Fast forward a few years and I discovered that layout variants are common in real life. Apple even provides a dedicated documentation page to find out what your layout is. When starting a new job, I usually ask for a US keyboard, a QWERTY ANSI layout. In my last two jobs, I was provided laptops with a QWERTY layout. Yes but… ISO. Based on the Apple page, they were Dutch and International English keyboards.
When starting a new position, you have a lot more in mind than changing your brand new laptop. So, both times, I kept them and took it upon myself to make it work.

It wasn’t a big deal but for one thing, I write a lot of French, and I need my composable accents. The backtick key is used for the grave accent, which is used a lot, and that key isn’t in the usual place. Unbearable! I even tried not to use accents, but the grammarian in me couldn’t let it pass. It’s impressive how the brain can not adapt sometimes.

Fortunately, macOS uses USB HID specification and even provides a command to remap keys. In the end, I swapped the paragraph key with the backtick key using the following one-liner:

hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000035,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000064},{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000064,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000035}]}'

And for completeness, here is an annotated version of the property value:

{
  "UserKeyMapping": [
    {
      // 0x35 = Keyboard Grave Accent and Tilde
      "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc": 0x700000035,
      "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst": 0x700000064
    },
    {
      // 0x64 = Keyboard Non-US \ and |
      "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc": 0x700000064,
      "HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst": 0x700000035
    }
  ]
}

The change doesn’t survive a reboot, but just for the record, this is the way to roll it back:

hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[]}'

I am not interested in making it persistent myself but it’s not that hard, that’s just a plist file to create. I even found an online generator for that when writing this note.

This is the low-level way of doing it, but for more involved setups there is the awesome Karabiner-Elements. And it also handles external keyboards perfectly.

At work, time is the limited resource and usually sets the pace. Since requirements often change quickly, the focus is usually on short-term goals.

On the hobby side, available time is scarce but also practically infinite. On the hobby side, available time is scarce too but almost infinite at the same time. That pressure to deliver on calendar dates doesn’t exist here. This is more a “shipped when ready” vibe and it leaves the door open to perfectionism. Add to the equation that a hobby project is a solo project and in practice, you end up putting more energy into yak shaving than making the project progress.

And… it applies to writing posts too. I totally didn’t have to build my own static site publisher to post this one. And yet…

Yak shaving by David Revoy, CC BY 4.0

Say hello to the new release! A new sync backend and UX (sooooo smooth). You can even pull to refresh now! There is also some basic support for tags. The 0.6.1 will be dedicated to the beautification of the app because let’s say it, this version is works great but it’s ugly in a lot of places.
https://github.com/casimir/frigoligo/releases/tag/v0.6.0

Oops I forgot the “one more” feature! You can now change the archived and starred attributes directly from the listing.

Here it is! Version 0.5.0 in currently in deployment. You’ll get the update automatically or you can as usual find all builds and changelog at https://github.com/casimir/frigoligo/releases/tag/v0.5.0

This is a huge rewrite (most of the app) so small bugs and bumps are not impossible. In short there is:

• A new dynamic layout making tablet and desktop usage more comfy
• A whole new authentication flow architecture
• And last but not least, saving articles using Android/iOS native url sharing

Sad news though, you’ll have to login again (once!) after this update.

Not a sneak peek this time but a release announcement for the version 0.4.0! On the menu this time: a lot of UX improvements, a shiny settings screen, an (optional) unread badge count.
Also huge improvement on Android since the app can connect to the internet now! Yes, it was kind of useless before…
As usual you can find everything on the release page: https://github.com/casimir/frigoligo/releases/tag/v0.4.0
One more thing, a beta release on the Google Play store may be coming soon…

Hello world! There is a time when you just have to take flight. While the app is still rough around the edges it is already usable and available as an open beta!
So feel free to grab the latest build (Android/Linux/AppImage/Windows) or join the Testflight group.
Any feedback is more than welcome!

[[[

Hello there! This is the time for a new Frigoligo release! After a false start with version 0.3.0 (😅) this release is way better. Loads of fixes and UX improvements but also builds for more desktop platforms (added Linux, AppImage ❤️, and Windows)!
You can grab the app in the release page or by entering the open beta on TestFlight (iOS + macOS).
And also thanks a lot to the whole 2 users of the app for their support and help on building this release.

Hello there! I’m currently working on my own Wallabag client these days. It’s still in a very rough state but it’s already working as my daily driver (mobile & desktop), so I think it’s a good time to unleash it in the wild.
It’s of course open-source so don’t hesitate come, explore and share your ideas at https://github.com/casimir/frigoligo
For the busy people, here are the ‘just give me the link’: TestFlight link (iOS + macOS), APK archive (Android).