Purchasing a MacBook is a dream for many. Realizing the fullest potential of one of the best portable devices is another story. It is the conventions of apps that help one make the optimum use of the gadget.
There is no dearth of useful & entertaining apps for Mac. Best Mac apps: 20 must-have apps for Macbook surveyed scores of MacBook users to understand the usage of Apps, free as well as paid that could alter the way one uses Mac.
Ranging from music & entertainment to enhancing productivity, communication & more, the crux of the study is presented in the form of a list of 20 must-have apps for MacBook. So, add a bit of a soul to your Mac by installing these must have Apps.
Spotify (Audio) -Free
Take your love for music to another level with the Spotify app. Spotify has been providing streaming music services since its inception. Classical or rock, whatever your type is, is available on this app. Choose from the vast list and tune in to your favorites anytime anywhere.
VLC (Video) – Free
What more do you need than a media player that plays video and audio files in any format? It is the best ever media player in the market that is fast and smooth. This impressive player is always ready to serve your music palate with finest tunes & melodies.
Evernote (Productivity)-Free
Busy schedules and even busier brains! Remembering everything all the time is not everyone’s cup of tea until and unless you have a manager known as Evernote. This must have app does everything for you- write notes, checklist and remembers things on your behalf. In a nutshell, it organizes your schedule & makes sure you manage your time better.
Fantastical (Productivity)-$39.99
This fantastic app is fun to use. Go on to add your event by writing a short description with a single click and swiftly return to the task you were doing previously. Moreover, it is simple to edit and delete without much fuss. The best thing is that it works with Mac calendar service that makes your job even easier. You can download 21 days free trial before purchasing it.
Wunderlist (Productivity) -Free
Untangle your daily routine with this stylish app. Whether you are planning a weekend party’s menu or preparing the grocery list, just update it with the Wunderlist and it will remind you. Like a good manager, it informs you of the completion of any task. This wonderful app syncs with all your devices thus upgrading the convenience.
Remind, record and notify- it does it all diligently.
IWork (Productivity)-Free
What Microsoft office is to windows iWork is to MacBook. For businessmen, this is a befitting app – Pages, words, keynote, presentation, and spreadsheet. The app with its chic feel, clear interface, and cloud syncing facility is definitely making you love it. And yes, now u can say “I Work” with a broad smile.
IA Writer (writing)-$9.99
Imagine writing your heart out till you are done without any disturbances, without anything to distract you. It deletes the option of any formatting or menu bars allowing you to concentrate on writing. It sharpens your writing skills with the syntax features and comes with auto markdown support, importing word docs. Well, this uncomplicated word processor lets you do what you want to, write!
DropBox (email)-Free
Share and synchronize our files easily with Dropbox. The ‘drag and drop’ option allows you to store your important files, photos, music, and videos and share them all with your folks whenever you want to. It is simple, straightforward and comes with 2GB of free space.
Caffeine (Utility Tool)-Free
Like name like work! The app induces your Mac with energy whenever it is about to go to sleep while an important file is being downloaded. This humble app lives in your menu bar and makes sure that the job has been done before the Mac is turned off manually.
Unarchiver (Utility Tool)-Free
Unarchiver (Utility tool)-Free
You must have come across the app for unzipping the files where you had limited choice with the format. Not anymore. With unarchiver, now unzip files with almost any format; find your file with foreign characters in the finder easily. What else? It’s free and very handy to use.
Ccleaner (utility Tool)-Free
This is a very efficient and widely loved cleaner that you can use for your Mac. Delete the unwanted files, clear up the trash and free up space for the next big thing.
TextExpander (time Saving Tool)-$44.95
This tops the list when it comes to the time-saving app. You like writing, but it’s quite boring to keep writing the same phrases or make the same typo errors when you can define the keyboard shortcuts, isn’t it? Using this tool wisely grants you a lot of free time.
Alfred (time -saving Tool)-Free
Let me call it as a comfortable app because of its quick ability to allow you to access websites, online searches, application, files, contacts, etc at just a click. It learns from your behavior and arranges the apps in that order.
IBank (Utility Tool)-$59.99
Manage your personal finance with the help of iBank. Handle your portfolio, transactions, bank account, spending and the online payment with this simple yet effective app. Quite a dependable app it is.
Pixelmator (photo Editing) -$29.99
In case you have been a fan of Adobe Photoshop then you are going to love this Pixelmator app thoroughly. This image editor allows you to re-touch your original picture, fill colors, filter and add the amazing effects. One of the interesting features is that you can carry forward your work from Mac to iPad without any worries of it getting lost.
Chrome (communication)-Free
Lightweight, stable, super-fast and prompt; for a browser like chrome you don’t need to look for something else. It offers quick downloads, comes with a number of extensions and handles Javascript readily. Surely a browser you can trust upon.
