[HN Gopher] Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily an...
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Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
I'm converting my unused gaming PC into a NAS/Docker container
server and my personal device will now be a MacBook Air. I've got
Magnet for easier window management, otherwise not much else and
looking for recommendations on other apps to check out. So, what
applications do you use daily on MacOS and why do you love it?
Author : 0bsolete
Score : 29 points
Date : 2024-06-09 20:37 UTC (2 hours ago)
| coldtea wrote:
| Alfred, quick task launcher and more
|
| iAWriter, lightweight writing-focused text-editor
|
| Little Snitch, network monitor, app firewall
| f_allwein wrote:
| I like Typinator, which lets me automate (and customise)
| frequently typed text: https://ergonis.com/typinator
| 4b11b4 wrote:
| espanso
| tripplyons wrote:
| nix-darwin and home-manager are a great way to manage installed
| apps and configurations on a Mac. I have slowly been moving
| everything into my configs.
| dave84 wrote:
| Things 3, really polished todo/personal task manager app. I also
| use on iOS and Apple Watch. Blackhole, sound routing e.g
| recording os audio when screen recording.
| yqiang wrote:
| Craft - it's a nice note taking app with great sync. I use it on
| my Mac and iPhone daily.
|
| Fork - one of the better git GUIs.
|
| Rectangle - open source app to manage window layouts
| chem83 wrote:
| Rectangle, MonitorControl
| smilebot wrote:
| Spectacle for window management. Clipy for clipboard history.
| Flux for managing color temp.
| schmeichel wrote:
| If your into the tiling window manager experience, I would highly
| recommend looking into yabai + skhd + Sketchybar
|
| - https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai -
| https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd -
| https://github.com/FelixKratz/SketchyBar
|
| Some honorable mentions: Hammerspoon - Unlock insane levels of
| configuration/automation
| (https://github.com/Hammerspoon/hammerspoon) Raycast - Spotlight
| search replacement (https://www.raycast.com/) LuLu Firewall - An
| amazing FOSS firewall (https://github.com/objective-see/LuLu)
| jawns wrote:
| CopyClip https://apps.apple.com/us/app/copyclip-clipboard-
| history/id5... allows you to retain and access your clipboard
| history.
|
| I would be lost without it. It's gotten me out of so many jams.
|
| Just have to be careful about not needlessly keeping around
| sensitive data.
| kingkongjaffa wrote:
| Rectangle - just works window manager
|
| Owly - stop sleep / keep screen on, like caffeine app from years
| ago
|
| iterm2 - terminal that looks nice and just works, using zsh and
| oh-myzsh for basic theming.
|
| I user Nord color scheme everywhere
| https://www.nordtheme.com/ports
| Calamitous wrote:
| Came here to recommend rectangle and iterm.
| yzydserd wrote:
| I'm happy with Amphetamine as my Caffeine replacement but will
| try Owly out of interest.
| mathisd wrote:
| - Arc Browser
|
| - Typora : a markdown editor
|
| - Flux : screen color temperature adjuster
|
| - Rectangle : window management
|
| - Transmission : torrent downloader
|
| - Pika : color picker
|
| - IINA : video player
|
| - Quickshade : to go below minimal luminosity
|
| - The Unarchiver : for unsupported compressed file
| EricEspen wrote:
| kaleidoscope - diff anything
| rpastuszak wrote:
| My list: https://untested.sonnet.io/Default+Apps+2023
|
| (+ alacritty and neovim)
| wduquette wrote:
| Obsidian. Scrivener. FreePlane.
| swah wrote:
| Raycast + any terminal + any editor in general
| afloatboat wrote:
| Raycast
|
| - Replaces Spotlight for opening applications
|
| - Replaces Magnet for window management, same features but don't
| have to run a separate app now.
|
| - keeps a clipboard history
|
| - allows me to convert colours and units
|
| - integrates with my calendar to show me upcoming meetings, shows
| them in my menu bar and lets me join them with one click
|
| - allows me to prevent my Mac from sleeping (for certain
| durations) with caffeinate command
|
| - has a variety of plugins available
|
| Probably forgetting a lot of things I use it for, but even
| without the premium features I use it all the time.
| FractalHQ wrote:
| I came here to scream Raycast... but this is a great breakdown.
