Great recommendations! Some additions I’ve found helpful.
App and Extensions:
Matter—a powerful, elegant read-it-later app that pulls in your newsletters, lets you listen to your articles in a natural voice, and much more. Highly recommend.
uBlock Origin—free, open-source ad content blocker.
hypothes.is—annotate, highlight, and tag web pages and PDF documents.
Bypass Paywalls—bypass paywalls for a good number of news sites.
Introvert—avoid distractions on your phone. For a select period of time, the app blocks your entire screen while generating a unique artwork. I also find the audio calming and use it as a meditation timer but you have the option to mute it. It’s the most helpful app on my phone.
Software:
Kap—make quick gifs to showcase something. Only on Mac, recommendations for a Windows alternative would be really appreciated.
Self-Control—block your own access to distracting websites, your mail servers, or anything else on the Internet. You will be unable to access those sites—even if you restart your computer or delete the application
Microsoft Edge—Switched after the recommendation by Dustin. In addition to the features mentioned in his comment, the Immersive Reader feature works really well for listening to articles.
An example that comes close to my use case is this. I’m in a bookshop and have bought a copy of NY Times and the WSJ. I then see an interesting article on page 13 of the Chicago Tribune. I pick up a copy and read the article and put it back. Did I steal from Chicago Tribune? Maybe. Is there a way I can compensate them for this? I’m not sure of a good way to do this. Bypass Paywalls fills a similar gap in my use case when I run into articles I don’t have subscriptions for. I endorse supporting blogs/newsletters/news sites if one gets significant value from them.