Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx
--
Apple’s macOS is highly regarded for offering stellar features, a bevy of customizations, and a myriad library of apps on Mac App Store. You’ll rarely hear someone say, ‘My Mac seems a bit slow. How do I have so less space left?’ Whether you’ve bought a new Mac recently or are familiar with it, organizing things on a daily basis gets overbearing over time. Thankfully, the Mac App Store and the developer community offer several macOS apps to optimize your Mac and tune it to its potential.
- Free Apps For Mac
- Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx Computer
- Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx Pc
- Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx Download
Every Mac owner aims for a consistently stable performance. For that, one might resort to spring cleaning occasionally. It’s only wise to automate tasks like dumping old/unused files, managing menu bar items, organizing files by archiving together, and so on. How about letting some apps undertake that automatically and make your life easier? That’s why we have curated a bunch of useful macOS apps to optimize your Mac.
The Best Mac Apps & Utilities This collection of essential Mac Apps includes mostly lesser-known apps so the popular ones — like Evernote, Dropbox, Skype, OneNote, or Google Drive — aren’t listed here. Also, all the apps here are compatible with Yosemite and Catalina, the current version of Mac OS. 456,375 views Here are a list of 40 freewares that I dug up from all around the web, tested and reviewed. All that are listed here are pretty useful if you ask me. Each of the listed are free to download and use. If you see something you like, just download it and try it Continue reading Top 40 Most Useful, Free Mac OS X.
Most of the apps on this list offer a trial option to let you experience them before you decide to purchase them.
Note: A few apps on this list require permissions such as Full Disk Access and Accessibility permissions to function properly. So ensure you permit them accordingly.Also on Guiding TechTop 4 Amazing Tools to Capture Scrolling Screenshots on macOSRead More
1. CleanMyMac X
We all have to pay the price for trying out several new apps. At the same time, everyone wants their Macs to be zippy and responsive. Doesn’t happen if you keep dumping apps. CleanMyMac X eliminates the need to roll up sleeves to search and get rid of unwanted files or apps to speed up your Mac. It identifies the unused files, the leftover components after app uninstallations, and other unused apps. By removing those junk files and apps, you can reclaim the precious storage space — makes a world of difference on MacBooks with 128GB or 256GB storage.
Free Apps For Mac
CleanMyMac X trial will let you remove junk files only up to 500MB and a few exclusive features are hidden behind the paywall. The paid version is available from Mac Store and MacPaw Store with an annual subscription or one-time purchase. Heads up — Mac Store version lacks a few features, and that makes it slightly cheaper. If you want all features, you’ll have to buy the ‘full no holds barred’ CleanMyMac X version from the MacPaw Store directly by paying a few extra bucks.
Download CleanMyMac X
2. Bartender 3
The menu bar can appear crowded with too many icons and apps sitting there. Bartender 3 can organize those menu bar items by clubbing them together smartly, autohiding them, and letting you access them with keyboard shortcuts or a tiny search box. You can use that small search bar to look for and launch an app if you don’t want to reveal the entire list of apps. Also, you can rearrange the app icon order in the menu bar list to access it with a single click and can browse through it quickly using your keyboard.
The best part — it works with the dark mode of macOS Catalina flawlessly. Bartender 3 comes with a free 4-week trial to let you experience a smart, minimalist menu bar. The full version will cost you $15 and it is only available from the official site.
Download Bartender 3
3. Alfred 4
Batman’s butler Alfred J. Pennyworth is exceptionally efficient in aiding him during dangerous missions. Just like that, Alfred 4 will assist you in finding and launching the apps or documents you’re looking for with minimal effort. You can even perform web searches from Alfred’s search bar. It does sound like a search box juiced up by mixing the Spotlight and Siri — except the voice commands part. But, there’s more.
You can add more capabilities with a Powerpack, which lets you hook it directly to several popular services like Spotify and 1Password. Also, you can use features like clipboard history, text auto-expansion, themes, and more.
You can cut down on performing repetitive manual tasks by crafting smart workflows to open apps, search the web, and expanding texts or sentences. You can also run Terminal commands right from the search bar instead of opening the Terminal app. That’s pretty cool. While the app is free to download, the Powerpack will cost you 25GBP for a single license or 45GBP for a Free Lifetime Upgrade from the official site.
Download Alfred 4Also on Guiding TechHow to Customize the Lock Screen on macOS 10.14 MojaveRead More
4. Keka
Dealing with archived or compressed files on Mac can be tricky. However, Keka does the job quite smoothly. It’s a nifty file archiver that can also extract a variety of archive formats — yes, even IPA and APK files. It has one of the simplest interfaces that includes two areas in a small window — top part to compress files and the bottom one to extract files. You’ll see that as soon as you drag and drop a few files on Keka’s app window.
