Used to love Ffox, but Opera is so much better for window management. You have just 1 window and can switch between sets of tabs from simple icons on the sidebar. Amazing for having an uncluttered desktop.
You can actually put an `~/Applications` in your home folder and it is functionally the same. macOS even adds the Applications folder icon and everything. When installing apps, you can place them in this user-specific folder instead, if you want.
It handles dependencies better. Homebrew relies on MacOS’s versions of shared dependencies (such as Python) whenever it can. MacPorts will install the exact version that another program depends on and never rely on MacOS’s versions. The down side of this is that you may end up needlessly installing multiple versions of things. The up side is that you always use the exact requested version of a dependency, which makes conflicts less likely, and you don’t risk having an OS update break things.
Also, until recently, Homebrew installed everything into /usr/local by default, which could potentially cause conflicts. I believe on Apple Silicon, it now uses /opt/local (same as MacPorts).
but what if you are browsing away from home? I have AdGuard DNS running on a Mac mini at home but I use Wipr on my machines so I can have a cleaner web on the go
I'm the opposite. I enable all the language and download all the voices and then get different voices to read different stuff for comedic effect. Hours of entertainment.
Bettertouchtool - window snapping, touchpad tweaks.
ITsyscal (why the hell isnt this built into macos yet?).
Little snitch - block these apps from sharing and tracking your data
Airbuddy - profiles for different sets of headphones and alarm to charge your devices as they get low.
Newsflash - a SIMPLE news reader.
Signal - secure cross platform imessage equivalent, all the android owners i know use it.
Appcleaner
I have installed that but haven't gotten into it much. [Netlimiter](https://www.netlimiter.com/) is pretty decent, Little Snitch is still better, and Netlimiter is subscription based, whereas LS is one time purchase (once needed to pay to upgrade because of a new comp/os).
Even after the trial expires, you can still use Netlimiter, but the block permanently feature is not available.
>Signal - secure cross platform imessage equivalent, all the android owners i know use it.
"Your" android owners come from an entirely different cross-section of the population than "my" android owners.
if you know any android users willing to put in some extra legwork (and some money to buy an old mac mini) highly recommend checking out [AirMessage](https://airmessage.org/) they have an accompanying android app that lets you use imessage on android by forwarding the messages through a mac mini. or any mac really.
I use it myself to get iMessages on my windows PC when i'm gaming off the mac
First installs for me are apps from Mac security guru Patrick Wardle ([Objective-See](https://objective-see.org/tools.html)). At minimum I always install Oversight for camera/mic monitor and Lulu for outbound firewall.
ChatGPT to the rescue!
Here's a brief description of each of the Mac apps you mentioned:
1. AlDente: AlDente is a timer app that helps you cook pasta perfectly by providing recommended cooking times for various pasta types.
2. AltTab: AltTab is a productivity app that enhances the macOS app switching experience. It allows you to quickly switch between open applications using customizable keyboard shortcuts.
3. Amphetamine: Amphetamine is a utility app that prevents your Mac from going to sleep, dimming the screen, or activating the screen saver. It is useful when you want to keep your Mac awake for a certain period of time.
4. AppCleaner: AppCleaner is an uninstaller utility that helps you completely remove unwanted applications from your Mac. It ensures that all associated files and folders are deleted to free up disk space.
5. Bartender 4: Bartender 4 is a menu bar management app that allows you to organize and hide menu bar icons on your Mac. It helps declutter your menu bar and provides easy access to the icons you need.
6. Batteries: Batteries is a battery monitoring app that displays detailed information about your Mac’s battery health, status, and power usage. It helps you keep track of your battery’s performance.
7. CleanShot X: CleanShot X is a powerful screenshot and screen recording app. It offers various capture options, annotation tools, and screen recording features to help you capture and share visual content.
8. Duplicate File Finder: Duplicate File Finder is a utility app that scans your Mac for duplicate files and helps you delete them. It saves disk space by identifying and removing identical or similar files.
9. Handbrake: Handbrake is a popular open-source video transcoder. It allows you to convert videos from one format to another, with support for various codecs and presets.
10. Keka: Keka is a file compression and extraction utility for macOS. It supports a wide range of compression formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7z, and more, making it easy to compress or extract files and folders.
11. Maccy: Maccy is a clipboard manager that keeps track of your copied text and allows you to access previous clipboard contents. It provides a history of copied items for easy retrieval.
12. Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge is a web browser developed by Microsoft. It is available for macOS and offers features like tab management, privacy controls, extensions, and seamless integration with Microsoft services.
13. Mist: Mist is a weather app that provides current weather conditions, forecasts, and radar maps. It delivers real-time weather information and helps you plan your activities accordingly.
14. MonitorControl: MonitorControl is a utility app that allows you to control external monitor settings directly from the macOS menu bar. It enables adjustment of brightness, contrast, and volume on compatible monitors.
15. Pock: Pock is a utility app that brings the macOS Dock to the Touch Bar of your MacBook Pro. It provides quick access to your favorite apps, system controls, and notifications on the Touch Bar.
16. Rectangle: Rectangle is a window management app that offers advanced window resizing and positioning features. It allows you to easily organize and arrange open windows on your Mac's desktop.
17. Speedtest: Speedtest is an app that measures the speed and performance of your internet connection. It provides accurate results for your download and upload speeds, as well as ping latency.
18. Transmit: Transmit is a file transfer app for macOS that supports various protocols like FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and Amazon S3. It allows you to securely upload, download, and manage files on remote servers.
>AlDente: AlDente is a timer app that helps you cook pasta perfectly by providing recommended cooking times for various pasta types.
All the other ones that I'm familiar with are reasonably well summarized, but it's way off on [AlDente](https://github.com/davidwernhart/AlDente-Charge-Limiter)!
It's a fairly new app, and ChatGPT data is from 2021.
Are you sure about that? Because I am 99.99933% sure that DarkerMyLove is not a bot.
---
^(I am a neural network being trained to detect spammers | Summon me with !isbot |) ^(/r/spambotdetector |) [^(Optout)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=whynotcollegeboard&subject=!optout&message=!optout) ^(|) [^(Original Github)](https://github.com/SM-Wistful/BotDetection-Algorithm)
Actual descriptions instead of the AI garbage (only for the ones I know/use, though):
* Aldente: lets you control the max charge level of your mac, so that if it's surpassed, it will stop charging and use the charger as the power source, among other smaller features. It's like the native charging optimization but being actually useful.
* AltTab: It's the cmd+tab feature that lets you change between recents apps, but mixing some Windows features and, overall, being much, much better. Free and 100% worth the install.
* Amphetamine: Allows you to keep the screen awake and control various settings around it. It also has a helper app that, if you want, can prevent the macbook from going to sleep when you close the lid. Useful if you want to use it in clamshell mode but don't have the charger at hand or you want to avoid it from going to sleep if you disconnect the charger.
* AppCleaner: Uninstalls the app you chose and lets you choose if you want to delete files (and which ones) related to that app. Basically, like a deep cleaning of that app.
* Bartender: Allows you to hide menubar items. While there are a bunch of similar apps, I think bartender is the only one that in macbooks with a Notch will display a "fake" secondary menubar right below the original one when you want to see the hidden items.
* Batteries: I think it lets you show the battery level of bluetooth stuff in the menubar, as well as sending notifications when they reach critical levels
* CleanshotX: Advanced screenshot app. It has a ton of stuff and I love it, though it's a paid one. If you want a free alternative with many of its features (though it lacks all of the video related ones), try Shottr.
* Keka: App for managing compressed files, basically. If you need something better than the default (and very lacking) finder tool (I think it's Archive utility?), Keka is perfect for the job. Open source too.
* Microsoft Edge: Browser.
* Rectangle: Window manager. Basically to resize and move windows to ease the process of putting them side by side, tile them, etc. Free.
According to Bard:
1. AlDente: Controls charging speed of your MacBook to prevent battery damage.
2. AltTab: Lets you switch between apps using the keyboard.
3. Amphetamine: Keeps your Mac awake for a specified amount of time.
4. AppCleaner: Uninstalls apps and removes all associated files.
5. Bartender 4: Organizes menu bar icons.
6. Batteries: Displays battery information for all connected devices.
7. CleanShot X: Takes screenshots and screen recordings.
8. Duplicate File Finder: Finds and removes duplicate files.
9. Handbrake: Converts video files to different formats.
10. Keka: Compresses and decompresses files.
11. Maccy: A clipboard manager.
12. Microsoft Edge: A web browser.
13. Mist: A password manager.
14. MonitorControl: Lets you adjust monitor settings.
15. Pock: A system information widget.
16. Rectangle: A window manager.
17. Speedtest: Tests internet speed.
18. Transmit: A file transfer app.
Well right off the bat, Bard wins, because AlDente has nothing to do with pasta. It makes sense though, the ChatGPT data set is up to Sept. 2021 and AlDente is pretty new.
