Apps on Focustivity

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:13:42 -0400

I’ve been trying out Siri AI over the past few days. Overall, I’m very impressed and see the potential.

However, it seems the one thing the old Siri was really good at got nerfed. All I want to do is set a reminder, but Siri AI rewrites it and doesn’t always set the date and time correctly.

Default Apps - January 11, 2026

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 15:49:00 -0400

Below are some apps, services, and hardware that I currently use. The idea became popular through the Hemispheric Views podcast Episode 97 and then further through Robb Knight’s App Defaults directory.

This time around, I copied my previous default apps post and updated it, striking through things that have changed. Hopefully, it’s still readable. I find it useful to see what changes over time.

AI

I occasionally use Google Gemini on my phone for quick searches or voice actions. I’ve been leaning more toward using Kagi Assistant, though.

I use Microsoft Copilot for work. It does an outstanding job of pulling together meeting notes, helping me summarize conversations, and finding things across the organization. It sucks at everything else.

On the personal side, I tend to use Kagi Assistant in my browser’s sidebar when I want to do something with AI. It usually starts as a quick search in Kagi , and I jump to Assistant when I need more.

I also use GitHub Copilot a bit in Visual Studio Code. Not something I do every day, though.

Blogging

I use Pagecord to host my personal blog and handle my weekly newsletter. I tend to use my email for creating quick posts and the web interface for longer posts.

Browser

I use Microsoft Edge (with about 23 custom profiles) for work and Helium for personal use on my Windows PC. I’m experimenting with some browsers on Android.

Calendar

My family events are in our Apple Family Calendar , work events are hosted in our company Outlook (Exchange) Calendar, and personal events I keep in my Google Calendar. ~~I use the default Samsung Calendar app on my phone to consolidate them. My Outlook for work also pulls in my personal calendar, so I can see everything overlaid.~~ I’m trying out Hey Calendar on my phone to see how it works out.

Email

I have a couple of custom domains that I use for some emails. These are hosted through Migadu (because it’s dirt cheap), which then forwards to Hey. Hey is then configured so I can receive and respond to emails from addresses in these custom domains. ~~I tend to use a custom domain for accounts and services and my Hey email address for everything else.~~ I have a custom domain email for my websites but have been using Hey email for everything else.

News

~~My news consumption is primarily~~ ~~Kagi News~~ ~~. I subscribe to a few categories' RSS feeds, and they show up in my feed. I love that it only updates once per day and is formatted to provide a simple summary, highlights, and sources.~~ I may listen to a podcast here and get a newsletter here and there that covers the latest news in more detail, but overall, I found myself not looking at news (or social media) much. When I do, I still go to Kagi News.

Notes

I jump between various note-taking apps, so I don’t have an extensive collection of notes (since they’re scattered all over). My favorite robust notes apps have been Obsidian and Reflect. ~~I’ve hopped between both quite a bit.~~ But today, I tend to use paper for quick notes. Recently, I started carrying around a Plotter personal-size notebook for jotting down notes.

~~I started using a~~ ~~Supernote Nomad~~ ~~for handwritten notes.~~ My Plotter is where I write ideas, personal tasks, and anything else that comes to mind. For work notes, I use the Plotter A6 refill paper that sits on my desk (without the binder), and anything I want to keep I stick in a cheap A6 6-ring binder that sits on my shelf.

Reading

I often switch between the convenience of Kindle and the physicality of physical books. Currently, I’m mostly reading non-fiction in physical books , and fiction I tend to listen to on Audible.

~~For RSS, I’m a big fan of~~ ~~Feedbin~~ . I’m still a fan of Feedbin , but I’ve actually been cutting back on RSS and using the Hey Digest feature for content I want to receive. ~~I currently save articles to read later in~~ ~~Instapaper, though I’m not set on that workflow yet (I haven’t been using it long). I used Readwise Reader for a while but found it too much (in terms of functionality and price) for my needs.~~ I started using Raindrop again for bookmarks and also for things I want to read or watch later.

Reminders

~~I use Samsung Reminders because it is the default on my phone, but primarily because it can be configured to have full-screen, in-your-face notifications, which is what I need.~~ I’ve been using the default Google Task reminders on my phone since I switched from a Samsung to a Pixel a couple of months ago. I’d love to find an alternative where I can hold the button on my phone to input a reminder. It honestly doesn’t get used much.

Search

I’m a fan of Kagi search.

While I have accounts on many platforms, I haven’t been using social media. Instead, I’m in favor of posting anything I want to say to the world through my blog and having discussions with people through email. This intentionally limits my interaction with the outside world.

Tasks

For work, most of my tasks are in Azure DevOps. Personally, I don’t have very many and have started using my ~~Supernote~~ Plotter to manage these. I consider “reminders” as anything that needs to be done at a certain time and “tasks” as things I’d like to do reasonably soon.

Writing

I’ve been intentionally trying to write more. Writing helps me think. I write in many places.

