Meet the Mac App That’s Connecting Knowledge Like No Other Can

The low-tech guide to creating clickable, shareable links to ANY file on your computer

I woke up this morning to the news that one of my all-time favourites has come to Setapp. Big, big smiles here, folks!

If you’re a Mac user who’s been on the fence about taking on a Setapp subscription, Hookmark could be the app that makes the choice an easy one. From the perspective of this self-appointed plain text advocate, Hookmark is, quite literally, the essential missing link in an integrated digital workflow.

Finally, a plain text document can be the central hub—a basket, of sorts—for documents inside unrelated apps, specific pieces of text buried deep inside a multi-page PDF, and images, amongst others. Guys, this is huge!

Phew! So far I’m doing okay at keeping my sentence length, superfluities and exclamation marks under control. But dang it’s hard because I’m trying to balance expressing how exciting this is with my desire to come across as a credible and mature source of information about something that’s a total game changer!!! (Oops, sorry 🫣 😁 🥳)

Who’s Hookmark for?

Hook (as it used to be known) has been around for a few years, but it feels new to me. In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not a Hookmark shill. They don’t know I’m writing this, and they’re certainly not paying me. It’s the concept, the paradigm behind the app, that’s got me dancing. Point me to a worthy competitor, and I’ll be happy to check them out.

So who’s Hookmark for? Humans who work with digital files, that’s who.

It’s for you if —

• You want an easier, more centralised way for you and your team to access all the files, emails, and apps associated with a project
• You need to refer to specific text in a PDF, and you want the person you’re emailing to be able to go straight to that text with a single click
• You believe that connected knowledge “enables people to create great products, solve important problems and improve themselves.” (source)

In short, Hookmark is for anyone who recognises that links beat searching. Non-techies most heartily welcome.

What’s the big deal with linking? Can’t we already do that?

Many notes apps (e.g., Obsidian, Logseq, Notenik) offer bidirectional linking, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.

I know only too well that it can take a while to get your head around the import and breadth of a tool like Hookmark. The ability to link to any file or text on your device is a big deal (though it should be a given), and while there are local links and other workarounds, they’re rarely convenient, and they don’t work with every file.

To prepare your little grey cells for this new way of connecting knowledge, I highly recommend taking the time to absorb the concepts behind the Manifesto for Ubiquitous Linking. The manifesto itself is only a 1-minute read, but you’ll find more information in the links at the bottom of the page.

When I became a signatory (alongside such esteemed colleagues as David Sparks and Nick Milo), this is what I wrote in the comments section:

One day we will look back on a world without ubiquitous linking as the dark ages of knowledge management. This is not a nice-to-have; it is — it should be — the very foundation of every digital endeavour.

It’s hard to mobilise a collective mindset when things have been disconnected for so long; the task now is to convince more people who have the power to bring about this change that it really is broke, and we really do need to fix it.

To those of you frustrated that the masses can’t see this issue clearly, take a look in any shoe shop window, and at your own feet: shoes have been causing more problems than they solve for hundreds of years now. Still, when people who are enlightened band together, there’s always hope; for a connected digital world, and for healthy feet!

Linking to specific parts of a PDF document

Not all PDF apps are compatible with deep linking, sadly. I’ve been using PDF Expert for years, and it doesn’t make the grade. PDFPenPro is a solid yes, as is surprise contender, Skim (open source; free).

I’m so impressed with the way Skim works, I’ve made it my default PDF editor. I’ll still need to use a more capable PDF app for rearranging pages, and editing text and images, but I’m trialling Skim for everything else solely because of its deep linking abilities.

Why Skim? Why don’t I just switch to PDF Pen Pro? Because I don’t want to buy more expensive pro PDF software when there’s a free alternative. And because I like supporting open source apps (smiling while looking at you, Raycast).

Here’s how it works.

1. Open a PDF in Skim or PDFPenPro, and select the text or image you want to link to
2. Activate Hookmark by pressing Control + H
3. Click on the little arrow next to the four horizontal lines in the top right of the pop-up window, and select Copy link. You can also use the usual Copy shortcut: Command + C (or Command + M for a Markdown link).
4. Paste the link wherever you like. Clicking on it will open the document to the correct page, with the text or image you chose in step 1, highlighted (swoon!).
5. Place that link onto your project planning page, next to a task, in an email, or wherever you want a portal to a specific location in a PDF document.

The resulting link can be pasted into a document, or an email, and sent to anyone with both the same PDF document (say, in a shared Dropbox folder) and Hookmark (yep, even the free version) on their computer, and it will open to the exact spot you specified.

Using Hookmark in your task manager, and in plain text apps like Obsidian

I keep track of projects and tasks in Obsidian, but the same procedure you’ll see in the example below can be applied to every notes app and task manager you care to mention. Wherever you keep an overview of your project is where you need links to every resource related to that project.

For my Undated Interactive Planner project, I have a page written in plain text (with Markdown formatting) which is the overview of everything related to that project. It contains:

• My vision for the project
• Its intended outcomes
• Wiki links to other related text files within my Obsidian vault
• URL links to the product pages on Shopify, Etsy, and Teachers Pay Teachers

And, generated by Hookmark:

• Link to the project folder
• Link to an Affinity Publisher document (pages)
• Link to an Affinity Designer document (covers)
• Link to the spreadsheet I used to plan out all 500+ pages of the planner

Each of these resources is just one click away. Think of it! Immediate access to disparate sources, in one place, in a plain text notes app. I think I’m in love!

To be perfectly clear, those links to Affinity documents will fire up the app if it’s not already open, and bring up the file in question. Even if the document is moved, and even if its name changes. Now that’s a cool superpower.

I don’t know if Notenik founder Herb Bowie uses Hookmark, but I’m thinking it could really turboboost the project launcher he wrote about in a recent article. Hookmark links also work great in apps like Tana.

Issues

When I had PDF Expert or Adobe Acrobat Reader set as the default PDF app on my Mac, clicking on a Hookmark link opened the document to the right page, but no text was highlighted. PDFPen (not Pro) comes with a Setapp subscription, but when you create Hookmark links in that app, they bring up the unidentified developer alert box and refuse to open.

Before you go

Well, I had intended to list all the other Setapp apps that make the subscription more than worthwhile for me, but I’ve kept you long enough. Time to wrap this one up.

In this post, I’ve blathered on about the wonderful Hookmark app coming to Setapp. I talked about why ubiquitous linking matters, and explained how to create deep, non-brittle, shareable links to any file type, as well as to specific text in PDF files.

In other words, I’ve shown you not just how to change your world, but how to connect its component parts. This is especially magical if you like living significant chunks of that world within plain text documents.

Now go out and get linking! I’d love to hear how it improves your workflow.

This article contains affiliate links to Setapp, but hey, I’d promote them even without the potential kickback! Whether or not you use my Setapp link, I hope you’ll consider giving Hookmark a go.

Download some free productivity goodies (including an Obsidian Planner demo vault) on my Gumroad store. For more plain text geekery, check out my Plain Text, Paper-Less Productivity Digest:

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