Yesterday's Top Launches: 5 Tools from February 9, 2026 | thistools

Yesterday brought another wave of new developer tools aiming to streamline workflows, from wrangling AI assistants to mastering mundane system controls. It’s interesting to see a clear trend toward tools that act as bridges—between developers and AI, or between focus and functionality—without adding complexity. Let’s take a closer look at what launched.

Axel

If you’ve found yourself juggling multiple AI agents and struggling to keep track of their tasks and outputs, Axel might be the centralized command center you need. Built specifically for Mac with SwiftUI, this task manager lets you queue up work, assign it to the appropriate AI agent, and then review all proposed actions from a single, unified inbox. The concept addresses a growing pain point: as we delegate more to AI, the overhead of managing those interactions can ironically become a new source of work. Axel’s focus is on acceleration, promising to keep your AI assistants "fed" and their results organized. Being free and native to the desktop, it feels like a utility meant for serious, daily use rather than a casual experiment. It’s probably best suited for developers or product managers who are already deep into using AI coding agents and need a more structured way to oversee their work.

StayAwake.Dev

For developers who live in their browser, StayAwake.Dev offers a clever solution to a simple but frequent annoyance: your screen going to sleep and interrupting a flow state. This web-based hub combines a Wake Lock API implementation with a Pomodoro timer, a flip clock display, and basic task management tools. The idea is to create a single, persistent tab that serves as a dedicated focus workspace. It prevents sleep, helps you manage time, and keeps your immediate tasks visible. The fact that it’s free and runs entirely in the browser makes it incredibly accessible. There’s no complicated setup; you just open the tab and get to work. While the individual components are simple, their combination is smart. It’s a tool that understands the environment it operates in and seeks to eliminate friction right where you’re already working.

Inspector

The promise of AI writing code is compelling, but visually tweaking the resulting front-end can still mean diving back into the codebase. Inspector attempts to close that loop. It’s a visual editor that connects directly to AI coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor, allowing you to make text edits, reposition elements, and iterate on the design of your React, Next.js, or Vite applications locally. This direct connection to your local codebase is key; it’s not a separate design tool that generates code you have to integrate. You’re editing the actual components. For front-end developers who use AI to scaffold out UIs but then need to fine-tune the details, Inspector could significantly speed up that refinement process. It’s another free tool, suggesting the developers are prioritizing adoption. The success of something like this will hinge on its accuracy and how seamlessly it can handle the nuances of a real-world project, but the concept is undoubtedly powerful.

VolumeHub

This one tackles a classic macOS quality-of-life issue: per-app volume control. While Windows has had this functionality built-in for years, Mac users have typically relied on third-party apps, many of which required installing kernel extensions—a potential security concern. VolumeHub distinguishes itself by using Apple’s native Audio Tap API, meaning it can adjust the volume of individual applications without needing those low-level system extensions. Built with SwiftUI, it should feel right at home on a modern Mac. This is a paid tool, which makes sense given its focus on a polished, system-integrated utility. It’s not just for developers; anyone who multitasks with music, meetings, and videos will appreciate the precision. For a developer, it could be invaluable for balancing audio levels between a coding tutorial, a communication app like Slack or Teams, and their own music.

Planndu

In a world of cloud-synced, subscription-based task managers, Planndu takes a deliberately different approach. It’s built for "busy minds" with a focus on actually completing tasks, not just cataloging them. Its defining feature is that everything is stored 100% locally on your mobile device, with no account or login required. This emphasis on privacy and offline functionality is a clear value proposition for those wary of their personal data being stored on a server. The mobile-only platform suggests it’s designed for capturing and managing tasks on the go. The challenge for any new task manager is overcoming the inertia of established habits, but Planndu’s simplicity and strong stance on data privacy could attract users who feel overwhelmed by more complex systems or are consciously reducing their digital footprint.

Since these products all launched on the same day, community rankings aren't available yet. It will be fascinating to see which of these solutions resonates most. Does the market want better AI agent management, smoother local editing, or simpler, privacy-focused utilities? The variety here shows there are many angles to improving a developer's day.

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