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macOS apps ​

I maintain a big list of apps I use on my system here together with why and how I use them.

And here is a full list of the apps I have inside my /Applications folder.

Nice OSS macOS Swift/ObjC apps ​

  • Pine - Modern, native macOS markdown editor.
  • Twig - Modern macOS markdown editor.
  • Flowlist - Fun Self-Management for macOS.
  • OnlySwitch - All-in-One status bar button, hide MacBook Pro's notch, dark mode, AirPods. (Web)
  • Sloth - Displays all open files and sockets in use by all running processes on your system. (HN)
  • TelegramSwift macOS
  • Workbench - Seamless, automatic, “dotfile” sync to iCloud.
  • LuLu - Free macOS firewall. (Web) (HN)
  • Conferences.digital - Watch the latest and greatest conference videos on your Mac.
  • Gifski - Convert videos to high-quality GIFs on your Mac.
  • Sourceful - Native source editor for iOS and macOS.
  • Shifty - MacOS menu bar app that gives you more control over Night Shift.
  • Seashore - Easy to use mac osx image editing application, gimp light.
  • Linked Ideas - MacOS/iOS apps to treat ideas as links of concepts.
  • HotKey - Simple global shortcuts in macOS.
  • Latest - Small utility app for macOS that makes sure you know about all the latest updates to the apps you use. (Web)
  • Hidden Bar - Ultra-light MacOS utility that helps hide menu bar icons. (HN)
  • NetNewsWire - RSS reader for macOS and iOS.
  • macos-key-cast - Log keys pressed on macOS. Useful for screen recordings and presentations.
  • Rectangle - Move and resize windows on macOS with keyboard shortcuts and snap areas. (Web)
  • Plash - Make any website your Mac desktop wallpaper.
  • Swindler - Swift window management library for macOS.
  • Lunar - Intelligent adaptive brightness for your external display.
  • Tinkle - Appends a visual effect for the focused window changes.
  • Maccy - Lightweight clipboard manager for macOS.
  • Pasteboard Viewer - Inspect the system pasteboards on macOS.
  • Vimac - Vimium for macOS. (Web) (HN)
  • LinkLiar - Link-Layer MAC spoofing GUI for macOS.
  • Crescendo - Swift based, real time event viewer for macOS. It utilizes Apple's Endpoint Security Framework.
  • Blurred - macOS utility that helps reduce distraction by dimming your inactive noise.
  • HackerNews.app - macOS HackerNews client that aims to be a Mac-assed Mac app. Written in Swift + AppKit. (HN)
  • BluetoothConnector - Simple macOS CLI to connect/disconnect a Bluetooth device. Useful for AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones.
  • Universal Tip - Programmable tooltip that can be used with any macOS app.
  • NWPusher - macOS and iOS application and framework to play with the Apple Push Notification service.
  • MacCacheCleaner
  • Timer App - Simple Stopwatch App for macOS.
  • Cameo - Small utility based on CMIOKit to explore installed CMIO DAL plugins and their properties.
  • Pock - Display macOS Dock in Touch Bar.
  • Akku - Missing macOS bluetooth headset battery indicator app.
  • SubEthaEdit - General purpose plain-text editor for macOS. Widely known for its live collaboration feature. (Web) (HN)
  • RegEx+ - Nifty RegEx test tool built with SwiftUI.
  • Glance - Provides Quick Look previews for files that macOS doesn't support out of the box.
  • MonitorControl - Control your external monitor brightness & volume on your Mac.
  • Up Next - Meetings at a glance from your macOS menu bar.
  • Multi - Create a custom, lightweight macOS app from a group of websites. (HN)
  • Face Data - macOS application used to auto-annotate landmarks from a video.
  • Bluetility - General-purpose Bluetooth Low-Energy utility.
  • Gray - Tailor your macOS Mojave experience.
  • Milestones - App to count down the days until upcoming milestones. Built to try out the Swift Composable Architecture, SwiftUI and Combine.
  • j2s - macOS app to convert JSON to Swift structs.
  • Timer - Simple Timer app for Mac.
  • Mach-O Explorer - Graphical Mach-O viewer for macOS.
  • Clipy - Clipboard extension app for macOS.
  • AltTab - Windows alt-tab on macOS.
  • MeetingBar - Menu bar app for your calendar meetings. (HN)
  • Boop - Scriptable scratchpad for developers. In slow yet steady progress. (Code)
  • Boom3D - Volume Booster & Equalizer for Mac and Windows.
  • Fanny - Monitor your Mac's fan speed and CPU/GPU temperature from your Notification Center.
