⚡ 31AUG2025: Rolling Off the Desk
Smart TV lighting, my favorite pen gets an update, analog photography tech, AI-powered scheduling, and more!
Happy Sunday everyone!
This week, I'm moving playlists over from Spotify to Apple Music using Apple's new built-in tool, thinking about signing up for an ink and watercolor class, wrapping up my first month of Tai Chi classes while reading Kenji the manga, keeping an eye on the Pentagon Pizza Tracker, playing with NotchFlow on the Mac, making old school photo contact sheets, and playing a bunch of Streets of Rage 4 on the Switch.
Note that some of the links in this issue of the Hiro Report are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.
On to the good stuff!
📺 Govee Envisual TV LED Backlight - This device features a small camera that captures whatever is on your TV screen, and then syncs colored LED lights mounted on the back of the TV to light up the wall behind it to match the on-screen visuals. In theory, it should create a much more immersive movie-watching experience. I've been wanting to try something like this for a while but have always been put off by the price for what is essentially a bit of a gimmick. This new entry from Govee has great reviews and costs way less than others I've looked at previously. I'll be putting it on my Christmas wish list.
📷 EV13 Light Meter App for iOS - For photography enthusiasts, especially those interested in film photography, EV13 is a beautifully designed light meter app. It helps you quickly and effectively determine the right shutter speed and aperture settings for your shots. The app offers spot, center, and average reading modes, and includes many delightful design features throughout.
🖥 Height Adjustable Magnetic iPad Stand - After seeing this stand in Chris Lawley's excellent iOS 18 iPad Workflow video this week, I immediately ordered this nice magnetic stand for my desk that will let me use my iPad Pro in Sidecar mode as an extra monitor for my Mac. I like the clean, Apple-like minimalism of the design, and the fact that it's easy to rotate between portrait and landscape modes.
⏰ Exoplan for iOS - Exoplan is a clever new indie app from a Ukrainian developer that leverages your health data and calendar to let you plan out your day for peak effectiveness. You simply write out a free-form description of everything you want to do for the day, and then it looks at your sleep, recovery, and activity trends to schedule all the various activities in light of when you'll likely have enough energy and concentration to do them. It's got a clean, modern design, and handles all your data on-device—nothing goes to the cloud.
🖊️ Mark One Pen with Clip - Austin-based Studio Neat recently launched a new version of one of my all-time favorite pens, the Mark One. The new version introduces a clip for those who want to throw the pen in a pocket or want to keep it from rolling off the desk so easily. Personally, I love the sleek, clipless version on my desk, but for folks who want an EDC version, this might be what you've been waiting for.
That's it for this week! Please take the time to thank a tree for its service this week.