Dec 28, 2019. Top apps for OS X. Mac apps are a great way to get more from your Yosemite toting Macbook AirorMac Mini.TheMac App Store is filled with Mac games and handy apps. Jan 02, 2020. Jan 04, 2020.
At the mention of what your Macbook is used to do, entertainment accounts for a large proportion, no matter on watching videos/movies, listening to music, editing photograph etc. If there is an absence of the best Mac apps 2020 in entertainment, you will suffer from a obscure and upsetting journey even on your brand new Macbook.
I love my MacBook Pro since the day I bough it. It has made my life so much easier and all of my work life depend on this 13-inch beast. I switched to a Mac just a couple years back and so far I have been happy with the operating systems. Since I was a little late to the party, in my quest to learn the macOS operating system, I dove deep inside to find the best tips and tricks that can help me get work done. Over the years, I also discovered some tips on my own. So, in this article, I wanted to share my top 20 MacBook Pro tips and tricks that are going to make your life easier.
MacBook Pro Tips and Tricks to Use in 2020
I have divided this article into three sections: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. If you find the tips to be too easy in the beginner section, you can move onto other sections to learn more advanced tips.
Best Beginner Mac Tips and Tricks
1. Quick Look
Quick Look is one of the most used features on my Mac. Once you make using this a habit, half of the time you will not have to open any file as it allows you to see the content of a file without opening it. To perform the quick look Action, all you need to do is to select your file and tap the space bar once. For example, you can select a PDF and hit the space bar to quickly scan the content of the PDF without even opening it. That said, this feature does have its limitations.
The preview that Quick Look can show you depends on the file you are trying to preview. If it’s a document or an image file, Quick Look will allow you to see the whole content of the file as shown in the pictures below. However, if it’s a folder or an eBook it will only show you superficial information such as the file size and last modified date. Once you learn where the Quick look is helpful and where it’s not, the feature will come really handy.
2. Force Quit Apps
While one of the benefits of using a Mac is that you rarely have any app which goes unresponsive, there are sometimes that it will happen, and when it happens, you will need to know how to force quit them. While on Windows you must be habituated to type Ctrl+Alt+Delete, the keyboard shortcut for force quitting on Mac is a little different. The keyboard combo that you need to hit is - Cmd+Opt+Esc (command, option, and escape key).
Once you hit the combo, “Force Quit Application” box will open in a floating window. Here, you can just select the app which is misbehaving and click on the Force Quit button. If the keyboard combo is a little hard for you to remember, you can use an alternate method. Click on the Apple Menu at the top left corner and you will find the Force Quit option.
3. Perform Faster App Search in Spotlight
This is a very quick and handy tip. Whenever you are searching for an in Spotlight, typing the initials of the app will bring the results faster than typing its whole name. For example, if I want to search for App Store, I will simply type the letters a and s. Once you make this a habit, you will perform faster app searches and save time a few keystrokes at a time.
4. Use Spotlight for Weather, Definition, Conversions, and Calculations
Over the years Spotlight has evolved from being just a search mechanism for Mac. Now, you can use it to perform many functions. For example, you can use Spotlight for carrying out currency and unit conversions. I use it almost daily to convert measurements, currency, and more. You can also use Spotlight to perform simple mathematical calculations including multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and more. Similarly, you can use Spotlight to get weather information of any city in the world. Type the word weather followed by the city name and it will give you the current weather condition. You can also find word definitions. Type the word and hit the “⌘+L” keyboard shortcut to pull up the definition of that word.
5. Access Emoji Keyboard
This is a fun one. If you love to use emojis, there’s an easy way to call the emoji keyboard on your mac. To do that, hit the keyboard combo Cmd+Ctrl+Space and the emoji keyboard will open. Here you can scroll down to find the emoji you want to use. You can also perform a search to find the one you want to.
6. Show File Path in Finder
macOS focuses on keeping the user interface clean and simple. And while it makes sense, sometimes it hinders usability. For example, one thing that irks me about macOS is that it doesn’t show the file path by default. So, if you search for a file in Spotlight and open its location, you will not be able to figure out how to reach that location.
Thankfully, there’s a handy keyboard shortcut that can enable the file path. If you want to see a file’s location path, hit the “Cmd+Opt+P” keyboard shortcut and it will display the file path. If you forget this keyboard shortcut, you can find it using the “View” menu as shown in the picture below.
