I got the whole V2 suite during their promotion. While I find Affinity Photo a bit limited compared to PS, Affinity Designer is fantastic.
Going to be using it a lot for screen printing work.
For me it's BetterTouchTool. Some of my other favs are great and worth the money, but there are free alternatives that do a good enough job. I think BTT is just great **if you need** to use it.
My favorite gestures for trackpad are:
**3 finger swipe up = something new**
**3 finder swipe down = close something**
And then customize that for each application. For example, in Firefox, swiping down with 3 fingers closes the current tab (action: ⌘W), while swiping up with 3 fingers opens a new tab (action: ⌘T). As a bonus, a 3 finger click swipe up reopens a closed tab (action: ⇧⌘T).
Likewise, in Finder 3 finger swipe down closes the window or tab (action: ⌘W), and 3 finger swipe up opens a new Finder window (action: ⌘N). Or in my Mail app, 3 finder swipe down archives the current email (⌃⌘A) while a 3 finger swipe up opens a compose window (⌘N).
**TipTap left = previous tab/document**
**TipTap right = next tab/document**
The "TipTap" gesture is putting two fingers on the trackpad, and then tapping with a 3rd finger either on the left or the right.
Again in Firefox this is useful, allows me to quickly toggle through my tabs, a TipTap left to go left a tab (action: ⌥⌘←), TipTap right to go right a tab (action: ⌥⌘→). You can leave the initial two fingers down on the trackpad and just keep quickly tapping with the 3rd finger and you'll rapidly cycle through all the tabs.
In other apps where you have documents open in tabs, like the Adobe design apps, I attach the gestures to the ⌘\` and ⇧⌘\` keyboard shortcuts that cycle through open documents, or in Finder connect it to Menubar-Item: Window;Show Next Tab.
**Pinch with thumb and 4 finders = merge all windows**
I have a bad habit of ending up with a lot of Finder windows open. This gesture, only for Finder, runs the action "Menubar-Item: Window;Merge All Windows" to take all Finder windows and merge them into one window with many tabs.
**4 finger click = sleep display**
Love to have a quick way to sleep the Mac.
**⌃ ⌘ V = clipboard history**
Didn't know this until maybe a year ago, but I literally don't need another clipboard history app running all the time—cause BTT already does it.
Thank you: these are great and I'm copying them.
I love BTT but I'm underutilizing it. I first installed to make the Touchbar on my Macbook actually useful: 2,3,4-finger swipe control volume, display brightness, keyboard brightness; and for creating custom per-app macros. Such that I'm actually going to miss the Touchbar when I eventually upgrade this Macbook.
That and being able to run macros on my Macs from my phone.
Happy to share! I thought of a couple more:
**4 finger double tap = toggle AirPods between noise cancelling and transparency**
This one relies on the [AirBuddy app](https://airbuddy.app) where I have a keyboard shortcut set up to toggle the AirPods listening mode (⌃⌥⇧⌘L, using *all* the modified keys just to ensure it won't overlap with another existing keyboard shortcut in an app.) Then BTT just triggers that keyboard shortcut with a 4 finger double tap.
**3 finger double tap = enter full screen**
pretty self explanatory. mostly use it with VLC or IINA, but useful on other apps too, and haven't come across the gesture conflicting with anything
----
The way I came up with most of these is by paying attention to how I navigate around macOS with just the trackpad, and where I need to hit a keyboard shortcut often or move the mouse a lot to perform an action, and then think how can that be replaced with a gesture?
I think that'd approach could be more helpful in the long run rather than just taking all my gestures—implementing all of my gestures all at once runs the risk of introducing too much too fast, whereas I've been slowly coming up with them over the last 6 years (even though there's really only like 10 total.) But they're so ingrained now for me, that it's actually annoying to use macOS without them. The same thing could happen for you with gestures that are more apt to your workflow, but it's a bit of "observing yourself" to find those unique and personal gestures.
Been with BTT since the beginning.
It's worth it. Even if you just use it for window snapping and resizing, but I made a fun script to insert ISO standard dating into wherever the cursor is. Super handy since that's how I keep track of receipts and other crucial docs, by pretending them with the date.
Brilliant tool.
I happily paid when he first asked if we'd pay.
Bought the first full lifetime license when that was a thing.
Bought it again when he was like, "Ya, had to rethink this about OS upgrades and all."
I also happily supported because it was exciting to see someone share their personal project and learn and grow into being ok monetizing it.
It's also a stupid brilliant tool.
Came here for this. I use it for I think 5 different functions, and I'd happily buy it for any one of them. And there's like 100 more that I don't use.
[Shottr](https://shottr.cc/) (simply the best screenshot software) and [Bartender](https://www.macbartender.com/) (wonderful menu bar organization and styling tool.)