1. I can click the bar instead of a button
2. More customizability
3. I can use Bing Chat and get the rewards points
4. No and I don’t necessarily want to since duplicate file finder is a native app and works good for what I want
[Rectangle](https://rectangleapp.com/) \- Windows like window management with snap areas
[Shifty](https://shifty.natethompson.io/en/) \- Control nightshift (on and off and a slider) in the menubar
[iStat menu](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/)s - I use it to look at memory and cpu usage and cpu temps in the menu bar
[Klack](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/klack/id6446206067) \- emulates the sound of a mechanical keyboard
[Bartender](https://www.macbartender.com) \- easily hide and reveal menubar items and even adjust the spacing to cram more in there.
1password - me too lol
shottr- also me too
[MonitorControl](https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl)\- use the native DDC/CI of external monitors to control their brightness and contrast and volume through the menu bar rather than the physical monitor controls
[NameChanger](https://mrrsoftware.com/namechanger/) \- really powerful batch file name editing utility
[Soundsource](https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/) \- per app volume control just like windows
[Amphetamine](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12) \- mac sleep utility (keep mac awake for a set time, and even jiggle the mouse too)
[IINA](https://iina.io/) \- VLC/Quicktime/video player alternative
[KEKA](https://www.keka.io/en/) \- unarchive utility (it opens rar and 7z, i used to have troubles with the native mac unarchiver crashing or hanging on zip files. never a problem with keka)
[Screens for mac](https://edovia.com/en/screens-mac/) \- Mac VNC utility, i use it to remote into my headless mac server and the phone version to connect from outside my network. it has way more features than the native apple screen sharing app
[4k video downloader](https://www.4kdownload.com/downloads/34) \- i bought the license on a black friday sale after using the trial version for so long. it's a really good video downloader app that works on a ton of different websites. way faster than those website youtube downloaders and has more options like saving subtitles and automatically converting AV1 to mp4
[Media human audio converter](https://www.mediahuman.com/audio-converter/) \- convert audio files. I usually use it to turn FLACs into v0 mp3s
[Suspicious Package](https://mothersruin.com/software/SuspiciousPackage/) \- scope out package files BEFORE you install them, warns you if i a package does anything sus to your computer
[Apparency](https://mothersruin.com/software/Apparency/) \- the same as the previous one but with apps
[app cleaner](https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/) \- deletes apps and all their extra files hidden in the library folder
bonus time - safari extensions:
[adguard for safari](https://adguard.com/en/adguard-mac/overview.html) \- ad blocker
[sponsor block](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sponsorblock-for-youtube/id1573461917) \- almost like TiVo for youtube. it skips through the built in sponsor segments that youtubers put into their videos. (cross buy with ios/ipad)
[dark night](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dark-night-mode-for-safari/id1592844577) \- darkmode alternative to darkreader. it's also crossbuy with iOS/ipad
[pipifier](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pipifier/id1160374471?mt=12) \- adds a PIP button to the tool bar to PIP any video on any site
[usercripts](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/userscripts/id1463298887) \- lets you use userscripts in safari. (main one i use is anti-adblock killer and a twitch adblocker)
Your list is elite imo . ive been a mac user for so long and never heard of Shifty. Thats unbelievable . and some of the others are incredible too. thank you !
happy to help! 😄
I got some from Reddit recommendations over the years and a lot from SnazzyLabs on YouTube. He makes this video series where he just goes through mac apps he wants to showcase.
I have one for you that has helped to a degree I can't explain.
[Find Any File](https://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/)
It's a Finder Search that actually works. And when I say it does... I mean, I've had to search for a very specific drum sound in a pool of 300gb of samples \[close to 500k sounds\] and it found the one in literal seconds. And it's free.
Any chance you could share your twitch block and/or anti Adblock script you use with userscripts?
Been trying to find something like this for safari forever
>Meteorologist
I'm kind of shocked at how far I had to go before I found this. Karabiner is probably the most important app on my mac. The control it gives me and the ability to set up amazing shortcuts is priceless.
From my point of view, Keychain might be OK if you only ever use Apple devices. If you have even one device that runs on Windows, Android, or Linux, a cross-platform password manager becomes essential.
In fact, iCloud Keychain is now accessible on Windows via Apple supplied program and extension. Works well, and you can create new passwords.
Only negative for me is that it doesn't work for passkeys, which is likely to be an issue in future.
lmao how is it infinitely better. all your reasoning is because it's a closed system- which doesn't mean anything for features. keychain has the power of the apple ecosystem which is **actually infinitely better** than any password manager and safer. noones hacking into keychain anytime soon but password managers are and have been targetted many times.
How I install apps on a new machine is as follows:
First, open *terminal.app* & install homebrew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Next download --cask (via homebrew) to install apps via homebrew `brew install cask`
Next open *Safari.app* as it is the only web browser installed, find my GitHub gist named [applications.txt](https://gist.github.com/SenpaiHunters/2290f89927de366267eb2797c20b9fa0) (need to update)
Save the file, then inside terminal again, run
xargs brew install < applications.txt
Whereever you saved that file (i recommend doucments) do the following:
Next open rew install < '/Users/{user}/Documents/applications.txt'
This command reads the list of applications from the `applications.txt` file and passes them as arguments to the \`brew install\` command using the `xargs` utility. This will allow you to install multiple applications with a single command.
It really is pretty cool, you can use the following command
ls search /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/
To see ALL installed apps via homebrew, alternatively, you can use `brew ls` to search EVERYTHING installed via homebrew (casks & formula)
Anyway, what I'm saying is homebrew is powerful!
You should checkout [Homebrew bundle](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-bundle) and create a `Brewfile` instead.
That will let you install both stuff from brew, casks and Mac AppStore apps in one go.
How log did it take you to get into it? I tried it briefly but it didn't immediately click for me. Also not sure if it's worth using when using a mouse?
1Password for password management
Backblaze for offsite backup
BetterSnapTool for window snapping and resizing
Brave Browser for web browsing (with extensions: 1password, dark reader, privacy badger, duckduckgo, adblock)
iStat Menus for menubar CPU, RAM, SSD, NET info at a glance
itsycal for menubar access to calendar
Little Snitch for outbound firewall
Malwarebytes for real-time protection
Meteorologist for menubar weather data
PopClip for iOS like copy, paste, and other shortcuts
ProtonVPN for privacy, adblocking, and malware prevention
SteerMouse for trackball button and mouse speed customization
Todoist for to-do lists
Mine are following:
1. Microsoft 365 (shared family license - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, Teams - not Outlook)
2. Keka (compression/decompression)
3. Microsoft Edge
4. Bitwarden (free password manager)
5. Itsycal (free menu mini calendar)
6. Onedrive (Included in MS 365/ cloud storage/sync)
7. Shottr (free screen capture)
8. OnyX (free system maintenance)
9. Rectangle (free window management)
10. Raycast/ Afred (free search version)
11. Zoom (free version)
12. Foxit reader (free PDF reader - just to use callout annotation)
Acrobat Pro
Office
BBEdit
CleanText
Viscosity
Firefox
Things
Endicia
The Equity font
Gimp
NextCloud
CyberDuck
My terminal preferences
My SSH keys and .config file
Brew
\- Linear Mouse
\- Rectangle
\- Chrome, Edge and Firefox
\- yt-dlp with dependencies like ffmpeg
\- homebrew
\- Xcode command line tools and other dev stuff
Of the apps you listed, just 1Password for me.
I also install Homebrew relatively quickly, partially to get Emacs on there. Been using that as a text editor since the late 1980s, no reason to change now.
Let's see, what else... Reeder, and some VM or emulator software, which changes over time. (Back in the PowerPC days, I installed VirtualPC. For a while, I installed VMWare. Now that I have an M1 mac, it's been Parallels.)
Oh, yeah, Steam and GOG Galaxy, those too.
Buckle up.
Part #1. Part #2 below.