I try to stub out ideas in my Plotter notebook.

Blog posts are either created via email ( Hey ) or directly in the PageCord UI.

Online, I feel like I need a decent grammar-checking tool because I’m a mess. I’m currently using LanguageTool since it doesn’t seem to get in the way and provides the basics without overwhelming AI (looking at you, Grammarly).

Other

I’ve been using Niagara Launcher on my Android phone in place of the default launcher. It’s a very minimal UI with many great features.

Cooked.wiki

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:11:00 -0400

I read a post from Olly and found Cooked.wiki, an app that converts any web recipe into a short and useful one. It looks wonderful and has promising features. It’s free unless you want the AI features to auto-organize and do other things.

I’ve been using ReciMe for this purpose and likely won’t switch. It is nice, but occasionally a bit slow when processing recipes.

Kagi Assistant Impression

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 18:12:00 -0400

Kagi Assistant Impression

Introducing Kagi Assistants | Kagi Blog

Kagi’s Research Assistant happened to top a popular benchmark (SimpleQA) when we ran it in August 2025. This was a happy accident. We’re building our research assistants to be useful products, not maximize benchmark scores.

I continue to be more impressed by Kagi Assistant as I use it. While not a full replacement for something like ChatGPT or Gemini, it certainly gets the job done. I think the results are drastically better simply because Kagi provides cleaner, more relevant search results.

Default Apps - October 24, 2025

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:02:00 -0400

A few weeks ago, I created a dedicated page that lists all the apps and hardware I’m currently using. I decided to move that page into its blog post. The idea is to repost this content (whenever I’m in the mood) with an updated list. This approach allows me (and you) to look back over time.

AI

I occasionally use Google Gemini on my phone for quick searches or voice actions.

I use Microsoft Copilot for work. It does an impressive job of pulling together meeting notes, helping me summarize conversations, and finding things across the organization.

On the personal side, I tend to use Kagi Assistant in my browser’s sidebar when I want to do something with AI. It usually starts as a quick search in Kagi, and I jump to Assistant when I need more.

I also use GitHub Copilot a bit in Visual Studio Code. Not something I do every day, though.

Blogging

I use Pagecord to host my personal blog and handle my weekly newsletter. I tend to use my email for creating quick posts and the web interface for longer posts.

Browser

I use Microsoft Edge (with about 23 custom profiles) for work and Vivaldi for personal use.

Calendar

My family events are in our Apple Family calendar; work events are hosted in our company Outlook (Exchange) calendar; and personal events I keep in my Google Calendar. I use the default Samsung Calendar app on my phone to consolidate them. My Outlook for work also pulls in my personal calendar, so I can see everything overlaid.

Email

I have a couple of custom domains that I use for some emails. These are hosted through Migadu (because it’s dirt cheap), which then forwards to Hey. Hey is configured so I can receive and respond to emails from addresses in these custom domains. I tend to use a custom domain for accounts and services, and my Hey email address for everything else.

Notes

I jump between various note-taking apps, so I don’t have an extensive collection of notes (since they’re scattered all over). My favorite robust notes apps have been Obsidian and Reflect. I’ve hopped between both quite a bit. But today, I tend to use paper for quick notes.

I started using a Supernote Nomad for handwritten notes.

Reading

I often switch between the convenience of Kindle and the physicality of physical books. Currently, I’m mostly reading non-fiction in physical books, and fiction I tend to listen to on Audible.

For RSS, I’m a big fan of Feedbin. I currently save articles to read later in Instapaper, though I’m not set on that workflow yet (I haven’t been using it long). I used Readwise Reader for a while, but found it too much (in terms of functionality and price) for my needs.

My news consumption is primarily Kagi News. I subscribe to a few categories' RSS feeds, and they show up in my feed. I love that it only updates once per day and is formatted to provide a simple summary, highlights, and sources.

Reminders

I use Samsung Reminders because it is the default on my phone, but primarily because it can be configured to have full-screen, in-your-face notifications, which is what I require. I only have a few recurring reminders and occasionally the ad hoc time-based reminder. Likewise, I don’t use it for managing “tasks.”

Search

I’m a fan of Kagi search.

Tasks

For work, most of my tasks are in Azure DevOps. Personally, I don’t have very many and have started using my Supernote to manage these. I consider “reminders” as anything that needs to be done at a certain time and “tasks” as things I’d like to do reasonably soon.

Publish your blog posts by email using Pagecord

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 09:57:00 -0400

There are quite a few personal blogging platforms available today. Of course, there are the big dogs, like WordPress, Ghost, Blogger, Squarespace, Medium, Wix, and even Substack. But for those looking for something simpler, we have options like Micro.blog, Pika.page, Bear.dev, Write.as, Scribbles, Blot.im, Svbtle, and I’m sure there are many more. You can even get nerdy and host your site generated using Hugo, Eleventy, Next.js, or other static site generators.

