11/7/2023: Foldable keyboards rule

The case for a foldable keyboard

Plus: Mint no more, a more ethical YouTube ad blocker, and a great mini PC deal

Jared Newman

November 7, 2023

I wrote the vast majority of this week’s newsletter on my phone.

But if you’re picturing me painstakingly tapping 2,000 words onto a touchscreen with my thumbs, fret not. The process was made much more delightful with a foldable, physical keyboard.

Having recently acquired a foldable phone (Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold5), it seemed fitting to buy a folding keyboard to go with it. So far, it’s been a great addition to my gadget arsenal, allowing me to get some quick writing or emailing done without firing up my laptop. It also stows away more easily than regular Bluetooth keyboards, with a case that doesn’t look out of place on a coffee table. I’d recommend it if you find yourself tiring of touchscreen typing as well.

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Want to know which foldable keyboard I wound up buying and why? I’ve got the details in this week’s full column, plus a bonus list of other clever gadgets to consider.

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Need to know

Apple Music Voice Plan no more: Apple has discontinued its $5 per month version of Apple Music, which only let users play songs through Siri voice commands. Existing subscribers will lose access at the end of their current billing cycle unless they switch to a standard Apple Music subscription, which costs $11 per month. Apple didn’t give much of an explanation; my guess is that the plan was neither popular nor economical enough to keep offering as music licensing costs increase.

The closest surviving equivalent is Amazon Music’s $5 per month plan, which you can use on a single Echo speaker or Fire TV device. I rounded up some other ways to save money on streaming music in this newsletter from a few months ago.

Mint withers away: On January 1, Intuit will shut down Mint, the personal finance app it acquired for $170 million in 2009. The company is now encouraging Mint users to switch to Credit Karma—which Intuit also acquired a few years ago—and will allow them to transfer most of their data over.

While Mint once had a devoted following, it’s been in a state of neglect for years, and there are many other options for personal finance management now. Admittedly this isn’t an app category I’ve spent much time using, so if you have a favorite, I’d love to hear about it.

Tip of the moment

A more ethical YouTube ad blocker: Now that YouTube is cracking down on ad blockers, the race is on to find suitable workarounds.

One that’s caught my attention is Fadblock, available for both Chrome and Firefox. While most YouTube ad blockers try to prevent ads from loading outright, Fadblock loads the commercial breaks but instantly skips through them. That means you get to avoid the ads while YouTubers still get paid for showing them.

Fadblock claims not to collect any data from users, and its code is open-source, so others can scrutinize if it’s doing anything nefarious. While the developer has indicated that it will ask for a one-time $6 payment after a certain amount of usage, it sounds like this will be optional rather than a hard paywall.

For more potential workarounds, check out my earlier newsletter on forbidden YouTube tricks.

Master your iPhone in one minute a day

Hey everyone, I want to introduce you to another great newsletter called iPhone Life, which gives you free, daily advice on getting the most out of your iPhone. With each newsletter, you’ll learn how to do things like remove clutter from iMessage, get better grocery lists in the Reminders app, and start using Home Screen widgets—all with clear instructions and illustrations.

I’ve been chatting with the folks at iPhone Life, and we’ve enjoyed each other’s newsletters so much that we wanted to share them with our respective readers. Sign up for iPhone Life’s Tip of the Day Newsletter, and I think you’ll learn something!

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Now try this

Another ambient noise source: I never tire of recommending these. Ambiphone is a free website for mixing and matching ambient sounds, much like Noisli but without any time limits or paywalls. I especially dig the “Arcade” and “Vinyl” options, which you seldom see in apps of this kind.

Around the web

I wrote up some ways to make the most of Slack’s recent redesign.
Microsoft’s excellent PowerToys app gets a helpful dashboard view.
Google Keep will finally replace Google Assistant’s notes and grocery lists.
Don’t hold your breath for a larger iMac.
This palm-sized device makes nearby iPhones crash (for now, at least).
As spotted on Mastodon, here’s a free collection of old-timey radio broadcasts.

Spend wisely

Back in March, I wrote about Beelink’s SER5 Mini PC, a surprisingly-great desktop computer that cost just $289 at the time. Now, Amazon Prime members can get a nearly identical model for $229. This model still has 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB of on board storage, but includes a slightly faster AMD Ryzen 5 5560U processor. I continue to be pleased with this little desktop and use it every day (except when I’m on my Mac).

More deals await!

This week’s bonus deals for paid subscribers include audio gear, discounted Macs, a big battery backup, and more. Read the full list right now with a seven-day trial: