Hello again! This week’s Phone Home features Minneapolis’ own über-tweeter, Kyle Matteson. Kyle can be found tweeting and favoriting like a man possessed, as well as at shows seemingly eight days a week. I’m pretty sure he has the time stopping pendant that Hermione had in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, otherwise I am not really sure how he manages to do all that he does. Frankly, he’s as close to an internet superhero as I know, and I’m proud to have him show off his super-secrets here on Phone Home. Enjoy!
– Kyle
You
What’s your deal?
Mouthful version: I’m a Sr. Field Technician for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. tl;dr version: I’m a computer nerd at the U.
Your Phone:
- Model: iPhone 5S (Space Grey)
- HD Size: 32 GB
- Wireless Carrier: AT&T
Your Apps
Do you have a philosophy behind the apps that you use, or the place/order that they exist on your phone?
In terms of what apps I use… no real philosophy behind them other than I’m always open to trying a new app that may do the same thing as my current preferred app, only in a different/more effiicient/“better” way. My home screen apps are ordered so that most of my communication apps (Twitter, Facebook, FB Messenger, etc.) are near the bottom 2 rows, and the ones near the top are more creativity/productivity based.
What app/s do you use the most? Are there any that you could not live without?
Rdio, Tweetbot, Instagram, VSCOcam, Fantastical
Are there any apps that you use all the time, but secretly don’t want to admit to?
I actually use Snapchat regularly among a small group of friends, so maybe that one?
How many apps do you have installed on your phone?
139 (normally this is a little higher, but i just re-setup my phone from scratch when 7.0.3 came out)
Do you change your home screen layout often?
Rarely… maybe once a month at most. I always like to have 1 or 2 home screen apps that can be interchangeable on a minute’s notice however (say, MLB At Bat during baseball season, or Flight+/App in the Air when I’m traveling). I always have at least one or two additional photo apps on my home screen, in addition to Instagram and the default Camera app. I used to mostly use KitCam for taking and editing photos, but Yahoo! bought it and have stopped updating it. Now that I have a 5s with burst mode and slow-mo video, combined with the new swipe to change between camera types, I mostly use the default iOS camera. I do miss the independent focus & white balance feature, so when I need that I use VSCOcam to shoot.
Tell me about your home screen wallpaper. How about the lock screen wallpaper?
I prefer a dark wallpaper for my home screen… I tried a lighter/more colorful one once iOS 7 came out, but the black text for icons made my eyes hurt. For my lock screen I tend to go with something darker usually as well, so when I pull it out to check the time, notifications, etc., at a show, it’s not so bright. I also tend to prefer gradients, small patterns, or solid colors for my home screen, i find photos tend to obscure the app icon labels too much. I do often use photos for my lock screen however, I just currently happen to be using a gradient i like for both.
How are your other screens organized?
Poorly? I generally have my apps organized in folders based on their type (Weather, Music, Productivity, etc.), and then a few scattered new ones i’m testing out out of folders, but after my home screen I’m not as picky about organization since I don’t see those more than once or twice a day.