Responding to a meme by Mr. Brooks I have decided it might be fun to list my own "must have" apps, if only to reflect upon later. There are a large number of others who have also listed their own apps, there are a large number of similarities, maybe I'll have to pay some close attention to those that differ from my own list. I would love to hear how people use these apps in their own work flow. Maybe some correspondence is in order.

Here is my hit list (Desktop):

1. 1Password
2. SuperDuper!
3. BackBlaze^[1]
4. TextExpander
5. Transmit
6. WriteRoom^[2]
7. QuickCursor
8. Sparrow
9. Pixelmator

And my mobile list (iPhone):

1. Instapaper^[3]
2. Reeder
3. 1Password
4. NoteTask
5. PasteBot
6. TextExpander
7. TweetBot

Update 2011-05-04: Having time to sit and think about these lists I need to make clear that these apps are those I would purchase first, not simply those that I would install first on a new Mac. I am deeply indebted to those who release free software. I try where I can to donate money for their efforts, so I figured it would be nice to include a number of free applications that are critical to my everyday workflow. Here they are in no particular order:

• [MacVim](http://github.com/b4winckler/macvim “MacVim Github Repository”)
• [Colors](http://mattpatenaude.com/ “Colors”)
• [Adium](http://adium.im/ “Adium Instant Messaging Client”)
• [Colloquy](http://colloquy.info/ “Colloquy IRC Client”)
• [Notational Velocity](http://notational.net/ “Notational Velocity Project Page”) and/or [nvALT](http://brettterpstra.com/project/nvalt/ “nvAlt Project Page”)
• [Fluid](http://fluidapp.com/ “Fluid”)^[4]

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1. Having many backups is essential, not just a Time Machine backup will do; neither would a Time Machine backup and keeping a complete backup on an external HDD be enough; nor would a Time Machine backup, a complete backup on an external HDD and sensitive files in an encrypted DMG on Dropbox be sufficient. You need to have multiple backups of your data as far away from yourself as possible. ↩︎

2. I bought this application earlier on in its life, when it was fashionable to do so. Only now am I really putting to good use: writing just about everything within its all encompassing borders. ↩︎

3. This service has really changed my life—seriously. I try at every opportunity to support Marco Arment in this venture and I encourage you to consider subscribing and purchasing the application. I cannot say enough good things about it nor do it justice in describing the service. ↩︎

4. This application is absolutely essential for providing quick desktop access to my most used web services. I just saw that there is a paid version—I had no idea. I will have to investigate this a little further. ↩︎