Yesterday's Top Launches: 5 Tools from January 17, 2026 | thistools

January 17, 2026, turned out to be a surprisingly varied day for product launches, offering everything from clever developer utilities to tools aimed at creators and communicators. If you're on the lookout for new developer tools or just enjoy seeing how people are solving niche problems, yesterday had something worth a glance.

dibma

Let's start with a product that certainly raises an eyebrow: dibma. This web-based tool lets you fabricate running activities. You can design a custom route, set a specific pace, and even generate synthetic heart rate data, exporting the whole thing as a FIT file ready for Strava. The makers are upfront that it's made purely for fun, testing, or content creation, bypassing the need for any actual GPS tracking or physical exertion.

Who is this for? You could see it being useful for app developers testing how their software handles different activity data imports without having to log miles themselves. Content creators might use it to visualize a theoretical run route for a video. The honesty about its purpose is refreshing—it's not trying to be a covert cheating tool but a creative utility. It’s a paid product, which makes sense given its specific, and let's be honest, somewhat peripheral use case. It solves a problem most people don't have, but for those who do, it’s likely a welcome solution.

ChatGPT Translate

In the realm of AI-powered communication, ChatGPT Translate launched as a free web tool for converting text between over 50 languages. The emphasis here is on preserving nuance—the meaning, context, and tone of the original text. This goes beyond simple word substitution, aiming for translations that feel natural for everyday communication, travel assistance, or professional documents.

Having a dedicated, streamlined interface for this specific ChatGPT capability is handy. While you could likely get similar results by carefully prompting the main ChatGPT interface, this product removes the guesswork, positioning itself as a direct competitor to established services like Google Translate or DeepL. For anyone who needs quick, reliable translations without hopping between tabs or crafting elaborate prompts, this is a straightforward and cost-effective option. Its free pricing tier makes it instantly accessible for casual and serious users alike.

beehiiv

Shifting focus to the creator economy, beehiiv launched its all-in-one newsletter platform. This isn't a brand-new concept, but beehiiv aims to stand out by deeply integrating newsletters, websites, and monetization tools into a single system. The goal is to help publishers grow their audience and generate revenue without patching together a bunch of disparate services.

The platform promises powerful editing tools and built-in growth features, which could be a significant draw for creators who are tired of managing a separate website on WordPress, a newsletter on Substack or Mailchimp, and a payment system elsewhere. The freemium model is a smart approach, allowing creators to start at no cost and scale up as their audience and needs grow. For anyone serious about building a media brand around their newsletter, a consolidated platform like this can dramatically simplify the operational overhead.

1Code

For developers, yesterday brought a interesting open source project called 1Code. It's a client specifically for Claude Code, featuring what the creators call a "calm UI." The main appeal is the ability to run multiple Claude Code agents in parallel, which is a significant workflow enhancement. Imagine working on refactoring a legacy module in one window while simultaneously having an agent generate unit tests for a new feature in another.

Available on web and desktop (Mac), this tool tackles the linear limitation of many AI coding assistants. Instead of waiting for one task to complete before starting another, you can multitask, potentially speeding up development cycles. The freemium model suggests there might be advanced features or higher usage limits for paying customers, but the core open source offering provides a tangible boost to productivity for developers who regularly use AI pair programmers. It's a practical example of how new developer tools are evolving to manage more complex, simultaneous interactions with AI.

TranslateGemma

Also launching was TranslateGemma, a new suite of open AI translation models built on Google's recently released Gemma 3. This is a more foundational release compared to the application-level tools above. TranslateGemma focuses on delivering high-quality translation across 55 languages with a emphasis on computational efficiency, meaning it can potentially run faster or on less powerful hardware.

Being open and available across web, mobile, desktop, and via API makes it incredibly versatile. Developers and companies could integrate these models into their own applications to power translation features without relying on a third-party service's pricing or limitations. As an open project, it also fosters innovation and customization within the developer community. While an end-user might not interact with TranslateGemma directly, they'll likely encounter its technology powering features in other apps soon. It represents the kind of open, efficient AI infrastructure that enables the next wave of applications.

Quick Links

For more details on any of these launches, check out the links below: