I am really liking Marco Arment’s new Fineliner iOS app. It has been fun to use from the beginning and I have not stopped playing with it for any long period of time since I downloaded. The crazy part is that I don’t even have an iPhone Duo. I am using it on my iPhone 17 Pro Max and writing on it with my index finger. I tried it on my iPad, but it is a no-go there. It is clearly not designed for it, but I wanted to try it anyway, so I could us my pencil with it. Much better experience on my phone. It is like having a pocket notebook to use during the day. Sure, it does not compete against my Field Notes, but it is close and it syncs across iCloud, so that is definitely a plus. I am sure it will only get better from here.

By the way, it is free with some optional in-app purchases. You can use it with all the essentials out of the box.

Update: I mentioned that Fineliner was not designed for the iPad. Well, I was wrong… sort of. Turns out that if I create a notebook on my iPhone, the aspect ratio is fixed for that screen and it looks wonky on my iPad (long and narow). The same goes the other way, too. If I create a notebook on my iPad, it looks great there, but weird on the iPhone. Also, when I rotate my iPad to a horizontal position, the menus flow nicely to the top (camera side), but the lines on the page do not turn with it. I am sure these tiny issues will be addressed soon.

#iOS #App #MarcoArment #Fineliner

Often, my ideas come at random times and places and I need to jot them down before I forget them. I began looking for a quick solution to get my thoughts down, but I can’t use my phone’s on-screen keyboard comfortably for longer writing and I can’t always dictate. I wanted something as minimal as possible. I figured pairing the iPhone I always have with me with a small mechanical keyboard and the iA Writer app might be the way to go.

While exploring my options, I watched a video about the BYOK (Bring Your Own Keyboard) system. The concept is incredibly cool. You connect a wireless or wired keyboard to a dedicated little monochrome screen for a completely distraction-free writing experience.

The BYOK definitely has some attractive features. It is small in size and seems very portable. The screen looks high quality, featuring sharp text and excellent contrast for eye comfort. However, here is why I am sticking with my current iPhone setup:

• Flawless Syncing: iA Writer lets me sync effortlessly across iCloud or attach a shared folder on my network. I prefer the shared folder route, and since it is hosted on iCloud, I get all those baked-in syncing benefits automatically. If I decide to change apps at any time, all I need to do is point the new app to my shared folder and pick up where I left off.
• No New Ecosystems: The BYOK offers WiFi and a companion “Studio” app/service to sync your documents. But I strongly prefer keeping my files natively on my own devices and iCloud rather than relying on a separate third-party service transferring manually or saving to a microSD card.
• Zero Extra Cost: I already own my phone, the app, and the keyboard. They pair together perfectly without the need to buy another piece of hardware.

Sometimes the best productivity tools are the ones we already have right in front of us. I totally understand that niche products carry a premium price tag to cover production, research and development. However, at $200, it is hard for me to justify the purchase. If it were priced closer to the $100 mark, I would probably be more inclined to buy one. Right now, I am happy with the current setup.

#Minimalism #Productivity #iAWriter #iPhone #MechanicalKeyboard

Just downloaded the Halide app on my iPhone and was playing around with their MKIII Preview when I saw this beam of light coming in through my window. I set the app to Process Zero, tilted my phone a bit and took this shot. It reminded me of a light saber from Star Wars, which I thought was pretty cool.

After I took the shot, I touched it up a bit within the Halide app (film grain and all) and came up with the final product above. Going to keep playing around with it and see what other photos I can make.

#Halide #App #iPhone #Photography #ProcessZero

Inspired by The Pen Addict Ep. 704 and their accompanying blog post, I created my own page listing my Analog Defaults.

Of course, I did not stop there. I also created a page for my App Defaults, after seeing Robb Knight’s apps page. I was surprised that I use a lot of the same apps he does.

But wait… there’s more. I also added my Ham Radio Defaults, too. Check it out!

I am lucky to work in a school system that provides lots of materials for me to use with my students. However, sometimes I am left looking for resources that are strategically tailored to meet my students’ needs that day. While I can usually search the web for ideas, I often cannot use them because they are not aligned with our standards, require a purchase, or are simply not that great to begin with.

Having that itch to scratch left me looking for a “backscratcher” I can call my own. So, I started looking into creating something to meet these needs and benefit my students. But where do I find someone who can help me create my own thing that I can use, free of charge (except for the time I dedicate to it) and, more importantly, guide me through the process? I am no programmer by any stretch of the imagination, but here I am wanting to create my own solution that is tailored to what I want. It cannot be a universal, one-size-fits-all kind of deal. No one is going to take the time to hold my hand while I figure this stuff out. Maybe I can’t find someone, but maybe there is something that can do that?