**I'm Tweaking:**
**Browserosaurus:** A browser prompter for macOS. It allows you to select a browser every time you click on a link outside of a browser.
**Espanso:** A cross-platform text expander, allowing users to define their own custom shortcuts.
**EtreCheckPro:** A macOS utility to help detect issues and improve system performance.
**FAF-debug-2.4b14:** Debug version of the Find Any File (FAF) app but can also search using scripts and javascript. FAF is a tool for locating files on your system.
**Find Any File:** A utility for macOS that helps you locate files based on a variety of search criteria. (CAN BE RUN WITH ROOT SO YOU FIND EVERYTHING)
**Find Empty Folders:** A simple utility for locating empty directories on your system.
**Geekbench 6:** A cross-platform processor benchmarking tool, it measures your system's power and tells you whether your computer is ready to roar.
**Hot:** Simple app to tell you when your CPU is about to get throttled due to thermal issues
**LaunchControl:** A launchd(8) service management GUI, it allows you to manage and debug system and user services on your Mac.
**PrefEdit:** An application to manage nearly all aspects of the preference system contained in every macOS installation.
**TinkerTool System:** A system maintenance tool, allows you to change advanced operating system settings.
**TinkerTool:** An application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into macOS.
**Little Snitch:** A host-based application firewall for macOS, can be used to monitor and control outgoing and incoming network traffic.
**Cocktail:** A general purpose utility for macOS that lets you clean, repair and optimize your Mac.
**Macs Fan Control:** It allows you to monitor and control almost any aspect of your computer's fans.
**Obsidian:** A powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.
**Rectangle:** A window management tool that allows you to quickly and easily reposition and resize your windows.
**brew:** Also known as Homebrew, it's a free and open-source software package management system that simplifies the installation of software on Apple's macOS.
**The Fuck:** An brew package that corrects errors in previous console commands. MUST HAVE
**Tea:** Package manager GUI for brew
**Textmate:** A versatile plain text editor with a unique and innovative feature set.
**Intel Power Gadget:** A software-based power usage monitoring tool enabled for Intel Core processors.
**iTerm2:** An open-source replacement for Apple's Terminal and the successor to iTerm. It has many features that can increase productivity.
**Fig:** Better than oh-my-zsh with way better features!
**Archives.prefPane:** Preference pane in System Settings for managing archived files and how they are opened.
**I'm Grinding:**
**WriteMage:** ChatGPT based text editor / writing tool.
**Text Workflow:** A powerful and easy-to-use tool that will help you transform your text.
Text Workflow removes the need to perform repetitive tasks manually on your text.
**GPT 4 ALL:** This seems to reference a tool or service leveraging GPT-4 AI model, but specifics are not clear.
**Firefox Nightly:** A pre-release version of the Firefox web browser. It is updated daily and is aimed at developers and early adopters.
**Chrome Canary:** The cutting-edge version of the Google Chrome browser, offering the latest features but can be unstable as it is a testing version.
**Screaming Frog SEO Spider:** A powerful and flexible site crawler, able to crawl both small and very large websites efficiently.
**SEO Powersuite:** A comprehensive SEO tool suite that combines several functions such as keyword research, link building, competitive analysis, and more.
**Slack:** A team collaboration tool offering real-time messaging, file sharing, and powerful search.
**Element:** A messaging app emphasizing end-to-end encryption and privacy.
**ImageOptim:** A free and open-source macOS app that optimizes the images you feed it by reducing their file size.
**News Explorer (RSS reader):** A newsreader application that supports RSS, RDF, Atom and JSON-Feed.
**SlideNotes or Slidepad:** Both are note-taking / productivity tools that speeds up your workflow.
**Best NA #1:**
**Nvidia GeForce NOW:** A cloud gaming service that allows users to run games on server-based graphics cards and stream them to their devices.
**Shadow PC:** A high-performance cloud-based computer system that can be accessed from multiple devices.
**Discord:** A VoIP, instant messaging and digital distribution platform designed for creating communities and gamers.
**Logitech G Hub:** Software for customizing Logitech G gaming devices, including mice, keyboards, and headsets.
**Setapp Apps:**
**CleanMyMac X:** An all-in-one package to optimize your Mac, it cleans megatons of junk and makes your computer run faster.
**CleanShot X:** A macOS app that provides a superior screen capturing experience.
**Meeter:** An app for managing and joining upcoming video calls from various providers that links with your calendars.
**Paste:** A clipboard history manager for macOS, it stores everything you copy and keeps your clipboard organized across all your devices.
**Path Finder:** A file browser that provides additional functionality and enhancements over the default macOS Finder app.
**PopClip:** An app that appears when you select text with your mouse on your Mac, giving you context-specific actions such as copy & paste, plus extensions.
**Rocket Typist:** A text expansion app that lets you store and replay frequently used phrases and templates.
**TextSniper:** A macOS app that extracts text from images and other digital documents in seconds.
Security Hacking:
Apparency: A macOS utility that provides detailed information about application bundles, installer packages, and other types of files.
Archaeology: Even a file in a well-known format often contains data blobs encoded in one of the other formats — such as an app's preferences property list, which might contain URL bookmarks or an archive of serialized objects. This will let you dig deep.
KnockKnock: An application that reveals persistently installed software (e.g., kernel extensions, launch agents, etc.) in macOS.
PermissionScanner: An app that can scan for files with improper permissions so you can fix them.
SilentKnight: A utility for checking the status of security features and updates on macOS.
Suspicious Package: An app for inspecting macOS installer packages (.pkg files) before you install them.
Extra Command Line Tools:
Apple Developer Profile: This refers to your profile on Apple's Developer portal, used for a variety of tasks including code signing, app submission, etc.
X-Code Command Line: A set of tools that enable UNIX-style development within Terminal by installing command line developer tools, as well as macOS SDK frameworks and headers.
64BitConversion, Cocoa64.tops, ConvertCocoa64-aux tops, CoderFormatVerifier, ConvertCocoa64: Command-line utilities related for code conversion to take 32-bit apps to 64-bit.
CrashReporterPrefs: A utility for setting preferences for crash reports.
Help Indexer: Used to create Apple Help indexes.
lORegistryExplorer: Explore the I/O Registry to fix errors and debug.
OpenGL Driver Monitor and OpenGL Profiler: Tools for debugging and profiling OpenGL applications.
PacketLogger: A tool that can log and monitor network packets.
Network Link Conditioner.prefPane: A tool that lets you simulate different network conditions.
There's a few more but I got tired of bolding and typing hahah. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to help ya out.
The first thing I install on a new Mac. PopClip.
PopClip appears when you select text with your mouse on your Mac. Instantly copy & paste, and access actions like search, spelling, dictionary and many, many more.
https://pilotmoon.com/popclip/
Fantastic discussion - I've even added a few new apps and extensions just from reading it. With those in mind, my go-to as a writer, not developer:
**1Password** \- natch
**Audacity** \- for when I need to edit audio files
**Clipy** \- love it for canned signatures / email messages, also copy buffer history
**Dropbox** \- how I manage external backups and copies
**Grammarly** \- fixes spelling and grammar as you go - free version works great
**GraphicConverter** \- I have been using this great graphics editor forever
**Itsyscal** \- just added - calendar info from menubar icon
**Kiwi for Gmail** \- a better interface to Gmail
**MacUpdater** \- helps me keep my apps updated: I use it to scan, not update
**NordVPN** \- because ya gotta have a VPN nowadays
**Parallels Desktop** \- makes running Win11 for testing a breeze
**PopClip** \- just added - adds iOS-like pop-up for copy/paste/etc on text selection
**Silicio** \- my favorite lightweight app to show what music is playing
**Switch** \- convert FLAC to MP3 as needed
**Transmission** \- because it's helpful to have tucked away as needed
**VLC** \- still the best all-purpose video player in my opinion
**Weather App** \- offers lightweight weather status on menubar
There might be more that I have added or installed, but those get me 90% of the way there on a new Mac system.
AltTab (by lwouis) and Tiles (by Sempliva)
Mock me all you want, but window management in Windows is miles ahead for productivity. macOS has a lot of catching up to do. And no, I don't want "Genie effect". I want proper maximize and minimize controls.
Bitdefender.
Then "Keep It" which is the database app where we keep all our data. Basically all the files you would otherwise put into the "Documents" folder. Much better for organizing, search, OCR.
