Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been watching people run Nintendo Switch games on their iPhones with nxnative, falling for more transparent tech after Playstation's latest product announcement, testing out the new keyboard update on Raycast for iOS, and viewing all the impressive shots people are taking with Rian Johnson's new cinema-grade iPhone camera app.
Onto the features!
clicks 🔗
Courtesy of excerpta.ink
→ Excerpta is a book tracking app on iOS that adds a new level of depth, data, and organization to your bookshelf. You of course can track progress and add/organize your books in it, but you can also utilize Excerpta to record eye-catching quotes and take notes on what you've read — to create a cohesive timeline of all interactions with your novels. It's also got direct integration with Hardcover (a social book tracking website) for discovery and community features. I am still undecided if I'm going to pull the trigger and move my book tracking to this yet — my current stack is made up of Sequel and Pagebound — but Excerpta is the most compelling and feature rich app I've seen in this kind of category by far.
Courtesy of arc.net
→ Contrary to what was stated when The Browser Company of New York began ramping up development on Dia (their AI-powered browser), Arc is now shutting down. After spending some time on life-support, which consisted of no new features and just weekly “updates” (that were 90% of the time new Chromium version pushes), The Browser Company is officially pulling the plug. Announced kind of unceremoniously on X (along with a joint update to the main arc.net page that encourages you to download Dia), a lot of users are rightfully upset as they watch a product they love become fully abandoned. But, fret not, I don't want to use this space to harp on the negative side of this — the tech community does what they always do and fills the void with self-made and open-source apps! From the previously featured Zen or Click, to newcomers like Ardia, Browse (of Clink fame), Yab, or Crest — there is a whole world of amazing indie web browsing to … browse!
clacks 🔗
Courtesy of deskhero.ca
→ Just picked up these keycaps — the JTK Night Sakuras — for myself this week and was delighted when they were on my doorstep two days later! A welcome surprise, considering the timeline for many products in the keeb community is often measured in months, if not years. Thanks to an in-stock drop and quick shipping on DeskHero (not sponsored btw, just showing love for my Canadian vendors 🇨🇦), I was able to throw these caps on one of my boards in record time. Manufactured by JTK and designed by Rifen, these caps capture the essence of yozakura, a Japanese term which roughly translates to “cherry blossoms at night”. Mixing dark greys, black, and a light pink together created a wonderful palette I knew I had to get my hands on. Bonus points awarded to the base set for including a vast amount of keys, and the transparent add-on adding a whole new layer of x-ray-ness to this already complete set.
Courtesy of u/sinnofinger on r/MechKeys
→ Community feature! Scrolling around on r/MechKeys this week, a post by u/sinnofinger immediately caught my attention. It's a fully translucent setup, containing some newsletter faves like the Hi! Viz caps or Inventery x Mod Musings pen, and radioactive yellow accents! Amazingly, almost the entire rest of this setup is custom — keyboard, wrist rest, USB hub, and an external solenoid (which is the OLED screen/stand item next to the GameBoy) — a feat of perseverance and dedication to the transparent-tech vibes.
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!!