Well, everyone is talking about A.I. lately and how great it is or how horrible it is, depending on their point of view. I am sure the truth lies somewhere in between. Why not give that a try and see if it can help me achieve my goal.

I started my journey by taking what I had learned on the various podcasts I listen to or the books and articles I read daily and delved into Claude Code. I felt like the proverbial blind men feeling the different parts of an elephant and describing it to each other.

I virtually knew nothing about it. I knew that it was a product by Anthropic and that it was AI. However, I had no idea how to use it, let alone what it was capable of.

I started by reading everything I could about it. Then, I learned how to install it on my Mac via the terminal. I tried it, but it stopped me right away because I did not have a paid Claude account. That was my first stumbling block. I had to go in and sign up for the Claude Pro plan. Once I continued the process, it asked me to log in. I did that, and it was pretty easy. So far, so good.

Now that I had it installed, I ran it by typing “claude” in my terminal. It greeted me with more questions on permissions, folder locations, and so forth. I followed the on-screen prompts, and somehow, I got to a blank terminal window with Claude welcoming me. It asked me to create a folder for the project I wanted to work on. I had no idea what to work on, so I tried several things before landing on the one that I wanted… no, the one that I needed to work on.

Remember that I wanted to find something tailored to my students? Well, in this particular case, I needed something that would provide them with more practice subtracting three digits from three digits, specifically across zeros. For example, **600 - 256 = ? ** and the like. Consequently, I started telling Claude what I wanted in plain English, trying to be as specific as possible so it gave me what I wanted, not just what it thought I needed.

After going back and forth for a bit (ok, ok… a few hours), I narrowed it down to making a Math Quiz Generator that teachers, parents, and even students could use for practice math problems. I didn’t just include subtraction problems because I figured making all four basic operations available would be beneficial to my students and whoever else wanted to give it a try.

Long story short(er), I ended up “vibe coding” my first app. It serves a legitimate purpose, aligns with our educational standards, is easy to use, shows various kinds of math problems on screen, and can print or save them as a PDF. Since my goal was to try and make something for my students, the whole thing is made free for them to use on the web. The only cost was the $20 I had to pay for Claude Pro.

Come to think of it, it is probably going to cost a lot more because now I want to make more things for them to use and help them succeed by practicing what they need.

I am pretty excited about the possibilities now that I have seen what I can make with the help of AI. I still don’t come close to considering myself a programmer any more than I consider myself an author because I can write a blog post. However, if more people can harness the power of these tools to make better, customized tools for their benefit or the benefit of others, then I think we are in good shape. The future looks brighter than what some people make it out to be.

#Education #EdTech #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #VibeCoding #Math #App

I decided to re-download Simplenote and give it another shot. I wanted to see if it could fit into my current workflow, especially given its reputation for speed and simplicity.

What I Like

• It lives up to its name. It is refreshing to use a tool that is genuinely simple.
• No bells and whistles. It is strictly for creating notes. There are no distractions to get in the way of writing.
• Fast sync. The syncing across devices is incredibly quick.
• Markdown support. I can write in Markdown, which is a must for me these days.
• Truly cross-platform. It works on all my devices: Mac, iOS, Windows, and Linux. I am actually writing this using the web version right now, but I have my iPhone next to me to test out the syncing as I edit.
• Tag support. Organizing notes with tags is straightforward and effective.
• Markdown preview. You can preview your formatted text easily. On the desktop, it is Ctrl + Shift + P. On iOS, I really like being able to swipe from right to left to show the preview. It is a smooth and responsive feature that is well-implemented.

What I Don’t Like

• Lack of encryption. I don’t believe the notes are encrypted at rest.
• The editor is very basic. The Markdown editor doesn’t highlight syntax or support inline previews like other apps such as Bear or Obsidian. You have to toggle a separate preview mode to see how things look.
• Sustainability concerns. Since the core product is free, I wonder about the long-term sustainability of their business model.
• Corporate ownership. It is owned by Automattic. They own WordPress, Day One, Pocket Casts, and others. While they are a stable company, I generally prefer supporting smaller independent developers when I can.
• Text expansion issues. For some reason, the web version I was using did not let RocketTypist expand and paste my snippets, which slows me down. Worked fine in other apps on myu Mac.
• Privacy tradeoffs. This is the big one for me. Messages are encrypted in transmission but not at rest. Technically, the Automattic staff could access my notes if they wanted to. Worse than that, if their servers ever get hacked, my notes would be exposed.