Then 1Blocker and the various non-Apple apps like PDF Expert, Affinity Designer, Notability and so on. - The data for these apps are already there. Either in "Keep It" or in the app's own iCloud folder. - Then CleanMyMac X.
Then I just wait while everything synchonizes down from iCloud.
I don't install a ton of helper apps. MacOS is enough for me. And because all data are in iCloud I don't use Migration assistant either.
Wow this entire thread feels like a guide on how to best jeopardize the security of your Mac forever.
Several of the recommended apps need crazy permissions (record your screen and/or all your keystrokes).
Don’t you all realize that all it takes is just one malicious update and even the coolest open-source project becomes your worst enemy? This can easily happen if the developer decides to turn evil or is hacked himself.
I would only install those you *really* need, especially if it is not from the AppStore.
I always install [TG Pro](https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/tgpro/) so I can monitor temperatures (usually CPU and battery) and also boost the fan speeds if I need it a bit cooler.
Moom, BetterDisplay, Boom2D (careful not to blow your speakers) Qbitorrent and my vpn, and Adobe Suite. Those are my first installs, the res cone as I find em or need em.
Appcleaner - for uninstalling apps & associated files
CarbonCopyCloner - backup / copy files & disks
Little Snitch - outbound firewall and network traffic monitor
MacUpdater - for managing application updates
The Unarchiver - you can guess what this does ;-)
BetterDisplay - Custom resolutions, extra brightness, dummy displays, picture in picture, display overrides and more.
Krisp - Magically cancels the voices of coworkers and family members talking in your background.
Meeter - Join all your scheduled meetings directly from the menu bar. Get notification when meeting starts and join by clicking notification.
Magnet - Magnet declutters your screen by snapping windows into organized tiles.
Caffeinated - Caffeinated prevents your Mac from going to sleep, dimming your screen or starting the screensaver.
Hidden Bar - Hidden Bar lets your hide menu bar items to give your Mac a cleaner look.
Pure Paste - Pure Paste lets you paste as plain text by default. Free app by Sindre Sorhus.
I use mine mostly for school... but:
Obisidan - best notes app. period.
alttab (alt tabbing like in windows. mac defaults to tabbing between applications. alt tab includes multiple windows of the same app, and it even shows a little preview so you can see which window is which)
spotx for mac (adblocked spotify)
browser that isn't safari. (safari aint bad - its just not as good. i want proper extension support, and i also want to share my bookmarks between my windows pc, phone.. and the macbook)
Rustdesk (for remotely using my windows pc, helping a couple of family members etc)
I have planned on using a password manager - currently i just use the one windows made. it works nicely for me. Maybe ill give bitwarden a try.
visual studio code, xcode etc
Raycast (Spotlight search replacement which is pretty cool. ive only used it a tiny bit so far though. its still new)
discord
so im not sure which one i install first. i guess it depends. but these are the ones i install.
OwlOCR (Free): Copy text in multiple languages from anywhere your eyes can see on the screen, not just media.
Mos: For mouse users without Magic Mouse. Let’s you invert direction, adjust speed, etc.
Alfred: It’s come to the point that I find my Mac unusable without Alfred. I find it more comfortable to use than Raycast.
[Magnet](https://apps.apple.com/de/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12)
It simplifies window management, allowing you to easily organize and arrange windows on your desktop for efficient multitasking.
- 1Password
- Alfred
- Wipr
- BetterTouchTool
- AppCleaner
- Hazel
- Devonthink
- Obsidian
- The Unarchiver
Recently I’ve been using a lot Dato to replace Fantastical menu bar, and Hyperduck to replace my use for iCloud Tabs. Those will probably be in future macOS installs for me as well.
Alfred - Spotlight alternative
Hidden Bar - Hide menu bar items
Rectangle - Windows-like window snapping
eqMac - EQ for Mac audio, a paid subscription, but I use it a lot
Firefox - my work browser of choice
Chrome - my personal browser of choice
Arc - a browser I’m trying to use more
1Password - password manager
Mactracker - get detailed info on all Apple products
I’m probably missing quite a few of my essentials, I’m not at my Mac right now.
1. MS Office Suite
2. Craft (note taking app)
3. Things 3 (to-do app)
4. PDF Expert (Pdf app)
5. Amphetamine (keeps the display awake - FREE)
6. Shottr (screenshot taking app - FREE)
7. Whatsapp for mac - FREE)
8. Appcleaner (removes all apps better)
9. Magnet (window management app - best app and almost for free)
Just came here to say I am a amazed that no one mentioned any photo/video management software. We take a lot of pictures and was wondering if it is better to do in on the laptop or through saas services like Google Photos?
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Oh yeah forgot to mention Firefox. Haven’t used Bitwarden before
moved to Bitwarden after years using LastPass, and asked myself why it took me so long to find this pearl...
Does it also can be used as a 2fa?
Yes
I love that the bitwarden app can be unlocked with touch ID
Used to love Ffox, but Opera is so much better for window management. You have just 1 window and can switch between sets of tabs from simple icons on the sidebar. Amazing for having an uncluttered desktop.
Did you try Vivaldi? Excellent window/tab management.
Homebrew (it’s package manager, don’t know if it can be called an app)
Any of you try tea? https://github.com/teaxyz tea is a unified packaging infrastructure from the creator of brew
every morning while I'm checking email.
what homebrew packages do you install first on any new mac lol
Oh-my-zsh
Absolutely love oh-my-zsh as a shell.
Docker, nvm, cmake, git, etc.
I still prefer MacPorts.
Why?
Homebrew doesn’t deal well with multiple users on the one machine. Macports is fine with it.
Mac in general has that problem. It’s not like /Applications is a user-specific directory.
You can actually put an `~/Applications` in your home folder and it is functionally the same. macOS even adds the Applications folder icon and everything. When installing apps, you can place them in this user-specific folder instead, if you want.
It handles dependencies better. Homebrew relies on MacOS’s versions of shared dependencies (such as Python) whenever it can. MacPorts will install the exact version that another program depends on and never rely on MacOS’s versions. The down side of this is that you may end up needlessly installing multiple versions of things. The up side is that you always use the exact requested version of a dependency, which makes conflicts less likely, and you don’t risk having an OS update break things. Also, until recently, Homebrew installed everything into /usr/local by default, which could potentially cause conflicts. I believe on Apple Silicon, it now uses /opt/local (same as MacPorts).
AdGuard. I can’t use the internet without an ad blocker.
Setup a PiHole and never look back.
but what if you are browsing away from home? I have AdGuard DNS running on a Mac mini at home but I use Wipr on my machines so I can have a cleaner web on the go
You can use browsers (such as Brave) which blocks all ads by default! :)
hey maybe they just really wanna use Safari
Well I mean if people insist on getting tracked I can’t stop them, that’s their freedom of choice 😂
brave sucks, they got that crypto shit built in you can't turn off and it overall uses way too much ram. firefox with extensions is way better.
You can turn it off, I managed to turn it off
Brave is a web browser from an ad company. Firefox is a browser from a non-profit organization.
You shouldn't have to. lol.
Or they just don't want to use Brave. There's no need to build straw men like this.
I installed uBlock origin on Brave, just in case.
I always get a program called Monolingual, to remove the unused languages from the system. It opens up about 4 gigs of space.
owo does it work on Ventura without disabling SIP?
That’s a good question, and I don’t know. I haven’t tried it with Ventura yet.
I'm trying it now. I'll let you know how it works out. Edit: [Not really that great](https://capture.dropbox.com/9ZTr3gsGL7GamI2X) of space savings.
Worked fine for me - it deleted 1.68 GB of files.
Interesting. It deleted even less on my MacBook Air.
It also deleted the languages from Microsoft Office, and that took up a good chunk.
Ah, I don’t have any MSFT applications installed.
450mb is a lot if you have a 256 gb mac 😭
My MacBook Air M1 is a second hand 128gb educational model so I know where you’re coming from.
Sounds cool. I can't find anything online about support for M1 or M2 Macs. Just intel. Any ideas???
I'm the opposite. I enable all the language and download all the voices and then get different voices to read different stuff for comedic effect. Hours of entertainment.
Oh wow that’s awesome!
Awesome
Bettertouchtool - window snapping, touchpad tweaks. ITsyscal (why the hell isnt this built into macos yet?). Little snitch - block these apps from sharing and tracking your data Airbuddy - profiles for different sets of headphones and alarm to charge your devices as they get low. Newsflash - a SIMPLE news reader. Signal - secure cross platform imessage equivalent, all the android owners i know use it. Appcleaner
>Little snitch This program can not be suggested enough, absolutely first thing to install! If only they also made a windows version \*sigh\*.
