend this theme to anyone with a supported Huawei phone.
When I’m bored, I switch to Nova Launcher with the Flight icon pack which I believe is the prettiest icon pack out there.
Epilogue
My current setup is geared to be efficient. Efficiency is the nature of the game and that’s why my three homescreen system works well for me. Although I have hundreds of apps, I rarely use them all. However, I will find a reason to use a certain app at some point and knowing that they are already installed is good enough for me.
More articles in this stream:
What’s on My Phone: George Kamau
What’s on My Phone: Kenn Abuya
What’s On My Phone: Kiruti Itimu
What’s on My Phone: June Okal
What’s on My Phone: Saruni Maina
What’s on My Phone: Dickson Otieno
Stay tuned for new entries each week.
