Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been browsing through one of my favourite newsletter's gear archive and redesign, side-loading SideStore on my iPhone to play 3DS games, digging through this great resource of why physical media is important, and feeling bittersweet about Marvel Comics' move to LA.
This past weekend I also had the privilege of attending the Canadian Mechanical Keyboard 2026 summer meetup. It was amazing talking to so many passionate people, I loved chatting with everyone, and I finally attended with some keyboards to show off — specifically my Eave65 and QK Alice Duo. Can't wait for next year!
Onto the features!
clicks 🔗
Courtesy of durobo.com
→ The Krono by DuRoBo is a new Android powered e-reader that's looking to provide a more minimal and tactile experience to the e-reader ecosystem. It sports the same Carta 1200 e-ink display as another popular reader — the Boox Palma — but cuts down on some of the flash and features to reduce costs. At $285 USD, it's still not cheap, but at least for someone like me who owns the budget-friendly Xteink X4, it's more reasonable. Aside from a very basic case and frame, the highlight here is the smart dial, a multipurpose haptic crown to control what you see on the screen. My hope is that using it feels like the Apple Watch crown, as that's the bar to set for scroll-wheel experiences. Jury is still out on final thoughts, but the Krono's only been available for a few weeks and I'm eager to see more reviews soon.
Courtesy of asekachov.com
→ I've never had an elegant solution for asset management. Files for my creative projects (especially this newsletter) are scattered across too many places — Finder, Figma, Canva. But indie dev Alexey Sekachov sums up all my complaints perfectly: “eagle is too clunky, mymind is too ugly, arena is too slow, freeform is too buggy, figjam is too web, cosmos is almost perfect, but not local”. In response to this, he created his own solution called Atlas. Built for Mac, everything is stored locally and it's surprisingly fast. It's only been a week since release and Alexey is already iterating quickly, adding new features, fixing bugs, and has a whole roadmap laid out.
Courtesy of trymainspring.com
→ Maybe it's just happenstance, but I've been finding so many great utilities and tools (like Mole from 4 weeks ago) lately to help speed up my Macbook. It's an M1, so not slow by any means, but it's getting older I have to be more careful with daily usage. Mainspring has helped me enable some trickier power-user type tweaks without worrying about breaking anything. Even though I'm very comfortable in command line and diving into system files, this app creates a user-friendly, centralized location to control all the “power-ups”. Best of all, whenever you toggle anything off, everything goes back to the way it was, no need to panic over restoring your Mac to baseline. It's also completely free to test out and see if it's right for you!
clacks 🔗
Courtesy of kbdfans.com
→ The Agar family of boards by KBDFans continues to grow! I was going to feature a recent release — the 40% Mini — a couple of weeks ago but then KBDFans beat me to it and released yet another board, the Micro, so let's talk about both! The Micro and Mini stay very true to the design language of previous iterations — HHKB layout, curved edge case, magnetic pin header, and a solid, unified chassis — while still offering some new layouts. The Mini is a basic 40% while the Micro is an Alice 40% layout. I actually got to see, hold, and test the Agar Micro that Alexotos built and brought to the CAMK meetup. It was compact but weighty, sounded great, and even though I feel like I'd never use a 40% due to the lack of a number row, the Micro felt really appealing to me. The Agar family continues to impress — even with their cute accessories — and I can't wait to see what comes next.
Courtesy of novelkeys.com
→ Designer PromoType's first project is starting off strong — a nostalgia filled board based off of the design language of the Game Boy Advance with working shoulder buttons! Featuring an interesting 50% layout, the Key Boy Advance has a super unique shape and size that borrows certain elements of the OG Nintendo handheld and morphs it into a usable keyboard design. I enjoy the “Tanzanite Purple” colourway which matches the OG purple that I think is the most recognizable of the GB Advance's. The group buy is available now on the NovelKeys website worldwide and on UniKeys in Canada.
Courtesy of moee.tech
→ Keyboard storefront Moeetech has created a new portal to help you bring your keycap artisan design to life. The new website allows you to upload and edit your designs and create a laser engraved metal keycap from them. The experience seems simple and straightforward, and I've heard nothing but glowing reviews, especially from this write-up from KBD News. It's a great idea for bringing one-off ideas to life for those who don't know where or how to start. Maybe I'll make a clicks 'n clacks one soon!
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it, and now it’s time to hear from YOU 🫵. I want to know your opinion—what you liked, what you loved, what you didn’t like, what you skipped. Email [email protected] (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!