Adium (communication)-Free
The first thing you notice about this instant messaging app is that it has one of the cutest icons (a little duck) and while its’ cute, it supports a number of services like ICQ, Yahoo, Gtalk, Jabber, etc. It is highly customized and translated into a number of languages. What more? It can be integrated with your favorite twitter too.
Transmission-Free
It is the most trusted BitTorrent clients. Sublime and lightless it has improved a lot since its inception. You can set priority levels, stall limit times, control the bandwidth quantity and filter by groups.
Self Control-Free
Finally, an app to save you from all the apps! Save yourself from all the things –websites, emails, and internet and make good use of your time with the help of this strict supervisor. All you need to do is set timer and blacklist the sites and until the timer last you have no option but to concentrate on your work.
Onyx
OnyX is a multifunctional tool for optimization and maintenance of Mac Device. It is fully compatible with Intel processors and Power PC. There are various built-in Unix programs in OS X which can be easily controlled with Onyx. Some of its most popular features are as follow:
- Verify startup disk
- Repair disk permissions
- Rebuild launch services
- Rebuild spotlight
- Force empty trash
- Configure hidden parameters
- Delete caches
Quicksilver
Quicksilver is a great tool for those who want to improve their productivity. This simple yet so effective tool will enable you to launch apps quickly, open files easily and search content thoroughly. Quicksilver’s launcher pad will allow you to locate whatever you want and the search results will be shown much quicker than your expectation. This tool can also be used to manage iTunes, find dictionaries, and send emails and various other similar activities.
Mailbox
The mailbox has been redesigned by Dropbox to make emails faster and lighter so users can easily scan conversations and move messages to trash or archive. You can now get a completely new and even better inbox for your MacBook. Mailbox enables you to deal with your emails more professionally as you don’t need to get stuck to them if you have other important things to do right now. Mailbox auto-swipe feature allows you to come back to your message later.
GIF Brewery
GIF Brewery enables users to convert small video clips into GIFs. If you want to give a preview of a video clip or produce cat GIF, this little app can do bigger things for you. You don’t have to use Adobe because everything can be done with this simple tool on your Mac. Some other popular features are:
- Crop or resize the video to create GIF
- Set looping direction like playback, palindrome or reverse
- Put multiple captions to your images
- Use filters for core image
Fantastical 2
This is the calendar app for Mac users and once you start using it, you will find it really difficult to live without it because there are a number of ways in which you will be able to enjoy this great app. For example, you don’t have to click on a certain time or a day to set appointments because the only thing you have to do is to type a sentence and the Fantastical will figure out whatever you want to schedule. Some of its features are:
- Set events and alerts
- Set geofence alerts to set reminders
- Complete time zone support
- View location maps for events places
- Get your favorite dark or light theme
Duet Display
Duet is a great app for you when you want to use an additional display for Mac because this app will enable you to use an iDevice as an additional display. It has been built by ex-apple engineers to increase at least 48% productivity level. This is without any doubt is the best display for your Mac. Some of its features are:
- Secure Wired Connection
- Lag Free
- Plug & Play Setup
- Retina Display (optional)
- 60 Frames Per Second
- Same Day Support
- Touch Enabled
1Password
Everyone who uses the internet has various accounts and for each account, he has to set a unique password and sometimes, it becomes quite difficult to remember each password. However, if you are using 1Password, it will allow you to save all your unique passwords at a single place.
In addition to this, you will also be able to create a master password which can be used at multiple accounts and the best thing about it is that all your passwords will be provided maximum security.
Handbrake
If you have to do a lot of work with your videos to convert them into playable files for different devices, you would love to discover Handbrake which is an amazing tool to convert any format videos into widely supported modern codes.
There are various options to work with this simple tool but the best thing about it is that anyone who wants to convert videos can easily use it without getting into complex functionalities.
Clear
Clear is a simple yet so effective app for those who have a busy schedule. If you have to use a to-do-list app on a regular basis, this can be the best option for you. Clear enables you to rearrange your everyday activities as per the level of their importance. Its simple design allows you to get things done every more effectively.
CrashPlan
CrashPlan is a wonderful app to select and back up your important files to a local area network or a local drive. You can also use cloud services to secure your data in a safer place. The app has made computer backup absolutely easier and you don’t have to worry about your data security any more.
- Free Local Backup
- Free Offsite Backup
- Unlimited Online Backup
- Security Blanket
- Access App-ified
This article is contributed by Sawaram Suthar and Elizabeth Olsen.
Sawaram Suthar is a self-motivated Digital Marketing Consultant, currently associated with Just Total Tech – A Mobile App Development Company. He contributes new ideas and tips on digital marketing, mobile apps, web design and small business on his blog The Next Scoop. Follow him on Twitter @sawarams
Elizabeth Olsen is a Digital Marketing Developer at Most Secure VPN which are based on online security Issues. She loves to read and write about different tech and trends, and also produced review like ExpressVPN Review. Get connected with Most Secure VPN today and stay updated.
- Updated On June 2019: Fixed Broken links and updated minor typos.