Gerald Koeder

A few weeks ago, we were contacted by Gerald Koeder, the developer of a beautiful Mac app utility that not only allows you to launch applications and open files, but also supports DEVONthink’s item links. The application is a Windows-like Start menu, suitably named Start. We responded in appreciation and he graciously accepted our request for an interview for our blog. Read on…

Gerald, how long have you been writing software?

I started programming back in 1997, at that time on Windows. Besides smaller tools, the focus was on special software for financial institutions — that doesn’t sound very exciting, I know! In 2011, I switched completely to the Mac and started working with Xcode.

How long have you been using DEVONthink?

DEVONthink has been part of my basic equipment for almost ten years. At that time, I had just switched from Windows to Mac. I was looking for a solution to organize different information in a centrally searchable way. DEVONthink convinced me with its enormous range of functions. Currently, I use three seats of DEVONthink Pro to keep my information constantly at hand and in sync on all my devices.

Why did you develop the Start app?

When I started working with the Mac, one thing struck me: There was no flexible way to organize applications quickly and easily. Spotlight is very useful, of course, but only if you recall the application’s name immediately. With many applications and little time, this is not always the case. A simple and fast way to connect applications with tags and thus structure them was needed. A connection to Spotlight to keep the structure flexible and easy to maintain was obvious. And in the course of time and with the help of the lively feedback from the community, the Start app continued to grow.

What prompted you to integrate DEVONthink?

URL schemes are a powerful tool and from feedback from customers I realized that many are looking for a solution to be able to use them easily and quickly. Since I work a lot with DEVONthink, I found it very useful to be able to open individual databases or single entries quickly with Start. Especially in connection with tags, it is possible to open all necessary applications together with the corresponding DEVONthink database with a single keystroke.

Lastly, do you have any other apps coming to the public?

Currently, the focus is clearly on the Start app with many interesting functions and extensions in the pipeline. There will surely be also new exciting projects in the future but … sssh!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this interview. Gerald has also provided a blog post on his site detailing how to use our item links in Start: DEVONthink and Start.