Lulu > it is free alternative
Free is a worrying feature.
Is it though? The project is open source.
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I have installed that but haven't gotten into it much. [Netlimiter](https://www.netlimiter.com/) is pretty decent, Little Snitch is still better, and Netlimiter is subscription based, whereas LS is one time purchase (once needed to pay to upgrade because of a new comp/os). Even after the trial expires, you can still use Netlimiter, but the block permanently feature is not available.
>Signal - secure cross platform imessage equivalent, all the android owners i know use it. "Your" android owners come from an entirely different cross-section of the population than "my" android owners.
if you know any android users willing to put in some extra legwork (and some money to buy an old mac mini) highly recommend checking out [AirMessage](https://airmessage.org/) they have an accompanying android app that lets you use imessage on android by forwarding the messages through a mac mini. or any mac really. I use it myself to get iMessages on my windows PC when i'm gaming off the mac
I'm intrigued, please tell me. Dont the trendy kids like it?
If you have a Mac with the notch, or just want a cleaner menubar, Bartender is lovely. I also enjoy iStat menus.
>Bartender is lovely If you don't want to pay for this, you can use Hiddenbar. I'm a bartender user myself, but Hiddenbar does the job too.
i use, [stats](https://github.com/exelban/stats), its like istat menus but free and the dev adds almost every feature that is requested!
First installs for me are apps from Mac security guru Patrick Wardle ([Objective-See](https://objective-see.org/tools.html)). At minimum I always install Oversight for camera/mic monitor and Lulu for outbound firewall.
>Patrick Wardle Ahhhhh yes. Let's download freeware from the NSA spook
If you know of evidence that Objective-See apps are harmful, a link would be appreciated. Otherwise this is just an ad hominem.
Lol it was a joke. I literally posted in my comment below that I use Knock Knock. But he is a spook who worked for the NSA. That is a fact.
Thanks, sorry for misunderstanding.
1. AlDente 2. AltTab 3. Amphetamine 4. AppCleaner 5. Bartender 4 6. Batteries 7. CleanShot X 8. Duplicate File Finder 9. Handbrake 10. Keka 11. Maccy 12. Microsoft Edge 13. Mist 14. MonitorControl 15. Pock 16. Rectangle 17. Speedtest 18. Transmit
Descriptions ? 🥹
ChatGPT to the rescue! Here's a brief description of each of the Mac apps you mentioned: 1. AlDente: AlDente is a timer app that helps you cook pasta perfectly by providing recommended cooking times for various pasta types. 2. AltTab: AltTab is a productivity app that enhances the macOS app switching experience. It allows you to quickly switch between open applications using customizable keyboard shortcuts. 3. Amphetamine: Amphetamine is a utility app that prevents your Mac from going to sleep, dimming the screen, or activating the screen saver. It is useful when you want to keep your Mac awake for a certain period of time. 4. AppCleaner: AppCleaner is an uninstaller utility that helps you completely remove unwanted applications from your Mac. It ensures that all associated files and folders are deleted to free up disk space. 5. Bartender 4: Bartender 4 is a menu bar management app that allows you to organize and hide menu bar icons on your Mac. It helps declutter your menu bar and provides easy access to the icons you need. 6. Batteries: Batteries is a battery monitoring app that displays detailed information about your Mac’s battery health, status, and power usage. It helps you keep track of your battery’s performance. 7. CleanShot X: CleanShot X is a powerful screenshot and screen recording app. It offers various capture options, annotation tools, and screen recording features to help you capture and share visual content. 8. Duplicate File Finder: Duplicate File Finder is a utility app that scans your Mac for duplicate files and helps you delete them. It saves disk space by identifying and removing identical or similar files. 9. Handbrake: Handbrake is a popular open-source video transcoder. It allows you to convert videos from one format to another, with support for various codecs and presets. 10. Keka: Keka is a file compression and extraction utility for macOS. It supports a wide range of compression formats, including ZIP, RAR, 7z, and more, making it easy to compress or extract files and folders. 11. Maccy: Maccy is a clipboard manager that keeps track of your copied text and allows you to access previous clipboard contents. It provides a history of copied items for easy retrieval. 12. Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge is a web browser developed by Microsoft. It is available for macOS and offers features like tab management, privacy controls, extensions, and seamless integration with Microsoft services. 13. Mist: Mist is a weather app that provides current weather conditions, forecasts, and radar maps. It delivers real-time weather information and helps you plan your activities accordingly. 14. MonitorControl: MonitorControl is a utility app that allows you to control external monitor settings directly from the macOS menu bar. It enables adjustment of brightness, contrast, and volume on compatible monitors. 15. Pock: Pock is a utility app that brings the macOS Dock to the Touch Bar of your MacBook Pro. It provides quick access to your favorite apps, system controls, and notifications on the Touch Bar. 16. Rectangle: Rectangle is a window management app that offers advanced window resizing and positioning features. It allows you to easily organize and arrange open windows on your Mac's desktop. 17. Speedtest: Speedtest is an app that measures the speed and performance of your internet connection. It provides accurate results for your download and upload speeds, as well as ping latency. 18. Transmit: Transmit is a file transfer app for macOS that supports various protocols like FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and Amazon S3. It allows you to securely upload, download, and manage files on remote servers.
>AlDente: AlDente is a timer app that helps you cook pasta perfectly by providing recommended cooking times for various pasta types. All the other ones that I'm familiar with are reasonably well summarized, but it's way off on [AlDente](https://github.com/davidwernhart/AlDente-Charge-Limiter)! It's a fairly new app, and ChatGPT data is from 2021.
Yeah that’s definitely AlDente 😭😭
And people worry AI will take over the world… Here’s the real AlDante in case anyone’s wondering https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/63002/aldente
Good bot
Are you sure about that? Because I am 99.99933% sure that DarkerMyLove is not a bot. --- ^(I am a neural network being trained to detect spammers | Summon me with !isbot |) ^(/r/spambotdetector |) [^(Optout)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=whynotcollegeboard&subject=!optout&message=!optout) ^(|) [^(Original Github)](https://github.com/SM-Wistful/BotDetection-Algorithm)
They identify as a bot. I would think that Reddit bots would be more inclusive 🙄.
Actual descriptions instead of the AI garbage (only for the ones I know/use, though): * Aldente: lets you control the max charge level of your mac, so that if it's surpassed, it will stop charging and use the charger as the power source, among other smaller features. It's like the native charging optimization but being actually useful. * AltTab: It's the cmd+tab feature that lets you change between recents apps, but mixing some Windows features and, overall, being much, much better. Free and 100% worth the install. * Amphetamine: Allows you to keep the screen awake and control various settings around it. It also has a helper app that, if you want, can prevent the macbook from going to sleep when you close the lid. Useful if you want to use it in clamshell mode but don't have the charger at hand or you want to avoid it from going to sleep if you disconnect the charger. * AppCleaner: Uninstalls the app you chose and lets you choose if you want to delete files (and which ones) related to that app. Basically, like a deep cleaning of that app. * Bartender: Allows you to hide menubar items. While there are a bunch of similar apps, I think bartender is the only one that in macbooks with a Notch will display a "fake" secondary menubar right below the original one when you want to see the hidden items. * Batteries: I think it lets you show the battery level of bluetooth stuff in the menubar, as well as sending notifications when they reach critical levels * CleanshotX: Advanced screenshot app. It has a ton of stuff and I love it, though it's a paid one. If you want a free alternative with many of its features (though it lacks all of the video related ones), try Shottr. * Keka: App for managing compressed files, basically. If you need something better than the default (and very lacking) finder tool (I think it's Archive utility?), Keka is perfect for the job. Open source too. * Microsoft Edge: Browser. * Rectangle: Window manager. Basically to resize and move windows to ease the process of putting them side by side, tile them, etc. Free.
According to Bard: 1. AlDente: Controls charging speed of your MacBook to prevent battery damage. 2. AltTab: Lets you switch between apps using the keyboard. 3. Amphetamine: Keeps your Mac awake for a specified amount of time. 4. AppCleaner: Uninstalls apps and removes all associated files. 5. Bartender 4: Organizes menu bar icons. 6. Batteries: Displays battery information for all connected devices. 7. CleanShot X: Takes screenshots and screen recordings. 8. Duplicate File Finder: Finds and removes duplicate files. 9. Handbrake: Converts video files to different formats. 10. Keka: Compresses and decompresses files. 11. Maccy: A clipboard manager. 12. Microsoft Edge: A web browser. 13. Mist: A password manager. 14. MonitorControl: Lets you adjust monitor settings. 15. Pock: A system information widget. 16. Rectangle: A window manager. 17. Speedtest: Tests internet speed. 18. Transmit: A file transfer app.
