Skip to Main Content
Photo of Justin Pot

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

An illustration of a giant monitor with the word "Google" on it and a winding oversized power cord leading to an outlet; a small woman is struggling to unplug the cord from the outlet
How to Quit Google, According to a Privacy Expert
 
A screenshot of Applite offering downloads including Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and Discord.
You Should Try 'Applite' for Mac
 
A screenshot of Homebrew downloading and installing Firefox
Use 'Homebrew' on Mac to Make Installing and Updating Apps Much Easier
 
The Mighty 3 sitting on a railing in front of a forest.
The Mighty 3 Is the iPod Shuffle for the Spotify Era
 
A google search page with inverted colors
The Best Google Search Alternatives for Most People
 
A screenshot of a Mac desktop. The center window, which is the only one not dimmed, is an early draft of this article. There are some dimmed windows behind it. The menu bar icon for the application shows a variety of potential background sounds.
FocusedOS Combines Several Focus-Boosting Apps in One
 
A screenshot of Aiko. It's a very clean macOS application with a toolbar and a text field, which currently says "Why hello, hello. This is a test. Thank you."
Use This App on Mac, iPhone, and iPad for Free AI Transcription
 
The menu bar icon for Maestral on Mac. There are options to open your Dropbox folder, to launch the Dropbox website, and to change the preferences. Notably it's a native Mac app, not a weird website like the official client.
How to Use a Simpler, Less Intrusive Version of Dropbox
 
An illustration of someone looking at a smartphone displaying a "you've got mail" icon
Email Is Now the Best Social Network
 
A pop-up window says "Hey, (blank), my name is Justin Pot and I'm a freelance journalist. You can find my work at JustinPot.com". The field can be filled. There is a submit button.
Use This Free App to Make Custom Text Shortcuts
 
Two Chrome windows showing a search for "What is the best piece in chess". The left shows AI paragraphs; the right shows actual search results.
This Hack Disables Google’s AI Search Results by Default
 
The Slack company logo on a building
Slack Is Using Your Private Conversations to Train Its AI
 
To the left is the appearance section of System Settings on macOS. To the right is a search bar, in which you can type in order to find and "click" on any option.
This App Lets You Use Your Mac Without Ever Touching the Mouse
 
Focus Pro, a Pomorodo timer, is shown here running on a MacBook, an iPad, an iPhone, and an Apple Watch.
This App Will Sync a Pomodoro Timer Across All Your Apple Devices
 
A semi-transparent Notepad window. The wallpaper, pink flowers, is showing up through it. The note says "This is a note."
Use This App to Add More Window Management Options to Your PC
 
A timeline of various Mars exploration, shown in this Timestory screenshot
Use This App to Create a Visual Timeline for Any Project
 
A Remarkable tablet with a few notes on it, all of them being points that are outlined in the article.
What an E-Ink Tablet Is (and Isn’t) Useful For
 
An iPhone notification letting the user know that water is currently running in the house.
How to Get Your iPhone to ‘Hear’ the Doorbell, Your Pet, and Other Important Sounds
 
TRex running in the macOS menu bar. The options include Capture, Capture & Run Automation, Capture from Clipboard, and Ignore Line Breaks
This App Can Copy Text From Literally Anything on Your Mac’s Screen
 
The services menu on a Mac, which you can find by right-clicking basically anything on your Mac. Here "Dictate" is highlighted.
The Best Services, or Mini-apps, to Add to Your Mac