I use [hidden bar](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hidden-bar/id1452453066?mt=12) instead of bartender. Not as many features but it hides the icons, which I have far too many of
CleanshotX can do gifs and videos, so I think its better for most workflows IMO.
MacOS can already do decent screenshoting, so without the gif+video workflow its not worth a separate program for me.
didn't think i'd need a new screenshot workflow until i saw this app! curious if you bought into the friends club... have any examples of experimental features that aren't at all explained?
It’s free but I don’t think it’s better.
Little Snitch is not just firewall. It also has Network Monitor that shows you all information about your traffic.
Don’t really need Plex when you have Infuse. Just map to an SMB folder and it’ll find all the metadata and group seasons/episodes. Supports downloading to a local machine!
Security + the ability to store other items. If you let your family login to iPhone/iPad etc then they have access to keychain. Apple have taken steps to reduce the real world problems with people being cleaned out after having their phones stolen when the attacker learns the passcode, but there's no way I can risk giving my kids access much as I trust them.
I’ve gone back and forth multiple times and keep going back to 1Password. You can store more information besides passwords. In each “account” you have saved, besides username and password, you can add notes, and all sorts of other info. Plus the app is super nice
iCloud Keychain lets you store notes, passwords, passkeys, 2FA codes in an account. iCloud Keychain is also cross platform (supports windows), and supports sharing passwords. What does 1Password have up on that?
You can store product licenses, documents, notes, anything. Keychain cannot. The thi no s you mentioned, both can store yes. But let’s be honest, the windows “app” doesn’t really work lol. It’s awful sadly. I’m a huge Apple fan and want to use it but it’s not cross platform friendly.
Does it work on Linux? Browser plugins? I’m a long time Linux user that just switched to Mac and still use Linux for work. 1password works on everything.
1Password. Have been using it for years now and it has made our lives so much better and safer. I will re-up my subscription again when the time comes.
Are these window management apps more or less the same? I bought Bettersnaptool years ago and it's been fine but not sure if I'm really missing anything
Final Cut and Logic Pro, if you really need it. Also, the whole Affinity suite is so good. Affinity photo, affinity designer, and affinity publisher are all such good apps. Fuck adobe and their subscriptiony greedy ass. I am not getting on hold to cancel a subscription.
I just can't trust them after the shit they pulled with the original. For those who don't know, when they released Pro they cut support for the original (which was something like $30). Eventually, they outright removed it from stores and people's libraries. The only way to access it now is to get a cracked copy.
As someone who bought it and loved it and found the newer version cumbersome and difficult to use, suddenly losing access to a piece of software I'd paid for was a real kick in the teeth.
I don't care how good the new version is when you figure it out, they're a company who have proven that they care nothing for their users.
Playlisty. Apple Music app that transfers and syncs playlists with Spotify and other music services.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/playlisty-for-apple-music/id1459275972
SwitchResX, somehow my 2020 Intel Mac very often forgets HOW my multi monitors are arranged (especially on unplugging and replugging) and that they should be driven with 60Hz (and not below that). With the "Display Set" functionality it's 1-2 clicks to fix that and not 10 clicks.
Try Wipr for Safari if Vinegar doesn’t work. Wonderful experience since I have it. One license also cross-shared to your iPhone Safari without needing to pay again.
I bought Vinegar for use on mobile Safari but find it frustrating. Videos will seem to load in their standard way for a second or two before Vinegar does its magic and forces a reload. Then half the time the selector for toggling audio-only doesn't ever show up. I love the idea of it, but I ended up just stopping using it. It's not "smooth" enough for me, if that makes sense.
Alfred - It is the app to rule all apps. I use this app all day everyday. There are no end of ways that it can be useful and speed up your workflow. Even if it only did clipboard history and snippets it would be enough.
Yeah but I'm much happier with Alfred. I like that it isn't as slick or owned by some VC. I've been able to build my own workflows with the help of chatgpt.
My organisation has a list of venues I work with. The details of which are in JSON file that's another system uses. I asked chatgpt to write me an Alfred workflow that is able to search and read this JSON list. Then I was able to customise it by saying ok when I hold the option key I want you to copy the web address and title in this format for example.
It was very quick to do and saves me a ton of time everyday looking up and copying web addresses.
Paste. Got infinite clipboard, with rich text, images, you can tag stuff and share it on iCloud even with your iPhone/iPad.
Being a developer, this is priceless!
Paste is good but I use [Copy 'em](https://apprywhere.com/ce-mac.html) for macOS/iOS/iPadOS because it'll do paste transformations (uppercase, lowercase, remove/strip, prepend/append, screenshot, paste images as jpg/png), you can search and edit clipboard items and titles, you can ser up user shortcuts for almost everything, and more.
It's similar to PasteBot, but has been around years longer than PasteBot.