| Raycast replaces _so many_ apps (and even web browser
| functionality) for me, and I'm not even on the Pro tier.
|
| To your list, I would add app shortcuts / key commands / quick
| links / snippets / code image generators (optically from
| selection) to name a few.
| jdmoreira wrote:
| Proxyman
|
| Just a great mitm tool that I use for work but also for just
| looking at random apis that I come across on my day-to-day web
| use. I just love it, you can do so much with it.
| jen729w wrote:
| MindNode is a delightful mind mapping app.
| danaris wrote:
| LaunchBar, whose primary purpose isn't nearly as necessary since
| Spotlight mostly took up that functionality (can you tell I've
| been using it for a _while_?), but provides both very quick
| access to a simple calculator, and a pretty robust clipboard
| manager.
|
| HiDock, which automatically switches my Dock between left-edge
| (when I'm using my laptop on its own) and bottom-edge (when I
| have it docked with the much larger screen on my desk).
|
| iStatMenus, which makes it _vastly_ easier to tell when my
| Bluetooth mice and keyboards need charging.
|
| Fluor, which automatically switches my function keys between
| their macOS "media/feature key" setting and standard function
| keys based on app (primarily so I can use them as intended in
| games like Final Fantasy XIV).
|
| MacPorts, IMO still the superior macOS package manager. I
| honestly don't know why Homebrew suddenly started getting so much
| attention several years ago, to the point that many devs don't
| even appear to know that there _is_ another option, when MacPorts
| is older _and_ doesn 't take over an otherwise highly useful
| directory (/usr/local; MacPorts uses /opt/local).
| 486sx33 wrote:
| Stats
| NaOH wrote:
| Keyboard Maestro allows you to simplify or automate nearly any
| task. No words here can capture its capabilities. Additional
| perks are its stability, no subscriptions (and discounted upgrade
| pricing for existing users), and a helpful support forum.
| kcartlidge wrote:
| Loads of little things, but you specifically asked for _daily_
| use so:
|
| - _Rectangle_ for window management (I appreciate you have Magnet
| and tastes differ)
|
| - _MarkEdit_ is an excellent (free) Markdown editor
|
| - _Highland 2_ (not free) for more long-form Markdown writing as
| it can handle normal Markdown files and feels more polished than
| similar tools (especially the document map)
|
| - _VLC_ as I watch a lot of box sets and it 's better than the
| Apple options
|
| - _SourceTree_ for source control (not as good as Git Extentions
| on Windows but more to my tastes than the VS Code plugins, Fork,
| or GitKraken for example)
|
| - _BitWarden_ as I 'm cross-platform so don't want to rely on the
| Apple Keychain
|
| - _Authy_ for two-factor authentication - not the Google,
| Microsoft, or similar option as I don 't want to be tied to a
| tech giant account that can get switched off
|
| - _PCloud_ (with encryption and a mapped drive) for the same
| cross-platform reason, plus again I don 't want my backups tied
| to a tech giant account that can get switched off
|
| - _PGAdmin 4_ for database management during development
|
| - _Keka_ for handling archives /zips as it usually handles files
| fine when Apple's archiver won't (eg some EPUBs when renamed to
| zip)
|
| - _Fastmail_ for being able to manage _multiple_ custom domain
| emails, aliases, and even nameservers from a _single_ (paid) user
| account (I 'm aware it isn't a Mac app but I do often use Outlook
| from Office 2019 to access it despite the excellent web site)
| anVlad11 wrote:
| Choosy - is a must for me. It lets you select the browser/profile
| after clicking on any link or define the rules for opening them.
| For example, if a link contains a certain domain or it's source
| application is Slack, it will be opened in Work profile of your
| browser.
|
| Obsidian - note taking, making presentations for work-related
| stuff.
|
| iTerm 2 - it's better than default terminal emulator, but i
| consider moving to Alacritty to see what's so hype about it.
|
| Scroll Reverser - macOS still doesn't know the difference between
| mouse scrolling and trackpad scrolling.
|
| While i can't recommend Arc browser, i still use it daily. I
| don't believe it will exist in it's current form in two years,
| but now it's much more usable than other Chromium-based browsers
| for me.
|
| I also have a simple shortcut in Siri Shortcuts that calls m1ddc
| tool to change the external monitor current input between HDMI
| and DisplayPort.
