⚡ 09AUG2026: One morning ritual

Happy Sunday everyone!

This week I’m exploring the Mountain West with my family, so this will be a slightly shorter issue than normal. We’ll be back in action next week!

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:

🖥️ OBSBOT Flip Webcam - I’ve had a fancy gimbal webcam for the past few years that has served me reasonably well, but lately the gimbal has been acting weird—tracking me even when I have all AI tracking features turned off, pointing in weird directions, etc. Time for an update. I looked at all the latest and best, and wound up grabbing the newly released Flip webcam. It’s super compact, has really solid 4K/60fps image quality (higher than any of the mainstream video conference solutions can even support), and costs just over $100. Early days still, but I’m really happy with it!

⌨️ EMO Altar II — a 4.75mm mechanical keyboard - This is an absurdly pretty and ridiculously thin mechanical keyboard I stumbled across this week. The team at Electronic Materials Office somehow got their mechanical 75% keyboard down to just 4.75mm thick, less than half an Apple Magic Keyboard and roughly a third of a NuPhy Air75. It also has a magnetically detachable, clickable dial you can 3D print your own version of once they publish the files, a haptic engine that hums while you hold a modifier and taps you when your Mac gets a notification, and they are claiming a 30-day battery with two days' use from a two-minute charge. I’m always wary of preorders from new companies, but I’m sorely tempted on this one.

🌬️ Breathable AQI for iOS - With all the wildfire smoke and other air quality issues of late around the world, I was pleased to discover Breathable, a really thoughtful, free air quality app for all your Apple devices. You plug in your own free API key from IQAir, PurpleAir, the World Air Quality Index, and/or AirNow, and then the app will give you all the local air quality data you want, stored and charted locally on device. Version 4.0 just launched in the last few weeks with air quality trends, automatic location detection, and Siri and Shortcuts support. As usual, I really appreciate that the developer does not track any of your location data; any location data exchange is between you and the air quality data provider of your choice.

☑️ init.Habits for iOS and Web - I tend to fall in and out of the habit of using habit trackers. I’m not currently using one, but the look and feel of init.Habits is so fun it’s certainly got me thinking about picking it back up. init.Habits adopts the format of the Terminal or CLI: monospace everything, 23 editor themes, and five different tracking modes (checkbox, counter, number, timer with pomodoro, and HealthKit auto-logging). It also lets you build routines that bundle into one block (so you can stack your stretching, meditating, and glue sniffing into one morning ritual), earnable streak freezes for when you have an off day, and a GitHub-style heatmap you can put on your home screen to visualize your progress.

👝 Bellroy Classic Messenger — Gaming Edition - I love Bellroy’s stuff, and have had countless wallets and other accessories from them. Their new 8L gaming messenger is looking mighty tempting. They took their heritage-looking Classic Messenger and basically rebuilt the inside for a Nintendo Switch: a soft-lined padded pocket that fits a Switch 1 or 2 in its case (or a big boi Kobo e-reader), stretch-mesh pocketing with eight game-card slots, a front zip pocket with a key clip, and a discreet AirTag pocket. You get all the grown-up look of the classic messenger but all the fun on the inside. I dig it.

That’s it for this week! May you find a gentle breeze at the perfect time.