  • Diurna - Basic/Classic Hacker News app, used as a Cocoa & Swift learning platform.
  • eqMac - macOS System-wide Audio Equalizer.
  • SensibleSideButtons - Side navigation for third-party mice in macOS. (HN)
  • DevUtils - Developer Utilities for macOS. (Code) (HN) (HN)
  • 5 GUIs - Tiny macOS app that can detect the GUI technologies used in other apps.
  • Stats - macOS system monitor in your menu bar.
  • Stackline - Visualize yabai window stacks on macOS. Works with yabai & hammerspoon.
  • mirror-displays - Mac app and command-line tool for fiddling with display mirroring: on/off/toggle.
  • eul - macOS status monitoring app written in SwiftUI.
  • VirtualKVM - Automatically toggles Bluetooth and Target Display Mode when you connect a Macbook to your iMac via Thunderbolt.
  • Keycastr - Open-source keystroke visualizer.
  • Brooklyn - Screensaver inspired by Apple's Event on October 30, 2018.
  • stts - macOS app for monitoring the status of cloud services.
  • Auto DND - Mac app that keeps notifications stays right where it should.
  • Virtual - Boot Linux VMs in a single command on macOS using the new Virtualization.framework.
  • CloudyTabs - Menu bar application that lists your iCloud Tabs and Reading List.
  • Xbar - Put anything in your macOS menu bar. (Code) (HN)
  • SwiftBar - Powerful macOS menu bar customization tool.
  • Clean Me - macOS system analyzer and cleaner.
  • ImageOptim - GUI image optimizer for Mac. (Code)
  • Pika - Open-source colour picker app for macOS. (Web)
  • Syncthing macOS - Native macOS Syncthing tray application bundle.
  • FSNotes - Modern notes manager for macOS and iOS. (Web) (HN)
  • Suspicious Package - Application for Inspecting macOS Installer Packages.
  • CleanShot X - Capture your Mac’s screen like a pro.
  • Contexts - Simple & fast window switcher for Mac.
  • DevDocs macOS - DevDocs API Documentation viewer for macOS.
  • Finder built in SwiftUI for macOS
  • Spotter - Productivity tool to launch everything. Alfred alternative.
  • keyrace - Daily multiplayer keyboard races for macOS.
  • DarkModeBuddy - Automatically switch your Mac between light and dark modes based on the ambient light sensor.
  • Nuage - Native SoundCloud app for macOS, written in SwiftUI.
  • OpenHaystack - App for tracking personal Bluetooth devices via Apple's massive Find My network.
  • Script Kit - Automate Anything. (Code) (Use Script Kit to Automate Your Daily Workflows)
  • Vitals - Tiny macOS process monitor.
  • Patchman - MacOS application to test APIs with HTTP methods (Decluttered Postman).
  • System Color Picker - macOS color picker as an app with more features. (Code)
  • Unexpectedly - macOS utility to browse crash logs. (Web)
  • Auxl - Modular API Client for macOS. (HN)
  • TRex - Easy to use text extraction tool for macOS.
  • Yippy - macOS open source clipboard manager. (Web)
  • Download Full Installer - macOS application written in SwiftUI that downloads installer pkgs for the Install macOS Big Sur application.
  • Notational Velocity - Modeless, mouseless Mac OS X note-taking application. (Web)
  • Ambar - MacOS Menu Bar app built with SwiftUI. Can be used as a template project.
  • YT Music - Mac app wrapper for music.youtube.com. (Code)
  • Informant - Inspect files with a single click. (Code)
  • Podman for macOS - Start and stop both the Podman Machine and its running containers.
  • Airpass - Status bar Mac app to overcome time constrained WiFi networks. (Web)
  • Lantern - Mac app for website auditing and crawling. (Web)
  • TrackerZapper - Mac app that sits in your menubar and silently removes tracking parameters from any links you copy. (Code)
  • Zavala - Dedicated outliner for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS.
  • Pareto Mac - Automatically audit your Mac for basic security hygiene.
  • Quick Draw - macOS app for drawing over the screen.
  • Ultra for Music - Music Client for macOS.
  • ProfileCreator - macOS application to create configuration profiles.
  • Knuff - Debug application for Apple Push Notification Service (APNs).
  • TinyPNG4Mac - TinyPNG client for Mac.
  • Free Ruler - Ruler application for macOS.
  • Equinox - Create dynamic wallpapers for macOS. (Web)
  • podman-desktop - Graphical menu bar application for managing Podman machines.
  • Marconio - Simple NTS.live macOS application. Using Composable Architecture.
