The Best To-Do App right now →

I wrote about Todoist, which helps me get things done.

Todoist, which is available on virtually any platform you can think of, is clean, fast, and easy to use. Its natural language processing makes entering new tasks lightning-fast. Power users will appreciate advanced features including custom labels and filters, location-based reminders, and templates for recurring projects. You can also use it to collaborate with co-workers. But even if your needs are less robust, you’ll likely still appreciate Todoist for its straightforward approach to getting things done.

How YouTube perfected the feed →

I wrote about why YouTube has come to feel so addictive over the past year.

Integrating Google Brain has had an immense impact: more than 70 percent of the time people spend watching videos on the site is now driven by YouTube’s algorithmic recommendations. Each day, YouTube recommends 200 million different videos to users, in 76 languages. And the aggregate time people spend watching videos on YouTube’s home page has grown 20 times larger than what it was three years ago.

How Instagram is reshaping the restaurant scene →

I wrote about my favorite trend of the year: entrepreneurs designing restaurants with Instagram in mind.

The most striking thing about Bellota may be the custom lamps at its 25-seat bar, which let patrons adjust the lighting in order to get the perfect shot. “I’m probably the most avid Instagram user of the group, so I kept bringing it up,” says Ryan McIlwraith, Bellota’s chef. He wanted the lighting to do justice to the restaurant’s tapas plates and signature paellas. “It turned out these lamps we got were just perfect for it,” he says. The lamps can be tilted or turned 180 degrees, and the light’s intensity can be adjusted up and down. An “advanced feature” allows patrons to rest their phones on the lamp’s neck so as to take a selfie. 

Google introduces the feed, a personalized stream of news on iOS and Android →

I wrote about the introduction of the Google feed to Android and iOS. The lack of video is strange, I think:

The most surprising thing about the Google feed, at least at launch, is how little video it contains. At a time when its peers are racing to cram as much video in their feeds as possible, Google’s is still mostly a text-based affair. When YouTube cards appear, videos won’t play within the feed — tapping kicks you out to the app or to a mobile-web version of the video. The cards are formatted in such a way that it’s easy to miss that they’re even videos. It’s all surprisingly clumsy.

Facebook is building a Houseparty clone for live group video chat →

SCOOP:

Facebook is building a standalone app that incorporates ideas from Houseparty, the group video chat app that rose from the ashes of Meerkat, The Verge has learned. The app, which has the working name Bonfire, was recently demonstrated for employees. It is being targeted for a fall release, according to a person familiar with the matter. “We don’t have anything to share at this time,” a Facebook spokeswoman said.