Do you need to use pronouns in italian?

In the English language we always use I, you, etc before each verb to indicate who is doing a particular action. When speaking Italian, it's not always necessary to use a pronoun.

E.g.

"I eat apples every day"

You can say:

"Io mangio mele ogni giorno"

but you can also say

"Mangio mele ogni giorno"

Because the verb "to eat" is conjugated as "mangio", it is implied that it is me who eats apples.

Nonetheless, in some occasions, it is better to use:

"Io mangio mele ogni giorno" when you are comparing and contrasting your action to someone else's or you want to emphasise that action