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Eric Gregorich

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Apps The RSS feed for Apps.

  • 1](https://newsletter.ericgregorich.com/archive/erics-weekly-cache-1/)

    Apps

    I sent out the first issue of a new newsletter I’m experimenting with. The idea is to share some of my favorite articles, apps, and other interesting links that I discover during the week.

    I’d appreciate any feedback!

  • Apps

    This is why I shouldn’t have time off. I tend to rebuild my websites!

    My main site is now on blot.im. I did this so I could easily create and update posts from Obsidian.

    My Micro.blog site is now primarily my “social media” posts.

    And a new weekly digest newsletter on Buttondown. Subscribe here!

  • Default Apps 2023

    Fun Apps

    There has been a trend where we share our default apps, which was inspired by the Hemispheric Views 097 - Duel of the Defaults! podcast. You can find a compiled list of participants here.

    This is a list of my personal tools. In my day job, I’m on Windows and use the standard Microsoft 365 services.

    • 📨 Mail Client: Fastmail
    • 📮 Mail Server: Fastmail, Outlook, and Gmail
    • 📝 Notes: Reflect and Mymind
    • ✅ To-Do: TickTick
    • 📷 iPhone Photo Shooting : Camera app
    • 🟦 Photo Management : Apple Photos
    • 📆 Calendar: Apple Calendar and TickTick
    • 📁 Cloud File Storage: iCloud
    • 📖 RSS: Readwise Reader
    • 🙍🏻‍♂️ Contacts: Apple Contacts, Fastmail
    • 🌐 Browser: Arc on Mac, Safari and Arc on iOS
    • 💬 Chat: Apple Messages
    • 🔖 Bookmarks: Arc
    • 📑 Read It Later: Readwise Reader
    • 📜 Word Processing: Pages
    • 📈 Spreadsheets: Numbers
    • 📊 Presentations: Keynote
    • 🛒 Shopping Lists: Our Groceries
    • 🍴 Meal Planning: Not used
    • 💰 Budgeting and Personal Finance: Numbers
    • 📰 News: Apple News
    • 🎵 Music: Apple Music
    • 🎤 Podcasts: Overcast
    • 🔐 Password Management: 1Password
    • 📓 Journal: Day One

  • Obsidian importer can convert your notes to local markdown

    Apps

    The Obsidian Importer is an open-source tool that can convert notes from various applications into local markdown files.

    Apps currently supported include Notion, Evernote, Bear, Apple Notes, Google Keep, Microsoft OneNote, and Roam Research.

    Additional guides are provided for other apps.

  • Apps

    I’ve been using Reeder for all of my RSS, including Micro.blog feeds, favorite YouTube channels, Reddit channels, and even newsletters (through Kill the Newsletter!).

    Overall, it’s keeping me from jumping in and out of other apps, which often get me distracted with endless feeds and algorithms.

  • Documentation using Azure DevOps and Obsidian

    Apps

    My company and I decided to use Azure DevOps for shared documentation of our best practices, standards, deployment steps, and other SOPs.

    What I like about it is that anyone in the team can easily view and edit the documentation online. But for those inclined, we can use Git and keep the files locally and use our favor markdown editor to make updates.

    I’ve been using Obsidian to update documentation and the Obsidian Git plugin to easily sync the updates to the Wiki in DevOps.

    It’s pretty sweet!

  • Quick Links

    Apps

    Some interesting apps and content that I’ve discovered recently.

    Apps

    • Lazy - A capture tool for knowledge. One keyboard shortcut to save every idea, link, tweet and so much more.
    • BibGuru - A free APA, Harvard, & MLA Citation Generator
    • Refind - Every day we pick the most relevant links from around the web for you.
    • Digest - Create a personalized newsletter with your favorite content.
    • Heptabase - Heptabase empowers you to visually make sense of your learning, research, and projects.

    Blogs

    • Steph Ango - The blog of Steph Ango, the CEO of Obsidian.

    Content

  • Add Tinylytics to Obsidian Publish

    Apps

    If you use Obsidian Publish to host your Digital Garden and want a simple and privacy-focused analytics solution to track how people view your site, you can connect with Tinylytics, a simple and privacy-focused analytics service.

    • Create a file named publish.js in your root directory.
    • Add the following script to the file.
    • Publish the file!
    var tinylyticsScript = document.createElement('script');
tinylyticsScript.defer = true;
tinylyticsScript.src = '[tinylytics.app/embed/YOU...](https://tinylytics.app/embed/YOUREMBEDCODE.js';)
document.head.appendChild(tinylyticsScript);

  • What I Use - PKM Tools - August 2023

    Apps
    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    I find it beneficial to periodically review the tools I'm using. Reflecting on the current state and observing how things evolve has been insightful.