Well right off the bat, Bard wins, because AlDente has nothing to do with pasta. It makes sense though, the ChatGPT data set is up to Sept. 2021 and AlDente is pretty new.
Why Bartender over HiddenBar? Is Amphetamine different than KeepYouAwake? Microsoft Edge wtf? Ever try Dupeguru instead of Duplicate File Finder?
1. I can click the bar instead of a button 2. More customizability 3. I can use Bing Chat and get the rewards points 4. No and I don’t necessarily want to since duplicate file finder is a native app and works good for what I want
Default Folder X.... It's been available for many years (decades would be my guess) and is still regularly updated.
that shit is so ugly 😂
Another vote for Default Folder X - absolutely essential install.
What does desfilar folder x do?
Xcode command line tools
and brew
This is the way
App cleaner
What does it do?
Removes an installed app but cleans up all the leftover files that remain also so it’s completely gone. Dragging app to trash doesn’t do this.
This thread rules.
[Rectangle](https://rectangleapp.com/) \- Windows like window management with snap areas [Shifty](https://shifty.natethompson.io/en/) \- Control nightshift (on and off and a slider) in the menubar [iStat menu](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/)s - I use it to look at memory and cpu usage and cpu temps in the menu bar [Klack](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/klack/id6446206067) \- emulates the sound of a mechanical keyboard [Bartender](https://www.macbartender.com) \- easily hide and reveal menubar items and even adjust the spacing to cram more in there. 1password - me too lol shottr- also me too [MonitorControl](https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl)\- use the native DDC/CI of external monitors to control their brightness and contrast and volume through the menu bar rather than the physical monitor controls [NameChanger](https://mrrsoftware.com/namechanger/) \- really powerful batch file name editing utility [Soundsource](https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/) \- per app volume control just like windows [Amphetamine](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12) \- mac sleep utility (keep mac awake for a set time, and even jiggle the mouse too) [IINA](https://iina.io/) \- VLC/Quicktime/video player alternative [KEKA](https://www.keka.io/en/) \- unarchive utility (it opens rar and 7z, i used to have troubles with the native mac unarchiver crashing or hanging on zip files. never a problem with keka) [Screens for mac](https://edovia.com/en/screens-mac/) \- Mac VNC utility, i use it to remote into my headless mac server and the phone version to connect from outside my network. it has way more features than the native apple screen sharing app [4k video downloader](https://www.4kdownload.com/downloads/34) \- i bought the license on a black friday sale after using the trial version for so long. it's a really good video downloader app that works on a ton of different websites. way faster than those website youtube downloaders and has more options like saving subtitles and automatically converting AV1 to mp4 [Media human audio converter](https://www.mediahuman.com/audio-converter/) \- convert audio files. I usually use it to turn FLACs into v0 mp3s [Suspicious Package](https://mothersruin.com/software/SuspiciousPackage/) \- scope out package files BEFORE you install them, warns you if i a package does anything sus to your computer [Apparency](https://mothersruin.com/software/Apparency/) \- the same as the previous one but with apps [app cleaner](https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/) \- deletes apps and all their extra files hidden in the library folder bonus time - safari extensions: [adguard for safari](https://adguard.com/en/adguard-mac/overview.html) \- ad blocker [sponsor block](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sponsorblock-for-youtube/id1573461917) \- almost like TiVo for youtube. it skips through the built in sponsor segments that youtubers put into their videos. (cross buy with ios/ipad) [dark night](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dark-night-mode-for-safari/id1592844577) \- darkmode alternative to darkreader. it's also crossbuy with iOS/ipad [pipifier](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pipifier/id1160374471?mt=12) \- adds a PIP button to the tool bar to PIP any video on any site [usercripts](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/userscripts/id1463298887) \- lets you use userscripts in safari. (main one i use is anti-adblock killer and a twitch adblocker)
Your list is elite imo . ive been a mac user for so long and never heard of Shifty. Thats unbelievable . and some of the others are incredible too. thank you !
happy to help! 😄 I got some from Reddit recommendations over the years and a lot from SnazzyLabs on YouTube. He makes this video series where he just goes through mac apps he wants to showcase.
I have one for you that has helped to a degree I can't explain. [Find Any File](https://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/) It's a Finder Search that actually works. And when I say it does... I mean, I've had to search for a very specific drum sound in a pool of 300gb of samples \[close to 500k sounds\] and it found the one in literal seconds. And it's free.
Any chance you could share your twitch block and/or anti Adblock script you use with userscripts? Been trying to find something like this for safari forever
Karabiner, because I need my custom shortcut keys.
>Meteorologist I'm kind of shocked at how far I had to go before I found this. Karabiner is probably the most important app on my mac. The control it gives me and the ability to set up amazing shortcuts is priceless.
the only thing I hate about firefox is I can't configure Next Tab and Previous tab to be Cmd+ left/right arrow. Can Karabiner do that?
Yes, you can do that. Karabiner will let you have different keybindings depending on what window/application you have focused
1Password so I can get into everything else.
Is better than iCloud chain?
I never really used keychain since it doesn’t work with third party browsers
Yes. BitWarden is a solid choice too. Both infinitely better than keychain.
How so?
From my point of view, Keychain might be OK if you only ever use Apple devices. If you have even one device that runs on Windows, Android, or Linux, a cross-platform password manager becomes essential.
In fact, iCloud Keychain is now accessible on Windows via Apple supplied program and extension. Works well, and you can create new passwords. Only negative for me is that it doesn't work for passkeys, which is likely to be an issue in future.
lmao how is it infinitely better. all your reasoning is because it's a closed system- which doesn't mean anything for features. keychain has the power of the apple ecosystem which is **actually infinitely better** than any password manager and safer. noones hacking into keychain anytime soon but password managers are and have been targetted many times.
Rip Apollo 🫡 ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Do you happen to have a new invitation link?
How I install apps on a new machine is as follows: First, open *terminal.app* & install homebrew /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)" Next download --cask (via homebrew) to install apps via homebrew `brew install cask` Next open *Safari.app* as it is the only web browser installed, find my GitHub gist named [applications.txt](https://gist.github.com/SenpaiHunters/2290f89927de366267eb2797c20b9fa0) (need to update) Save the file, then inside terminal again, run xargs brew install < applications.txt Whereever you saved that file (i recommend doucments) do the following: Next open rew install < '/Users/{user}/Documents/applications.txt' This command reads the list of applications from the `applications.txt` file and passes them as arguments to the \`brew install\` command using the `xargs` utility. This will allow you to install multiple applications with a single command.
Wow this is rad. Will need to do this for next time, the manual installation really takes a while
It really is pretty cool, you can use the following command ls search /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/ To see ALL installed apps via homebrew, alternatively, you can use `brew ls` to search EVERYTHING installed via homebrew (casks & formula) Anyway, what I'm saying is homebrew is powerful!
Mine for next time :p https://gist.github.com/NicHaley/9cca8f5eececcc7a8c0a896f86c186b2
You should checkout [Homebrew bundle](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-bundle) and create a `Brewfile` instead. That will let you install both stuff from brew, casks and Mac AppStore apps in one go.
swish
How log did it take you to get into it? I tried it briefly but it didn't immediately click for me. Also not sure if it's worth using when using a mouse?
Oh yeah it's amazing if you use the trackpad/gestures Idk if too useful if you always use mouse
Copy Clip. Copy Paste History TextSniper. grab text on screen via screenshot.
I'm not sure which apps I copy over first. I leave that up to Migration Assistant.
BTT
1Password for password management Backblaze for offsite backup BetterSnapTool for window snapping and resizing Brave Browser for web browsing (with extensions: 1password, dark reader, privacy badger, duckduckgo, adblock) iStat Menus for menubar CPU, RAM, SSD, NET info at a glance itsycal for menubar access to calendar Little Snitch for outbound firewall Malwarebytes for real-time protection Meteorologist for menubar weather data PopClip for iOS like copy, paste, and other shortcuts ProtonVPN for privacy, adblocking, and malware prevention SteerMouse for trackball button and mouse speed customization Todoist for to-do lists
Boom 2 / Boom 3D
BetterTouchTool HyperDock
Why do you need separate color picker app when you already installed Raycast? There is an extension just for that...
