Install these essential apps
Plug the gaps Apple left behind in macOS with these superb third–party apps.
1BLOCKER Free (Premium $US14.99/year) From 1blocker.com
The internet is really annoying. Part of that is people, but an awful lot is technology – and 1Blocker deftly deals with the latter. It can instantly block ads, trackers, and other online annoyances. But it’s nuanced, too, letting you whitelist well-behaved sites or craft custom rules for any very specific blocking needs.
ALFRED Free From alfredapp.com
At its most basic, Alfred resembles Spotlight, enabling you to access apps, folders, and documents. But rather than just helping you find items, Alfred lets you perform actions on them, such as moving documents, controlling your music player, or triggering system commands. Through its workflow system, Alfred can even automate repetitive tasks too.
BARTENDER US$15 From macbartender.com
Install enough apps and your menu bar will become a mess, packed full of icons you never click. Bartender 4 lets you hide menu bar items you rarely use, adjust spacing, search menu bar apps, and define triggers so items will show during specific contexts, such as when your Mac’s on battery power.
BETTERTOUCHTOOL US$8.50 (two years) From folivora.ai
Your input devices have untapped power, only a fraction of which can be unleashed using System Preferences. BetterTouchTool is, well, a better bet, affording you the means to configure advanced trackpad gestures and system-wide shortcuts that trigger all kinds of actions, such as opening folders and apps, managing the clipboard, and starting system actions.
MOOM $15.25 From manytricks.com/moom
Apple wants you to be satisfied with Split View and Full Screen for window management. Moom goes much further, with gestures and keyboard shortcuts for moving and positioning windows. Ad-hoc placements can be made by hovering over a zoom button and “drawing” the rectangular space where you want that window to move to. It’s powerful and flexible.
PIXELMATOR PRO $62.99 From pixelmator.com/pro
This photo editor has a wide selection of retouching tools, but it can often fix photos with a click. The ML Enhance button is backed by machine learning, trained on millions of professional snaps. There’s a good chance it’ll make your photo look pro too. Not convinced? Use the ML take as a starting point and continue fine-tuning the snap yourself.
SOULVER 3 $46.20 From soulver.app
This notepad calculator adds context to calculations. You write in plain English (“Hotel: 3 nights at $300”) and Soulver 3 intelligently extracts meaning, totting up the figures. Line totals can be inserted into subsequent lines, which along with variables can help you concoct living calculation documents that’ll make any desktop calculator envious.