My Digital Life

Preface

Living in the digital age, we encounter far too many inefficient and poorly designed software/services that not only waste time but also drain our energy (e.g., frustration, impatience, or the hassle of refunds). Along the way, I’ve inevitably stumbled into many pitfalls. That’s why I’ve always wanted to share some of my experiences and humble opinions about the software I use in daily life. Since tastes vary and this is my debut article on [[N]], please bear with me if any part doesn’t quite align with the site’s style.

Note-Taking with Notion

Thanks to Notion’s powerful export feature, I’ve since switched to Craft as my primary writing app.

Currently, I use Notion as my main note-taking app, primarily because of its visually appealing layout and rich media support (I’m a sucker for aesthetics). My top three uses for Notion are: code blocks, map embeddings, and exporting entire Workspaces as Markdown. Even better, the exported Markdown images use relative paths, which lays the groundwork for migrating notes to a better app in the future. Occasionally, I still use Evernote since I had many notes there before switching to Notion. I often jot down sudden inspirations in Notion as drafts and refine them later when I have time. Here’s a screenshot of my Notion notes:

I also use Notion to save code snippets, write technical blog posts, and plan trips. Below is my half-finished itinerary for a New Year’s trip to Japan:

Notion costs $48 per year, which isn’t too expensive. Plus, signing up with Gmail offers referral bonuses: the invitee gets $10, and you get $5. Combined with other rewards like installing the Web Clipper, the actual cost for the first year can be as low as $2.

Before Notion, I had tried using Apple’s native Notes app as my primary note-taking application. However, after creating a new note on my rMBP at home, it stubbornly refused to sync to my iPhone. After some troubleshooting, I ended up losing the note entirely. Losing notes is a cardinal sin for any note-taking app, so I abandoned my obsession with sticking to the Apple ecosystem (the red box in the screenshot is irrelevant):

Before trying Apple’s native Notes, I also experimented with a GitHub + Typora combo for note-taking. However, this setup had significant issues with image storage, and the experience of inserting images/links was far from user-friendly, so I eventually gave up on it too:

Personal Blog

As someone in tech, maintaining a blog is essential. I chose GitHub Pages to host my blog. Compared to WordPress and other blogging systems, it offers several advantages, such as Git integration, a straightforward debugging and publishing workflow, and a geeky vibe—sometimes showing off is necessary, and WordPress already feels like a relic from the last century:

For image hosting on my personal blog, I initially used Qiniu Cloud. It provided 1 GB (or maybe 10 GB—I can’t remember) of free storage and a monthly bandwidth quota, which was more than enough for a personal blog. However, due to well-known reasons, I later migrated my domain to GoDaddy, which made domestic ICP filing a hassle. As a result, Qiniu Cloud stopped resolving my domain, so I temporarily moved my images to GitHub alongside my static blog. Additionally, I now try to describe things with code instead of images whenever possible.

Apple Music

For music services, I use Apple Music because listening to Chinese songs with lyrics while coding can be distracting. I prefer English songs, so I chose Apple Music, which has a larger selection of English music. Initially, I discussed setting up Apple Music Family Sharing with my wife, but she insisted on using NetEase Cloud Music, so we dropped the idea. Apple Music costs ¥12/month, with an annual subscription discount bringing it down to just ¥100:

Reading

Reeder

Reeder subscribes to several tech blogs. Reeder is just an RSS client; you still need a server-side service. I chose NewsBlur, an RSS service provider that offers both paid and free tiers, with the paid version providing additional premium features. There are already many detailed introductions on SSPAI, so I won’t elaborate further. Whenever news about information overload surfaces, there are always voices reminiscing about the golden age of RSS. However, some opposing views argue that RSS exposes you only to what you want to see, reinforcing your biases and narrowing your perspective. Personally, I think this is similar to today’s big data and so-called “personalized recommendations” or user profiling—different types of information input should be categorized differently. For example, if you only subscribe to social news that interests you, the concerns of RSS critics may indeed materialize: you might constantly feel that society is plagued by negative events—protests, riots, criminal cases, etc.—leading to increased radicalism and irritability. But for me, I use RSS solely to follow technical blogs, so I feel quite safe using it.