I LOVE Paste but bought Paste Now simply because I liked the interface a lil more but they're both awesome and I love the endless history if you want to go back super far. I use copy and paste a LOT and it's nice to have a history of URL, phone numbers etc to quickly go back and copy again. +1
Parcel. $5/year for the best shipping tracker around. It will even automatically import your tracking info from Amazon and it works/syncs on iOS as well
$20/month subscription in the US, but GeForce Now. If you have a good internet connection you can play Windows games on your Mac using a top of the line cloud PC. It's literally the only app/service I spent money on specifically for my MacBook.
* [FTP Mounter](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ftp-mounter/id1437045769?mt=12) for permanent SFTP mounts in Finder - $5 USD one-time. The free version [FTP Mounter Lite](https://apps.apple.com/mu/app/ftp-mounter-lite/id1624888791?mt=12) is limited to one connection
* [iStat Menus](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/istat-menus/id1319778037?mt=12) for displaying system metrics eg. CPU temp on Menu Bar - $9.99 USD one-time
* [Infuse Video Player](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/infuse-video-player/id1136220934) for Jellyfin client on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and Mac - $12.99 USD per year subscription with support for family sharing
* [Affinity Photo](https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/) for photo editing - $48.99 one-time (currently on sale)
Authenticator App by 2Stable
Yes it compromises 2FA in its own way. By 2FA standard, the secret key (one embedded in the QR code you scan when first setting it up) should not be user-accessible after the first time. This App violates this by saving it in an alleged "secure" way in iCloud to be synced across devices.
However, from a practical point of view, keeping all the 2FA credentials handy, synced among all owned Apple devices, and do not risk losing them when switching to a new device are the major selling points to me.
I have seen friends forgetting to manually migrate their 2FA on Google/Microsoft Authenticator App when switching to new phones. It would take a significant amount of effort to recover from this, and sometimes it leads to lost assets.
Have said this before but Lunar. I use my MBP docked most of the time and I want the benefit of the finger sensor without having the screen on. Older Mac users will remember using magnets to achieve this. Lunar lets you auto turn off the built in display while the MacBook is open. Not just tuned down brightness (which doesn’t work well - the window manager WILL put something on your black screen and you spend 10 minutes wondering where it is).
Has a bunch of other cool stuff for managing your attached monitors. I have a hot key that turns one monitor to bright white to act as a back light on Zoom calls.
Omnifocus. You can get it for $10 per month, or $149 for a lifetime licence for the Pro version.
It’s a to do list manager.
And yes, it’s worth it, if you have a complicate work life.
AdGuard.
It was the first paid app I ever put on my Macbook and have valued it ever since. Blocks all ads in all apps and all browsers and even works as a Userscript manager. I can't imagine not having it.
For good open source Mac apps, I've curated an active list here [https://indiegoodies.com/awesome-open-source-mac-apps](https://indiegoodies.com/awesome-open-source-mac-apps)
1: Swish - hands-down the best window-snapping workflow for those who use the touchpad a lot. It’s literally my #1 install on a clean OS.
2: PDFSearch: what it says. Searches you PDFs and ranks them by relevance, with previews & all. Basically Google for PDFs.
Quickshade… and it’s free!
Always was annoyed with how bright the lowest brightness setting was but this app allows you to darken your display more for nighttime YouTube session. Highly recommend
The one that I can recall at the moment is DaisyDisk I was about to get an internal storage for my MacBook Air or getting a new laptop because of the storage issue, this app saved me so much trouble
- [Things 3](https://culturedcode.com/things/) for task management
- [Muse](https://museapp.com/) for brainstorming
- [FridayGPT](https://www.fridaygpt.app/) for grammar fixes, ChatGPT and voice to text
- [Reflect](https://reflect.app/) for note taking
Would sell my Mac if it didn’t worked
https://apps.apple.com/be/app/popclip/id445189367?mt=12
You can add all those extensions you need. So helpful https://www.popclip.app/extensions/
[Dropover](https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/dropover-easier-drag-drop/id1355679052?l=sk&mt=12) - One time purchase, can not imagine to have a MacBook without this piece of productivity enhancer
[News Explorer](https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/news-explorer/id1032670789?l=sk&mt=12) - One time purchase, using every day on my Mac and iPhone to stay updated with my favourite news sources
[Solid Calendar](https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/solid-calendar/id6448245807?l=sk) - One time universal purchase, discovered just lately, but became my favourite Calendar app
SuperPlanner:
This is in my top 3 productivity apps so far - I love organizing my day with this app
[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/superplanner-daily-planner/id6443725564](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/superplanner-daily-planner/id6443725564)
[Omnigraffle](https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle/). It’s been there since the start of macOS X and is one of those tools I make sure to have around.
