Mac Apps I Use Every Day 2021

Date
18/01/2021
Time2 min read

At the time of writing this article in 2020, my machine of choice is a 2019 Macbook Pro 16". When I'm at my desk it's docked into a 34" Ultrawide 1440p monitor.

I am constantly on the lookout for new apps that will help me to improve my productivity and make things more efficient.

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is my code editor of choice. It provides my with a great programming workspace with built-in compatibility with Github.

Visit Visual Studio Code Website

Trello

Trello is a web-based platform that provides a space for task and project management, as well as collaboration.

Trello helps teams work more collaboratively and get more done.

Although Trello is built with collaboration in mind, it also serves perfectly as a personal task-management platform.

Trello also provides some additional tools for advanced usage that allows for automation, repeating tasks and third-party integrations.

Visit Trello's Website

aText

Any Mac power user would know about the system's built in text snippets that allow you to save text snippets behind smaller abbreviations.

aText provides a similar experience, albeit with a few more advanced features.

Some examples of my snippets;

  • ;abn - prints out my ABN
  • ;addr - prints out my address
  • ;ddate - prints out the current date

aText also allows for some advanced snippets with text entry information.

aText also allows you to include clipboard information within a snippet, additionally allowing for find and replace before pasting (including support for Regex).

Visit aText's Website

Alfred

Alfred is the ultimate replacement for spotlight search. I have Alfred's shortcut mapped to initiate with the standard Spotlight Search - CMD + ENTER

This provides me with the ability to quickly launch applications, find files and run utilities.

Some of my favourite utilities provide the ability to;

  • Convert between different units. Example: conv 300cm in
  • Search for emojis. Example: e thumbsup 👍
  • Change my audio output device. Example: output headphones
  • Search for synonyms and antonyms. Example: synonym word
  • Set a simple timer. Example: timer 3m NameOfTimer

Visit Alfred's Website

Homebrew Package Manager

Homebrew allows command line packages and MacOS Applications to be installed, managed and removed all from the command line.

Gone are the days of installing applications manually.

All I have to do to install a new application is run a simple command in terminal.

brew install spotify

Then Homebrew installs the package in the background;

==> Downloading https://download.scdn.co/Spotify.dmg
#################################### 100.0%
==> Installing Cask spotify
==> Moving App 'Spotify.app' to '/Applications/Spotify.app'.
🍺  spotify was successfully installed!

Visit Homebrew's Website