Hook is an information retrieval tool for macOS that supplies & resolves links & bookmarks to all kinds of info, to minimize what Seth Godin recently called "Mode Switching".
This week, we @ CogSci Apps Corp. released Hook 3.2 for Mac, adding
- support for Instapaper + GoodLinks (Hook already supported Pinboard);
- simultaneous deep linking and quoting of PDF text;
- new integrations with Merlin Project, Notion and Zoom;
- etc.
See https://hookproductivity.com/
Hook has a free 30-day trial and a free its Lite mode.
# Product description
Hook features a nimble keyboarder-friendly popup window resembling Spotlight® and launchers (Alfred, LaunchBar). In contrast, however, Hook is context-aware ; it generates and leverages information networks.
How? Bring Hook's context window up on a selected or open file, email, task, or almost any item in almost any Mac app, and it will allow you to `Copy Link` to the item (⌘C).
This provides a uniform gesture that works not only across browsers (no plugin/extension required) but in any app that is truly linkable ( https://hookproductivity.com/help/integration/data-linkability-and-why-it-matters/)
The scheme of the URL returned by Hook's `Copy Link` (⌘C) command for the given foreground app is determined a priori as follows. When possible, the scheme is standard (eg, https). Otherwise if the app has its own URL scheme, Hook will normally use it (e.g., `x-devonthink-item:` URL or omnifocus:); otherwise, if possible Hook will supply a link with its own scheme + subscheme. Eg, Hook provides a `hook://file/` URL for the open or selected Finder file, which unlike `file://` URL works even if you move the file (eg, offload a Git or Dropbox folder & remount it elsewhere). `hook://file/` links can be shared between users (assuming the recipient has the same file). Hook's `hook://email/` URLs include the RFC-5322 compliant email ID; so they work across compliant email apps, determined by the Hook mail preference set by whoever activates the link.
Hook also can generate bidirectional links ("hooks") to/from the foreground app's current item (the "context"). Hook's solution predates and is much more general & versatile than macOS 12 Quick Note.
Hook also enables one to create `.hook` files for the currently open item. More general and robust than aliases and .weblocs, and they are plain text (markdown).
Because `Copy Link` is a highly discriminative signal of future information relevance, Hook internally bookmarks what you link, optionally to Pinboard, Instapaper &/or GoodLinks.
Hook also enables deep PDF linking across multiple apps. Select text in a "linkable" PDF app, use Hook's context-sensitive `Copy Link`: get a link to the specific location in that file. You or your recipient can open it with any compliant PDF app.
See [our notes on interoperability](https://hookproductivity.com/about/openness/). Eg Hook has an API. And you can view and edit its "integration scripts".
Hook can't adequately be pigeon-holed in terms of current products. So it takes a few minutes of focused attention to get one's head wrapped around it. To a first approximation, you can think of Hook as _privately_ and nimbly provisioning the "last mile" beyond the web, bidirectionally linking your Mac's local resources to each other, to the cloud and the web (you can also webpages, of course). Hook overcomes the silo-ness of apps (e.g., connecting e-mail messages to tasks and files) without forcing you to use a particular multi-function suite (like Evernote or Notion).
Long ago, I was an at-founding employee of Tundra Semiconductors, which made hardware bus bridges between disparate CPUs/buses. That gave me the idea for Hook, a connector of user-facing software resources.
And yes, a companion for iPhone&iPad is coming (not a replacement).
CogSci Apps Corp. is a privately held Canadian company of which I am co-founder. I'm co-inventor of Hook.
> Hook’s file links are like Finder aliases, but more robust, well formatted (URL & name) and shareable!
Are you using hashes and then falling back to heuristics? How else could you track files between systems?