11OCT2026: Hi from a riverbank
Challenging DoorDash, private campsites, surprise skatedecks, and some killer smart home upgrades...
Happy Sunday, everyone! I'm off camping on a riverbank this weekend, so I've queued up a shorter/quicker edition of the newsletter for you this week—a selection of apps/gear I bookmarked before we hit the road. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next Sunday!
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!
🖥️ Bites - The Verge did a write-up on the threat this new app poses to DoorDash, and I found it to be a really interesting concept. In short, Bites has a standalone food-ordering app but can also plug directly into ChatGPT (and I presume other agents soon?) so that you can easily order and try out food straight from your chats or command line. Importantly, by cutting out the DoorDash infrastructure, Bites claims to be able to lower the price of ordering delivery by 15–30% on average. I'm curious to try it out. (The above link is a referral link that should theoretically get us both $5.)
🏠 Airversa QliQ AC1 HomeKit Button Controller - Stephen Robles has mentioned this three-button HomeKit controller several times, and it's finally back in stock. I grabbed a few and have found them to be excellent: quick to set up, clean minimalist design, and super handy for controlling multiple HomeKit devices from one spot. You can even customize different scenes/actions depending on whether you press, double-click, or hold each of the buttons.
🛹 Santa Cruz x Pokémon Blind Bag Skate Decks - For Pokémon's 30th anniversary, Santa Cruz has put 30 Pokémon cards on skateboard decks that will be sold as blind bags, so you don't know which design you'll get till you purchase and open the bag. Totally love this concept—it's hitting me in all my retro wannabe-skater feels.
⛺ Hipcamp - We've used Hipcamp off and on over the years and have always had the best experience. This weekend is no exception. It's essentially Airbnb but for the great outdoors: private landowners can open up their property for camping, which makes some really amazing land available to folks who might not otherwise be able to access it. It's proven to be a big help for us because all of the state parks around us get booked solid weeks in advance, so it's very difficult to do a quick last-minute camping trip without something like Hipcamp. You can sort by the type of site you're after, whether that's more glamping options, on-site food prep, showers, etc. Big fan.
🪟 SwitchBot Curtain 3 Rod Type 1 - I added this gadget to my shopping cart this week, but haven't pulled the trigger just yet. It's a little motor that hooks onto your existing curtain rod (even extender-style rods) and slides your drapes open and closed. You can control it from the app, a remote, a gentle tug on the curtain (Touch & Go), or by voice through the smart home hub of your choice (including HomeKit). I love that it's super minimalist, with a simple install and a fraction of the price of a full smart curtain set.
That's it for this week! May your computer boot 10% faster.