The brilliant thing about Keka is that you can extract files directly without the app. For that, right-click on the archive file, select Open with > Keka from the context menu, and that should do the needful. The support for compressing RAR files exists in its beta version. You can download it for free from the official site. Keka is also available for $2.99 on the Mac App Store to support the developer’s efforts.
Download Keka
5. Hazel 4
Let’s say you have CleanMyMac X to purge the junk files, and Alfred 4 to help you look for the precise documents that you’re looking to revisit. What about the photos and files that are littered across different folders and even external volumes? Well, you can organize those files and folders smartly with Hazel 4. First, you have to create some ground rules and patterns for Hazel 4 to organize your photos, files, movies, and important documents. Then, the app automates its organization process every time you make a change.
Also, Hazel 4 can remove duplicate files that you create by mistake and toss away those incomplete downloads — these two things can help you reclaim storage space. Apart from that, you can configure it to organize files by name, date, or any other combination. Also, you can batch-rename files and archive them. Hazel 4 does make your life easier, but it will cost you $32 for that. You can buy it from the official site. The current build (Hazel 4) doesn’t support the dark mode in macOS Catalina.
Download Hazel 4
6. Magnet
Resizing windows in macOS is so much fun that you can spend hours trying to predict how an app window will resize. With Magnet, you can overcome that by turning your workspace into a multitasking station. It allows you to drag, align, and snap windows of the open apps. That means you can work or browse the web on one side of the screen and keep Netflix or YouTube running in the browser on the other side. Just like the Split View on iPadOS and the Snap feature in Task View on Windows 10.
Working on documents while stacking two of them on top of each other becomes so convenient with it. You can customize keyboard shortcuts for snapping windows in a particular direction — right or left, top-left or bottom-left, and so on. If you don’t recollect the keyboard combinations, click the Magnet icon on the Menu bar and pick the direction you want to snap the current active window.
Magnet is available for $1.99 on the Mac App Store and is best suited for those who hook their MacBooks to a monitor or a TV for a larger screen estate.
Download MagnetAlso on Guiding Tech#productivityClick here to see our productivity articles page
7. coconutBattery 3
The macOS 10.15.5 Catalina update will bring battery health management for Mac notebooks. But how often will you check battery health, which could be nestled deep inside the settings? That’s why coconutBattery 3 is a better alternative since it shows battery-related details like Charge Cycle counts, Temperature, State of Health, and even its status with a single click on the menu bar.
Such details are incredibly crucial for folks who travel a lot, use their MacBooks with external displays, and put those Macs to sleep often to understand the battery health better. The coconutBattery 3 is free to use. However, you can buy the Plus version from the official site if you want a detailed view of your iOS and Mac battery health and print device health reports.
Download coconutBattery 3
Spruce up That Mac
Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models come with a fast yet limited storage. And that could pinch at times. That’s why it’s necessary to keep disk space organized and speed it up for the maximum performance. Of course, you can spend hours trying to fix those things manually. But why do that when you can save time and automate apps to manage those tasks?
By working with apps mentioned on this list, you can certainly offload those repetitive activities and optimize your Mac. Which are your favorite macOS apps that others should also try out and use? Share your experience of using them in the comments section below.
Next up:Is Microsoft Word for Mac a better option over Apple Pages for word processing? Check the next link to read our detailed comparison on a better word processing app for Mac.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextApple Pages vs Microsoft Word: Which Word Processing Software is Better for YouAlso See#macos #mac apps
Did You Know
Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx Computer
Thunderbolt 3 is a data and video transfer protocol and is developed by Intel.
More in Mac
Top 5 iCloud Drive Alternatives for iPhone and Mac
At their heart, Macs are very tweakable machines. OSX is a great operating system because most settings work just fine as they are, but with a few simple Terminal commands you can change just about anything that doesn’t suit you perfectly.
These commands are called Defaults Write Commands, and when entered into the OSX command line, called Terminal, they can totally change your experience and make a lot of aspects of OSX better. Here are the 10 most useful defaults write commands for OSX.
Note: For any of the commands listed below, you can un-do them by simply replacing the No or False Flags with Yes or True, and vice versa.
New to Terminal? Get the basics about it here before going any further.
Quit Pasting Full Names in Mail.app
When you copy/paste an email address inside of Apple’s default mail application, you not only get the email address, but also the name of the person. Sometimes this can be useful, but most of the time it’s just a pain and you end up deleting the name portion of the paste.
