8 Useful Apps You Can Use on Your Mac

Macs have never been more popular than ever. In a world where people just want their computers to work, Mac computers offer a solution that most people can get behind. That’s why it’s no surprise that Apple sold 20 million new Mac computers in 2020.

But even if you have a great experience with the default Mac setup, that doesn’t mean you can’t make things even better.

It pays to download as many useful apps as possible to get the most out of your Mac. Below are eight pieces of Mac software that every Mac owner needs to use.

1. Alfred

Do you constantly find yourself digging through menus to find applications and perform simple actions? If so, you’re wasting much more time than necessary.

Alfred is an application that streamlines this process. It acts similarly to Siri and works like Spotlight. It helps you quickly find whatever application you need instead of digging through menus.

Additionally, you can use Alfred to automate tasks. Be sure to explore the options in Alfred to learn everything it can do.

2. Noir

Brightness is an issue if you look at your Mac screen all the time. Even though the screen is fantastic, you’ll still strain your eyes when you look at it too much. This is even more true if you’re looking at your screen during the night.

That’s why night mode is so helpful. But not every website or application has night mode available or will ignore your system preferences.

Noir solves that problem. This application forces websites to use night mode. Noir automatically reskins the website to night mode for you if there isn’t a night mode available.

3. Cheatsheet

Shortcuts are a great way to become more productive in any application. Even better  most programs have countless shortcuts that make navigating the applications easier.

The problem comes when you need to remember them. Some applications may share similar shortcuts like copy and paste, but others will have more unique functionality that is hard to remember.

Cheatsheet helps you in this situation. Press one hotkey to get an overlay of every shortcut available. Since the shortcuts you see are only part of the app you have open, you’ll be able to find what you need quickly.

4. Folder Tidy

If you’re like many Mac users, you put a lot of work into organizing your file system. It’s hard to find what you need if you have countless folders and files in random locations.

However, organizational structures can break down over time. This happens as you download more data and start putting things in the wrong place.

Folder Tidy helps by automating the sorting process. You can create rules for the software to organize files and click run to handle the whole process automatically. This process will help ensure you never have a messy file system again.

5. Parallels Desktop

Mac computers can offer a lot, but there are still some applications that only work for Windows. Even if there are some Mac alternatives, they may not provide the same experiences as the Windows counterpart.

The good thing about Mac devices is that you can install a Windows installation alongside your Mac software. The Parallels Desktop program allows you to do this.

Once you use Parallels to install Windows, you can reboot your Mac computers into Windows. This will allow you to use whatever Windows applications you wish.

6. Pocket

Do you come across many website articles that you want to read and don’t have the time for? Sure, you can add them to your bookmarks. But that’s hard to organize and find what you need.

Pocket is an application that solves this problem. If you see an article you want to read later, click on the pocket extension in your web browser. Doing this will save the website URL to your Pocket application for later use.

Once your article is saved, you can open the Pocket app to see your saved articles. From there, you can see similar articles in the app that relate to what you enjoy reading.

7. Snipping

Do you enjoy taking screenshots of your Mac’s screen when you find something cool? Or do you like taking snapshots of your screen to save them as your desktop background?

If so, you have options available that make snipping easier. You can take screenshots of certain parts of your screen and use options that give better screenshots.

Check out the default snipping tool on Mac to see what options are available. It has many features that will make the screenshot process easier and leave you with better images.

8. VLC

Do you want a lot of videos on your Mac and occasionally have trouble with some of those videos? If so, it’s usually because of video codecs. Unfortunately, not every video player works well with every type of video.

For situations like this, the VLC media player is a great alternative. VLC is built from the ground up to be a one-size-fits-all video player. The creator designed it to play every video type you can imagine.

Of course, it does much more than play video files. It has many advanced features that make playing videos on your Mac a more pleasant experience.

Don’t Ignore Useful Apps on the Mac

Mac devices can offer a lot out of the box. They offer enough speed to handle almost every modern need and offer a lot of functionality to do whatever work you need.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t increase your app usage by looking for map tricks that will help you get more from your system. Be sure to check out the useful apps above to determine if you can use them in your Mac workflow to make your life easier.

Check out the blog for more tech tips that will make your life easier.