Mac Apps: A Few of My Favorites
As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I’m still contemplating the move to new Mac hardware. The luster of the new MacBook Pro is starting to fade for me, in light of a few reports that Apple’s 2018 models may have problematic keyboards like earlier models. (Sorry, but that’s a huge deal breaker for me.)
I’m tied into the Mac operating system, not because of blind allegiance, but because there are a few excellent apps I use on the platform that I cannot simply find on Windows and Linux. Among those are select automation tools such as Keyboard Maestro and Hazel. The ability to reuse custom macros to automate various tasks is a massive time-saver in my day-to-day workflow and justifies the expense of the Mac hands down.
Brave: Without a doubt, this is my favorite browser. So much so, that I’ve set it up as my default browser on both my laptop and desktop. Brave delivers on three areas that are important to me: privacy, security, and super speed. It’s not perfect, as Brave still stumbles on one or two banking sites, but for my day-to-day browsing needs, this web browser fits the bill. This pick is not just Mac only: Windows and Linux users can also give Brave a try.
There are calendar apps, and then there’s Fantastical. Entering new appointments and reminders using natural language (i.e. Meet Bob at Footle at 3PM next Thursday) is a huge timesaver. In my usage, Fantastical works flawlessly with Google Calendar, iCloud, Office 365, and Exchange. When I’m on the go, I use Fantastical on iOS. Appointments synch flawlessly so I’m never wondering where I need to be next.
For file management, I find myself going back to Forklift time and time again. With its clean and funtional two pane interface, I can easily move between local and network locations. Forklift includes support to connect to Amazon S3, FTP, SFTP, Good Drive, Backblaze B2, and it also lets me access files on remote volumes (SMB, APF, NTFS).
In addition to Hazel and Keyboard Maestro, I also rely on Pastebot and Typinator. Pastebot is the Clipboard Manager I wish Apple had built. Typinator is what I use to quickly type common boilerplate responses using key triggers. I prefer Typinator to TextExpander for the simple reason that Typinator does not operate on the subscription model (which TextExpander does).
Those are a few of my favorites. What are some of yours? Share them in the comments below.
-Krishna
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