Must–have freebies for your Mac

Boost your Mac’s toolset without spending a penny

UT YOUR CREDIT card away! It’s perfectly possible to fit out your Mac with apps for your entire workflow without spending a dime. There are free note–takers and project managers, image illustrators and editors, desktop publishers and audio editors, 3D modellers and video converters, and many more. Some of them are a little quirky or take a bit of getting used to, but many of them are just as professional as big–name, paid–for products. In fact, in some cases they’re made by the same people in the hope that you’ll want to upgrade to the paid product later.

SILICON

From iMazing, github.com/ DigiDNA/Silicon

> If you’re thinking about an M1 Mac, Silicon will scan your installed apps to identify whether they’re universal apps that support Apple silicon natively or if they’ll have to run in emulation.

SIMPLENOTE

From Automattic, simplenote. com Also on iPhone, iPad

> Unlike Apple’s Notes, which is Apple–only, this to–do and notes app syncs with Android, Windows and web browsers too. It supports Markdown formatting for fast text editing, enables you to share with others and add tags for easy classification, and it includes auto backups and time travel so you can see what you noted a week or month ago.

SLACK

From Slack Technologies, slack. com Also on iPhone, iPad

> The go–to app for tech startups is a great example of how to do unified communications right, and for small teams it’s free. It offers chat, document sharing and collaboration, one–to–one video calls, third–party app integration, and up to 10K of searchable messages. It works on iOS and iPad too so you’re always in the loop, running things up the flagpole and thinking outside the box.

TODOIST

From Doist, todoist.com

Also on iPhone, iPad

> Todoist is a to–do list and project manager. It enables you to create reminders and lists, as you’d expect, but you can also create projects with sections and subtasks and delegate items to other people. There are lots of templates to help you get started and it’s as happy with complex projects as it is with your weekly shopping list. It’s also available for iPhone and Apple Watch.

INKSCAPE

From Inkscape Team, inkscape.org

> Inkscape is a powerful vector illustration tool that’s worth considering before you shell out for a paid–for product. Let’s start with the negatives first. It looks like it’s been beamed in from 1997 — although it’s only just reached V1 status it’s been in development since 2003 — and it’s not as immediately friendly as paid–for vector illustration apps from the likes of Adobe or Serif. But there is a good selection of drawing, shape and text tools, object grouping and layering, gradient and pattern fills and path operations that you can use to create complex illustrations.