Sign in

Lex Friedman

@lexfri.xyz
1.6K followers 158 following 3.3K posts

I'm the real Lex Friedman. I make word games at Lex.Games. I host a lot of podcasts. I’m at lexfriedman.com. I’m not that other guy. Follow me on Mastodon: @lexfri@hachyderm.io

PostsRepliesMedia
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 13h
The Universe, Controlled is my love letter to Flight Control: lexontech.org/the-universe-controll…
lexontech.org
The Universe, Controlled is my love letter to Flight Control
A classic iOS line-drawing game is long gone. So I made a new one — in space.
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 03/10/2026
When I started working on Strategery, I also started working on recreating another classic iOS game. Take a look at The Universe, Controlled. Free. Out now. lexfriedman.com/universe
lexfriedman.com
The Universe, Controlled
Space craft soar through the universe, but none of them know the way down. Trace their paths, land them on the right world, and keep them apart. A whimsical little game about space traffic control.
111
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 03/10/2026
Vibe-coded apps: The vibes are good for people with specific needs: lexontech.org/vibe-coded-apps-the-v…
lexontech.org
Vibe-coded apps: The vibes are good for people with specific needs
Apps for an audience of one.
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 02/10/2026
Lex on Tech on shirts: lexontech.org/lex-on-tech-on-shirts
lexontech.org
Lex on Tech on shirts
Strategery and Lex.Games, too
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 02/10/2026
By popular demand (two people), you can now get: Strategery shirts, Lex On Tech shirts, and Lex.Games shirts. Also: Stickers. merch.lexfriedman.com
merch.lexfriedman.com
Lex's Stuff
Official merch from Lex Friedman of Lex On Tech, Strategery, and Lex.Games.
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 02/10/2026
Indie developer spotlight: James Thomson: lexontech.org/indie-developer-spotl…
lexontech.org
Indie developer spotlight: James Thomson
James Thomson is my friend. He’s also an insanely talented developer and former Apple engineer. He is meticulously focused on making and keeping his apps awesome. You probably know about some of them. Maybe even all! But let’s celebrate James’s greatness…
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 01/10/2026
David Smith brings back his Developing Perspective podcast: lexontech.org/david-smith-brings-ba…
lexontech.org
David Smith brings back his Developing Perspective podcast
This first episode wrestles through why being an indie app developer right now feels so “pivotal”, in both senses of the word. There’s the constant, week-by-week change in our tools and workflows, and there’s the bigger structural shift in what it even means…
100
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 01/10/2026
If I'm ever in MN, I have a dream of performing at the Lex-Ham. Hahaha.
100
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 01/10/2026
Amazon unveils new Kindles and the Kindle Click: lexontech.org/amazon-unveils-new-ki…
lexontech.org
Amazon unveils new Kindles and the Kindle Click
I’m not in the market for a new Kindle; my current Kindle works just fine. I use a Paperwhite. I couldn’t tell you which one, but it works and I use it daily. But if I were getting a new Kindle, it would be this purple beauty. Amazon says it’s “ube.” I didn’t…
110
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 01/10/2026
I've been rehearsing like crazy for the play "Noises Off," opening in just over a week in Spring Lake, New Jersey. It is hilarious — and I get a workout. And I use a British accent. Tickets: slch.na.ticketsearch.com/sales/sale…
slch.na.ticketsearch.com
TicketSearch Online
TicketSearch is a powerful event ticketing, box office management, CRM and fundraising solution providing organisations of any size the tools and support to sell tickets, memberships, merchandise, gift vouchers, subscriptions and manage customer relations. Funds are directed to your bank account daily using your own merchant account giving you complete control or you can elect to use the TS merchant account
120
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 01/10/2026
Small ways the App Store could be improved for developers: lexontech.org/small-ways-the-app-st…
lexontech.org
Small ways the App Store could be improved for developers
Jeff Johnson: There are countless small, practical, mostly uncontroversial ways in which Apple could improve the App Store for developers, yet the App Store has changed relatively little in the 18 years since it was hastily cloned from the iTunes Music Store.…
010
Reposted by Lex Friedman
Softminilabs @softminilabs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
So grateful: @lexfri.xyz wrote an indie developer spotlight on Sundial today, including the part where I spent way too long trimming a font. Thank you, Lex. lexontech.org/indie-develo...