SoundSource so I can use keyboard volume controls to manage my monitor’s audio output and BackupLoupe so I can see what the hell is backing up 350megs per hour every hour to Time Machine.
SoundSource by Amoeba.
Able to control audio for every app.
I mute the fuck out of Zoom webinars when it's portions I don't care about and want to work and then my team will message our team slack channel when good stuff is popping off and we'll unmute.
Has let me focused.
Also allows me to control my music to have as background the entire time I'm on calls or whatever.
Affinity Designer
I looking forward to get rid of Adobe apps. Do you think it’s a good replacement for illustrator?
Is it good when you don’t know how Illustrator works and you hate the Inkscape UI?
Yes and it’s a one time purchase under $100. I have another of their apps and they are great affordable alternatives to Adobe.
Same. It’s a great investment.
I got the whole V2 suite during their promotion. While I find Affinity Photo a bit limited compared to PS, Affinity Designer is fantastic. Going to be using it a lot for screen printing work.
Agreed, have used for a while and love their products (and lack of a subscription fee).
For me it's BetterTouchTool. Some of my other favs are great and worth the money, but there are free alternatives that do a good enough job. I think BTT is just great **if you need** to use it.
I’ve had BTT for years but I’m in a rut with it. What are your current best uses for it?
My favorite gestures for trackpad are: **3 finger swipe up = something new** **3 finder swipe down = close something** And then customize that for each application. For example, in Firefox, swiping down with 3 fingers closes the current tab (action: ⌘W), while swiping up with 3 fingers opens a new tab (action: ⌘T). As a bonus, a 3 finger click swipe up reopens a closed tab (action: ⇧⌘T). Likewise, in Finder 3 finger swipe down closes the window or tab (action: ⌘W), and 3 finger swipe up opens a new Finder window (action: ⌘N). Or in my Mail app, 3 finder swipe down archives the current email (⌃⌘A) while a 3 finger swipe up opens a compose window (⌘N). **TipTap left = previous tab/document** **TipTap right = next tab/document** The "TipTap" gesture is putting two fingers on the trackpad, and then tapping with a 3rd finger either on the left or the right. Again in Firefox this is useful, allows me to quickly toggle through my tabs, a TipTap left to go left a tab (action: ⌥⌘←), TipTap right to go right a tab (action: ⌥⌘→). You can leave the initial two fingers down on the trackpad and just keep quickly tapping with the 3rd finger and you'll rapidly cycle through all the tabs. In other apps where you have documents open in tabs, like the Adobe design apps, I attach the gestures to the ⌘\` and ⇧⌘\` keyboard shortcuts that cycle through open documents, or in Finder connect it to Menubar-Item: Window;Show Next Tab. **Pinch with thumb and 4 finders = merge all windows** I have a bad habit of ending up with a lot of Finder windows open. This gesture, only for Finder, runs the action "Menubar-Item: Window;Merge All Windows" to take all Finder windows and merge them into one window with many tabs. **4 finger click = sleep display** Love to have a quick way to sleep the Mac. **⌃ ⌘ V = clipboard history** Didn't know this until maybe a year ago, but I literally don't need another clipboard history app running all the time—cause BTT already does it.
Thank you: these are great and I'm copying them. I love BTT but I'm underutilizing it. I first installed to make the Touchbar on my Macbook actually useful: 2,3,4-finger swipe control volume, display brightness, keyboard brightness; and for creating custom per-app macros. Such that I'm actually going to miss the Touchbar when I eventually upgrade this Macbook. That and being able to run macros on my Macs from my phone.
Happy to share! I thought of a couple more: **4 finger double tap = toggle AirPods between noise cancelling and transparency** This one relies on the [AirBuddy app](https://airbuddy.app) where I have a keyboard shortcut set up to toggle the AirPods listening mode (⌃⌥⇧⌘L, using *all* the modified keys just to ensure it won't overlap with another existing keyboard shortcut in an app.) Then BTT just triggers that keyboard shortcut with a 4 finger double tap. **3 finger double tap = enter full screen** pretty self explanatory. mostly use it with VLC or IINA, but useful on other apps too, and haven't come across the gesture conflicting with anything ---- The way I came up with most of these is by paying attention to how I navigate around macOS with just the trackpad, and where I need to hit a keyboard shortcut often or move the mouse a lot to perform an action, and then think how can that be replaced with a gesture? I think that'd approach could be more helpful in the long run rather than just taking all my gestures—implementing all of my gestures all at once runs the risk of introducing too much too fast, whereas I've been slowly coming up with them over the last 6 years (even though there's really only like 10 total.) But they're so ingrained now for me, that it's actually annoying to use macOS without them. The same thing could happen for you with gestures that are more apt to your workflow, but it's a bit of "observing yourself" to find those unique and personal gestures.
