Product Design
My team uses Jira to organize product sprints and tasks, but I think we all feel the same about Jira. Linear is breath of fresh air. It’s fast, easy to understand, and has a UI I enjoy looking at. It doesn't do anything notable that Jira doesn't, it's just a pleasure to use whereas Jira is not. Even though I’m supposed to use Jira, I secretly use Linear.
The perfect to-do app doesn’t exist, but I’ve stuck with Height for a while now. It has a generous free plan, just enough features, and a dash of whimsey. Helpful for anything that doesn’t fit into Linear or Jira.
I signed up for Cron because it built Calendly into a calendar app, but I keep using it because it has moments of delight sprinkled throughout. Dark mode, a command bar, a plethora of keyboard shortcuts, and meeting notifications that are actually helpful, just to name a few.
I’m no power-user, but this year a friend gave me a tour of Notion and I quickly organized my entire life in it. Job interviews, meeting notes, house projects, blog posts, travel itineraries, gift lists. Notion is incredibly flexible and I’m sure I’m barely scratching the surface. I wrote this newsletter in Notion 😉. Oh and they acquired Cron (above).
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Email Geeks
Parcel is my go-to email editor. This new kid on the block offers a suite of tools that others don’t and it’s fast! I do most of my email development in Parcel, including this newsletter. I’d compare it to Figma for designers.
I use Email on Acid for email previews. It’s really closed the gap with Litmus and has a more attractive price for folks using it sporadically (like me).
The Browser Company’s Arc browser has become my development browser. It has a bunch of keyboard shortcuts and a fancy command bar, but I love the ability to hide the entire browser UI without going full screen. I use Arc to run browser-based code editors like Parcel, Email on Acid, and Litmus. (psst, it would be nice to have a stand-alone electron app for these 😉)
I use this to send out this newsletter and manage the mailing list. It has a robust free plan and a few core features that are easy to understand. Their partnership with climate NGO’s and support for ethical marketing make me love them even more. I have a referral link if you’d like to sign up.
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Climate
Crewdle is a peer-to-peer video-conferencing platform without data farms, reducing the environmental impact of meetings compared to apps like Zoom and Google Meet. Crewdle also displays your impact as you use it, which is a nice touch.
Micro Analytics is a website analytics tool with a very small footprint, no cookies, requires very little data consumption, and is powered by renewable energy. It’s also a nice way to break away from Google. I use it on both of my sites.
Images, videos, and JavaScript account for most of a typical web page’s weight. I use a lot of images in my work and optimize them all before publishing. ImageOptim is my tool of choice since it’s so straight-forward.
GTmetrix measures a website’s performance (speed), shows where a site is slow, and suggests ways to improve it. Simple to use, nothing to install or configure, and suggestions that make sense. Good for periodic site check-ups.
Tab for a cause is a browser plugin that raises money for charity every time you open a new browser tab. New charities are always joining, and there’s always a healthy amount of climate-related ones to choose from. I'm currently doing Tab for Trees, which supports the Eden Reforestation Project.
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Fun
The media often says “in a blow to environmentalists” as if we’re the only ones who live on Planet Earth. - Jamie Henn
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I'd really love to hear what apps you’ve been enjoying, reply to this email or hit me up on Twitter. I'm a big fan of small, focused apps that do one or two things really, really well.
Happy Halloween to those who celebrate. See you in November ✌️
- Ted
@tedgoas
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