Matthew Lang

An interesting look at choosing the right messaging app.

I use iMessage as my default messaging app, closesly followed by WhatsApp. From time to time I use Instagram’s built-in messaging as well, but that’s a rare occurence and always reserved for one-liners from friends and family.

Ideally I’d like to be using Signal as my default messaging app, but getting others on board with it is a problem. Most people I know are not aware of the privacy implications of most messaging apps they are using, so they just use what everyone else is using. The big problem here is that many of these now fall under the control of Facebook.

CJ Chilver’s reminds us that we can reduce our anxiety by reducing the number of inboxes that we have.

There’s a lot of productivity advice out there about what to do to organize and process your many inboxes. But the best rule is often forgotten: have as few of them as possible.

— Eliminate Extra Inboxes

I still use Feedbin on a daily basis to filter for the important stuff, and I even follow a few accounts on Twitter using it.

The biggest benefit I get from using Feedbin is that I’m in control over what I choose to see and read. That’s a big positive in a time where platforms are pushing algorithms that decide for us what we should read.

I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a New York Times subscription. I find myself on their website quite a lot, so I thought it would be worth removing the limit on the number of free articles that I can read.

At £10 per month though, I’m not sure it’s something that I really need. There’s also the annual subscription that I can find through their iOS app but not on the website. If I take this, then I find myself taking a bigger initial hit of £99, but I end up saving over the 12 months.

I think what’s putting me off is the fact that the monthly subscription is double digits. It’s £10. I usually don’t hesitate are subscribing to services under the £10 mark as they are only a few quid for the first few months and then I can decide if it’s worth the cost.

The New York Times subscription though starts above that single-digit level. And that’s got me thinking that I would rather not have it at all, instead of giving it a try for a few months.

I get why subscriptions are great for journalists and news sites. I’d rather pay a subscription for a high-quality source of news and be able to read it while not being hit with adverts everywhere, but I find both the monthly and annual options just a little bit too high.