We need to talk more about our pain & Bear ships better encryption, smarter todo, and more

Philipp Temmel -

My name is Philipp and you are reading Creativerly, the internet corner where I unpack my musings, curate and write about noteworthy apps and software, and explore the latest trends in design and tech.

Hey and welcome to Creativerly 326 👋

I am currently in preparation for my upcoming workcation as I will spend one week in a lovely cottage in a beautiful scenery surrounded by vineyards. I feel incredible privileged that my job gives me the opportunity to work from anywhere, as well as having the option to set my own schedule besides a couple of meetings I have throughout the week.

The change of scenery when it comes to the workplace always feels like an incredible creativity boost, which is one of the main reasons I am looking forward spending time in a remote location. However, I always experience a similar change regarding my creativity, whenever I simply get up from my desk, pick up my MacBook, and head to the living room, sit on the couch or at the dining table, it just feels great to work in a different context, even if you have not left your apartment.

Changes of scenery stimulate your mind as you step away from your familiar work environment. They can help break up routine thinking patterns and encourage new perspectives and ideas. Also, spending extended periods in the same physical space can lead to mental fatigue. So, if you ever are in the nead of a mental break, a change of scenery allows the brain to recharge and approach problems with renewed energy and focus.

It is a lovely way to inspire new ideas, enhance problem-solving, and boost your mood and motivation.

Fresh Updates & News

Bear ships better encryption, smarter todo, and more →

There is no doubt that Bear is one of the most beautiful and popular note-taking apps available for the Apple ecosystem. One of the reasons Bear is such a beloved product is that the team behind it, constantly ships thoughtful and powerful updates. The newest update brought an important improvement to encryption within Bear. Now you can encrypt notes with attachments, ensuring that your most important ideas, thoughts, documents, and secrets stay safe. To make this happen, Bear made a fundamental upgrade to their encryption system.

In case you have been using to-dos in Bear, you will be happy to see that Bear now provides a new menu option to automatically move completed to-dos to the bottom of the list, so you can prevent clutter, and make sure that your open to-dos always stay in focus. Besides that, your pinned notes inside a tag now stay pinned only in that tag, which prevents clutter across all your notes. When no tag is selected in Bear's sidebar notes are pinned globally, and there is now a new pinned section under notes in the sidebar where all pinned notes are gathered.

Make sure to head over to Bear's blog to check out the full changelog of this update.

Microsoft quietly launches an updated Spotlight-like launcher for Windows →

Loads of power users on macOS are relying on command palette apps like Raycast* or Alfred to navigate through their Macs, launch apps, perform actions and commands, or have quick access to important information. MacOS features the Spotlight for years, and now Windows features something similar too, as Microsoft quietly launched an updated Spotlight-like launcher app that provides quick access to commands, apps, and development tools. Five years ago, Microsoft already introduced the PowerToys Run launcher, and the updated version called Command Palette now includes the possibility to search for apps, folders, and files, do calculations, perform system commands, and more.

Mental Wealth

❯ The use (and design) of tools – “It’s hard to build a house without a hammer. The hammer has been around for a long time, and thanks to its intuitive design, a user can get 70% of the benefit after less than ten minutes of instruction. People who depend on hammers for their livelihood are probably at over 95% efficiency.”

❯ We need to talk more about our pain – “I've been thinking a lot about silence lately—not the peaceful kind that brings tranquillity and zen, but the heavy kind that isolates. The kind where words get stuck in your throat because you're afraid of being judged or, worse, being a burden.”

❯ Products Need Soul but Markets Reward Scale – “Building a soulful product and building a company that wins in the public market are not the same thing. One is about making something people deeply care about. The other is about hitting numbers quarter after quarter. The market would not remember your product philosophy for a long time, but it would certainly not forget how your last quarter ended. It rewards what scales, what is predictable, and what looks good on a balance sheet. Not what was once charming.”

❯ How Keep Anxiety from Running Your Life—and Make it Your Friend Instead – “What is your current relationship with anxious feelings? Are you riding the wave of a challenge or drowning under pressure? The difference matters more than you think. Anxiety comes in two flavors, and you've probably tasted them both: one fuels your growth and the other can break you. The difference matters more than you think.”

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Appendix

❯ ICYMI

My most recent post which is probably one of the biggest post I have written so far, includes various apps and tools to interact with Mastodon and Bluesky, two decentralized social networks that are continuously growing their user bases. No matter if you are looking for third-party clients, an app to cross-post to both social network, a tool to update threads on Mastodon with ease, or anything else, I hope this post got you.

❯ Quick Bits

Till next time! 👋‌‌‌‌

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