Field Notes
Blog
Building local-first Mac and iOS apps in public. Technical writeups, launch postmortems, and the occasional opinion.
- ·9 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
WebP vs AVIF vs JPEG on Mac — when to use which (with real file-size numbers)
Three modern image formats, three different trade-offs. Here's a real-world test on Mac, with concrete recommendations for web, design, and archival use.
Read post - ·3 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
WebP vs AVIF vs JPEG：Mac 上到底用哪个（附真实文件大小测试）
三种现代图片格式，三种不同取舍。这是 Mac 上的真实对比测试，附给网页、设计、归档场景的具体推荐。
Read post - ·2 min read·sipnote
想戒咖啡？慢慢减比突然戒更有效——三周渐进方案
突然戒咖啡的人 80% 在第三天复喝。这篇讲为什么，以及一个真正能跑完的三周渐进减量方案。
Read post - ·7 min read
13 Mac & iOS apps, 0 subscriptions — my Obelisk portfolio in 2026
A solo developer's case for a portfolio of focused, one-time-purchase apps instead of one app with monthly billing. What's shipped, what's coming, and what's been hard.
Read post - ·7 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
macOS sips command — the complete guide (2026)
Every Mac ships with a fast, sandbox-safe image processor called sips. Resize, convert, compress, strip metadata, batch — without installing anything. Here's everything it can do.
Read post - ·3 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
macOS sips 命令完全指南（2026）
每一台 Mac 都自带一个又快又安全的图片处理器，叫 sips。可以缩放、转换、压缩、剥离元数据、批量处理——不用装任何东西。这里是它全部能做的事。
Read post - ·6 min read·quickvid-compress
'iMessage attachment too big' — how to fix it on Mac and iPhone
Why iMessage rejects your video, what the actual size limits are, and three ways to compress a video down to a working size — including a one-click Mac fix.
Read post - ·3 min read·quickvid-compress
iMessage / 微信 视频太大发不出去？Mac 上 3 种压缩办法
为什么 iMessage 拒绝你的视频、各平台的真实大小限制（不是官方说的那样）、以及一键修复方案。
Read post - ·8 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
How to convert HEIC to JPEG on Mac in batch (4 ways, ranked)
iPhone photos are HEIC by default. Sending them to Windows, Android, or older web tools means converting. Here are the four practical ways on Mac.
Read post - ·10 min read·quickvid-compress
What is CRF in video compression? A practical guide for non-engineers
CRF is the single most useful knob in modern video encoding — but most guides explain it wrong. Here's what it actually does, with concrete recommendations.
Read post - ·3 min read·quickvid-compress
视频压缩里的 CRF 到底是什么？给非工程师的实用指南
CRF 是现代视频编码里最有用的一个旋钮——但大多数教程把它解释错了。这篇讲它实际在做什么，附具体推荐参数。
Read post - ·9 min read·quickvid-compress
How to compress an MP4 without losing quality (Mac, 2026)
"Visually lossless" is achievable. Here's the recipe — codec, CRF, preset — and how much smaller you can realistically expect.
Read post - ·9 min read·sipnote
How much caffeine is safe during pregnancy? A clear guide for 2026
The 200 mg/day limit explained — what counts as 200 mg, why the third trimester is different, and how to track without obsessing.
Read post - ·7 min read·sipnote
Caffeine half-life and sleep — when to stop drinking coffee
The science of how long caffeine stays in your body, why a 3pm latte can still hit you at 11pm, and a simple rule of thumb to protect your sleep.
Read post - ·3 min read·sipnote
奶茶、咖啡、能量饮料咖啡因含量大全（中国常见品牌 2026）
喜茶、奈雪、瑞幸、库迪、CoCo、一点点、KFC、东方树叶……一杯到底有多少咖啡因？以及你能再喝多少不影响睡眠。
Read post - ·7 min read·sipnote
The Apple Watch caffeine widget I actually want — and how SipNote built it
A first-class watchOS complication for caffeine isn't a checkbox feature. Here's what makes a watch glance useful, and what most caffeine apps get wrong.
Read post - ·2 min read·sipnote
为什么我做了一个懂奶茶的咖啡因追踪 app，而且永不订阅
一个独立开发者为什么选择一次性 ¥18 而不是 $5/月 — 以及 8 个月做 SipNote 的取舍与代价。
Read post - ·8 min read·quickvid-compress
How to compress video for Discord, iMessage, and email on Mac
Every chat app has a different upload limit, and every codec choice has a different trade-off. A practical guide to shrinking videos on macOS for the platforms you actually share to.
Read post - ·8 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
How to compress images on Mac without uploading them anywhere (2026)
A practical guide for shrinking PNG, JPEG, HEIC, and WebP images on macOS while keeping every byte on your own machine — with five real options compared.
Read post - ·2 min read·quickpix-image-compressor
Mac 上离线压缩图片的完整指南（2026）
5 款 Mac 图片压缩工具实测对比 — 不上传、不收订阅、支持 HEIC，从命令行到 GUI 全部走一遍。
Read post - ·8 min read·sipnote
Why I built SipNote without a subscription
A solo iOS developer's take on why charging $2.99 once felt more honest than $5 a month — and what it cost.
Read post - ·1 min read
Welcome to the Obelisk Field Notes
A short intro to what we'll publish here — and why a portfolio of small Mac and iOS apps needs a blog at all.
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