More free apps
There are plenty more completely gratis options to choose from.
Encrypto
FROM macpaw.com
FOR Windows, Mac
Worried about security when emailing or otherwise sharing documents – or simply want to password-protect them while they’re on your PC or portable drive – download Encrypto. You can drop a file on to the Encrypto app, set a password and have it protected by AES256 encryption. Ideal if you regularly carry sensitive files on a flash drive.
IINA
FROM iina.io
FOR Mac only
If you don’t like the popular VLC media player – and your Mac or PC is recent enough – IINA is a great also-free alternative. Like VLC, it can play pretty-much any video file you throw at it, but unlike its main rival, it has a sleek, minimalist interface that looks right at home on the Mac. It has some great features that VLC lacks too, such as Dark Mode, Picture in Picture and Touch Bar support. IINC’s customisable interface is a joy to use. You can change the aspect ratio, crop the video you’re viewing and if it’s not the right way up, rotate it too. If the audio isn’t in sync you can adjust it, you can change the playback speed and there’s even a graphic equaliser in there for you to tweak. It’s a great alternative to VLC.
TinkerTool
FROM bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html
FOR Mac only
Here’s one you’ll never see on the Mac App Store. TinkerTool lets you get under the hood with your Mac, changing settings and preferences you aren’t supposed to see. For example, you can show hidden files, disable sound effects and more. In the Dock, you can dim icons for hidden apps (why on earth isn’t this offered in System Settings?), change the Mac’s default fonts, customise Dark Mode and exclude specific apps from it and more.
The Unarchiver
FROM theunarchiver.com
FOR Mac only
It’s amazing how many archiving formats there has been over the years. Remember Stuffit? PK Zip? RAR? Chances are you have archived files in some of these formats tucked away on a backup drive somewhere, but how do you open them on a modern Mac? Simple – download The Unarchiver. It’s nothing flashy or exciting, but it can unarchive almost any compressed file you can throw at it. It can even unpack legacy Amiga formats.
TextPal
FROM textpal.app
FOR Mac only
It’s the easy way to use emoticons. Download TextPal for any amount of money you want (including nothing at all, if you want it for free), and you can access a simple emoji picker by tapping a trigger key and then typing the name of an emoji. You don’t have to type the whole name – a single letter will do. You can then choose your emoji from the list that appears. For emojis that offer a skin tone, you can set a default too.
GIMP
FROM gimp.org
FOR Windows, Mac, Linux
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the Mac’s premiere free Photoshop alternative. It’s been in development since 1995, and has grown into an extremely powerful and capable tool for graphic artists and picture editors. It’s far from easy to use. The learning curve is steep, and not made any easier by having no in-house support, but if you persevere and make use of the various online user groups you can get much from GIMP. It’s designed to work well with the free DTP app Scribus and free drawing tool Inkscape, so why not download them all? You’ve nothing to pay, therefore nothing to lose.
Calibre
FROM calibre-ebook.com
FOR Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
It’s ugly and not very Mac-like, but Calibre does a great job of managing your ebooks. If you regularly download out-ofcopyright publications from websites such as gutenberg. org, or titles authors and publishers have made available for free, Calibre is a must. It can recompile ebooks into various formats such as ePub, MOBI, DocX, PDF and the Amazon Kindle’s AWZ3. You can add a cover, edit metadata such as the title, publisher and author, export books directly to your ebook reader of choice and more. It has a built-in reader too, so you can read your ebooks on your Mac.
AppCleaner
FROM freemacsoft.net/appcleaner
FOR Mac only
Deleting apps on your Mac is as easy as dragging them into the bin and then emptying it, but there’s a better way. With AppCleaner, you can not only delete an app, but also pick through your system files and get rid of any leftover data a regular deletion might miss. It’s easy to use. Open AppCleaner, and then drag the app you want to erase onto the AppCleaner window. Click the Remove button, and you’re done.
LinearMouse
FROM linearmouse.app
FOR Mac only
With LinearMouse, you can take a greater degree of control over your mouse or trackpad than System Settings allows. You can configure different devices with different settings, and even configure a mouse or trackpad on a per-app basis. If you want fast scrolling on one app, for example, but not across your Mac, you can do that. You can also set up modifier keys to change speed, alter orientation, zoom and more.
Amphetamine
FROM Mac App Store
FOR Mac only
There are times when you simply don’t want your Mac to go to sleep. That’s where Amphetamine comes in. It sits in the menu bar until it’s needed, then you click on the icon and set your Mac to stay awake indefinitely, only going to sleep when you turn it off again. Alternatively, have it stay open for a set time, or when a certain app is running. Great when a long task doesn’t require your attention.