Replace Twitter Ads With Your To-Do List

macOS: I go to great lengths to avoid advertising around the web unless I really want to support the site or service I’m using. Besides, all of the big companies are probably profiting off my data anyway; do they really need my tiny little impression?

That’s why I love Hijack Your Feed, a fun macOS Safari extension that replaces promoted posts (or ads) in your Twitter feed with giant, colourful items from your Reminders app. Setting it up is simple, but it has a few nuances you’ll want to know in order to make sure it actually works. Mine was fussy the first time until I figured this all out, so hang in there.

To start, download the free Hijack Your Feed app from the Mac App Store. Launch it, and you’ll a prompt that asks you to do two key things:

It’s pretty easy to set both up, so don’t stress about that. You’ll eventually jump into Safari — sorry to Chrome, Edge, or Firefox users, but there’s only a Safari tie-in for Hijack Your Feed — where you’ll need to make sure you enable the extension:

Next, when you visit Twitter to start testing out Hijack Your Feed, make sure you’ve given the extension permission to mess with the contents of the site:

Finally, click on the little Hijack Your Feed icon and switch the extension’s single setting to “Hijack Ads” instead of “Hijack Posts.” I never quite saw any hijacking happen with the latter, but the former definitely worked, as you’ll see below:

Yes, that was a little snippet from my Shopping list in Reminders, letting me know that I should go get some drain cleaner for the sink. Only, I did that weeks ago and forgot to take it off my list. One great little trick of Hijack Your Feed is that it lets you actually mark tasks as complete when you finish them (or if you already have). You’re not just getting a reminder; you can actually act on it right then and there.

And, yes, the design of your reminders is giant, animated, and obnoxious. It’s a great way to ensure that you don’t just brush it off again. And it’s a lot better than another ad.