| jiehong wrote:
| Sublime Merge: git client
|
| Karabiner: mostly map my mouse back button to previous page
| gesture for web browsing.
|
| ITerm2: just a good terminal
|
| Sublime Text: text editor
|
| IINA: video player
| lonelyasacloud wrote:
| Things - Reliable, maclike and generally well thought
| out/polished piece of productivity software. Stand out feature is
| its hotkeys and os integration make capturing useful reminders of
| what needs doing as it comes in from various sources quick (==
| far less likely to be forgotten).
| mj4e wrote:
| Another vote for Things 3. A simple and very polished to-do app.
| Really helps me be organised and I wish I could find a calendar
| app of similar quality/vibe.
|
| Superhuman. Expensive and delightful email.
|
| Velja. Opens URLs in preferred browser (Safari for everything
| except Meet, which opens in Chrome).
|
| PS - I'm not a developer but really like Zed as a text editor.
| pharos92 wrote:
| Rectangle - Window Management
|
| Firefox - WebBrowers Because it's not Google
|
| Folx - BitTorrent & Download Manager
|
| Wireguard - VPN
|
| DisplayLinkManager - Multi Display Manager
|
| DrawIO - Diagram Software
|
| Warp - Terminal
|
| IINA - Video Player
|
| CodeEdit - Text & Code Editor
|
| Bitwarden - Password Management
| snkhan wrote:
| 1Blocker -- Ad Blocker Bear -- For note taking Calendar 366 --
| Mostly for its Menu Bar feature Homebrew -- Package Manager
| Magnet -- Window Manager NetNewsWire -- RSS Reader PopClip --
| Adds iOS like pop-overs to macOS Solstice -- Sunrise/Sunset times
| StopTheMadness -- Safari Better Web Extension Tailscale Things --
| Todos VSCode
| Justsignedup wrote:
| Can't use Mac without rectangle. You don't need magnet.
|
| Owly is my fav for anti sleeping at certain times. Though
| critical to disable the ads via startup features. I haven't found
| abetter one. Though it has quirks.
|
| Also some commands in the cli for like key repeat. Like wtf why
| can't I turn off accent hold when I want to repeat letters.
| iroddis wrote:
| Lots of good apps here, but I haven't seen Shottr, yet. Amazing
| screenshotting tool, I use it all the time.
|
| Fmail2 app for a more native fastmail client is also very nice.
| __jonas wrote:
| Since the built-in screenshot & screen recording stuff on Mac
| is already so good, I feel like a third party tool to take
| screenshots would have to be really amazing for me to consider
| it instead, I guess the benefits of this one is the annotation
| stuff?
| steven_noble wrote:
| Most of mine are listed here already. Four are worth adding:
| fusion, for audio, pixelmator, for images, Kitty, the terminal,
| and Alfred, which is like raycast.
| schappim wrote:
| * Alfred - Productivity App for macOS [1]
|
| * iTerm2 - macOS Terminal Replacement [2]
|
| * Dropshare App - upload anything anywhere on macOS [3]
|
| * Mimestream - A native macOS email client for Gmail [4]
|
| * Things - To-Do List for Mac & iOS [5]
|
| [1] https://www.alfredapp.com
|
| [2] https://iterm2.com
|
| [3] https://dropshare.app
|
| [4] https://mimestream.com
|
| [5] https://culturedcode.com/things
| pseudo_meta wrote:
| - Alfred: Launcher and general productivity app
|
| - Hammerspoon: window management and general purpose automation
| app, configured in lua.
|
| - sketchybar: menu bar replacement, configured in bash/zsh
|
| - Karabiner elements: keyboard remapper
|
| - homebrew: package manager
|
| - Obsidian: note-taking app. Also longform writing (with the
| right origins) and social scientific QDA (with the right plugins)
|
| - WezTerm: terminal, configured in lua
|
| - espanso: text expander
|
| - CleanShot X: Screenshot App, can also do OCR, Videos, gifs, and
| screenshot annotations
|
| - Peek: Syntax highlighting for Quick Look into source code files
|
| - Betterzip: Quicklook into archive files & general handling of
| archives
|
| - Highlights: PDF reader with focus on annotations.
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(page generated 2024-06-09 23:02 UTC)