  • DevToysMac - Helps in daily tasks like formatting JSON, comparing text, testing RegExp.
  • Phoenix - Lightweight macOS/OS X window and app manager scriptable with JavaScript.
  • Snip - Lightweight snippets manager built with SwiftUI + Combine for macOS. (Code)
  • SketchyVim - Turns macOS input fields into real vim buffers.
  • SketchyBar - Highly customizable macOS status bar replacement.
  • NativeTwitch - Native Twitch Player.
  • TomatoBar - Pomodoro timer for macOS menu bar.
  • RsyncOSX - macOS GUI for rsync.
  • Licenses - Native macOS App built using Swift UI and Combine.
  • ManDrake - Native Mac man page editor with syntax coloring, mandoc syntax checking & live preview.
  • CodeEdit - Free, open-source code editor for macOS. (HN) (Interview with Austin Condiff) (Web)
  • Nimble - Lightweight native macOS editor based on everything we love about our favorite editors and IDEs.
  • Doughnut - Podcast App for macOS.
  • Collected App
  • NativeYoutube - Personal App that turned into "alpha released app".
  • Schemes - List apps with their registered schemes in macOS Launch Services.
  • Hacker News client for macOS
  • SelfControl - Mac app to block your own access to distracting websites. (Web)
  • Clocker - macOS app to plan and organize through time zones.
  • Seashore - Easy to use macOS image editing application for the rest of us.
  • Notarize - Notarization status monitoring tool for macOS, supporting multiple developer accounts.
  • VCam - macOS app that displays an avatar using a virtual camera.
  • Telik - macOS application to track YouTube channels and playlists.
  • macOS Push Tester App - Allows you to send push notifications through APNS (Apple Push Notification Service) and receive them on a device.
  • MiaoYan - Lightweight Markdown app to help you write great sentences.
  • Pinboarding - Pinboard client for macOS in SwiftUI and Combine.
  • Later - Save all your Mac apps for later with one click.
  • Picsee - Image viewer & organizer. (Issues)
  • CotEditor - Text Editor for macOS. (Code) (HN)
  • Clop - Clipboard optimizer for macOS.
  • MemoArt - Solitaire/Patience/Klondike game but now developed with Swift, SwiftUI, TCA.
  • MacCatalystWithAppKit - Build a Mac Catalyst application with AppKit.
  • Mark - macOS native markdown editor.
  • Wooshy - Like Alfred but for the UI. (Docs)
  • Mist - Mac utility that automatically downloads macOS Firmwares / Installers.
  • CutBox - Makes your macOS pasteboard awesome. (Code)
  • Kyan Bar - Demo SwiftUI status bar app for macOS.
  • UI Browser 4 - Ultimate assistant for Apple’s Accessibility and AppleScript GUI Scripting technologies.
  • Reminders Menu Bar - Simple macOS menu bar application to view and interact with reminders. Developed with SwiftUI and using Apple Reminders as a source.
  • Coffee - Tiny time tracker for your next big project.
  • Assembl - Effortless window manager for macOS. (Code)
  • TrueWidget - Displays macOS version, CPU usage and local time at the left bottom of the screen.
  • IOBrowser - macOS application for browsing the IOKit registry.
  • GoXLR for Mac - MacOS application to manage GoXLR without virtual machine.
  • Snap - Better Spotlight search for macOS.
  • Spotify Notify - Rich, native Spotify notifications.
  • Pinch - One-click fix for Mac trackpad pinch to zoom gesture.
  • Dashlane macOS/iOS Code
  • Scoot - Efficiently move your mouse cursor, using keyboard shortcuts.
  • MiniSim - MacOS menu bar app for launching iOS and Android emulators.
  • MIDI Monitor - Monitoring MIDI data as it goes in and out of the computer.
  • MarkEdit - Just like TextEdit on Mac but dedicated to Markdown.
  • ExcalidrawZ - Excalidraw app for mac. Powered by pure SwiftUI.
  • Pipper - App that allows users to keep a webview always visible on their screen, on top of other windows.
  • Samra - Proper, full-fledged native Asset Catalog explorer & editor for macOS.
  • Person Segmentation - macOS app that applies Apple's Person Segmentation algorithm to a video.
  • FromScratch - Easily reset permissions for your macOS apps through a GUI.
  • Acrylic - Fluid wallpaper engine for Mac.
  • Prose - Built in Swift / SwiftUI.
  • Jumpcut - Minimalist clipboard management for macOS.
  • LinearMouse - Open-source mouse and trackpad utility for Mac. (Web) (HN)
  • WindowAlignment - Simple application to align windows on macOS.
  • BatteryBoi - Replacement for the Battery Icon in the MacOS Menu Bar.