001
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 30/09/2026
Indie developer spotlight: Tangwan’s Sundial shows you where you are in time: lexontech.org/indie-developer-spotl…
lexontech.org
Indie developer spotlight: Tangwan’s Sundial shows you where you are in time
A sundial doesn’t tell you what time it is. It shows you where the sun is. That’s the idea behind Sundial, a widget app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac from Tangwan, a solo developer who ships apps under the name Softminilabs. Sundial takes a stretch of time…
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 30/09/2026
Thank the Lord: The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K finally ditches micro USB: lexontech.org/thank-the-lord-the-ne…
lexontech.org
Thank the Lord: The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K finally ditches micro USB
The new streaming stick takes its power directly from your TV—finally. The best way to think about the new $60 Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is as a quality of life improvement. I imagine many Lex On Tech readers are Apple TV devotees. I have and use Apple TVs. But…
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 29/09/2026
Hidden gems comes to Best-o-Masto on the web: lexontech.org/hidden-gems-comes-to-…
lexontech.org
Hidden gems comes to Best-o-Masto on the web
Best-o-Masto is my website for finding the best stuff from your Mastodon and Bluesky feeds quickly. It’s not an algorithmic feed like you’d see on something like X or Threads. It’s a very simple thing that finds the post getting the most engagement in your…
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 29/09/2026
Indie developer spotlight: Marcos Tanaka: lexontech.org/indie-developer-spotl…
lexontech.org
Indie developer spotlight: Marcos Tanaka
Apps for music and video lovers.
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 28/09/2026
Bringing coffee on an interview: The huge debate that was actually started… by my dad.: lexontech.org/bringing-coffee-on-an…
lexontech.org
Bringing coffee on an interview: The huge debate that was actually started… by my dad.
I thought this viral TikTok thing about the dangers of bringing iced coffee to your job interview sounded stupid. I enjoyed it when Josh Gondelman mocked the whole thing on the most recent episode of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me. But Liz Gumbinner blew this whole…
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 28/09/2026
Bose’s new noise cancelling wired earbuds: lexontech.org/boses-new-noise-cance…
lexontech.org
Bose’s new noise cancelling wired earbuds
Throwback vibes, the latest Bose signature sound, and renowned noise cancellation to elevate your everyday listening. Just plug, play, and get instant, effortless access to your top songs. My first thought: *WIRED earbuds? *SERIOUSLY? My second thought: Oh…
100
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 28/09/2026
The App Store review process needs fixing: lexontech.org/the-app-store-review-…
lexontech.org
The App Store review process needs fixing
As is, it’s bad for developers and users alike.
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 27/09/2026
Matt Birchler’s phone is clearly listening to him: lexontech.org/matt-birchlers-phone-…
lexontech.org
Matt Birchler’s phone is clearly listening to him
I’m writing it simply to show that coincidences happen, correlation does not equal causation, and science is not anecdotal. If you’re going to convince people that your phone is really listening to you and sharing every word you say with advertisers across…
000
Reposted by Lex Friedman
Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 26/09/2026
This was really great, nice stuff
011
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 26/09/2026
Apple owes Taction $5.7B after losing haptic feedback IP trial: lexontech.org/apple-owes-taction-5-…
lexontech.org
Apple owes Taction $5.7B after losing haptic feedback IP trial
The fourth part of the form, where the jury determines the damages it believes Taction is owed from Apple, advises that Apple owes $5,721,961,750. Apple says it will appeal. I think I probably would, too.
010
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 26/09/2026
One month of Lex on Tech: lexontech.org/one-month-of-lex-on-t…
lexontech.org
One month of Lex on Tech
It’s going okay, I think.
020
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 25/09/2026
A few great reads: lexontech.org/a-few-great-reads
lexontech.org
A few great reads
The next MacBook Neo, AI agents on your Mac, and the lights going out.
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 25/09/2026
Fifteen years later, the Apple Cards origin story: lexontech.org/fifteen-years-later-t…
lexontech.org
Fifteen years later, the Apple Cards origin story
100% cotton paper. 100% crazy.
330
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 24/09/2026
The iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ press conference Q&A — finally: lexontech.org/the-iphone-4-antennag…
lexontech.org
The iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ press conference Q&A — finally
John Gruber: I seldom suggest you spend 47 minutes watching a video, but this one is worth your time. (And, given that it clearly fell off the back of a truck, you might want to put a copy on your own truck sooner rather than later.) A lot of times with a…
010
Reposted by Lex Friedman
Allen Lucas @notthatlucas.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I spent years writing help for Apple's Pro Apps and then the alerts and such for Notes and Reminders. Constantly told to make it shorter and friendlier, which bugged me. I could provide so much useful info and remove so much mystery!