#NoteTaking #Simplenote

I’ve been diving back into Homebrew today. I installed it a while ago but never really used it. I’m still learning the ropes, but I’ve made some progress by installing a few packages and experimenting with them. Here’s what I’ve added so far:

• htop
• glances (a bit more graphical than htop)
• wget
• tmux
• git
• bundle
• mas (for Mac App Store)

I’ve created a Brewfile and successfully updated all my apps, including those from the Mac App Store and macOS itself. All while using the command line in iTerm2. The cool thing about a Brewfile is that it acts like a snapshot of my setup. I can use it to update all my installed apps at once, which is pretty convenient. Even better, if I ever get a new Mac, I can install Homebrew, point it to this Brewfile, and recreate my entire setup automatically. I haven’t tested that scenario yet, but I plan to keep this file current so it’s ready whenever I decide to start fresh with a clean system.

As I’ve mentioned before, NetNewsWire has been my favorite RSS reader. They’ve had a small hiccup with their recent update, but it was not a huge deal. Regarding accessibility, it no longer recognizes my three-finger swipe to move to the next article. I found a workaround by tapping and holding with one finger, then swiping. This fixes the problem for me, though it’s not as fluid as the three-finger swipe I was used to.

My bigger issue with NetNewsWire was iCloud syncing. On my phone, it worked perfectly since I use it daily. However, on my iPad, where I only check occasionally, it never synchronized smoothly. It took forever, and for a while, it wouldn’t sync at all. At one point, it showed the last sync was three months ago. I deleted the iCloud-related feeds, deactivated the account, and rebuilt everything from scratch. It claimed to sync afterward, but no new articles appeared in the feeds.

Frustrated, I searched for alternative RSS readers but found none that fit my accessibility needs with text-to-speech. At least, none I preferred over NetNewsWire.

Then I saw someone mention Feedbin, a complete RSS service with its own app. I’m trying it out with their 30-day free trial. So far, the synchronization is spot-on. I still prefer NetNewsWire’s interface over the Feedbin app, but I haven’t had any sync issues across my devices. It’s incredibly fast too.

Feedbin has become my new source of truth, via NetNewsWire. I imported my feeds using an OPML file exported from NetNewsWire. Once I brought everything into the system, it just worked. Now, it does cost $5 per month or $50 per year, but if it works for me, I’m happy to pay. I’m a firm believer in paying for tools that help you get things done while supporting the developers who create them. Free options always worry me because I never know how long they’ll last.

Beyond speed and ease of use, Feedbin offers a perk that iCloud and NetNewsWire alone don’t: a unique email address for newsletter subscriptions. This brings newsletters directly into my RSS feed, so I can read them alongside my other news sources throughout the day. Pretty neat.

Since I already had a newsletter email set up, I created a rule that automatically forwards anything sent to that address to my unique Feedbin email, then deletes it from my email client. Everything happens in the background—I never see newsletters in my inbox, but they appear in my RSS feed. It’s great all around.

I’m still on the 30-day trial, but I’ve already entered my payment information. Unless I find a showstopper, I’ll be subscribing to Feedbin as soon as the trial expires.

Of all the RSS reader apps I’ve tried on my iPhone and iPad, I love NetNewsWire the most. It’s been the most accessible option for me since I use VoiceOver to have it read article titles and content aloud. Then version 6.2 came out.

The update includes a whole list of improvements in the changelog, which sound great. The most popular addition seems to be Markdown support in RSS feeds. I don’t know why people are so excited about this feature, but it’s there. I’ll probably look into it more later.

However, in the meantime, the update has broken the app for me in some ways. I can still tap on something to hear the article title, and I can have it read the entire article once I double-tap to open it. But here’s the problem: I used to swipe three fingers from right to left on the screen to move to the next article. In this version, that gesture doesn’t work anymore.

Now I have to tap this tiny “next article” arrow in the top-right corner of the screen. It’s a really small target for me to hit, which delays the process and makes reading less comfortable. I hope the next update (hopefully coming very soon) will restore the three-finger swipe gesture for navigating to the following article.

Signal, the private messenger, posted that they will now support Chat Folders. Now we can organize our different chats into groups like family, friends, work or even projects. I think this is a great addition to Signal. I plan to make use of this feature as soon as I see it available on my apps.