So I have decided to start using a bookmark manager and I would like your thoughts on why I would not use Devonthink? If I decided to go Anybox or Raindrop, is there a decided favorite on MPU? The “Lifetime” buy on Anybox looks appealing but does anyone know if that is for every version or just the current one? Thanks for any info.
I use Anybox instead of the browser’s built-in bookmark feature. Among other things, this makes it very easy to switch browsers. Anybox can also be used for app links (e.g. I have bookmarks to quickly access folders in Craft and perspectives in OmniFocus).
The search feature is excellent, and recently-access bookmarks are conveniently available at the top. On my Macs, I typically access the search feature by double-tapping the command key.
I also use Anybox on my iPhone and iPad. I can also switch browsers on my mobile devices (I’m currently using Arc Search) without migrating bookmarks.
I’ve heard good things about Raindrop as well. However, I think the Anybox is a better fit for my use cases.
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Do you want to use your bookmark manager on a mobile device? If so, Devonthink (which I love and use everyday) would not be my first choice.
I’ve started using Arc as a curated space reserved for “intentional” work on the web. I’ve set up a bunch of spaces, each with their own folders, and I think I’ve more or less turned it into a bookmark manager, but it’s certainly not as powerful as Anybox.
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I tried Raindrop for a year, but it didn’t really suit me. It was nice to have be able to organize bookmarks through tagging, and to be able to sync those bookmarks between devices. However, the app didn’t seem very Mac-like, and it didn’t offer support for system features like Shortcuts.
The strength to DEVONthink would be that you could keep bookmarks alongside other documents (PDFs, text files, whatever…) so everything is in one place on a particular theme/topic/project. However, I agree with @krocnyc that if you want to access the bookmarks primarily on mobile devices, then DEVONthink wouldn’t be my first choice either.
In addition to what @timstringer has said about Anybox, which I’ve just started playing around with, it has support for Alfred/Raycast, Hookmark, and Shortcuts, which is potentially really useful if you use any of those apps.
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My first annoyance with Anybox is the bookmarks within folders cannot be manually sorted. I have a preferred order when they are in my browser toolbar. Am I missing something?
I use Anybox as a dumping ground for links to all/any webpages I may want to refer to in the future.
99% of the time I don’t have it open.
F1 brings up the bookmarking dialog.
F2 brings up Quick Find.
It is excellent - the fastest way to bookmark and retrieve the bookmarks in my experience.
It can do so much more.
do you still have bookmarks in your browser? did you upgrade to pro?
I use DevonThink for collecting bookmarks for a while now. I’ve got the browserplugin installed in Firefox/Safari/Vivaldi and have a “Bookmarks” folder pinned to favorites in DevonThink. When I save a bookmark, I tag it with 2-3 tags, which makes retrieval easier. If I want to quickly open a bookmark, I use Raycast to search DevonThink. I use Velja to open the respective bookmark in the browser I want.
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I use Bookmacster for managing bookmarks. Lets me sync bookmarks between Safari and Firefox (as well as Chrome, Edge and Vivaldi from what I’ve tried in the past), so means I can happily use Firefox on Windows with the same bookmarks as my Safari on iOS and Mac.
Just another one to potentially through in to the mix.
It also allows you to sort bookmarks in either alphabetical fashion or in other sorting you want - including manual sort. This can be done on a folder by folder basis.
I can give you no insight as to why you should not use Devonthnk - but I use Goodlinks , which works well - for me - as a bookmark manager and a read it later app.
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I’ve been messing with Surfed for the past couple of days
It’s Safari-only, works on the Mac, iPhone and iPad. It tracks your entire surfing history. You can tag individual URLs and add them to favorites, so it functions as a bookmark manager too.
I don’t know whether I will stick with Surfed. I just don’t seem to have use for it.
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I use Safari Tab Groups instead of bookmarks now.
It really clicked for me. Each tab group is a different subject, some permanent, some temporary (like a product research or vacation planning).
It works great, but it is Safari only.
There’s the added bonus of retaining all tabs in the group when the browser window is closed. I know about “Reopen All Windows from Last session”, but with groups I don’t have to worry about it.
Including Devonthink is sort of like including a pickup truck in a review of bicycles.
All three are excellent apps but Devonthink has immensely different capabilities than the other two.
While Devonthink can serve as a bookmark manager that is not a role for which it is optimized. But there are so many other things Devonthink can do that the others cannot do. Are you interested in Devonthink’s document database capabilities or are you only seeking a bookmark manager?
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I’ve tried them all. I am now using https://www.bublup.com. Not free but really sweet in the way it presents your bookmarks. The sharing option is also excellent.
I guess @macsorcery is already using DevonThink? Getting DevonThink just to use it as a bookmark manager makes not much sense. Using DevonThink as a bookmarkmanager when it’s already in use (and maybe running constantly, as in my case) makes a lot of sense, I would argue.
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No.
I press F2, begin typing the site I want to visit and hit ⏎.