On the eve of the New Year holidays, I bought myself a new 15-inch MacBook Air, almost fully equipped. Thin, light, with a large earphone, on a cool M2, with a kitchen of RAM and sufficient storage capacity…
We’ll talk about him in a separate article (this was, so, the seed), and in this I’ll share the active applications that are installed on it last and first.
Let me make a reservation right away that I always set up all new Macs from scratch. The same is done when switching to the next numbered version of the lighting system (I advise everyone to do the same).
More than 10 years only on Mac, and during this time I have just formed a list of truly worthy utilities, without which I myself am no longer “friendly” with macOS.
By the way, they will be useful for both beginners who are switching from Windows and experienced Mac users. Most are free, the rest are worth the effort.
💡 By the way: I make sure to replace all irregularly shaped icons for applications through the properties of each of them. The arrival in 99% of cases comes from the macOSicons website. Its creators managed to gather a community of perfectionists.
1. TinkerTool – a utility for fine-tuning macOS
The utility has a lot of interesting parameters that cannot be changed through System Settings.
A utility that provides access to other macOS functions and settings that are usually hidden from the user.
With its help, you can change various system parameters, including screenshots, Dock operation, desktop and system applications, fonts and Safari browser settings.
💡 Curious: All TinkerTool features are provided by the macOS developers and can be used without utilities using the Terminal command. But it’s much more convenient to work with all this stuff in a familiar interface.
For example, you can change the default page scaling options in Safari or choose options for errors and crashes on the desktop.
However, most of all to me love disabling shadows on macOS screenshots using standard means. The utility can be installed at least for this reason.
It is worth noting that most changes require a reboot or re-login to the user account. But personally I don’t think this is a problem.
Yes, TinkerTool is updated regularly, keeps macOS up to date and does not affect system speed or stability. I was convinced of this personally.
💻 Download the application (for free)
2. Magnet – an application for convenient window management
Window management options can be flexibly changed to your liking using keyboard shortcuts.
A utility for conveniently managing windows on a Mac, which it’s high time Apple bought and made an improved part of macOS.
Windows are magnetic to different edges of the screen (hence the name of the application) and change their size when dragging or using editable keyboard shortcuts, whichever is preferable.
The utility allows you to place a window on the entire screen, half, quarter or third. Stands for up to six external displays and flexibly adapts to vertical screens by creating an area along the sides.
Window organization takes advantage of the need to switch between applications and improve workspace efficiency, which is especially true on larger screens.
Specifically, what I like most is the ability to quickly expand an application window to full screen using the combination Control(⌃) + Option(⌥) + Enter(↩︎).
💻 Download the application (499 rub.)
3. Transfer – torrent download/upload manager.
Nothing extra, just the exchange of files from the distributor to the recipient and back.
The simplest, lightest and most modern torrent client for macOS.
It has a minimalist design and high efficiency. It supports a number of useful features, including priority downloads and fast recovery of broken connections.
Sam use it to quickly exchange data files. To create a new distribution for someone, you just need to drag a file or archive into the application window.
However, it is important to note that file sharing via torrents is not secure and should be used with great caution.
💻 Download the application (for free)
4. Tuxera Disk Manager – NTFS support for any Mac.
The only normal tool that allows you to forget about the compatibility of files of different OS systems.
A utility authorized by Mac owners read and write information to NTFS-formatted drives. This is the file system commonly used in Windows.
This is where the useful features of the application end, but they remain vital if you need to work with certain files either on a PC or on a Mac.
💻 Download the application (about 1,300 rubles at the current exchange rate)
5. Hidden panel – hides unnecessary icons from the menu bar.
Without this tool, such a huge variety of icons will not survive.
The utility helps you organize and increase the size of the menu by closing unnecessary icons.
Adding an icon in the form of an arrow with a spiral to it in the menu text expands or rotates the panel with hidden icons.
The Hidden Bar utility is especially useful for all those who, like me, constantly have many applications in their menu bar that have constant access to such a change makes no sense.
💻 Download the application (for free)
6. Caramba Switcher – automatic switching of layouts
The device works completely autonomously and does not require flexible settings, adding dictionaries or anything else.
Smart button layout switch that automatically sets the language typing and switches the button layout.
Russian-English works just fine with a couple (I haven’t checked the others myself). In addition, you can change the layout manually and alternately using Shift (⇪).
There is also a minor fix for occasional double titles and the creation of an exception system. This often happens too.
There are also no problems in games and programming with applications, because it does not touch the code and full-screen entertainment.
💻 Download the application (subscription RUB 499 per year)
7. Silicio – widget for music/podcasts on your desktop
The most competent widget in all respects, which looks beautiful and is quite convenient.
Applying Addition mini player with album covers on your desktop to control music on Mac. It supports iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify and other players, including Podcasts.
You can customize the size of the player on your desktop, change the themes that highlight your album art, and get notifications about the latest track.
The application works much better than the widgets that were added to Sonoma. Plus, support is stable in installing current macOS and not at all.
The application also includes integration with Last.fm, but I have never used this service myself, so I won’t say right away whether this is a plus or a minus.
💻 Download the application (for free)
8. Keka – an advanced archiver just in case
A more universal archiver for external systems has not yet been invented.
A full-featured file archiver for Mac that supports many formats including 7Z, ZIP, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, LZIP, BROTLI, ZSTD, LRZIP, AAR, WIM, DMG and ISO.
The utility works with password-protected archives, quickly copes with unpacking and packing unlimited number of files.
💻 Download the application (free, but only from the site)
9. AppCleaner is a normal removal tool for any software
The utility not only removes applications, but also cleans up their tails.
To uninstall most applications normally, just drag their icon into the AppCleaner window.
The utility will immediately show associated files that are also best deleted, with the ability to select those that, in your opinion, are best left.
In addition, the application also allows you to add some applications to the protected list to prevent them from being accidentally deleted.
💻 Download the application (for free)
10. Mousecape – fun custom sharpening for macOS
New releases for this application specifically in its format are active and spreading throughout the network.
Free emission manager for Mac based on the CoreGraphics API. It allows create and apply custom electrodes (capes), which are automatically activated upon login.
The emission package in the Mousecape holders is adjustable to the scale presented for any emissions, which is also very convenient.
Users can create their own capes using a simple in-app editor and import their own Oxygen images.
That is why there are a lot of kits distributed on the Internet that can be downloaded and installed without any problems.
For me, this application represents an opportunity to diversify the use of the system that I work with every day. It copes with this perfectly well.
💻 Download the application (for free)
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Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
