Evidence-first research

Show HN: Notes Plus – A Markdown Apple Notes Clone with Latex, Excalidraw etc.

tldr: clone of Apple Notes, but every note is a local Markdown file. Hi, I used a summer of unemployment to actually finalize a hobby project, a literal clone of Apple's Notes, with open access to the filesystem, meaning each note is just a markdown file. Then implemented renderers for Excalidraw, Latex, AsciiMath, mermaid diagrams, PlantUML, Graphviz, Vega Lite, mhchem and footnotes (a feature i need a lot in texts). It can also show notes in vertical lists, like swimlanes, I call it "JIRA view" ;) Free for now (might monetize later if anybody is actually interested in the tool, with $19 one-time payment, NOT subscription)! macOS app, but Windows and Linuxes are planned too. I'm not 100% sure about the legal aspect of this, but i will try to even list it in the Appstore. The binaries are signed / notarized by Apple. *PLEASE NOTE:* This is an early alpha! SO BACKUP YOUR STUFF OR JUST WORK WITH COPIES! There are issues! I'm posting this here to collect hurtful user feedback. There's a bug report button in the app, and it will notify you about available updates. Thanks, I kindly request any form of feedback!

Show HN: TinyJS – small apps on Win/Mac/Linux

Hi all. I'm Tarwin. I've been working on TinyJS for about 6 weeks now. I was sick of installing 500mb Electron apps for every little utility. The last straw was Harvest updating from 5mb to 500mb in latest release. Tauri exists (and it's great) but I wanted something that was JS first. So I built this on top of txikijs, a tools that includes QuickJS and SQLite already. TinyJS does what it says it does. Small apps that can do almost anything. 100% JS. As part of building a tool like this I also built a lot of example apps, to test and understand required functionality on all three systems. The two I am most proud of are: amp: like winamp, but with a bunch of extra stuff like being able to play tracker files, and internet radio nib: I'd like to think it will soon be the best editor for documentation (specifically) in markdown I've also experimented with re-wrapping many of the apps I already have downloaded. Some just work (Harvest), some possibly could ie Slack. I know some apps will never make sense to use tinyjs but that's ok. I just want to save room on people's ever pricier SSDs! (and make computers fun again with silly things like pigeons that fly across your screen for now reason)

Ask HN: Does HN block mobile browsers?

Recently I have been unable to visit hn from my mobile phone over the cellular network. I have standard Android and I've tried multiple browsers including Firefox, Chrome, and Brave. I don't need or want to login while I'm about so I was trying to reach the site without an account. If I'm connected to a wifi network then everything works. Is this the result of a method to keep out bots that is over zealous?

Show HN: Claude and ChatGPT need a datacenter. This runs on my phone

What’s new in Tangrid: Workspaces, better tab groups, and improved performance

Hi everyone! It’s been four months since Tangrid launched, and we’ve released a ton of updates since then. Our main focus has been improving stability and performance, while also adding Workspace support and enhancing tab groups. # About Tangrid **Tangrid is a window manager that combines tiling window management, window switching, Dock previews, and workspace management in one unified workflow, featuring Liquid Glass design.** # The problem macOS Spaces helps organize windows across multiple desktops, but it’s easy to lose track of where each window is. Over time, your Spaces can become messy and difficult to manage. That’s where Tangrid Workspaces comes in. It lets you save and restore snapshots of a macOS Space. Managing existing windows alone isn’t enough. We also need a way to launch app windows with a single click. This is where things get complicated: every app uses different launch commands, and opening a new window often requires a different command from launching the app when it isn’t running. Workspace templates therefore provide customizable launch commands for different apps, covering both cold starts and opening new windows in apps that are already running. # Comparison * vs. [FlashSpace](https://github.com/wojciech-kulik/FlashSpace): Window level management, with custom and preset window launch templates. * vs. [yabai](https://github.com/asmvik/yabai): GUI based settings, tab groups, and a more polished user experience. * vs. [AeroSpace](https://github.com/niki

Show HN: Newton's Orchard – Browser-based space/gravity playground

Hi HN! My son spent a lot of time in 5th grade playing with the 2-dimensional PhET gravity/space sims[1]. His STEM class uses it, and he was playing with it at home, and has been looking for more. I found several space sims/playgrounds online, including NASA's Eyes on the Solar System[2], but nothing that seemed to offer a real progression from what he was getting out of the PhET sims, so I built Newton's Orchard over the summer for him. https://newtonsorchard.app The source is also published at https://github.com/andrewchilds/newtons-orchard It features deterministic time scrubbing, all bodies are editable, different preset systems and experiments, missions to complete (complete 3 to unlock the blackhole object type and mission), and a gallery for user submissions. I would very much appreciate feedback from HN - particularly from the lens of making it engaging and illuminating for students, and anyone that would like to just get a feel for how gravity works. Thank you! [1] https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gravity-and-orbits/lates... [2] https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/

