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Justin Pot

Justin Pot is a freelance journalist who helps people get more out of technology.

If you've ever searched online for a specific tech problem you've read Justin's work, because he's been doing it for a long time. Since 2009, he has written tutorials and essays about technology for outlets including WIRED, The Atlantic, PCMag, Popular Science, How-to Geek, and The Wall Street Journal. For Lifehacker, he mostly writes about software, with a particular focus on open source programs and indie apps.

Justin has a bachelor's degree in Communications and International Relations. He once worked in marketing for a software company and hated it, but it did teach him a lot about why software tends to get worse over time in large companies. He lives in Oregon with his cat (and his wife). He enjoys brewing beer, exploring nature, and spending time with friends. You can follow Justin on Mastodon and Bluesky, or sign up for his newsletter, Connectivity.

MORE BY Justin

A variety of photos of parrots in the process of being imported
This Mac App Lets You Import Photos From Any Smartphone
 
A group of people whose faces you can't see because they're obscured by emoji
This App Automatically Hides Faces and Obscures Metadata From Photos
 
screenshot of the deskpad app
This Mac App Lets You Share Your Screen Without Anyone Seeing What’s Actually On It
 
Three screenshots of Croissant, showing the posting screen, the privacy settings for each network, and the ability to choose which networks to post to.
This iPhone App Posts to Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky at Once
 
A screenshots of the "Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage" checkbox in Safari's settings.
This Hidden Safari Feature Makes Browsing a Lot Faster
 
The Mac interface for Gladys, previewing a few photos and a web link.
This Free iOS App Is the Perfect Digital Junk Drawer to Save Files for Later
 
A proposed Fediverse logo of a rainbow-colored five-pointed star with straight lines connecting nodes on each point
How the 'Fediverse' Works (and Why It Might Be the Future of Social Media)
 
Claude outputting an iCal file and telling me how to use it
AI Was Actually Useful for Organizing My Flight Info
 
A screenshot showing the time where three Lifehacker contributors live
This Mac App Will Show Your Coworkers’ Time Zones in the Menu Bar
 
A screenshot of Super Productivity, showing three days' worth of tasks in three columns.
Super Productivity Is My Favorite (Free) Task-Management App
 
A screenshot of Windhawk. It's showing the directory page for Windows 11 Taskbar Style, which can bring back classic Windows looks.
'Windhawk' Is Like an App Store for Windows Mods
 
A search for the username "Lifehacker" reveals a lot of accounts that are, shall we say, not official
This Tool Finds Matching Usernames Across 400 Social Media Networks
 
A screenshot of Tusks! The left panel shows my recent posts while the right panel shows a recent thread I wrote about a beer I'm brewing.
Use 'Tusks' to Turn Mastodon Into a Threaded Blog
 
The menu bar icon for Pure Focus, which shows the timer. You can select which music source you want and even see album art for what's playing
This Mac Pomodoro Timer Syncs With Any Playlist
 
A screenshot of the app. In the left panel is a list of articles; in the right, main panel is the thing I'm currently reading, organized into columns. It's pretty.
Flyleaf Is the Best New ‘Read-It-Later’ App for Apple Users
 
A screenshot of ImageOptim, which is basically a window you can drag images onto.
This App Quickly Shrinks Any Image Without Reducing Quality
 
Spotify customized to look cooler
The Best Apps to Improve Spotify’s Awful User Interface
 
person holding phone with X logo on it
I Quit Twitter Two Years Ago (Here’s How It Went)
 
Three screenshots. The first says that the user must practice a language before opening Mona. The second shows a flash card for the Spanish word "Se". The third says that you can now use the app.
'Cold Turkey' Makes You Practice Flash Cards Before You Can Open Addictive Apps
 
iPhone Alarm automation screen in the Shortcuts app
Use Automations to Keep Alarms From Going Off When You Don’t Need Them