iThoughts 5 just released on all available platforms (iOS, Mac, Windows) with encrypted maps. It’s a nice feature if you want to store sensitive information in idea maps that may be shared by email even Dropbox or iCloud.

This post by Dr. Drang reminded me of a powerful feature in Workflow for iOS. No, it’s not URL de-duplication. I think the good Dr.’s solution is just fine. I want to talk about Workflow’s content graph. The content graph is core to how Workflow passes data between actions but rarely needs to cast anything between types. There’s an action in Workflow that gives us a peek inside all of this mess to see what’s going on.

I enjoyed these two Ribbonfarm pieces about human perception of time and how we use it to inform our actions and justify the consequences. After Temporality I think it’s interesting how much mental time travel is involved in crushingly mundane activities. As I became a better cook, I noticed that when I got a food idea (a new dish or way of cooking), I would spend a great deal of time mentally simulating the process of slicing, sautéing, whisking, sprinkling, baking.

Sometimes I want a blank page. Other times I just need a little mental nudge to keep me on track. That’s one of the nice features of GoodNotes for iOS and Mac: It’s easy to create new paper templates. My use case is pretty simple. I’ve long used the Cornell style of taking notes. As my daily life is mired in meetings rather than learning, I still try to put structure to the information I collect.

Continuing the theme of arbitrary listicles for the end of the year, here’s a list of five iOS apps that have really pulled me away from my laptop in 2017. These aren’t just good “mobile” apps, they are top-notch apps for any platform. Apple Notes Apple Notes is the surprise of 2017. The flawless syncing and integration with iOS makes it the easiest way to capture pretty much anything on iOS.

As I think about all the good and bad of 2017, one thing stands out: I never really worry about how my data gets moved between my computers. In previous years I built fragile, and often complicated, machinery on top of Dropbox. While the Dropbox service has certainly gotten better, including a new API, but so did everyone else. Most surprising to me is how much better Apple got in 2017.

It’s a internet tradition. The end of the year means a lot of listicle article about different things. Who am I to buck the system. Here’s a listicle of the best software I used on my Mac in 2017. 1Password I’d be lost without 1Password on my Mac. The family plan also makes it possible for me to share logins with my spouse without cluttering her 1Password list with a bunch of junk she doesn’t care about.

Well, shame on me I guess. The Verge is reporting that the latest Cuphead app is a fake, which probably explains the issues on the iPhone X. By the way, you can request a refund by going into iTunes on the Mac and viewing the order ID. Then click the “More” link next to the app and finally click the “Report a Problem” link under the app. Here are the instructions for doing it from your iOS device.

Cuphead is out for iOS just in time for your holiday travel. $5 seems like a good deal. By way of Touch Arcade. Note: it seems to have issues on my iPhone X. Maybe wait until the first bug fix before dropping a fiver on it.

My family and I love to watch the AppleTV screensavers. The 4K versions are even better. But, it really bugs me that there’s no way to know exactly what we’re looking at. Luckily Benjamin Mayo has done all of the hard work by providing an interactive page for viewing the screensavers with information about the location. This solves so many disagreements in my house. Invariably one of us thinks it’s Dubai.