Enter this command into Terminal to make this action only copy the email address:
Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx Pc
defaults write com.apple.mail AddressesIncludeNameOnPasteboard -bool false
Fix The Auto Hiding Dock
Depending on the size of your screen, the Dock can sometimes get in the way. Auto-hiding it is a great idea, but the delay that OSX forces on its reappearance can be a real pain. Enter the following command into Terminal to remove the delay and have the dock hide and show instantly.
defaults write com.apple.Dock autohide-delay -float 0 && killall Dock
If for some crazy reason you want to reinstate the delay, enter this command into terminal to put things back to normal.
defaults delete com.apple.Dock autohide-delay && killall Dock
Speed Up Mission Control
Mission Control, which was introduced in OSX 10.7 Lion, is great at hiding and showing windows, applications, and your desktop. The animations that it uses, however, could use a little bit more speed. To increase the speed of these animations enter the command below.
defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0.12 && killall Dock
Now, your windows will move with the speed of a gazelle rather than just a Lion.
Show Which Apps Are Hidden In The Dock
Hiding apps (Command + H) in OSX is a great way to get an app off of your desktop without minimizing it or closing it. The Dock doesn’t let you know which open apps are hidden, though, which can cause confusion. Entering the following command will give hidden apps a translucent icon to show this better.
defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool YES && killall Dock
Music is an interesting form of art. When it comes to composing music, annotations are an important element of consideration, and this makes it quite important to be in a position to ensure it is perfect. However, a great challenge to the majority of the people is to make this annotation. Even for pros, it is always great advice to have a song composing software to assist in this as well as. Oct 21, 2017 Music notation software is a competitive business. There used to be two main figures, Finale and Sibelius, but the new software Dorico has grabbed a spot in the top three. The market also boasts quite a few emerging/less-prominent programs, such as Noteflight, MuseScore, Notion, and Lilypond.There are even tablet/mobile device apps. Dec 07, 2019 also check-best video editing software / best video player software 1- Notion 6 (window,mac) Notion half-dozen is accessible for raincoat and Windows computers and has all the vital written material tools we glance for. You’ll be able to input notes with a MIDI keyboard, virtual piano or virtual stringed instrument fretboard. NoteWorthy Composer by NoteWorthy Software, Inc. Is an application that can help you create, edit, record, play and print musical scores. Sadly, you can not run a version of NoteWorthy Composer for Mac without using a virtualization tool. However, there are other programs you can use that allow you to manage your music notes. Best music score software for mac. Mar 07, 2019 Designed to be used on Mac, the Logic Pro X is an amazing music production software with a unique interface that assists in the music making process through features like instrument Layering, track consolidation, and powerful mixer for plug-in control and a score editor that allows music producers create their own MIDI tracks.
Select Text In Quick Look
OSX allows you to tap the spacebar when a file is selected to quickly look at the file. Currently you cannot select any text in a text file when using quick look. With the command below, however, you can click and select text in quick look, allowing for easy copy/paste without ever needing to open the file.
defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE;killall Finder
Change The Default Screenshot Image Format
When you take a screen shot in OSX the image is saved as a PNG file. This is great for transparency images, but for screen shots, the JPG format offers better compression. To change the default screen shot format from PNG to JPG, enter the following command into Terminal.
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg && killall SystemUIServer
To change this back, or to change to another format, simply replace jpg with the extension of your choice.
Change the Default Screen Shot File Name
Speaking of screen shots, OSX by default names screen shots with the date and time the shot was taken, along with the words “Screen Shot”. You can change this default to be something more appealing, like your computer’s name so you know where the screen shot came from. Just enter the following command into Terminal.
defaults write com.apple.screencapture name 'Brian MB Pro' && killall SystemUIServer
Replace “Brian MB Pro” with what you want your screen shot to be, and you’re all set.
Turn Off Default iCloud Saving in OSX Lion
By default, OSX Lion will save files like Pages and Text documents to iCloud. While this is great for a cloud-based backup of your files, it can be a pain if your Internet connection goes out, or if you are somewhere without a connection at all.
If you would rather those default to your local machine, just enter the command below.
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool false
Now, when you save a file in an Apple-centric application, the default location will be your computer, not iCloud.
Change the Default Event Length in Calendar
When you create a new event in OSX Calendar (previously iCal) it defaults to one hour. You can change the default to be any time you want. Just enter the command below and replace the “30” at the end with however long you want default events to be. Note: This has to be done in minutes, so for 2 hours, enter 120.
defaults write com.apple.iCal 'Default duration in minutes for new event' 30
Clearing Your History
Ok, this isn’t so much a defaults write command, but if you’re constantly using Terminal commands and need to clear things up so it’s somewhat searchable again, this simple command will help you out.
To clear your Terminal history, simply enter the following and hit Enter.
history -c
This will clear the history of all previously entered commands.
Wrap-Up
Most Useful Apps On Mac Osx Download
That just about does it. There are hundreds of other commands out there to tweak OSX from Terminal, but these are the most useful ones. Be careful working in Terminal, as there is no “undo” button there. Also, it’s important to mention that Terminal is VERY case-sensitive, so dock is not the same as Dock. Remembering that will save you a lot of headaches when using these commands.
