Constant Default App Switching

What do you call it when you can't seem to stick to a single application for its given purpose. I feel like that's where I am with my notes and writing apps, as well as web browser. I stick with one for a little while only to then decide to switch to something else.

Web Browsers

Over the last couple months I've used Vivaldi, Zen, & Firefox as my default browser on my MacBook and Linux desktop. I use one for a while, then switch to another, think differently and end up switching again.

I like that Vivaldi uses Chromium given that sadly that's where it seems web browsers are going nowadays with Chrome, Edge, Brave, and many others using it as its base engine. There's still Webkit/Safari and Firefox, but their marketshare is unfortunately fading. I like how Vivaldi has workspaces that allow me to keep my different projects separated. I also appreciate them not trying to force AI down my throat.

This brings me to Zen. Zen is a new browser on the scene that takes a lot of queues from Arc, only using Firefox/Gecko as its base rather than Chromium. It has some neat features like the ability to split the view between two websites, or the ability to open a page within a page (this is useful when I need to make a quick edit to a Google Sheet).

Finally there's Firefox. Firefox was probably the first browser that really stood out to me, though a lot of that probably stems from the fun that was IE6. Mozilla has a lot of issues and they too often put focus on projects other than the core of Firefox. But I also want multiple browser engines. I don't want Chromium to be the only game in town. As good as Google has been for advancing newer web technologies and advancements in HTML, CSS & JavaScript, I don't like a single company dictating what the standards should be. I want to see competition. I use Firefox to help push forward that desire and also because it's a good browser and it still supports uBlock Origin.

Every time I think I'm sticking with one browser, the feeling that the grass is greener with one of the others starts tickling my brain. I feel at home with all of them and they all work well. I figure I can't really go wrong with any of them, but it's weird to be constantly changing the default browser on my computers.

Notes App

I have this same thing going with my notes and writing app as well. I use both iA Writer and Obsidian. I chose both of these at different times for the simple reason that they both operate out of a folder full of markdown files. No proprietary formats, no notes locked into a walled garden. I don't have to worry about exporting notes to view them elsewhere, I just grab the .md file and open it in the text editor of my choosing.

iA Writer is a beautifully clean application that puts writing first and foremost. It's barebones, but that's fine. It excels at what it does, and it's absolutely phenomenal at it. I've purchased it on both iOS/iPadOS as well as MacOS. In my opinion, it's been worth the purchase. If I used Windows more often, I'd purchase it on Windows as well.

Obsidian is an app that is powerful, extendable, and can do so much, while still sticking with the idea that it's just a folder full of markdown files. I can definitely trim down the UI to make it look more minimalist and barebones to keep writing simple, but it has so much more to offer, much of which I don't actually use. It also has the added benefit of being available on Linux as well. I've been using Linux more on my desktop as I'm really not a fan of Windows 11 so it'd be nice to not have to find a different application for one operating system.

The thing that keeps me on Obsidian more is its template system and tagging systems. I can create templates for notes that I can quickly just apply to new files. No copying and pasting, the files start clean. This is important to me because I use frontmatter in a lot of my notes. It's a way to store data in the notes without the need of a database or anything along those lines. It's especially useful for writing blog posts so I can keep track of when I first started the post, when I published it, where it's viewable, etc. iA Writer supports all of that as well, but there's no quick way to apply it to files without copying and pasting it from elsewhere.

Both iA Writer and Obsidian support tags, but the one thing that Obsidian has over iA Writer is nested tags. With Obsidian I can nest tags almost like folders. If I use the tag blog-post/productivity, it applies the tag blog-post as well as the tag productivity nested underneath blog-post. It might not feel like that big of a deal but I find it useful for my organizational methods.

And as nice as all these extra features are, there's still the clean simplicity iA Writer offers that draws me in. The good news is that the two apps can work together side by side. I can point iA Writer to my Obsidian folder and can edit the files in either app. This is why no matter what app I might choose to use more of, or what app I move forward with, I will always stick with one that just works off a folder with markdown files I control. This would be an added benefit of using Linux since while Obsidian supports Linux, not every app developer does. It feels to me that a folder of files is a little more future-proof should the environment change.

I'm not fully sure why I'm so indecisive between these apps, but I also figure the browsers and notes apps are all good options so I can't go wrong with any of them. Other than having to re-sign into some websites, there's no big harm in switching back and forth.