Mac Apps

In this post I am sharing some of my favourite Mac Apps with you. I posted this post originally in May 2012, and made some updates in May 2013

Photography

Taking photos is one of my hobbies that I on and off spend more or less time with. In order to keep my photos organized (even though i could do a lot better) I am using Lightroom. I used to use iphoto, but the way iphoto is storing your photos is so annoying that I had to find an alternative. The great thing about lightroom is, that you can organize and edit your photos from the same platform. This app has saved me hours of tinkering in photoshop.

Talking about Photoshop though. Still one of my favorite apps to work with. And I use it all the time. Not so much creatively, but to get photos in the right format for websites. Occasionally I do a bit of image manipulation, photoshopping someone in or out of a photo, anywho great app to have, even though I am still using CS2…well, what can you do…

 

General Mac Apps

Air Parrot I am still running Snow Leopard, so I don’t know if Apple has finaly added this feature to its OS, but Air Parrot lets you stream your Macbook to a TV through an Apple TV. Very convenient, especially when you are in meetings or are working on a document with a number of people….( I upgraded my mac, but to be honest, I have used this app only once or twice, and even know I hardly stream to a TV from my computer. Nice idea though)

Automator with Automator Action Pack I am still to fully get my head around how to use Automator, but one of the things I figured out how to do is to fill out webforms. At work I need to make sure al our Online Applications are working. So once I have set it all up i just press a button, and Automator goes to all specified websites and fills out the forms for me. I just go for quick walk and about 30 minutes later Automator has filles out and tested 50+ websites and forms for me. What took me over 2 hours, now happens in less than 30 minutes without me doing a thing. Great!

Cobook So, I have never been a big fan of Apples Adressbook, which is why I got quite excited when I heard about Cobook. It is a nice app that connects your adressbook with a number of social medias and updates it accordingly. Not bad, and it is free! (And I also stopped using it)

Dropbox Honestly! Best app ever. I use it all the time. It makes syncing files between my Mac at home and my Mac at work so much easier, and they have iphone and ipad apps as well. When you sign up you get 2GB for free, but i worked my way up to 11GB without having to pay for it…I use this every day. Literally! So good! (Yes I still use it daily)

Handbrake Need to convert a video? Check out Handbrake. It just works and it is free!

KeepassX Alright, so I have about one thousand different accounts all over the web with a million login names and passwords, from my bank to webhosting to email to what not. KeepassX keeps them all organized, secured and  searchable. Before I started using KeepassX I saved all my passwords in a word document. Not the smartes move.  I store the file in my dropbox, which means I can access the same database from any of my computers at work or at home, or even from my iphone. Genius! And again, it is free! (stopped using it, instead I am using 1Password)

1Password I actually decided to fork out whatever it was to get 1Password. It simply is that convenient, especially when coupled with Alfred. All my passwords are stored behind one major password. All I do is log in, press a button combination and I get taken to whatever site it is I want to go to, as well as automatically logged in. It does not get more convenient than this. I highly recommend this.

Moom  is possibly the best $5 I have ever spend. I would always resize my windows trying to line windows up next to each other or above each other or in corners. It wouldn’t take me forever, but it did add up. Then I heard about Moom. I have set up about 10 or 12 shortcuts and my windows just fly across the screen and lock into the proper place. Seriously, this is so nice. I don’t want to be without it ever again. It is that convenient…

Sparrow is taking Macs Mail to the next level. So much so, that Apple took on most of Sparrows approach with the lates OS update. Still, Sparrow is by far my favorite Mail client, and it comes with an iphone app as well. It brings Google tags, and a whole lot of other features to Mail. Definitely worth it. I have not looked back since I got this app about a year and a half ago. I wrote a bit about Sparrow App a while ago. (And I stopped using it, as they stopped developing it. I meanwhile tried Postbox and I am now back to mail.app, bt I am still searching)

Totalfinder I wrote a bit about Totalfinder a while ago, but again, this is an app I couldn’t live without anymore. It brings tabs to your Finder. So freaking convenient. Some other features are dual mode, folders on top, cut and past. This is what Finder should be like. Seriously!

Soundflower w Quicktime Player If you ever had to do a video tutorial you know how expensive those apps can be. I use quicktime to record what I do on my screen, then import the file into imovie, then add the audio. It took forever and was painful. Then I found Soundflower. It is a plugin that allows applications to pass audio to other applications. So now, I can record what is on my screen and what I say using Quicktime. So nice, and best of all Soundflower is free, and it works like a charm.

Skype Nough said. As far as I know the best Voip service around, even though they have not gotten better in the last few months. Who knows, I wouldn’t mind if someone else comes around anytime soon.

 

Business and Productivity Apps

Billings Pro I spend forever trying to find a decent Time Tracking and Invoicing App or Online Software. But I could find none. That is none that was free or affordable. Then I came across a package deal where I got 10 Mac Apps including Self Serve Billings Pro (normally $200) for $49 or something like that. I don’t think i would spend $200 on it, or $20 a month for that matter, but it is a great app, easy to use, and does the job quite well. (I meanwhile moved to Freshbooks, much better)

Wunderlist and Wunderkit Two Apps I use on and off. They are great, if you make use of them. Wunderlist is a to do manager and Wunderkit is an Organisation Platform. Did I mention they are free and cross browser, cross device, and they are from Germany.’nough said! ( And I also stopped using it. now my task manager of choice is Doit.im)

Producteev is another task management app/service. We use it at work!

iwork and Office Yes, I have both installed, and I am not entirely sure which one I like better. Sometimes I feel both of them suck, and sometimes both of them are a lot better than the other. I can’t make up my mind, so I got both. What do you do?

 

Webdesign and Coding type apps

Cyberduck Possibly the best free ftp client. There is a couple paid version I am waiting to go on sale, but until then, Cyberduck works just fine. (Stopped using it. My new ftp client of choice is Forklift, well worth the money, and very reliable)

Dash Expander I am still in the early stages of exploring this app, but this is what it does. DashExpander is a Snippet Abbreviation expander. It saves you from typing countless keys for frequently used pieces of text. Snippets support placeholders which can be edited before pasting, without disrupting your work. So for example, I type aadress (with the aa) and Dash expander replaces it with my adress. Nifty! (still exploring, or should I say I never really got into it)

Smultron Is my current text editor of choice. Simple, clean, easy to use.

Sublime Text 3 Is the competition to Smultron. I am currently experimenting with this one, and might switch to it. It seems a bit more complicated than Smultron, but offers a lot of cool features, like Zen-Coding integration…

But what did I end up using? Currently it is TexWrangler

MAMP Great tool to run databases on your local machine. I use it all the time to set up and test websites…

Onlywire makes it very easy to submit new posts and sites to a bunch of social media sites…I am still in the experimental stages with this one

Pencil is a free wire framing app. I am not doing heaps of wireframing, but every now and then it is a handy tool to have.

The final app I need to mention is Spotify.  As a matter of fact, I am listening to it right now. Free Music. Can’t get much better. Really!

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