Vertical vs Horizontal Browser Tabs

It’s exciting to see innovation in the desktop browser space. Tech podcasts frequently discuss new entrants which force the debate on innovation and features such as vertical tab layouts.

For me, vertical tabs are the only option. At work, I often have more than seven tabs open. Using the default horizontal tab layout, space for the tab name shrinks to an unusable character count, leaving only favicons to identify the tabs. Favicons alone aren’t enough because I could have 4 tabs from the same web app open.

I’ve begrudgingly used Microsoft Edge for years because it was one of the first to embrace robust vertical tabs natively. Now, I'm using Arc, which not only embraces vertical tabs as the default, but posits all browser UI should reside in the sidebar.

Most webpages don’t need the full viewport width, but if they do, it’s easy to hide the side bar and focus on the content. Arc takes this concept even further with a presentation mode, which is really handy for sharing or reading without any app chrome.

Arc is also better designed and more thoughtful than any other browser I’ve tried.

Simplifying Hey Email’s Imbox

I’ve been waiting on custom domains from Hey to jump on the critically acclaimed email service.

I don’t always agree with Hey’s design aesthetic, but am loving the service like many others.

One example: I don’t want previously read emails cluttering my Imbox (no, that’s not a typo). It’s not obvious, but you can hide previously read emails with their Cover Art feature.

They offer six fun abstract cover art patterns, but I want something cleaner so I made a solid image that matches the screen background so it always looks like one big Imbox.

I did this on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad Hey app.

Here are the hex colors for each device:

• Mac: 27323E

• iPhone/iPad: 1B2834

Or, download the images:

iPhone Cover Art

Mac Cover Art

Keynote is to PowerPoint as Target is to Walmart

That said, I mostly use Google Slides…because my job.

I look for software that isn’t “death by a thousand cuts”. Small details matter, especially when these small annoyances add up by the hundreds and make the experience tedious.

Making digital things is hard. I know, I do it for a living and don’t always get to polish the edges as much as I want. Most software is good enough, but the best software has a clear advantage and is a delight to use.