    These are the tools I'm using as of August 2023. My workflow is very simple.

    A diagram of my PKM tools and workflow

    Readwise Reader

    I use Readwise Reader for nearly all of my consumption, which includes RSS, articles, videos, and PDFs. I also use it to highlight and take notes, which automatically sync to Readwise.

    The Reader app has grown on me over time. It is much more powerful than most similar services. Having RSS, videos, and my “Read Later” all in one place has been convenient.

    I also use the Reader as my external reference. If I want to look up information about a topic that I want to write about, or I need to reference documentation, I search in the Reader, and it pops right up. I don’t need to use external tools.

    Snipd

    I use Snipd for my podcasts due to its unique feature of creating clips from podcasts, which can be AI-generated or manually adjusted. These clips sync automatically to Readwise.

    Kindle/Audible

    I mostly read on Kindle and Audible, often using the immersive reading feature to listen and read simultaneously for better focus. Of course, all my highlights and notes are synced to Readwise.

    Readwise

    All content is synced into Readwise where I occasionally review my notes and highlights. Instead of exporting everything to another tool such as Obsidian or Reflect, I prefer keeping them in Readwise to separate others’ content from mine.

    Reflect.app

    I’m testing Reflect.app, drawn in by its simple interface, daily notes, calendar integration, end-to-end encryption, local-first approach, and advanced AI. If the experiment proves successful, it could potentially replace Ulysses and even Grammarly as my primary writing tools.

    The objective is to create a library of reusable content that I can utilize for documentation, emails, estimates, development, code snippets, essay writing, and much more. I don’t subscribe to the “Zettelkasten” method per se. I just want a repository of content I create.

    On the chopping block

    Raindrop

    I’m still using Raindrop for bookmarks. I use it less though since Readwise Reader has taken over as my reference for external content. I still bookmark interesting apps, blogs, and other sites that I enjoy. I plan to start capturing those in Reflect and see if that works as a replacement.

    Bookmarks for “launching” things can easily be kept in my browser.

    Grammarly

    I’ve used Grammarly for years but canceled my subscription last month (effective today I discovered as I write this :)).

    I use Microsoft Editor for work, which is not as good as Grammarly but is integrated into most Microsoft tools.

    I’ve shifted from Grammarly to other AI tools like Reflect, which has built-in grammar checking, making the $144 annual Grammarly fee harder to justify.

    Feedbin

    I enjoy using Feedbin for its RSS reading due to its simple UI and adequate features. However, Readwise Reader is now my preference as it streamlines my workflow.

  • Apps

    Obsidian’s Insider Build 1.4.1 has a new feature called “Properties,” which lets us manage metadata for each file using a user-friendly UI. We can hide YAML Front Matter from our file and view properties in a side panel, making a much cleaner experience.

    I’m looking forward to the possibilities!

    An example of Obsidian Properties

  • Technology Apps

    Apps promise to boost our “Second Brain” with AI, smart links, and tricks, but I think our “First Brain” should rely less on external tools, except for practical reasons. The “Second Brain” is better suited for storing information we don’t need to remember. Apps should assist us, not lead us.

  • Rethinking my use of Apple Notes

    Apps
    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I’ve always struggled to commit to using Apple Notes as my main notes app because it is difficult to get notes out. While some apps and tools are available to help with bulk exporting from Apple Notes, it still feels like a lock in. The other reason is, while I think Apple notes is great for capturing, I don’t prefer to write in it. It’s something about the layout, formatting options that bother me.

    However, when I think about the way I use my note’s app (at least how I want to use it) is as a scratchpad for capturing information that will be later transformed and shared as something new. When I think of it this way, I feel more comfortable with Apple Notes because I realize it is just a tool that I use to create the real value that is created and shared elsewhere. I could replace Apple Notes without needing to migrate all the content.

    I’ve been using Ulysses to do all of my writing recently since, not only is it a great writing tool, but also great for publishing (to Micro.blog and Ghost in my case). I’ll be trying Apple Notes for a while as my scratchpad where I throw ideas, sketches, bookmarks, and other things of interest. The fuel I need to create better content.

  • Apps

    I finished moving my notes from Obsidian, Apple Notes, and even Evernote into Bear. I don’t have too many notes so this want a big deal. But having one place for all my notes is a nice feeling.