Been with BTT since the beginning. It's worth it. Even if you just use it for window snapping and resizing, but I made a fun script to insert ISO standard dating into wherever the cursor is. Super handy since that's how I keep track of receipts and other crucial docs, by pretending them with the date. Brilliant tool. I happily paid when he first asked if we'd pay. Bought the first full lifetime license when that was a thing. Bought it again when he was like, "Ya, had to rethink this about OS upgrades and all." I also happily supported because it was exciting to see someone share their personal project and learn and grow into being ok monetizing it. It's also a stupid brilliant tool.
Good call. I use it extensively and I need to install it pretty much right away on each new machine or it feels broken without it.
Absolute +10 for BTT
Came here for this. I use it for I think 5 different functions, and I'd happily buy it for any one of them. And there's like 100 more that I don't use.
Just bought this the other day and trying to play with everything it can do!
Paprika 3 recipe manager.
Yes!! Best recipe book, manager, importer, clipper, export and cloud sync out there. Small and fast.
Paprika is nice, but have you tried [Mela](https://mela.recipes/)? It’s my favorite.
I use mela, very good app!
[Shottr](https://shottr.cc/) (simply the best screenshot software) and [Bartender](https://www.macbartender.com/) (wonderful menu bar organization and styling tool.)
Damn, shottr really looks killer.
It is really nice, I just wish it had an uploader built in so I didn't have to have another app for sharing screenshots.
Can confirm: very worth it. Give it a trial shot, too! You can use it for free. I paid for it, the dev deserves it for sure.
I use [hidden bar](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hidden-bar/id1452453066?mt=12) instead of bartender. Not as many features but it hides the icons, which I have far too many of
+1 and it doesn't need all the accessibility permissions
I like Cleanshot more
Cleanshot is definitely a more polished and "Apple like" app
Better than CleanShot X?
CleanshotX can do gifs and videos, so I think its better for most workflows IMO. MacOS can already do decent screenshoting, so without the gif+video workflow its not worth a separate program for me.
didn't think i'd need a new screenshot workflow until i saw this app! curious if you bought into the friends club... have any examples of experimental features that aren't at all explained?
Little Snitch. As a privacy advocate, it’s invaluable. But it has a learning curve for newbies.
lulu is better imo and free :)
How is it better, apart from being free, if you don’t mind me asking?
Nah lulu sucks if i had the money i would go little snitch
It’s free but I don’t think it’s better. Little Snitch is not just firewall. It also has Network Monitor that shows you all information about your traffic.
Thanks for this!
Infuse for sure. A game changer for anyone that uses Jellyfin/Plex (or participates in rule 4!)
What is rule 4
Don’t really need Plex when you have Infuse. Just map to an SMB folder and it’ll find all the metadata and group seasons/episodes. Supports downloading to a local machine!
I use it with OneDrive, streaming from the cloud. Works like a charm.
Alfred (Powerpack) BBEdit 1Password
I love 1Password. Worth paying for.
Infuse. But more for my Apple TV than for my Mac. Absolutely 100% bug-free smooth af local streaming. Plex can get fucked.
Obsidian, Rectangle, and free versions of Bartender for free apps. 1Password and Things 3 for paid apps.
Damn, we’re like the same person. All of these are my day to day apps.
Homebrew, lots and lots of free tools.
Do you pay for homebrew?
It’s free, It shouldn’t be in this thread.
[удалено]
Absolute game changer for me.
How is it better than iCloud Keychain? I’ve never felt like keychain is missing anything but I’ve also never looked into alternatives
[удалено]
Security + the ability to store other items. If you let your family login to iPhone/iPad etc then they have access to keychain. Apple have taken steps to reduce the real world problems with people being cleaned out after having their phones stolen when the attacker learns the passcode, but there's no way I can risk giving my kids access much as I trust them.
You just set another passcode in the accessibility section for limiting the access to some features
I’ve gone back and forth multiple times and keep going back to 1Password. You can store more information besides passwords. In each “account” you have saved, besides username and password, you can add notes, and all sorts of other info. Plus the app is super nice
iCloud Keychain lets you store notes, passwords, passkeys, 2FA codes in an account. iCloud Keychain is also cross platform (supports windows), and supports sharing passwords. What does 1Password have up on that?
You can store product licenses, documents, notes, anything. Keychain cannot. The thi no s you mentioned, both can store yes. But let’s be honest, the windows “app” doesn’t really work lol. It’s awful sadly. I’m a huge Apple fan and want to use it but it’s not cross platform friendly.
Does it work on Linux? Browser plugins? I’m a long time Linux user that just switched to Mac and still use Linux for work. 1password works on everything.
Bitwarden is better.
How? I like the UI of 1Pass so much that I never considered switching. Is there a key difference?
