Posts
Notes on building software, writing tools, and the craft of making things simple. I work on Glifo, a native markdown editor for macOS.
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Git integration — version history without the terminalGit is the best version control system ever built. It's also one of the worst user interfaces ever built. Glifo bridges the gap: every save creates a commit,…
The interface — split, zen, and everything betweenMost editors give you one mode: a sidebar and a text area. Glifo gives you three ways to work, each designed for a different kind of attention. ## Split mode…
How chip-based search worksMost note apps give you a search bar that filters by title or full-text. Glifo uses a different model: structured filter chips that compose into complex…
Tauri, React, and Rust — the stackEvery app is a bet on a stack. Glifo bets on [[The case against Electron|Tauri]] for the shell, React for the UI, and Rust for everything that touches the…
Excalidraw as a first-class citizenMost note-taking apps treat drawings as second-class — upload an image, link to an external tool, or use a stripped-down canvas. Glifo embeds Excalidraw…
Frosted glass on macOS with NSVisualEffectViewMost "frosted glass" effects on the web are CSS hacks — a backdrop-filter: blur() that approximates transparency. On macOS, the real thing exists:…
The case against ElectronEvery note-taking app I've used felt slow in ways that were hard to pin down. Not seconds-slow — milliseconds-slow. A subtle lag between pressing a key and…
Designing a color system from one hex valueMost apps ship with a fixed palette — pick "dark mode" or "light mode" and that's it. Glifo takes a different approach: you provide a single hex color, and…
Publishing markdown to the webMost static site generators ask you to learn a build system, install dependencies, and maintain config files. Glifo takes a different approach: you write…
Vim bindings done rightMost apps that claim "Vim support" give you hjkl and call it a day. Glifo takes it further — a full space-leader system that makes every action accessible…
Why local-first mattersEvery note-taking app eventually asks the same question: where does the data live? The answer shapes everything — from latency to privacy to what happens…
Building tools for thoughtI've spent the last year building a note-taking app because none of the existing ones felt right. Obsidian is powerful but heavy. iA Writer is beautiful but…