7. Keep Search Restricted to a Folder
One of the most infuriating thing about performing search in a Finder window on Mac is that it initiates the search for the entire Mac. It makes no sense but that’s how it has been since ages. Thankfully, you can change this behavior in the Finder Preferences. So, open Finder Preference (⌘,) → Advanced and under “when performing a search” option click on the dropdown menu to select “Search the current folder”. It is going to save you a lot of grief in the future.
8. Minutely Adjust the Volume and Brightness
As you know, we can use the keyboard shortcuts to adjust brightness and volume on your Mac devices (F1 & F2 for brightness and F11 & F12 for volume), the control they provide is not good enough for me. That’s because the first few steps barely make any change while the last few steps do too much. I like to control my volume and brightness a little more minutely.
If you also want to do that, first hold down the option and the shift key and then use the volume or brightness keys to make the adjustment. A single press will result in an increment or reduction of a quarter of bar instead of the full bar which happens if you don’t use the option and the shift key. If you look at the pictures below carefully, you can spot the quarter increment.
9. Move Files with Cut and Paste
Coming from Windows, it really frustrated me a lot when I was not able to use cut and paste command with the keyboard. Cmd+C works for copying but there’s no Cmd+X for performing the Cut Action. If you are a Mac user who doesn’t know what the Cut Action is, let me explain it to you. While using the Cmd+C or the Copy Action can help you copy files from one place to another, the cut Action allows you to do the same thing with one major difference.
The difference is that the Copy Action keeps the original file or text in place and creates a duplicate of that file whereas, the cut Action moves the original file and doesn’t create a duplicate.To perform the Cut Action on a Mac, first, copy the file using ⌘C (Cmd+C) combo. Now open the location where you want to paste the file and hit ⌘⌥V (Cmd+Opt+V) instead of ⌘V (Cmd+V).
Performing the Cut Action: Copy (Cmd+C) → Paste (Cmd+Option+V)
10. Trash Files in Seconds
This is a simple Mac tip that can save you time. When you have to delete an item on your Mac, you usually either drag it to the Trash in your dock or right-click on the file and select the “Move to Trash” option. Well, there’s a keyboard shortcut which can save you the trouble of doing these things. To easily trash a file, just click on it and then hit the “⌘+Delete” keyboard shortcut and it will move to Trash. If you want to skip trashing a file and permanently delete it, use the “⌘+⌥+Delete” keyboard shortcut. Remember, this will permanently delete a file and you will not be able to recover it.
11. Remember the Word
This is a simple tip that can save you a lot of searches. There are times when we remember a word but don’t exactly remember the spelling. The first way to solve this problem is to fully type the word and then right-click on it and hope that the system knows what we are typing. The second way is to Google the word and it will most definitely tell you what word you might be thinking. The third and easiest way is to type the spelling to the point that you remember and then hit the “Fn+F5” keyboard shortcut. It will give you a list of the word right there and you can select the one you want to use.
MacBook Pro Tips and Tricks: Intermediate Level
12. Master the Hot Corners
Hot Corners are one of the most under-appreciated features of macOS. Either people don’t know about them or they just don’t find it useful. For me, Hot Corners is a feature which I can’t live without. Using Hot Corners feature, a user can assign different actions to each of the corners of the display. Dragging your mouse pointer to that corner will execute that action. For example, Ihave assigned the top-left corner of the display to show my desktop when I trigger it.
So whenever there are a lot of windows open on my desktop and I want to grab a file to attach or do any other thing which requires me to look at my desktop, I just drag my cursor to the top-left corner and I am done. It’s up to you how you want to use the four corners of your desktop, but once you make using them a habit, you will speed up your workflow many folds. The picture below shows all the actions that I have assigned and am using Hot Corners for. To set-up a Hot Corner all you need to do is to follow the following path:
Apple Menu → System Preferences → Desktop & Screen Saver → Screen Saver → Hot Corners
13. Quickly Access Folders Using the Go Menu and Shortcuts
Another underappreciated feature which can greatly increase your workflow speed is the Go Menu which is present in the Menu bar in the default mode. You can use the Go Menu to easily access folders without first opening the Finder window. If you put in some effort to remember the shortcuts mentioned in the Go Menu, you don’t even need to use the Go Menu, and can directly use the keyboard shortcuts to open a window. For example, if I have to open my Downloads folder, I simply tap the keyboard command ⌥⌘L (Opt+Cmd+L). The picture below shows all the other keyboard shortcuts which you might want to learn.
