This is a collection of the software I use.

I evaluate software based on three criteria:

1. Functionality – The software must be able to complete its intended task. This category also includes UX and optimization (speed).
2. Privacy/security – I do not want the data processed by my software to be seen or read by anyone – people I know, google employees, their bots, or the government. This can be achieved by design (preferred) or by the promise of a non-invasive privacy policy (less preferred).
3. UI design – I hate using ugly software.

Overview

The Cutting Edge

(you could also call it overhyped, incomplete software)

These are a few tools that have interesting, novel selling points, but I am yet to fully adopt because of their lack of maturity.

Arc

I joined the Arc Browser beta in late 2022 and used it as my primary browser for a year before I switched to Brave. Arc is, by far, the best browser in terms of user experience. It:

• uses vertical tabs by default (which are objectively better than horizontal tabs)
• implements picture-in-picture and split view better than any other browser
• has convenient organization features
• is designed with PWAs¹ in mind
• has a bunch of other subtle but significant improvements to the browsing experience

I moved away from Arc mainly due to privacy and security concerns. Arc is closed-source, requires an account to use, and the Browser Company is an unproven startup. I have scanned through their privacy policy, which is quite transparent about the data they collect, which is a lot. I could probably configure Arc to be reasonably privacy-respecting, but that would take a lot of effort and still wouldn’t compete with open source software like Brave.

Arc also has a decent amount of bloat. In the beta stages, the team behind Arc pushed out an update every Thursday. The constant stream of new features was exciting to try, but most of them were not useful enough to continue using. For example, the notes and whiteboards are worse and less universal compared to alternatives.

AI Tools

Zed