One, Arc → Chrome
In the blog post on April 30th, I mentioned that I couldn't bear the high memory usage of the Arc browser anymore, so I switched to Edge.
At that time, I didn't consider Chrome when thinking about changing browsers because I have always looked down on Google. I believed that since Google's motto is "Don't be evil," if they violated that motto, they should be abandoned by users.
Although I despise Google, I still had to give in. Google is still the best search engine to use, and I still need to use Google Analytics and Google Search Console for website analysis. I also have to use Gmail (although I have indexed it to Fastmail). As a last stubborn act, can't I just deceive myself and choose Edge as my browser? Reality taught me that I shouldn't deceive myself too much.
After using Edge for two days, I was disappointed:
- Some of Edge's features are cumbersome. Every time I found an unnecessary feature during use, I had to go to the settings to disable it. It seemed difficult to set everything up at once (excluding the possibility that I'm just not skilled enough).
- Edge's sidebar design is strange. If it's in full-screen mode, there is no sidebar; the sidebar only appears in non-full-screen mode.
- There seems to be a bug with cookie storage.
- Although the memory usage is much lower than Arc and slightly lower than Vivaldi, it is still high. With the same number of plugins and tabs open, it uses more memory than Chrome.
Okay, I admit I was wrong. In the end, I switched my browser to Chrome.
I have to say, Chrome is still the king among browsers, reliable, stable, and straightforward. Especially after optimizing for M1 chips, even with more than ten plugins enabled, the memory usage is comparable to Safari.
Two, ChatGPT Plus → Poe
I have been using ChatGPT Plus for three months, and it has been very helpful to me. However, every month I have to worry about whether the payment will go through and if my account will be banned. Especially to ensure normal usage, the cost is much higher than just subscribing to ChatGPT Plus.
A week ago, after obtaining access to the GPT-4 API, I started thinking about finding alternatives and ultimately chose Poe (mainly) + OpenCat (as a supplement).
There are three reasons for choosing Poe:
- Besides being able to subscribe through the App Store, Poe now also supports web-based subscriptions and accepts credit cards issued in China.
- Poe now allows the creation of multiple conversations, similar to the ChatGPT web version, and supports models like gpt-3.5-turbo and Claude-instant.
- Poe doesn't have significant limitations on the usage of GPT-4 and Claude+. If the usage exceeds the limit, it will only slow down.
- In terms of cost-effectiveness, Poe supports not only GPT but also Claude.
I didn't go all-in with OpenCat, mainly because of cost concerns. When using the API, the price for gpt-3.5-turbo is not high, but the current price for gpt-4 is expensive.
Three, Hapigo → Raycast
Last year, a friend recommended Raycast to me on Jike. At that time, I thought Hapigo was decent, elegant, and supported direct search using Pinyin. I wanted to support Chinese developers.
However, Hapigo's support for DEVONthink search has always been lacking, and compared to Raycast, it lacks functionality. I noticed that Hapigo will start charging in a few months, so I decided to switch to Raycast in advance and adapt to it.
After installing a few plugins and setting up quick links for frequently visited websites, the overall experience of Raycast has surpassed Hapigo.
Four, iOS native input method → Cang Input Method
I switched from the iOS native input method to Cang Input Method.
Developed by Chinese developers based on the iRime input method, it allows uploading custom input schemes.
I now use Wusong Pinyin on both my computer and phone, and it works so well that I no longer resist writing blog posts on my phone.