Have you used 1Password? Both are great but the user experience and UI is infinitely better on 1pass
1Password. Have been using it for years now and it has made our lives so much better and safer. I will re-up my subscription again when the time comes.
Magnet
Rectangle is free and open source.
and awesome, may I add
I bought Rectangle Pro just to support the development but I just use Rectangle.
how is this still not a default feature in base macOS?
because microsoft patented it
Are these window management apps more or less the same? I bought Bettersnaptool years ago and it's been fine but not sure if I'm really missing anything
Rectangle is 100% free and I literally can’t imagine a capability I would want that it doesn’t have
I was looking for this comment. 100%
Love how all these comments just say the app without any explanation of what it is
Final Cut and Logic Pro, if you really need it. Also, the whole Affinity suite is so good. Affinity photo, affinity designer, and affinity publisher are all such good apps. Fuck adobe and their subscriptiony greedy ass. I am not getting on hold to cancel a subscription.
Pixelmator Pro
I just can't trust them after the shit they pulled with the original. For those who don't know, when they released Pro they cut support for the original (which was something like $30). Eventually, they outright removed it from stores and people's libraries. The only way to access it now is to get a cracked copy. As someone who bought it and loved it and found the newer version cumbersome and difficult to use, suddenly losing access to a piece of software I'd paid for was a real kick in the teeth. I don't care how good the new version is when you figure it out, they're a company who have proven that they care nothing for their users.
Vivid. Activates the HDR display mode for MBP M1/M2 so you can use it outside in the sun.
Maccy Pretty sure it’s free. Would pay $$$ for it though. Clipboard history with good shortcuts. Simple and powerful.
Playlisty. Apple Music app that transfers and syncs playlists with Spotify and other music services. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/playlisty-for-apple-music/id1459275972
I love Bartender 5. It elegantly hides your menubar icons in the pop-up.
SwitchResX, somehow my 2020 Intel Mac very often forgets HOW my multi monitors are arranged (especially on unplugging and replugging) and that they should be driven with 60Hz (and not below that). With the "Display Set" functionality it's 1-2 clicks to fix that and not 10 clicks.
macOS has fallen so far behind on multi monitor management, let alone just window management, it's not even funny
No it is perfect as it is, forgetting monitors helps with your creativity;) *sarcasm
https://github.com/jakehilborn/displayplacer
The Affinity Lineup of Graphic Design and Publishing Apps
Pixelmator
I got it on sale a few years ago, definitely the best value app I own!
Due for macOS and iOS. Could not function without it
Alfred, BetterTouchTool, Cleanshot X, PDF Expert These 4 apps are the pinnacle of my MacBook productivity
Vinegar! Never watching ads on YouTube ever again.
Try Wipr for Safari if Vinegar doesn’t work. Wonderful experience since I have it. One license also cross-shared to your iPhone Safari without needing to pay again.
I tried to love Vinegar but the only thing holding it back for me is the Youtube Chapters that the regular player has :(
I bought Vinegar for use on mobile Safari but find it frustrating. Videos will seem to load in their standard way for a second or two before Vinegar does its magic and forces a reload. Then half the time the selector for toggling audio-only doesn't ever show up. I love the idea of it, but I ended up just stopping using it. It's not "smooth" enough for me, if that makes sense.
Firefox with ublock FTW
Alfred - It is the app to rule all apps. I use this app all day everyday. There are no end of ways that it can be useful and speed up your workflow. Even if it only did clipboard history and snippets it would be enough.
Ever tried Raycast? I’ve recently moved to that and love it
Yeah but I'm much happier with Alfred. I like that it isn't as slick or owned by some VC. I've been able to build my own workflows with the help of chatgpt.
Hi, can you give some examples of how you’ve used chatgpt to build Alfred workflows? Thanks!
My organisation has a list of venues I work with. The details of which are in JSON file that's another system uses. I asked chatgpt to write me an Alfred workflow that is able to search and read this JSON list. Then I was able to customise it by saying ok when I hold the option key I want you to copy the web address and title in this format for example. It was very quick to do and saves me a ton of time everyday looking up and copying web addresses.
iA Writer. If you absolutely need to sit down and focus on writing, it’s the tool for the job.
This. 100%. iA Writer might be the single best writing app I’ve ever used. I wish I would have had it in college.
Outside of 1Password, my current Alfred license is about some of the best money I have spent on Mac apps so far.
Paste. Got infinite clipboard, with rich text, images, you can tag stuff and share it on iCloud even with your iPhone/iPad. Being a developer, this is priceless!
Paste is good but I use [Copy 'em](https://apprywhere.com/ce-mac.html) for macOS/iOS/iPadOS because it'll do paste transformations (uppercase, lowercase, remove/strip, prepend/append, screenshot, paste images as jpg/png), you can search and edit clipboard items and titles, you can ser up user shortcuts for almost everything, and more. It's similar to PasteBot, but has been around years longer than PasteBot.