Show HN: Running 104GB Qwen3.8-Flash-Next on 48GB Mac with at ~12 tok/s

I built slotstream, a way to run Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 4-bit on a low-memory mac starting from 16GB, a 125B parameter model that would need 100GB+ memory/RAM, thanks to expert-offloading/ssd-streaming. Easy to install/update, and mac-native using MLX and Swift. It ships with auto-mode, which makes a good tradeoff between memory usage and speed. I'll be implementing and porting the MTP module for speculative decoding next

[OS] Keyty - native macOS keystroke and mouse visualizer

Hey, r/macapps! **Problem** I’m a macOS developer and I often need to record videos or do product demos. Sometimes I need to show what exactly my input is from keyboard and mouse. I tried multiple different tools, but they either focused on keystrokes or had limited control over how keyboard and mouse input was presented. I wanted to have native macOS app that could visualize both keyboard and mouse clearly be highly customized for different recording or presentation setups. **Comparison** KeyCastr is probably most known macOS alternative. It’s great app which is lightweight, open source. However, it’s focused mainly on showing keystrokes on screen, mouse visualization and overall customization is pretty limited. Keyty is focused more on visualizing both keyboard and mouse input clearly. It features four keyboard styles, from grouped Apple-style keycaps to more minimal and classic layouts, plus three mouse visualization modes: a configurable cursor highlight, a mouse icon that shows button presses, and click ripples. **Pricing** Free and open source. Website: [https://keyty.app](https://keyty.app/) GitHub: [https://github.com/keytyapp/Keyty](https://github.com/keytyapp/Keyty) Feedback is welcome, especially from people who already use keystroke visualizers for recording or presenting. If you find Keyty useful, a GitHub star is also appreciated.

What’s new in Tangrid: Workspaces, better tab groups, and improved performance

Hi everyone! It’s been four months since Tangrid launched, and we’ve released a ton of updates since then. Our main focus has been improving stability and performance, while also adding Workspace support and enhancing tab groups. # About Tangrid **Tangrid is a window manager that combines tiling window management, window switching, Dock previews, and workspace management in one unified workflow, featuring Liquid Glass design.** # The problem macOS Spaces helps organize windows across multiple desktops, but it’s easy to lose track of where each window is. Over time, your Spaces can become messy and difficult to manage. That’s where Tangrid Workspaces comes in. It lets you save and restore snapshots of a macOS Space. Managing existing windows alone isn’t enough. We also need a way to launch app windows with a single click. This is where things get complicated: every app uses different launch commands, and opening a new window often requires a different command from launching the app when it isn’t running. Workspace templates therefore provide customizable launch commands for different apps, covering both cold starts and opening new windows in apps that are already running. # Comparison * vs. [FlashSpace](https://github.com/wojciech-kulik/FlashSpace): Window level management, with custom and preset window launch templates. * vs. [yabai](https://github.com/asmvik/yabai): GUI based settings, tab groups, and a more polished user experience. * vs. [AeroSpace](https://github.com/niki

Show HN: Newton's Orchard – Browser-based space/gravity playground

Hi HN! My son spent a lot of time in 5th grade playing with the 2-dimensional PhET gravity/space sims[1]. His STEM class uses it, and he was playing with it at home, and has been looking for more. I found several space sims/playgrounds online, including NASA's Eyes on the Solar System[2], but nothing that seemed to offer a real progression from what he was getting out of the PhET sims, so I built Newton's Orchard over the summer for him. https://newtonsorchard.app The source is also published at https://github.com/andrewchilds/newtons-orchard It features deterministic time scrubbing, all bodies are editable, different preset systems and experiments, missions to complete (complete 3 to unlock the blackhole object type and mission), and a gallery for user submissions. I would very much appreciate feedback from HN - particularly from the lens of making it engaging and illuminating for students, and anyone that would like to just get a feel for how gravity works. Thank you! [1] https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gravity-and-orbits/lates... [2] https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/

Show HN: Running 104GB Qwen3.8-Flash-Next on 48GB Mac with at ~12 tok/s

I built slotstream, a way to run Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 4-bit on a low-memory mac starting from 16GB, a 125B parameter model that would need 100GB+ memory/RAM, thanks to expert-offloading/ssd-streaming. Easy to install/update, and mac-native using MLX and Swift. It ships with auto-mode, which makes a good tradeoff between memory usage and speed. I'll be implementing and porting the MTP module for speculative decoding next

