#5 self-development backstage | minimal launcher • break • new languages

Announcement

I've got a bit of delay in newsletter publishing. Next releases also won't be regular - but that's also good news as I want to keep good quality and write to you only when I've got great content. Today I have something interesting so let's go!

Android launcher

Following guidelines from Cal's Newport books, I'm trying to minimize distractions, especially in my smartphone. One of the improvements I implemented was using the minimalistic launcher. iOS doesn't have a feature like this, so this will be for Android users only.

Straight to the point, I'm using Before Launcher, and it's making a noticeable difference for me. Especially when I'm using text only, and rarely used apps are hidden (you can still search for them). Here's how it looks like on my phone.

I was also using ap15 launcher for several months, which shows apps in a form of a tag cloud, where most-used apps are larger than others, but I found Before Launcher more user-friendly.

And here are examples from Google Play Store.

Learning languages

As you may notice I'm trying to improve my language skills. I wrote a post about storing words and how to include that workflow into ebook readers (Android devices).

A couple of days ago I found something even more interesting - Toucan - an extension that helps you learn a new language while browsing the web.

It replaces some words from the language in which you are reading the article with those in the language you would like to learn.

Here's an example:

That's it!

I hope you've found something interesting here, see you next time!