Other interesting apps ​

  • Multi - Multiplayer Collaboration for MacOS.
  • Tuple - Pair Programming Tool for macOS. (HN) (GitHub)
  • Finicky - MacOS app for customizing which browser to start.
  • OpenQuickly - Custom 'open quickly' window that imitates macOS' Spotlight.
  • Flotato - Turn any web page into a Mac app.
  • Autumn - MacOS window manager built for JavaScript hackers.
  • Zappy - Screen capture tool. (HN)
  • BlockBlock - Provides continual protection by monitoring persistence locations.
  • VimMotion - Access macOS UI elements with your fingers stay on keyboard. Inspired by vim-easymotion & avy-mode.
  • Entity Pro - Glyph & Emoji Finder.
  • Glyphfinder - Missing character search for designers, developers and writers.
  • Contrast - macOS app for quick access to WCAG color contrast ratios.
  • Mouseless
  • Codye - Allows you to present code in more than 180 languages and 80 themes.
  • Coppice - Cultivate Your Thoughts.
  • Hook - Find without searching.
  • Twenttty - Give your eyes a break.
  • PopClip - Appears when you select text with your mouse on your Mac. (PopClip Extensions)
  • ClashX - Rule based proxy For Mac base on Clash.
  • Lacona - Command launcher.
  • Numi - Beautiful calculator app for Mac. (Code) (HN)
  • ViDL - Download videos from YouTube and hundreds of other websites for offline viewing.
  • FSMonitor - macOS app that monitors all changes to the file system.
  • LaunchBar - Application launcher for macOS. (Assimilated Theme)
  • Irradiated Software macOS apps
  • Freeze - Save your open windows and tabs for later.
  • FastScripts - Powerful script management utility. (3.0 release)
  • LaunchControl - Fully-featured launchd GUI allowing you to create, manage and debug system- and user services on your Mac.
  • HextEdit - Fast and native hex editor for macOS.
  • Shortcat - Keyboard productivity app for macOS.
  • MacUpdater - Keep all your apps up-to-date effortlessly.
  • Flume - Beautiful Instagram experience for your Mac.
  • Aqua Swatch - Match Color, Material & Icons.
  • Screenotate - Recognize text in your screenshots.
  • Hera - macOS app to prepare, join and take notes in meetings. (HN)
  • Mumu X - Handy emoji picker on macOS, using GPT-3.
  • Narrated - Screen Recordings That Include Your Camera.
  • Monodraw - Powerful ASCII art editor designed for the Mac.
  • TextSniper - Capture and extract any text from your Mac's screen.
  • Keystroke Pro - Visualize Your Keypresses.
  • Pulse - Network Inspector and Logger for Apple Platforms. (Twitter) (Guide) (Code)
  • Keka - macOS file archiver. (Twitter)
  • kindaVim - Vim moves for the whole macOS. in input fields and more. (Web) (Web Code)
  • One Switch
  • Quiver - Programmer's Notebook.
  • SOL - macOS global command palette. Alfred/Raycast alternative. (HN)
  • One Thing - Put a single task or goal in your menu bar. (CLI)
  • SF Menu Bar - Browse Apple's collection of over 3,300 SF Symbols and quickly copy a symbol's name to the clipboard.
  • Couverture - Easing Curve Editor.
  • Muzzle - Silence embarrassing notifications.
  • Bike - macOS Native Outliner. (HN) (Docs)
  • IndigoStack - native macOS app for local web development. (HN)
  • Sleeve - Now playing on your Desktop. (Tweet)
  • Graphing Calculator 4
  • TinkerTool - Gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into macOS.
  • Homerow - Navigate macOS like a pro. (HN)
  • rcmd - Reimagined Cmd-Tab app switcher.
  • Marta - File Manager for macOS.
  • Superlayer - Widget Engine for macOS. (Docs)
  • PastePal - Universal pasteboard manager for Mac, iPhone and iPad. (Docs)
  • Codelime - Powerful code snippet manager. (Docs)
  • ShowMeYourHotKeys - macOS app to show applications menu shortcuts.
  • TextTransformer - Apple ExtensionFoundation/ExtensionKit sample app.
  • OrbStack - Fast, light, simple Docker & Linux for macOS. (Code)
  • Little Snitch Mini (HN)

Apps I used but dropped ​

Popclip ​

iOS like mouse text selection popover

Brings up a quick menu whenever some text is selected on which I can do a number of quick actions, like searching selected text on Google, YouTube or copy the text. Here are the extensions I have activated:

How it looked for me

Everything I use comes by default with PopClip except YouTube extension which you can download here. I used PopMaker tool to create this web search extension.

Reeder ​

RSS Reeder

The app I once used to keep up with my RSS feeds. I use RSS to follow my favorite blogs, stay up to date on new podcast episodes and even track some software releases. I used Inoreader to sync blogs I follow between phone and mac. Here is how it looked like for me:

Notes ​