December 1, 2023
I’m Developer and Safety Researcher Felix Krause, and This Is How I Work
Photo: Courtesy of Felix KrauseHow I WorkThe How I Work series asks heroes, experts, and flat-out productive people to share their shortcuts, workspaces, routines, and more. Have someone you want to see featured, or questions you think we should ask? [Email Nick](mailto:nick.douglas@lifehacker.com).  If you love or hate Apple, you should listen to Felix Krause. We’ve covered…
Describe: Courtesy of Felix Krause
How I WorkThe How I Work sequence asks heroes, experts, and flat-out productive folks to share their shortcuts, workspaces, routines, and more. Possess someone you catch to must sight featured, or questions you assume we ought to ask? [Email Nick](mailto:slice.douglas@lifehacker.com).  

In case you take care of or despise Apple, you ought to listen to Felix Krause. We’ve covered his safety analysis several instances on Lifehacker, as he uncovered vulnerabilities on MacOS and iOS: how any Mac app might per chance per chance capture a secret screenshot of your pc, or how iOS apps might per chance per chance admire your password with a unfaithful login display conceal. And that analysis isn’t even his principal job. We interviewed him about his many projects, including fastlane, a self-emailing app known as Grasp Key, his safety analysis, and the plot in which he ended up working at Twitter and Google.


Location: Digital nomad, spending most my time in Unique York

Most modern Gig: Building a cell-CI diagram on high of fastlane

Most modern cell tool: iPhone X

Most modern pc: 2 x MacBook 15″ 2017 (interior most + work machine)

One note that virtually all advantageous describes how you’re employed: pragmatic

Working in Unique York
Describe: Felix Krause

First of all, repeat us a minute about your background and the answer to web to the assign you might per chance per chance even very successfully be this day.

Ever since I visited the Mountain Peer Google campus back in 2010, I had the existence purpose of working for Google in California. Each choice, in phrases of training, abilities I learned and time spent, I aligned to cease this purpose. After heaps of internships and aspect projects right thru high faculty, I started building automation tools for iOS developers at school, and so they took off without notice. Gargantuan companies started the exhaust of my tool fastlane to automate their unlock process. Internal a few months, just a few companies supplied me to affix them and proceed work on fastlane, and I made up my thoughts to affix Twitter. Perfect 1.5 years after that, Fabric (Twitter’s developer tools department) purchased purchased by Google, which is the assign I am now.

I’m residing as a digital nomad, I blogged about the reasoning here, and neutral as of late wrote just a few One year of nomad residing here. Sincere now I pass to a new neighborhood in NYC every month.

Working in Bali
Describe: Felix Krause

Win us thru a contemporary workday.

I live in NYC now, which implies I don’t must capture a prolonged shuttle dart each day, as is the case for many tech companies primarily primarily primarily based in the Bay Space. When I come up, I take a look at my notifications for roughly an hour, earlier than heading to the region of work by walking for take care of Half-hour and listening to audio books.

On the region of work, I’d in overall web most of my coding and high-point of curiosity work completed earlier than lunch time. As most of my physique of workers is in step with the West Waft, most meetings happen in the afternoon. I’m now not keen on meetings, as most are inefficient and might per chance per chance very successfully be completed by process of async conversation. In sizable companies meetings are deeply built into their tradition, and there isn’t any manner around them.

What apps, gadgets, or tools can’t you live without?

I don’t exhaust heaps of gadgets. I don’t exhaust any orderly dwelling gadgets, no orderly peek, accurate my cell phone + MacBook. It’s a mix of most gadgets now not being actually worthwhile, nonetheless furthermore now not trusting sure suppliers.

In phrases of apps, I exhaust Most essential Key loads, an delivery source app I wrote (now not in the App Retailer), to love a flash jot down thoughts as they come up. It’s extremely worthwhile whenever you’re having a conversation and accurate had this actually accurate thought, or must write one thing down to admire a look at-up on.

I exhaust Arc to song my diagram 24/7 (beforehand used Moves App which used to be shut down by Facebook), MyFitnessPal to song my macro intakes, Swarm to retain song of the places I visited, Non-public Notes (as iCloud Notes misplaced my recordsI wrote a migrator), Fantastical as calendar on all platforms, and clearly Tweetbot (which I wrote I actually admire a actually personalized setup for).

Working on fastlane
Describe: Felix Krause

What’s your workspace setup take care of?

As I work from heaps of places, I continuously admire my Roost Stand with Apple magic keyboard, magic trackpad and magic mouse with me. This permits me to admire a decently ergonomic work setup in most locations. On the Google region of work, I actually admire a 32″ video display and exhaust my MacBook in clam-shell mode.

What’s your most advantageous shortcut or existence hack?

The #1 advice I give every unswerving that uses a pc is to location up personalized shortcuts to delivery any app they exhaust continually; I wrote about it here. I furthermore accurate found Vimium, which helps you to navigate on most web sites the exhaust of accurate keyboard shortcuts. Also the Most essential Key app talked about earlier than positively made my existence more straightforward.

I furthermore somewhat clearly separate growing from spicy: When I’m on my Mac I’m in work mode, when I’m on my cell phone, I read. That’s why apps take care of Most essential Key and Mail To Self (discontinued, I’m gonna write my possess clone presently) are so worthwhile: they point out you might per chance per chance be in a situation to ship one thing to your Mac for whenever you’re in work mode.

How originate you retain song of what you have to originate?

I create heavy exhaust of Trello and Inbox Zero. Trello is a joy to exhaust, especially whenever you be taught all their shortcuts. My Trello backlog is in overall endless, there is continuously one thing to originate, and I actually admire so many tips for issues I deserve to originate. I know I’ll never web to originate most of those even supposing. I mute deserve to song them so as to connect notes and hyperlinks as I analysis them extra.

Working…somewhere
Describe: Felix Krause

How originate you recharge or capture a atomize?

I skedaddle to the fitness heart virtually on daily foundation. It doesn’t perfect create me actually feel more confident, nonetheless furthermore it’s essential to sure my thoughts. I positioned on my headphones, admire some weights and ignore what’s going on around me. It took me some time so as to cease this circulate issue on the fitness heart.

I furthermore take care of taking walks. It’s actually nice to shuffle around Long island at night time, crossing bridges with mates and accurate playing the swish Unique York skyline.

What’s your well-liked aspect project?

I’ve been engaged on heaps of telegram bots neutral as of late, from monitoring my mood Three instances a day, to getting a message in the morning when it’s about to rain. I furthermore co-primarily based likelihood on the side of @orta, a tool to clarify rules for pull requests.

Besides that, I’ve been publishing privacy analysis in my free time. This has nothing to originate with my day job, nonetheless accurate interior most curiosity. Those posts generated an unexpected amount of attention, and made my Twitter process unusable for weeks.

What are you now finding out, or what originate you recommend?

I accurate done the audio e-book of Homo Deus, an pleasing e-book about society and the plot in which it might perhaps per chance per chance per chance exchange with abilities.

What’s a controversy you’re mute looking out to resolve?

I mute factor in there is more to be completed in phrases of being conscious of your interior most happiness. I take care of the WaitButWhy articles, particularly the one about your existence in weeks and selecting your profession. I printed a spreadsheet to fabricate your possess existence in weeks, and did the similar for the tentacles in the profession put up. I’d catch to proceed work on the mood monitoring bot and create it more straightforward to dive deeper into why you’re feeling a honorable manner, and detect traits.