News 🎉 : MacSparky’s DEVONthink field guide; ToDoist Training; SnoozzZfest😴 ; Hook 3.3 Public beta; 💡Tips; New Software Integrations; Hook for iPad/iPhone

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If you already subscribe to the Hook productivity newsletter, then you know the following:

Hook 3.3 public beta: Hook foreground

Hook 3.3 public beta is available for testing.

The Hook app for macOS can now be brought entirely to the foreground. It has its own menubar. The app has an icon in the Dock and it appears in the app switcher (⌘TAB). However, the main mode of interaction with Hook remains the Hook contextual (popup) window (⌃H). We will be making further changes to the foreground mode before the final release of Hook 3.3, but we wanted to give you a chance to provide us with some feedback. Hook 3.3 is a step towards more foreground functions for Hook coming in Hook 4.0.

See Hook 3.3 public BETA release notes for more information. If you prefer to disable foreground mode, that web page shows you how.

New and updated software integrations

Since the release of Hook 3.2 on Aug 8, we have gradually updated the Hook software integration service with the following:

  • Updated: Merlin Project 8 linking now uses programmatic automation. Merlin Project is the premier project management software for macOS, developed by ProjectWizards GmbH. Its version 8 was released Sept 10. (Read more.)
  • NEW: macOS Photos app integration. If, like us, you have thousands of photos, you’ll appreciate being able to refer to specific important photos from outside of Photos, and even hook them to other items. (Read more.)
  • NEW: DEVONagent Pro by DEVONthink is now supported.
  • UPDATED: Bookends version 14, released earlier this month, is now also supported.
  • UPDATED: Tinderbox version 9 integration. (Read more.)
  • UPDATED: BusyContacts for SetApp.

If you have automatic updates enabled in Hook’s Software updates preferences pane (and your Hook Updates license is still valid) then your instance of Hook likely already has these updated integrations. Hook’s Software Updates tab and About window would then show Integration v. 181 or higher.

Next up some handy tips for being more productive with Hook:

💡: All apps that provide URLs are compatible with Hook!

In any app that has a Copy Link function, even if it lacks proper automation for linking, Hook can work around the No linkable item found in <App> message.

Using the app’s user interface, simply copy a link; then use Hook’s Focus on Link in Clipboard (⌃⌘L). That puts the link in the title bar. From there, you can access all of Hook’s handy functions (Add Bookmark, Rename in Hook, Copy Link, etc.)

If the app’s Copy Link function doesn’t name its links, you can use Hook to provide a helpful name, as described in the next tip.

💡: Rename oddly named links

Sometimes the automatically generated name of a resource is not helpful. For example,

  1. some web services add spurious information to web page names (for example, Twitter and LinkedIn add notification counts to user webpage names, so you can get something like this: (5) Apple (@Apple) / Twitter) where “5” is the number of Twitter notifications you have;
  2. some web services provide generic, non-distinctive names for their web pages (for example, Facebook posts are simply named “Facebook”);
  3. many apps lack automation, and their Copy Link user interface really just gives you a URL, not a link with a title. Examples: Apple’s Podcasts, Music and App Store apps; and (understandably) 1Password.

With Hook, you can easily rename bookmarks and links. Just use the Rename in Hook Title bar command (aka ⌃⇧R). See 💡Rename Links to Suit Your Needs – Hook blog for more information.

DEVONthink and Todoist training by David Sparks and Lee Garrett, respectively

Many of our readers also use DEVONthink and Todoist. So you might like to know that:

(1) David Sparks (“MacSparky”) has published the DEVONthink Field Guide. It includes a section on using Hook and DEVONthink together:

  • 8.5 hours
  • 100+ videos
  • Over 9 GB of video files
  • PDF and EPUB transcripts
  • Downloadable data sets and scripts
  • Fully captioned
  • Combined videos for easier download
  • Many DEVONthink secrets unlocked

(2) Lee Garrett created many screencasts about using Hook. He has now launched the MyProductiveMac-ademy. He created the MyProductiveMac Guide To Todoist to help new and old users of Todoist alike. (Disclosure: those two are affiliate links). Todoist is a cross-platform task manager that allows you to prioritise and schedule your most important tasks so that your life has a sense of balance and control. This Training Guide contains (as of October 2021):

  • 60+ Videos
  • 3.5 hours running time
  • Downloadable content so you can learn offline
  • New content every month to cover new features and workflows
  • Lifetime access

So whether you want to learn the basics of Todoist, become a master of setting up Labels and Filters, or want to discover unique workflows like using the Eisenhower Matrix with Todoist, this course has something for you.

SnoozzZfest for productivity and wellness through better sleep 😴

Sleep is essential for cognitive productivity and wellbeing. Our co-founder, Luc P. Beaudoin, will give a keynote address at SnoozzZfest: All About Sleep International Virtual Conference – Oct 23 to 24.

If you want to help your team, clients and/or yourself get better sleep this fun and informative conference is for you.

We at CogSci Apps also develop the mySleepButton® app, based on Luc’s research, which you may have read about in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, New York Times, The Guardian, LifeHacker, Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools or elsewhere.

Speaking of our iPhone/iPad software…

Update regarding Hook for iPad and iPhone

We’ve posted an update regarding Hook app for iPad and iPhone (iOS/iPadOS) in Announcements – Hook Productivity Forum 😉.

Valedictions

We wish you a wonderful October 2021, in which you can easily find the information you need to do great work.

The Hook Productivity team at CogSci Apps