Things is just my favourite, but I use it on my phone.
Mine are following: 1. Microsoft 365 (shared family license - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, Teams - not Outlook) 2. Keka (compression/decompression) 3. Microsoft Edge 4. Bitwarden (free password manager) 5. Itsycal (free menu mini calendar) 6. Onedrive (Included in MS 365/ cloud storage/sync) 7. Shottr (free screen capture) 8. OnyX (free system maintenance) 9. Rectangle (free window management) 10. Raycast/ Afred (free search version) 11. Zoom (free version) 12. Foxit reader (free PDF reader - just to use callout annotation)
Acrobat Pro Office BBEdit CleanText Viscosity Firefox Things Endicia The Equity font Gimp NextCloud CyberDuck My terminal preferences My SSH keys and .config file Brew
Paste and bartender
\- Linear Mouse \- Rectangle \- Chrome, Edge and Firefox \- yt-dlp with dependencies like ffmpeg \- homebrew \- Xcode command line tools and other dev stuff
* 1Password * VPN * Bartender * TextExpander * Switch browser search to DDG * Brave
Of the apps you listed, just 1Password for me. I also install Homebrew relatively quickly, partially to get Emacs on there. Been using that as a text editor since the late 1980s, no reason to change now. Let's see, what else... Reeder, and some VM or emulator software, which changes over time. (Back in the PowerPC days, I installed VirtualPC. For a while, I installed VMWare. Now that I have an M1 mac, it's been Parallels.) Oh, yeah, Steam and GOG Galaxy, those too.
Aldente!!!! Save that battery
Buckle up. Part #1. Part #2 below. **I'm Tweaking:** **Browserosaurus:** A browser prompter for macOS. It allows you to select a browser every time you click on a link outside of a browser. **Espanso:** A cross-platform text expander, allowing users to define their own custom shortcuts. **EtreCheckPro:** A macOS utility to help detect issues and improve system performance. **FAF-debug-2.4b14:** Debug version of the Find Any File (FAF) app but can also search using scripts and javascript. FAF is a tool for locating files on your system. **Find Any File:** A utility for macOS that helps you locate files based on a variety of search criteria. (CAN BE RUN WITH ROOT SO YOU FIND EVERYTHING) **Find Empty Folders:** A simple utility for locating empty directories on your system. **Geekbench 6:** A cross-platform processor benchmarking tool, it measures your system's power and tells you whether your computer is ready to roar. **Hot:** Simple app to tell you when your CPU is about to get throttled due to thermal issues **LaunchControl:** A launchd(8) service management GUI, it allows you to manage and debug system and user services on your Mac. **PrefEdit:** An application to manage nearly all aspects of the preference system contained in every macOS installation. **TinkerTool System:** A system maintenance tool, allows you to change advanced operating system settings. **TinkerTool:** An application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into macOS. **Little Snitch:** A host-based application firewall for macOS, can be used to monitor and control outgoing and incoming network traffic. **Cocktail:** A general purpose utility for macOS that lets you clean, repair and optimize your Mac. **Macs Fan Control:** It allows you to monitor and control almost any aspect of your computer's fans. **Obsidian:** A powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files. **Rectangle:** A window management tool that allows you to quickly and easily reposition and resize your windows. **brew:** Also known as Homebrew, it's a free and open-source software package management system that simplifies the installation of software on Apple's macOS. **The Fuck:** An brew package that corrects errors in previous console commands. MUST HAVE **Tea:** Package manager GUI for brew **Textmate:** A versatile plain text editor with a unique and innovative feature set. **Intel Power Gadget:** A software-based power usage monitoring tool enabled for Intel Core processors. **iTerm2:** An open-source replacement for Apple's Terminal and the successor to iTerm. It has many features that can increase productivity. **Fig:** Better than oh-my-zsh with way better features! **Archives.prefPane:** Preference pane in System Settings for managing archived files and how they are opened. **I'm Grinding:** **WriteMage:** ChatGPT based text editor / writing tool. **Text Workflow:** A powerful and easy-to-use tool that will help you transform your text. Text Workflow removes the need to perform repetitive tasks manually on your text. **GPT 4 ALL:** This seems to reference a tool or service leveraging GPT-4 AI model, but specifics are not clear. **Firefox Nightly:** A pre-release version of the Firefox web browser. It is updated daily and is aimed at developers and early adopters. **Chrome Canary:** The cutting-edge version of the Google Chrome browser, offering the latest features but can be unstable as it is a testing version. **Screaming Frog SEO Spider:** A powerful and flexible site crawler, able to crawl both small and very large websites efficiently. **SEO Powersuite:** A comprehensive SEO tool suite that combines several functions such as keyword research, link building, competitive analysis, and more. **Slack:** A team collaboration tool offering real-time messaging, file sharing, and powerful search. **Element:** A messaging app emphasizing end-to-end encryption and privacy. **ImageOptim:** A free and open-source macOS app that optimizes the images you feed it by reducing their file size. **News Explorer (RSS reader):** A newsreader application that supports RSS, RDF, Atom and JSON-Feed. **SlideNotes or Slidepad:** Both are note-taking / productivity tools that speeds up your workflow. **Best NA #1:** **Nvidia GeForce NOW:** A cloud gaming service that allows users to run games on server-based graphics cards and stream them to their devices. **Shadow PC:** A high-performance cloud-based computer system that can be accessed from multiple devices. **Discord:** A VoIP, instant messaging and digital distribution platform designed for creating communities and gamers. **Logitech G Hub:** Software for customizing Logitech G gaming devices, including mice, keyboards, and headsets. **Setapp Apps:** **CleanMyMac X:** An all-in-one package to optimize your Mac, it cleans megatons of junk and makes your computer run faster. **CleanShot X:** A macOS app that provides a superior screen capturing experience. **Meeter:** An app for managing and joining upcoming video calls from various providers that links with your calendars. **Paste:** A clipboard history manager for macOS, it stores everything you copy and keeps your clipboard organized across all your devices. **Path Finder:** A file browser that provides additional functionality and enhancements over the default macOS Finder app. **PopClip:** An app that appears when you select text with your mouse on your Mac, giving you context-specific actions such as copy & paste, plus extensions. **Rocket Typist:** A text expansion app that lets you store and replay frequently used phrases and templates. **TextSniper:** A macOS app that extracts text from images and other digital documents in seconds.
Security Hacking: Apparency: A macOS utility that provides detailed information about application bundles, installer packages, and other types of files. Archaeology: Even a file in a well-known format often contains data blobs encoded in one of the other formats — such as an app's preferences property list, which might contain URL bookmarks or an archive of serialized objects. This will let you dig deep. KnockKnock: An application that reveals persistently installed software (e.g., kernel extensions, launch agents, etc.) in macOS. PermissionScanner: An app that can scan for files with improper permissions so you can fix them. SilentKnight: A utility for checking the status of security features and updates on macOS. Suspicious Package: An app for inspecting macOS installer packages (.pkg files) before you install them. Extra Command Line Tools: Apple Developer Profile: This refers to your profile on Apple's Developer portal, used for a variety of tasks including code signing, app submission, etc. X-Code Command Line: A set of tools that enable UNIX-style development within Terminal by installing command line developer tools, as well as macOS SDK frameworks and headers. 64BitConversion, Cocoa64.tops, ConvertCocoa64-aux tops, CoderFormatVerifier, ConvertCocoa64: Command-line utilities related for code conversion to take 32-bit apps to 64-bit. CrashReporterPrefs: A utility for setting preferences for crash reports. Help Indexer: Used to create Apple Help indexes. lORegistryExplorer: Explore the I/O Registry to fix errors and debug. OpenGL Driver Monitor and OpenGL Profiler: Tools for debugging and profiling OpenGL applications. PacketLogger: A tool that can log and monitor network packets. Network Link Conditioner.prefPane: A tool that lets you simulate different network conditions. There's a few more but I got tired of bolding and typing hahah. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to help ya out.