I recently came across Pagecord. I actually found the link in my bookmarks, so I must have picked it up from someone along the way, bookmarked the site, and forgotten about it. While scanning through my bookmarks one day, I happened to come across the link again.

Pagecord caught my attention because of its unique feature: the ability to post to your blog by simply sending an email. This means you get a unique email address for your account, and you can use any email client to send a blog post (as long as the email comes from your email address). This eliminates the need to log in to your admin site and create a post from there. It’s super simple to create and publish a post from any platform.

When I tried Pagecord, I found it was much more feature-rich than I expected, with features like simple analytics and automatic weekly post digest emails to subscribers.

But my favorite feature of Pagecord is that it’s run by an independent developer who actively pushes out updates and is very responsive to email. You get unlimited posts for free, and for only $29 per year, you get private analytics, an email newsletter, a custom domain, and other premium features.

It’s difficult to pick between these great blog hosting platforms, and I admit I switch between them more often than I should. The ability to create posts from email is a feature I wish more blogging platforms would support.

Starting 2025 with the Reflect notes app

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 20:10:00 -0400

On the surface, Reflect is as simple as it gets. When I open the app, I’m right on my daily note, when starting a new note, I get a blank screen. No toolbars, no bright shiny Share buttons, no distractions.

Under the covers, there is a lot to like:

End-to-end encryption
Markdown support
Keyboard shortcuts
Backlinks
Image and PDF OCR
A simple tasks interface
Voice note transcription
Built-in AI (OpenAI or Anthropic) for manipulating text, creating custom prompts, or even chatting with AI about selected notes
Readwise (or direct Kindle) sync
Import and export of notes in Markdown and other formats

Reflect feels like writing in the default notepad app on my OS, but with superpowers. The one big downside is the price tag: a $120 annual subscription. I’ve been using Reflect for a year and tried switching to Obsidian, but I keep coming back.

The Reflect YouTube channel is a great resource for anyone interested.

Obsidian Web Clipper works on iOS

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 12:07:00 -0400

I just discovered that the Obsidian Web Clipper also works on iOS! I’ll need to use Safari since it’s a Safari extension, but that’s okay.

I struggled with importing my settings. I had to import each template manually, and configuring the Interpreter was a bit of a pain, but it works!

Default Apps 2024

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 15:35:00 -0400

Inspired by the Hemispheric Views podcast, here is my annual list of Default Apps for 2024. My list seems pretty boring (to me). It’s changed a good deal over the year, but this is what I’m currently using and what seems to be sticking with me for now.

📨 Mail Client: Hey ¹
📮 Mail Server: Hey ¹
📝 Notes: Obsidian ²
✅ To-Do: Things 3 iOS
📷 iPhone Photo Shooting: Default camera app.
🟦 Photo Management: Apple Photos
📆 Calendar: Apple Calendar
📁 Cloud File Storage: Apple iCloud
📖 RSS: Readwise Reader
🙍🏻‍♂️ Contacts: Hey ¹ and Apple Contacts
🌐 Browser: Edge on Windows. Orion on iOS
💬 Chat: Apple Messages. Signal.
🔖 Bookmarks: Obsidian ³
📑 Read It Later: Readwise Reader
📜 Word Processing: Obsidian
🛒 Shopping Lists: Our Grociers iOS
🍴 Meal Planning: N/A
💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: YNAB
📰 News: RSS
🎵 Music: Apple Music
🎤 Podcasts: Overcast
🔐 Password Management: 1Password
🔎 Search: Kagi ⁴
🌍 Blogging Platform: Micro.blog and Pika

I like Hey, but is it worth $99 a year? I’ll reevaluate when its time. ↩︎
I’m working on transitioning all of my notes (worth keeping) from Apple Notes, Upnote, Reflect, Evernote, Drafts, and anywhere else I may have them stored. ↩︎
I’ve been using Obsidian Web Clipper to save bookmarks into Obsidian. It’s lacking on mobile though. ↩︎
I love Kagi, but have been experimenting with Perplexity and even ChatGPT Web search. ↩︎

Thu, 18 May 2023 12:54:40 -0400

Microsoft Outlook has made significant progress in recent years. The recently released Outlook client (preview) for Windows has seen remarkable development in the past few months. While the features are largely taken from the Outlook web client, I am highly impressed with its progress.

Apps on Focustivity

Default Apps - January 11, 2026

AI

Blogging

Browser

Calendar

Email

News

Notes

Reading

Reminders

Search

Social Media

Tasks

Writing

Other

Cooked.wiki

Kagi Assistant Impression

Kagi Assistant Impression

Default Apps - October 24, 2025

AI

Blogging

Browser

Calendar

Email

Notes

Reading

Reminders

Search

Social Media

Tasks

Publish your blog posts by email using Pagecord

Starting 2025 with the Reflect notes app

Obsidian Web Clipper works on iOS

Default Apps 2024