The Mac and iPhone versions are sold separately, and they’re not very expensive, so I bought both:

Marginnote

There are also numerous articles on SSPAI introducing MarginNote, so I won’t go into detail here. I only purchased the iPad version because using an Apple Pencil for note-taking is ideal, making the Mac version completely unnecessary:

Safari Reading List

When I come across an article but don’t have time to read it immediately, I open it in Safari and add it to my Reading List. I also enable the Automatically Save Offline option in Safari’s settings to store all Reading List items from iCloud for offline access:

Storage

Google Photos

Back when I first started college, I was broke and bought an HTC Desire S (aka G12). Since it ran Android, I set up a VPN and started uploading my photos to Google Photos (though I think it wasn’t called that at the time?). Later, starting with the iPhone 5, I never enabled iCloud Photo Sync and instead manually synced photos to Google Photos. To this day, I still have over 30GB of photos stored there:

iCloud Drive

However, magic doesn’t last forever. The barrier is occasionally reinforced, and when the magic fails, I realize that combining an iPhone with Google services isn’t the wisest choice—though I’ve experienced the perfection of Google services abroad. Honestly, based on my experience, if Google hadn’t exited China, I’d probably be a Google fan rather than an Apple fan. But there are no what-ifs in life, so I forced myself to embrace the Apple ecosystem with iCloud Drive again. I migrated all my Google Photos content to iCloud Drive.

Here’s the twist: since my photo library was over 30GB, I worried that prolonged magic usage might trigger the barrier’s detection and lead to a permanent ban. So, I temporarily subscribed to OneDrive for a month, which offers 100GB of free space (though oddly, the mobile app doesn’t have this paid tier—only 30GB and 200GB options for cloud storage with iCloud Drive-like features for photos and files. The 100GB option only appears on the web version—or maybe I misremembered; corrections welcome).

Here’s my workaround: I first exported Google Photos to OneDrive (this option exists during export), then downloaded the photos from OneDrive to my computer, and finally uploaded them to iCloud Drive. A roundabout way to rescue my photos, indeed.

iCloud Drive offers 5GB for free. For individuals, upgrading to 50GB costs 6 yuan/month, while 100GB is 12 yuan/month (if I recall correctly). The Family Sharing plan provides 200GB for just 21 yuan/month. After getting married—my wife is also an Apple fan—we didn’t hesitate to subscribe to the 200GB iCloud Drive plan. Thankfully, Apple’s iCloud Drive service isn’t as lackluster as its note-taking apps. It works flawlessly with iPhone/iPad/Mac (both photos and files count toward iCloud Drive storage):

Miscellaneous

Magnet

When using my Mac, I sometimes connect an external display, close the laptop lid, and use an external mouse. This makes window dragging less convenient compared to the three-finger drag on a Magic Trackpad. So, I rely on Magnet for window management. Its keyboard shortcuts, once mastered, significantly boost productivity. There are similar apps, but since Magnet topped the paid charts (at the time), I bought it without hesitation:

Alfred

Another must-have is the legendary Alfred, which has been extensively covered on , so I won’t elaborate. Its workflows genuinely enhance efficiency.

Social & Information Browsing

• Instagram: Great for photo sharing, with excellent filters.
• WeChat: My go-to, unlike QQ, whose chaotic features scream that I’m no longer its target audience.
• Weibo/Twitter: For trending news.
• Zhihu/Quora/Google: For answers.
• Bilibili/YouTube: For anime and creators.
• iQiyi: For movies. Taobao’s 88VIP membership includes free Youku access (though I rarely use it). Tencent Video? No strong feelings—I just ignore it.
• Subscriptions: Bilibili Premium, iQiyi (bundled with JD Plus until 2022).
• Weibo/Zhihu: Mostly for gauging trends via ads—lately, my feed is flooded with hair transplant ads, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and AFK Arena promotions [shrugs]:

Movies

I’m a bit unconventional here—I use Telegram and joined a group that shares popular TV shows and movies. I download them from there. For watching on iPad or iPhone, I use nPlayer. On my computer, it’s SPlayer (I haven’t updated it in ages; the newer version seems to add online streaming features).

For audio-visual records, I use Douban’s service to mark books/movies I’ve watched, want to watch, or am currently watching, which also serves as a way to track my life’s trajectory:

Digital Wallet

Purchased some EOS, using TokenPocket.

Gaming

On mobile, aside from Honor of Kings, there aren’t any games I play frequently. On PC, I use Steam for gaming. For Mac, I installed Windows via Windows To Go on an external hard drive to run Steam (screenshot below is from Mac):

I own two controllers—one for Xbox One and one for PS4—so connecting both to a PC simultaneously requires some extra setup, which takes about 10 minutes. This time investment became a dealbreaker for my wife. The process of gaming—taking out the external hard drive → booting Windows → launching Steam → opening the controller connection software → connecting the controllers → starting the game—was just too lengthy. So, I bought a Japanese version of the Switch + Switch Pro controller. Now, I can play anytime, anywhere—just power on and go. If the TV mode on the couch gets uncomfortable, I can easily switch to handheld mode and play in bed. Super convenient:

Dictionary Lookup

Due to work requirements, I often need to read English materials, so a reliable dictionary app is essential. I purchased a learning account for Eudic, which works across both computer and mobile. It’s far better than Youdao Dictionary. Of course, for quick word lookups, I also frequently use Apple’s built-in dictionary. However, I consciously use Eudic for certain words, with the “automatically add queried words to vocabulary list” feature enabled, so I can review them during my commute. These words are mostly computer science-related:

Input Method

The input method is one of the most fundamental tools for typing. I’ve tried many—both niche and popular—but ultimately settled on Sogou Input Method:

Email

For email, I use Mac’s built-in Mail.app. Initially, I used Gmail and QQ Mail. However, QQ Mail periodically requires manually sending an IMAP SMS to get a new password independent of the QQ password for login, which is incredibly annoying. So, I only enabled Gmail in Mail. The built-in email app’s advantage is its fast launch time, but its downsides include limited customization and infrequent email updates, often requiring manual refreshes for new messages. Additionally, since my company uses Google’s suite, I’ve also imported both personal and work calendars into the built-in Calendar app, which is very convenient:

Transportation/Food

I bought a six-month subscription for Qingju Bike. Other options weren’t considered. After Meituan acquired Mobike, they launched their own Meituan Bike, which can’t be scanned via WeChat—only through the Meituan app. This blatant attempt to boost app usage is disgusting (personal opinion), so I boycott it. When visiting new places, I use Dianping to search for nearby food. However, since I don’t use Dianping often (I open it frequently but rarely order), my user profile there is probably non-existent. As a result, my recommendations are filled with beauty salons, massage services, and other unrelated content. In contrast, my wife’s recommendations are all about food, gyms, and amusement parks because we often use her account to buy tickets. For maps, I use both Baidu and Gaode interchangeably—neither is clearly superior. As a tech person, I used to blindly idolize Google. But after a trip to Japan, I realized Google Maps’ offset and drifting issues were severe, shattering that illusion. Still, abroad, there aren’t many alternatives to Google Maps. Domestically, I stick to Baidu/Gaode Maps.

Finance

I’ve deposited all my money with Bank of China, so there’s not much to say about that. I’m trying to use debit cards as much as possible instead of credit cards. As my wife puts it: “If you use a credit card, you’ll always feel like there’s money available, which leads to continuous spending without a clear sense of financial awareness—this results in overspending. It’s better to set aside a fixed amount each month and only spend a portion, that’s how you save.”

For all quick payment services I’ve linked—like bike-sharing, Didi, etc.—I use Alipay. I make sure to note the purpose of each expense (e.g., dinner, lunch) using Alipay’s payment assistant, so I can track where most of my money goes by the end of the month. Earning money is great, but spending wisely is equally important. Honestly, I’m not a frugal person—if money can solve a problem without being too costly, I won’t waste time on alternatives. Fortunately, my wife shares the same mindset, so we’re perfectly aligned in this regard. For example, when it comes to licensed software, if finding a cracked version takes too long and I know I’ll use the software frequently, I tend to buy the official version—I won’t pay for software I only use occasionally. Frequently used tools include JetBrains’ suite, Charles for packet capture, Alfred, and my wife’s Eagle. But I won’t pay for BeyondCompare:

Internet Access

Just one thing to mention here: I use the JMS (initials) service recommended by BWG—it’s fast and stable. On my phone, I use QuantumultX, and on my computer, ClashX:

Final Thoughts

This post has turned into a bit of a ramble, but I’m not some exhibitionist who gets a thrill from sharing my daily life (???). I just wanted to share my experience with the software and services I use regularly in this era of overwhelming options. There are many details I haven’t covered, like how to optimize email settings, choosing the right browser, or my personal take on selecting smart devices—maybe I’ll address those another time.

Here are some additional personal rules:

1. All international services must use an international email—since my only international email is Gmail, that’s what I use for registrations (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Quora, Medium, etc.).
2. All domestic services must use a domestic email—no explanation needed.
3. For any international services accidentally registered with a domestic email (e.g., 163 or QQ mail), enable two-factor authentication or additional verification methods whenever possible. Never rely solely on username + password or email + verification code for login.
4. If you’re in China, avoid exposing any personal information on international social networks—no phone numbers in Telegram or personal details on Facebook, etc.

I also use Apple services but don’t believe my data stored in Guizhou Cloud will be misused. I don’t harm others, society, or oppose the government, nor do I store inappropriate content—there’s no reason for me to be targeted. With China’s increasingly open atmosphere, I believe things will only get better.

A friend once asked me, “Aren’t you afraid of repercussions for all this VPN stuff?” I laughed and shared a historical fact, which I’ll leave here for everyone:

Although the Xinhai Revolution failed, it ensured that no emperor could ever reverse the course of history again—because, as high school textbooks say: the concept of republicanism has taken root in people’s hearts.

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