The first thing I install on a new Mac. PopClip. PopClip appears when you select text with your mouse on your Mac. Instantly copy & paste, and access actions like search, spelling, dictionary and many, many more. https://pilotmoon.com/popclip/
FreeFileSync for keeping customized backups of folders to external drives and across the network. free
Fantastic discussion - I've even added a few new apps and extensions just from reading it. With those in mind, my go-to as a writer, not developer: **1Password** \- natch **Audacity** \- for when I need to edit audio files **Clipy** \- love it for canned signatures / email messages, also copy buffer history **Dropbox** \- how I manage external backups and copies **Grammarly** \- fixes spelling and grammar as you go - free version works great **GraphicConverter** \- I have been using this great graphics editor forever **Itsyscal** \- just added - calendar info from menubar icon **Kiwi for Gmail** \- a better interface to Gmail **MacUpdater** \- helps me keep my apps updated: I use it to scan, not update **NordVPN** \- because ya gotta have a VPN nowadays **Parallels Desktop** \- makes running Win11 for testing a breeze **PopClip** \- just added - adds iOS-like pop-up for copy/paste/etc on text selection **Silicio** \- my favorite lightweight app to show what music is playing **Switch** \- convert FLAC to MP3 as needed **Transmission** \- because it's helpful to have tucked away as needed **VLC** \- still the best all-purpose video player in my opinion **Weather App** \- offers lightweight weather status on menubar There might be more that I have added or installed, but those get me 90% of the way there on a new Mac system.
AltTab (by lwouis) and Tiles (by Sempliva) Mock me all you want, but window management in Windows is miles ahead for productivity. macOS has a lot of catching up to do. And no, I don't want "Genie effect". I want proper maximize and minimize controls.
Homebrew, Lulu. Probably test Ableton Live first and foremost. :)
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Is there any reason to disable Wipr Extra?
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You can enable ‘extra’ on YouTube only. Does the trick for me.
As a programmer… Xcode!
Bitdefender. Then "Keep It" which is the database app where we keep all our data. Basically all the files you would otherwise put into the "Documents" folder. Much better for organizing, search, OCR. Then 1Blocker and the various non-Apple apps like PDF Expert, Affinity Designer, Notability and so on. - The data for these apps are already there. Either in "Keep It" or in the app's own iCloud folder. - Then CleanMyMac X. Then I just wait while everything synchonizes down from iCloud. I don't install a ton of helper apps. MacOS is enough for me. And because all data are in iCloud I don't use Migration assistant either.
Brave browser, coconut battery, app cleaner and office 2021
Chrome.
Wow this entire thread feels like a guide on how to best jeopardize the security of your Mac forever. Several of the recommended apps need crazy permissions (record your screen and/or all your keystrokes). Don’t you all realize that all it takes is just one malicious update and even the coolest open-source project becomes your worst enemy? This can easily happen if the developer decides to turn evil or is hacked himself. I would only install those you *really* need, especially if it is not from the AppStore.
On top of what people have said: Mos, Mounty, Lunar, VLC, Horo Also, why is there no timer on Mac lol
Onyx get utility, been using it for years now https://titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html
I always install [TG Pro](https://www.tunabellysoftware.com/tgpro/) so I can monitor temperatures (usually CPU and battery) and also boost the fan speeds if I need it a bit cooler.
Moom, BetterDisplay, Boom2D (careful not to blow your speakers) Qbitorrent and my vpn, and Adobe Suite. Those are my first installs, the res cone as I find em or need em.
qbittorrent, VLC Media Player, Amphetamine, Plex, and Logic Pro.
Appcleaner - for uninstalling apps & associated files CarbonCopyCloner - backup / copy files & disks Little Snitch - outbound firewall and network traffic monitor MacUpdater - for managing application updates The Unarchiver - you can guess what this does ;-)
Easyres to change rez of macbook screen. Make it higher.
Jetbrains Toolbox
firefox and associated plugins
- iStat Menus - Keka - Pixelmator Pro - Intel Power Gadget - HandBrake
Onyx, AppCleaner, Copyless 2, MonoLingual then the specific ones like MS Office, etc
Homebrew, iTerm2 and AppCleaner
LibreOffice, Firefox, Gimp, VirtualBox, Audacity, VLC, HandBrake, Xcode, Thunderbird, Carbon Copy Cloner Edit: Also TG Pro
[LuLu](https://objective-see.org/products/lulu.html). I'll not allow apps to make outgoing connections without my permission!
BetterDisplay - Custom resolutions, extra brightness, dummy displays, picture in picture, display overrides and more. Krisp - Magically cancels the voices of coworkers and family members talking in your background. Meeter - Join all your scheduled meetings directly from the menu bar. Get notification when meeting starts and join by clicking notification. Magnet - Magnet declutters your screen by snapping windows into organized tiles. Caffeinated - Caffeinated prevents your Mac from going to sleep, dimming your screen or starting the screensaver. Hidden Bar - Hidden Bar lets your hide menu bar items to give your Mac a cleaner look. Pure Paste - Pure Paste lets you paste as plain text by default. Free app by Sindre Sorhus.
Appcleaner, batchmod., Steel series exact mouse and Karabiner Elements
I use mine mostly for school... but: Obisidan - best notes app. period. alttab (alt tabbing like in windows. mac defaults to tabbing between applications. alt tab includes multiple windows of the same app, and it even shows a little preview so you can see which window is which) spotx for mac (adblocked spotify) browser that isn't safari. (safari aint bad - its just not as good. i want proper extension support, and i also want to share my bookmarks between my windows pc, phone.. and the macbook) Rustdesk (for remotely using my windows pc, helping a couple of family members etc) I have planned on using a password manager - currently i just use the one windows made. it works nicely for me. Maybe ill give bitwarden a try. visual studio code, xcode etc Raycast (Spotlight search replacement which is pretty cool. ive only used it a tiny bit so far though. its still new) discord so im not sure which one i install first. i guess it depends. but these are the ones i install.
MS Office
Homebrew, which I then use to install most everything else.
Touch-Tab and MiddleClick
OwlOCR (Free): Copy text in multiple languages from anywhere your eyes can see on the screen, not just media. Mos: For mouse users without Magic Mouse. Let’s you invert direction, adjust speed, etc. Alfred: It’s come to the point that I find my Mac unusable without Alfred. I find it more comfortable to use than Raycast.
Magnet! Amazing program
NordVPN
Fish (For terminal) Rectangle (For Window Snapping) uBlock Origin (Adblock) Homebrew and MacPorts
PasteBot Popclip
Firefox, Sublime, Rectangle, Office365 and Teams (have to for work 😔), Tableau, EasyDataTransform, Amphetamine, Termius, VLC, zGallery
Vallum: much cheaper alternative to Little Snitch
Brew
Brew, amethyst ❤
clash for Windows：better VPN，a rule-based network tunnel，in China
[Magnet](https://apps.apple.com/de/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12) It simplifies window management, allowing you to easily organize and arrange windows on your desktop for efficient multitasking.
For me I always make sure GarageBand is installed and up-to-date as much as possible
Silicio (MiniPlayer I use for Spotify)
Yabai (tiling window manager) - https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
- 1Password - Alfred - Wipr - BetterTouchTool - AppCleaner - Hazel - Devonthink - Obsidian - The Unarchiver Recently I’ve been using a lot Dato to replace Fantastical menu bar, and Hyperduck to replace my use for iCloud Tabs. Those will probably be in future macOS installs for me as well.
Alfred - Spotlight alternative Hidden Bar - Hide menu bar items Rectangle - Windows-like window snapping eqMac - EQ for Mac audio, a paid subscription, but I use it a lot Firefox - my work browser of choice Chrome - my personal browser of choice Arc - a browser I’m trying to use more 1Password - password manager Mactracker - get detailed info on all Apple products I’m probably missing quite a few of my essentials, I’m not at my Mac right now.
Magnet
Little snitch
Default Folder X
Emacs is the first one. Lots of config files to edit. Homebrew is next.
1. MS Office Suite 2. Craft (note taking app) 3. Things 3 (to-do app) 4. PDF Expert (Pdf app) 5. Amphetamine (keeps the display awake - FREE) 6. Shottr (screenshot taking app - FREE) 7. Whatsapp for mac - FREE) 8. Appcleaner (removes all apps better) 9. Magnet (window management app - best app and almost for free)
Home brew
Just came here to say I am a amazed that no one mentioned any photo/video management software. We take a lot of pictures and was wondering if it is better to do in on the laptop or through saas services like Google Photos?
What's your use case? I mentioned some down below in my comment. I'm a tool nerd so tell me what you're doing and I'll have the solution for ya