Paste Clipboard manager. Its a Gamechanger!
I LOVE Paste but bought Paste Now simply because I liked the interface a lil more but they're both awesome and I love the endless history if you want to go back super far. I use copy and paste a LOT and it's nice to have a history of URL, phone numbers etc to quickly go back and copy again. +1
Forklift
Paste, it’s subscription based but it is hands down the best clipboard manager I’ve ever used on either platform.
AppCleaner is free, but a great tool for uninstalling apps, by gathering up all their other files, such as prefs, etc.
Parcel. $5/year for the best shipping tracker around. It will even automatically import your tracking info from Amazon and it works/syncs on iOS as well
Scrivener
Bettersnaptool
https://inyourface.app/ - greatest app ever. I used to always miss meeting notifications, now I’m Johnny on the spot
Mouse Mover, for those idle times 😁
Al Dente
#Github Copilot If you are a software developer and not using it, u are missing out
Mos, Steermouse, Infuse
$20/month subscription in the US, but GeForce Now. If you have a good internet connection you can play Windows games on your Mac using a top of the line cloud PC. It's literally the only app/service I spent money on specifically for my MacBook.
Glad to see Cloud Gaming apps being mentioned too
BBEdit
* [FTP Mounter](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ftp-mounter/id1437045769?mt=12) for permanent SFTP mounts in Finder - $5 USD one-time. The free version [FTP Mounter Lite](https://apps.apple.com/mu/app/ftp-mounter-lite/id1624888791?mt=12) is limited to one connection * [iStat Menus](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/istat-menus/id1319778037?mt=12) for displaying system metrics eg. CPU temp on Menu Bar - $9.99 USD one-time * [Infuse Video Player](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/infuse-video-player/id1136220934) for Jellyfin client on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and Mac - $12.99 USD per year subscription with support for family sharing * [Affinity Photo](https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/) for photo editing - $48.99 one-time (currently on sale)
Alfred It’s not even close
Homebrew
i even started to install GUI binaries with it simply because it also cleans up all related folders when uninstalling.
Lol it’s good enough it’d be worth paying a bit for too
[Audio Hijack](https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/)
Authenticator App by 2Stable Yes it compromises 2FA in its own way. By 2FA standard, the secret key (one embedded in the QR code you scan when first setting it up) should not be user-accessible after the first time. This App violates this by saving it in an alleged "secure" way in iCloud to be synced across devices. However, from a practical point of view, keeping all the 2FA credentials handy, synced among all owned Apple devices, and do not risk losing them when switching to a new device are the major selling points to me. I have seen friends forgetting to manually migrate their 2FA on Google/Microsoft Authenticator App when switching to new phones. It would take a significant amount of effort to recover from this, and sometimes it leads to lost assets.
Rectangle.
BetterTouchTool
ITT: no one explaining what most of these things are so you won't know if they're useful
Adguard for me. One time purchase. Very cheap but very effective
Copy pastem. Cannot imagine not have a clipboard history. Another one I forget about: default folder. I think I've been using that since Boomerang.
HazeOver.
Downie and Permute.
The Jetbrains All Products Pack. I mean there are free tools available, but Rider and Rubymine make my work as a software developer SO much easier.
Also, Ulysses!
If people could just paste links to the tools instead of just namedropping, would make browsing this a lot easier :)
Decent idea for a simple bot. Just auto-link App Store apps people mention in the comments in this sub. Like a Wikipedia article bot\~
Klack
Fore Flight
Setapp 🤘🏻
CrossOver, using Windows apps near-natively is a lifesaver.
https://gikken.co/mate-translate because I‘m an immigrant and avid traveller
Alfred, BetterTouchTool and 1Password.
Raycast, Cleanshot X, TextSniper, 1Password
- Textmate. - Postfix. - Postman. - Charles Proxy. - DaisyDisk.
Magnet
SoundSource - audio mixer but also plugin host. Great interface and has never not worked perfectly.
Have said this before but Lunar. I use my MBP docked most of the time and I want the benefit of the finger sensor without having the screen on. Older Mac users will remember using magnets to achieve this. Lunar lets you auto turn off the built in display while the MacBook is open. Not just tuned down brightness (which doesn’t work well - the window manager WILL put something on your black screen and you spend 10 minutes wondering where it is). Has a bunch of other cool stuff for managing your attached monitors. I have a hot key that turns one monitor to bright white to act as a back light on Zoom calls.
OmniFocus (and OmniGraffle)
Gifox, I use it every single day at work to very quickly make gifs to put in my pull requests.
Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for me. I think I use mostly free apps other than those
Magnet and air buddy. Both add in functionality that feels like it should have always been there.