132
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 23/09/2026
Who’s Got All The Money? — App Store Connect earnings on your Mac: lexontech.org/whos-got-all-the-mone…
lexontech.org
Who’s Got All The Money? — App Store Connect earnings on your Mac
App Store Connect has all the numbers, but App Store Connect is also painful to navigate. Who’s Got All The Money? pulls your sales and finance reports and puts the answers on one screen: what you made yesterday, this week, this month, this year, and all time…
031
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 23/09/2026
Every User Lies: lexontech.org/every-user-lies
lexontech.org
Every User Lies
I couldn’t pick just one part of Jeff Atwood’s post Every User Lies to quote, because it’s all so good. And it won’t take you long to read. I think about some of the points he raises here all the time. Users don’t read — not the manual, not the help text, not…
120
Reposted by Lex Friedman
Coax The App @relaxwithcoax.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This was a very fun 30 minutes with @lexfri.xyz lexontech.org/indie-develo...
lexontech.org
Indie developer spotlight: Carter Fort built Coax so your local library is always “on”
Turn your Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby library into a classic cable experience
011
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 22/09/2026
Indie developer spotlight: Carter Fort built Coax so your local library is always “on”: lexontech.org/indie-developer-spotl…
lexontech.org
Indie developer spotlight: Carter Fort built Coax so your local library is always “on”
Turn your Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby library into a classic cable experience
041
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 22/09/2026
Iconfactory Tapestry 2.0: What you’ve always wanted: lexontech.org/iconfactory-tapestry-…
lexontech.org
Iconfactory Tapestry 2.0: What you’ve always wanted
Today’s update of our personal timeline app, Tapestry, is the one you’ve been waiting for and pushes the app to a whole new level. Bring together your social media, RSS feeds, podcasts, YouTube and more in one chronological timeline—with no algorithm deciding…
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 22/09/2026
Really pleased with updates to Lex.Games Crosswords and Mini crosswords. Emulating my favorite features from the New York Times — including the list view for speedier clue solving, and pencil mode for when you’re less sure. lex.games/app
Crossword screenshot showing buttons for new featuresList view for clue entry7:01 1
ENDS
>60m
95
<
306 RATINGS
4.9
AGE RATING
4+
Years
CATEGORY
DEVELOI
Word
Lex Fried
What's New
Version 3.40
4h ago
This update includes SIGNIFICANT improvements to
crosswords, both full-size and mini.
Mini crosswords, you may know, are free for
everyone. Full-size crosswords are free on Sundays,
and available for Lex.Games subscribers every other
day of the week.
The updated crossword interfaces includes new
answer-entry modes for people who want to fly
through rapid-fire, improved focus navigation as you
work through a puzzle, and more. I'm really happy
with the updated crosswords UI, and I hope you will
be, too!
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 21/09/2026
M6 Mac mini review: Tiny, pricey, and powerful: lexontech.org/m6-mac-mini-review-ti…
lexontech.org
M6 Mac mini review: Tiny, pricey, and powerful
Still, what a computer! Even the performance of the base M6 model is more than enough for most computing tasks that regular people will ever need. If you invested in an external display a few years ago, most likely that display is still going strong—and…
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 20/09/2026
Another big update to everyone’s favorite nearly four-star app. strategerygame.com/app
classic "Legacy" Strategery more easily.
10m ago
Many of you love the updates to Strategery. I'm grateful!
Many of you also don't love the changes. I understand. You can tap and hold on the Strategery logo for a couple seconds to launch the classic version. And if you prefer to play that classic version every time, that's no problem: Turn on a new Setting at the bottom of the Settings screen to do exactly that.
This update also fixes a bug affecting users who enable Display Zoom on their devices.
130
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 20/09/2026
Indie developer spotlight: Jared Sorge: lexontech.org/indie-developer-spotl…
lexontech.org
Indie developer spotlight: Jared Sorge
A LEGO collection manager and a git worktree command center, from the same one-person shop
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 20/09/2026
This gadget—and free software—makes e-reading fun again: lexontech.org/this-gadget-and-free-…
lexontech.org
This gadget—and free software—makes e-reading fun again
Harry McCracken joins various other tech friends of mine in falling in love with tiny e-readers. I’m not there yet, but I’m intrigued. It turns out that yes, I do want to carry an e-reader in the same pocket as my phone. Like Amazon’s Kindles and other…
101
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 19/09/2026
It’s shocking that Apple hasn’t improved the new iPhone setup experience: lexontech.org/its-shocking-that-app…
lexontech.org
It’s shocking that Apple hasn’t improved the new iPhone setup experience
New iPhone Day should be exciting. I kind of dread it.
