Fluid

US$4.99 | fluidapp.com

If you often use web apps such as Gmail or Basecamp, you can turn them into standalone Mac apps using this neat tool; they’re still web apps at heart, but this means they don’t take up a browser tab and they can be placed in the Dock for instant access.

You only have to give Fluid four details: the site address, the name for the app it churns out, where to save that app, and what to use as the app’s icon. The last of those defaults to the site’s favicon, but you can pick one of your own.

Fluid isn’t only useful for web apps: you can also use it for news sites, sports and social networks.