    I chose Bear because it is fast, simple, and easy to export a note into various formats.

  • Apps

    What I dislike most about Obsidian is how notes are accessed though a file explorer-like interface with no nice list of notes with preview, thumbnail, etc., as you get in most apps like Bear.

    That seems like it could be a plugin. I’ll need to check to see if it already exists.

  • Apps

    I’m playing around with Obsidian Publish again since they cut the price in half and pushed out a few updates. Your published notes can now have permalinks, which means the URL won’t change even if I reorganize my notes. This is a big deal for me!

  • Apps

    The team at Obsidian has announced that Obsidian Publish is now 50% cheaper and has even more features. Obsidian Publish received a facelift recently, has better SEO and, we can finally edit permalinks, images, and page descriptions using YAML!

  • Apps

    I tried the Bear 2 Beta. What a beautiful app! I’m tempted to use it for my personal Knowledge Base.

    I’ve tried using one app (Obsidian), but finding separate apps for specific purposes seems to work better.

    • Rocketbook = Capture
    • Readwise = Collection
    • Bear = Knowledge
    • Raindrop = Bookmarks
    • Ulysses = Long-form writing
    • Mars Edit = Blog posts
    • Things 3 = Tasks
    • Apple Notes = Miscellaneous and shared notes

  • Apps I’m using - March 2023

    Apps
    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    I’m constantly changing the apps I use. I like to experiment with what works. But I also like to play with new toys. I tend to experiment and chat about new apps I’m trying, but in reality, I have a few core apps that I tend to stick to.

    I like to take inventory now and then as it helps me clean up my system and see how things change over time. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it highlights the main apps and utilities I use daily.

    I wrote about some of my experiments at the bottom.

    Consumption

    Personal Productivity

    Utilities

    Website and Social

    Work Productivity

    • Outlook - Email, calendar, and work tasks.
    • Microsoft Office - Documents and other necessary junk.
    • Microsoft Teams - Team communication. Project organization and files.
    • Microsoft OneNote - Project notes.
    • Microsoft Editor - Grammar and spelling.
    • Azure DevOps - Project tasks.
    • Balsamic Mockups - Wireframes and simple documentation.
    • Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio - Code!
    • Timeular - Where I track my time for client work.
    • Bing Chat - Helps me troubleshoot, research, and create images.

    Experiments

    I tried using Blot for my website. I was writing in Obsidian and posting to Blot, where it would immediately appear on my blog. It was awesome, but I’ll stick with Micro.blog for simplicity.

    I tried Obsidian for all of my writing. I still prefer Ulysses, and I think it’s more about the organization of notes and distractions that become available in Obsidian that sways me back to Ulysses.

    I tried Logseq for work notes, and it works great for getting things down and creating tasks throughout the day. My biggest grip is that I usually must share notes with my team. Taking light notes in OneNote and immediately updating the documentation for our project works best in the long run. Tasks immediately go into Azure DevOps and are assigned to team members or Microsoft To-Do (accessed through Outlook) for personal work tasks.

    I experimented with a Rocketbook notebook. It didn’t stick. Not a problem with the notebook itself. When I get busy, I struggle to do anything analog, although that seems like it should be the best time to use analog. :( The Rocketbook reminded me of writing on my iPad with the Apple Pencil, which reminded me that I could do that by just taping my iPad Lock Screen and starting to write. I still jot down thoughts this way.

    I also experimented with dropping my RSS feeds altogether. That didn’t go well because I spent more time jumping to various sites to keep up with things. I returned to RSS, tried Inoreader for a minute, and thought about returning to Feedbin, but ultimately just added my RSS feeds and newsletters to the Readwise Reader app. Now everything is in one place. Readwise Reader is growing on me, and it is complex but has some great features.

    I played with some AI tools, like ChatGPT and Microsoft Bing Chat. I see them as useful search tools for research and troubleshooting.

    I foresee myself testing Microsoft Loop, Microsoft Copilot, and other miscellaneous tools next.

  • Technology Apps

    Raindrop released native iOS and iPadOS apps today.

    I’ve been using Raindrop because I need something cross-platform. I also use it heavily to highlight documentation that I review for work.

    I’m happy to see some native apps. The mobile experience was definitely lacking.

  • Apps

    I’m trying out Drafts to be my primary capture tool. I’m configuring Drafts to send to various locations, like Micro.blog, Day One, Logseq, Obsidian, Reminders, etc. Perhaps, it will help to have one place to go to write things down?