2025-03-21T15:58:17 Status: #idea Tags: #macOS #software Links: # MacOS Utilities ## Productivity - [1Password](https://1password.com/) - best password manager - [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) - note-taking app that stores all content in Markdown - [Obsidian Web Clipper](https://stephango.com/obsidian-web-clipper) - browser extension to save articles and web pages into Obsidian - [Espanso](https://espanso.org/) - text macro expansion - [Brave](https://brave.com/) - privacy-focused Browser that is based on Chromium, so same performance as Google Chrome, but a lot more data protection, ad blocking, etc. - [VLC](https://www.videolan.org/vlc/) - media player - [UPR](https://universalpresenterremote.com/) - Universal Presenter Remote: let's you remote-control PowerPoint from Apple Watch ## Little UI Helpers - [PopChar](https://ergonis.com/popchar) - inserting special Unicode characters and emoji - [Ice](https://icemenubar.app/) - menu bar icon management - [Alfred](https://www.alfredapp.com/) - search bar expansion - [Magnet](https://magnet.crowdcafe.com/) - window layout manager - [AltTab](https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/) - Windows-like Alt-Tab behavior for app switching - [Maccy](https://maccy.app/) - clipboard manager with Copy/Paste history and multi-copy - [Shottr](https://shottr.cc/) - screenshot utility that let's me add markup and stuff ## Networking & OS Utilities - [Little Snitch](https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html) - network monitor to show which apps are opening network connections where - [Micro Snitch](https://www.obdev.at/products/microsnitch/index.html) - know when the microphone or camera has been turned on by any app - [Stats](https://mac-stats.com/) - menu bar performance monitor - [DaisyDisk](https://daisydiskapp.com/) - see what things on your disk occupy how much space - [balenaEtcher](https://etcher.balena.io/) - SD card and USB stick writer ## Programming & Technical Stuff - [HomeBrew](https://brew.sh/) - Linux-based package manager for macOS - [Parallels](https://www.parallels.com/) - running Windows or Linux in a virtual machine - [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) - run development apps in containers - [Cursor](https://www.cursor.com/en) - VS Code replacement with built-in AI - [GitHub Desktop](https://github.com/apps/desktop) - UI for accessing Git source-code repositories - [Sublime Text](https://www.sublimetext.com/) - programmer text editor - [termius](https://termius.com/) - better ssh terminal app to replace the built-in terminal, syncs with iPhone + iPad - [ghostty](https://ghostty.org/) - open source terminal app (but more nerdy; requires some configuration) ## AI - [Ollama](https://ollama.com/) - run open-source large-language models locally - [ChatGPT](https://openai.com/chatgpt/desktop/) - native app to ask ChatGPT questions - [Claude](https://claude.ai/download) - native app for Anthropic AI: allows for MCP integration - [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction) - Model Context Protocol: expose APIs and other servers to AI --- # References - https://chatgpt.com/share/67a8dfef-9df8-8006-b2f3-23de7030905e - https://whitep4nth3r.com/blog/everything-i-install-and-set-up-on-a-new-macbook-as-a-web-developer/ - https://syntackle.com/blog/mac-setup-for-developers/