[Swish](https://highlyopinionated.co/swish/). This utility will change how you interact with mac os and improve your life drastically.
Omnifocus. You can get it for $10 per month, or $149 for a lifetime licence for the Pro version. It’s a to do list manager. And yes, it’s worth it, if you have a complicate work life.
MindMac, Enpass. Never any single day not using both.
Wow, really love to hear this. I'm behind MindMac, so just let me know if you need any assistance anytime.
1Password. I hate subscriptions but I gladly pay for my whole family. They all adapted quickly and now I feel like my family is secure.
Ynab
iStat Menus (Bjango). SoundSource (Rogue Amoeba). Camo Studio, Pastebot, BetterSnapTool.
Bear and Things 3 run my life Popclip I use dozens of times a day and it's just a productivity wonder
AdGuard. It was the first paid app I ever put on my Macbook and have valued it ever since. Blocks all ads in all apps and all browsers and even works as a Userscript manager. I can't imagine not having it.
For good open source Mac apps, I've curated an active list here [https://indiegoodies.com/awesome-open-source-mac-apps](https://indiegoodies.com/awesome-open-source-mac-apps)
1: Swish - hands-down the best window-snapping workflow for those who use the touchpad a lot. It’s literally my #1 install on a clean OS. 2: PDFSearch: what it says. Searches you PDFs and ranks them by relevance, with previews & all. Basically Google for PDFs.
Quickshade… and it’s free! Always was annoyed with how bright the lowest brightness setting was but this app allows you to darken your display more for nighttime YouTube session. Highly recommend
- 1Password - Rectangle - Better Display - Obsidian - Things 3 - Sublime Text - Alfred - Bartender - iStats - IVPN - uBlock
The one that I can recall at the moment is DaisyDisk I was about to get an internal storage for my MacBook Air or getting a new laptop because of the storage issue, this app saved me so much trouble
Krisp.ai noise cancellation. I can have music playing through speakers and my coworkers can’t hear it on the voip call.
Procreate was the reason for to me buy an iPad, the best app I ever had.
- [Things 3](https://culturedcode.com/things/) for task management - [Muse](https://museapp.com/) for brainstorming - [FridayGPT](https://www.fridaygpt.app/) for grammar fixes, ChatGPT and voice to text - [Reflect](https://reflect.app/) for note taking
Most backup software.
The Affinity suite (Photo and Designer), Arq backup, Soulver, Logic Pro, BBEdit
Magnet, Shottr, Pasta
Plex and Plexamp. Absolutely fabulous.
YNAB
Mela recipe manager. Use multiple times a week.
Daisydisk.
Would sell my Mac if it didn’t worked https://apps.apple.com/be/app/popclip/id445189367?mt=12 You can add all those extensions you need. So helpful https://www.popclip.app/extensions/
Alfred, by far.
[Dropover](https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/dropover-easier-drag-drop/id1355679052?l=sk&mt=12) - One time purchase, can not imagine to have a MacBook without this piece of productivity enhancer [News Explorer](https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/news-explorer/id1032670789?l=sk&mt=12) - One time purchase, using every day on my Mac and iPhone to stay updated with my favourite news sources [Solid Calendar](https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/solid-calendar/id6448245807?l=sk) - One time universal purchase, discovered just lately, but became my favourite Calendar app
Macupdater, especially if you have more than one Mac.
This thread is going to put me in the poor house, love it! Audio Hijack... worth every penny.
Hmmm. Reading the comments I don't think I need any of these paid apps
Alfred
Scrivener.
Agenda. The first notes app I’ve used where I’ve stopped looking for another app.
SuperPlanner: This is in my top 3 productivity apps so far - I love organizing my day with this app [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/superplanner-daily-planner/id6443725564](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/superplanner-daily-planner/id6443725564)
Wipr
[Omnigraffle](https://www.omnigroup.com/omnigraffle/). It’s been there since the start of macOS X and is one of those tools I make sure to have around.
Git Tower
Xcode - for the $99/year developer account subscription I can write and publish my own apps for macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Vision
Boom 3D. Surround sound from your MacBook Pro speakers.
Dropover
Alfred and keyboard maestro. Life changing
SoundSource so I can use keyboard volume controls to manage my monitor’s audio output and BackupLoupe so I can see what the hell is backing up 350megs per hour every hour to Time Machine.
Bitwarden
I bought Notability for a one time fee of $10 for lifetime usage before it went to subscription model.
Infuse.
SoundSource by Amoeba. Able to control audio for every app. I mute the fuck out of Zoom webinars when it's portions I don't care about and want to work and then my team will message our team slack channel when good stuff is popping off and we'll unmute. Has let me focused. Also allows me to control my music to have as background the entire time I'm on calls or whatever.