040
Reposted by Lex Friedman
Allen Lucas @notthatlucas.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Holy cow yes to an Apple printer! That whole industry is rotten!
041
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 18/09/2026
Another two Strategery update day! REALLY happy with this release, which crosses off a variety of much-needed fixes. apps.apple.com/us/app/strat...
A veritable slew of fixes!
1. You can now reset your stats, if you'd like to start your win/loss history anew.
2. Improvements to power consumption for large-screen devices that leave water animation on. Now that animation's impact to battery life is minimal.
3. Better handling of landscape orientation on iPads, in both the regular game and the legacy version.
(Remember, you can access legacy Strategery by tapping and holding on the Strategery logo for five seconds on the main menu.)
4. Some visual improvements. Among them:
Removing the jittery dance affecting devices with larger font sizes enabled, and a better behaving tiled background.
020
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 18/09/2026
Ask Lex: What discontinued Apple product do you wish were brought back?: lexontech.org/ask-lex-what-disconti…
lexontech.org
Ask Lex: What discontinued Apple product do you wish were brought back?
Lex on Tech members can submit questions that I answer right here on the site. Reader George asks: I was hoping the new CEO of Apple (being a product guy) might revive the AirPort product line. The Airport Utility is now on the chopping block. I recall (?)…
110
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 18/09/2026
You should listen to Heavyweight: lexontech.org/you-should-listen-to-…
lexontech.org
You should listen to Heavyweight
Like many of you, I suspect, I got into podcasting through nerdery. I was a nerd. I am a nerd. I created a podcast, and I listened to nerdy podcasts. Many of us in the Apple/tech community still listen almost exclusively to nerdy podcasts. That’s okay. But…
030
Reposted by Lex Friedman
Derek of the Edmund Fitzgerald 🫠 @giromide.online · 18/09/2026
Apple succeeded in making a compelling device I'm interested in owning at least two years from now.
132
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 18/09/2026
Apple’s short-term iPhone Duo misstep: lexontech.org/apples-short-term-iph…
lexontech.org
Apple’s short-term iPhone Duo misstep
Developers, developers, developers… are annoyed, annoyed, annoyed. And their users will be, too.
100
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 17/09/2026
Grab Strategery 4.6 from the App Store for a revamped main menu that tries to simplify things a bit. Now it's a little easier to see all the fine-tuning you can do to create the gameplay you want. strategerygame.com/app I'm really, really grateful for any 5-star reviews you're inclined to leave.
strategerygame.com
Strategery App - App Store
Download Strategery by Lex Friedman on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Strategery.
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 17/09/2026
“i promised i’d find it.”: lexontech.org/i-promised-id-find-it
lexontech.org
“i promised i’d find it.”
Matt Haughey shared some cool videos he’d seen recently. This one, from a YouTuber who figures out where photos were taken, instead becomes a 10-minute journey into finding when a photo was taken. I was mesmerized. This was the last photo he ever took with…
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 17/09/2026
Hahahaha. Sorry. Nope, never 😂
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 17/09/2026
125 tests of the new AI Siri: lexontech.org/125-tests-of-the-new-…
lexontech.org
125 tests of the new AI Siri
Jason Snell links to David Pogue with all kinds of things the new Siri can do now that iOS and macOS 27 have arrived. You can say things like, “What did my wife say I was supposed to do with the plants?” Or, “What was the show that Casey said I should watch?”…
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 17/09/2026
“Insert your favorite nursery rhyme.”: lexontech.org/insert-your-favorite-…
lexontech.org
“Insert your favorite nursery rhyme.”
Make Some Noise is one of many fantastic improv comedy shows on Dropout. I noticed one of the ongoing themes is “tech gone bad,” so I compiled a short list below. I just find these really funny. Marcin is right. The show is great, and these are really funny…
000
Lex Friedman @lexfri.xyz · 17/09/2026
Homebrew 7.0.0: lexontech.org/homebrew-7-0-0
lexontech.org
Homebrew 7.0.0
Today, I’m proud to announce Homebrew 7.0.0. The most significant changes since 6.0.0 are faster installations and upgrades, stronger sandboxing, [and] a native macOS app. If you need Homebrew, you probably already use Homebrew. But the new “official” Mac app…
100