[OS] Keyty - native macOS keystroke and mouse visualizer

Hey, r/macapps! **Problem** I’m a macOS developer and I often need to record videos or do product demos. Sometimes I need to show what exactly my input is from keyboard and mouse. I tried multiple different tools, but they either focused on keystrokes or had limited control over how keyboard and mouse input was presented. I wanted to have native macOS app that could visualize both keyboard and mouse clearly be highly customized for different recording or presentation setups. **Comparison** KeyCastr is probably most known macOS alternative. It’s great app which is lightweight, open source. However, it’s focused mainly on showing keystrokes on screen, mouse visualization and overall customization is pretty limited. Keyty is focused more on visualizing both keyboard and mouse input clearly. It features four keyboard styles, from grouped Apple-style keycaps to more minimal and classic layouts, plus three mouse visualization modes: a configurable cursor highlight, a mouse icon that shows button presses, and click ripples. **Pricing** Free and open source. Website: [https://keyty.app](https://keyty.app/) GitHub: [https://github.com/keytyapp/Keyty](https://github.com/keytyapp/Keyty) Feedback is welcome, especially from people who already use keystroke visualizers for recording or presenting. If you find Keyty useful, a GitHub star is also appreciated.

CleanShot just got a big update (new video editor and studio mode)

QuikZip, a native Mac archive manager for actually working inside archives

# Problem I work as a backend developer and I frequently need to download bundles or inspect packages and sometimes I even want to edit the content. The apps I used had me either extract and re-zip to edit, preview or open. Or it was slow or didn’t support .app or .dmg or containers. So this is one of my apps for my personal trifecta; QuikZip that’ll do all above. Inkline that’ll open the data files for editing and Rune Kubernetes for my kube clusters. QuikZip is mostly about being able to actually work inside archives instead of extracting everything first. With ZIP files you can browse, preview and edit the content directly. You can also hand over a file to any application you choose, edit it there and bring the changes back into the archive. It supports 75+ archive and container formats, nested archives, DMGs, .app bundles and other containers. There is also Quick Look, search, drag and drop, quick create/extract, split ZIP support, integrity and checksum verification. One workflow I use a lot is the dual/split view. I can have the archive on one side and the file explorer on the other, so moving files around or comparing contents doesn’t mean jumping between Finder windows all the time. I’ve also made quite a lot of the performance settings customizable. You can decide how large files QuikZip should attempt to preview, tweak the limits depending on your Mac and exclude specific formats from those limits. Someone on a base MacBook Air and someone with 64 GB RAM probably sh

Allure: A Native Wallpaper Engine for macOS. Steam Workshop Imports Included.

No subscription plans. No Watermarks. Just one flat fee and the product is yours to use forever on 3 personal Macs. Your activations can be transferred between those Macs, with integrated Steam Workshop importing for your Wallpaper Engine collection through DepotDownloader. Meet Allure— An application that makes your wallpapers *yours.* With simple controls for casual users, and deeper customization for power users ! Allure uses a native Metal-powered renderer to bring compatible Wallpaper Engine projects to macOS. She does not just create a video file and play it on the background. She supports Scene, Web, and Video wallpapers with relative ease. No more recording your old wallpapers !! Allure’s quality speaks for herself, and you have 3 days to believe in her as much as I do !! Allure is 5.99 for a lifetime license if you buy her from my website. With a soon-to-be Steam Release as well. Wallpaper Engine was $5 and it gave Windows users everything they needed. Allure seeks to do the same thing and a little more. No subscriptions, no paying before you're sure you want it, and no premium tiers hiding the experience you downloaded Allure for. This app was made for end-users, by an end-user. **Here are some of my favorite features:** * Native support for **Scene, Web, and Video wallpapers !!** * Themes !! By default there are 5 Beautiful Themes based on the Seasons, **but users of Allure may be able to discover so many more if they dig a little deeper… (Even Trial users are not

I've been building my take on what the MacBook notch can become. DynamicLand 2.0: Darkveil is out

Hey [r/macapps](/r/macapps/), This is the first time I've properly shared DynamicLand here. Notch apps aren't a new idea, and that's part of what makes this space interesting. There are already some great interpretations of what the MacBook notch can be. DynamicLand is my take on it. I've been building it as a place for the things that move through your day on the Mac: music, clipboard history, files and sharing, timers, recordings, alerts, AI activities, widgets, and more, all living around the notch and staying out of the way when you don't need them. I just released **DynamicLand 2.0: Darkveil**, the biggest DynamicLand update so far. Darkveil introduces an entirely new **Home**, with customizable widgets and layouts for things like Calendar, Weather, Music, Battery, Photos, Apps & Folders, Timer, Voice Memos, and more. It also introduces **Mini Bubbles**, which let multiple activities stay close by at the same time. Music, timers, recordings, file transfers, AI activities, and other live tasks can remain visible without opening the full island. The **music experience has been rebuilt** with a new Now Playing view, redesigned synced lyrics with click-to-seek, richer song and album details, smoother animations, and access to Apple Music playlists, charts, For You, Replay, and curated collections. **Clipboard, files and sharing** have been refined too, with faster clipboard browsing, previews, improved drag and drop, the Files Tray, and quick ways to move and share files, in