14. Using the Delete Key Both Ways
Users who have just switched to Mac from Windows will surely appreciate this feature. Windows has two keys for deleting texts which are Backspace and Delete. The Backspace button deletes the text which is behind the cursor while the Delete button deletes the text which is in front of the cursor. However, macOS only comes with the Delete key. What’s even more confusing is the fact that the Delete key on macOS works as the Backspace key on Windows.
However, there is a way you can use the Delete key both ways i.e. use the Delete key to delete the text both before and in front of the cursor.To delete the text in front of the cursor, a user needs to hold on to the ”fn” key while hitting the delete key. You don't need to hold the function key if you just want to delete the text before the cursor.
15. Smartly Navigate Text and Use Smart Text Selection
Most of use the left-right-up-down arrow key to navigate the text. But a surprising number of Mac users don’t know about the keyboard navigation modifiers that make navigating the text a breeze. You can use these navigation modifiers to move not only by a character but also by word, by line, by paragraph, and even move to the beginning and end of the text. Here are the navigation modifiers that you need to remember.
- ⌥ + ←/→ = move cursor by word instead of by character
- ⌥ + ↑/↓ = move cursor by paragraph
- ⌘ + ←/→ = move cursor to beginning/end of line
- ⌘ + ↑/↓ = move cursor to beginning/end of all text
Similarly, when selecting text, just add the Shift button to this combo. For example, if you use ⌘+Shift+→ shortcut, you will select the whole line in front of your cursor. Using these shortcuts is an easy way to navigate and select text.
16. Create Text Clipping
It’s an old but useful feature that not many people know about. On your Mac, you can select any text (works on most apps) and drag it to your Desktop or a Finder window to create a simple text clipping with .txt file format. This feature is helpful when you want to create a summary of an article or want to save important snippets from a book. Using the text clipping is also pretty easy. You can either double-click on the file to open it and copy from there, or you can directly drag and drop the file in any document and it will paste the text at the cursor head. Note that when you are clipping a text, it preserves the rich-text format. That means any text formatting and links are preserved.
17. Rename Multiple Items at Once
This one might not be useful for everyone but it can be a lifesaver for someone who really needs it. As the heading suggests, you can rename multiple files on your Mac in a single action. I take a lot of screenshots on a daily basis, and renaming them in batches saves me a lot of time. To rename multiple files at once, first, select all the files and then right click (control + click / secondary click). From the right-click menu, select the “Rename multiple items” option, as shown in the picture below.
A popup menu will open. Here select the option shown in the picture below and enter the name you want to use in the custom name field. Since I am using this as a test, I will just use the word test. Now, click on the Rename button. Now, all the files will be renamed using the word test followed by a number. (Test1, Test2, Test3, and so on). This feature will save a lot of your time when you need to crudely rename files for organizing them.
18. Organize Your Files With Tags and Stacks
While we are on the topic of organizing files, I want to show you how you can easily organize and access files using tags and stacks. In its most basic forms tags are colored dots which can be assigned to any file or folder. If you open your Finder window, you will see a Tags menu in the left bar. Once you assign a tag to a file, it can be quickly accessed by clicking on its respective tag in the Finder window.
This is extremely helpful if you want to access multiple files in a place without moving them outside their parent folder. For example, I will assign the Red tag to all the screenshots I just took. To assign the tag I will just right click on them and choose the read tag. Also, since I am assigning the same tag to all of the files, I will select all and then do it. This saves me from assigning tags individually for each file.
Now, I will open the finder window and click on the Red tag and you will see that all my screenshots are there. To make these files even more accessible we will add them to our dock using the Stacks feature. To do that, click and drag on the Red tag from the Finder window and drop it between the Trashcan and the line separating it from other items on your dock. You will see that the tag Red has been added to a stack. Click on the stack to access all your files which are tagged Red. This is an easy way to organize and access your files.
Best Advanced Mac Tips and Tricks
19. Take Screenshots in JPG Format
If you take a lot of screenshots on Mac, you must know that your Mac takes screenshots in PNG format. Although there are a lot of advantages of keeping photos in PNG format (for one, it is lossless), it also comes with a major disadvantage. PNG format images take larger space on your Mac’s hard drive as the file size is bigger. Hence, its always good to take screenshots in JPG format. With JPG format the screenshot quality is almost the same and you save space. It also makes them easier to share as the files are smaller in size.
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
It’s very easy to teach your Mac to take screenshots in JPG format. Just open the Terminal on your Mac, type the code mentioned above and hit enter. Now, every time you take a screenshot, your Mac will be taking it in a JPG format. In fact, you can replace jpg with pdf to take screenshots in PDF format. Also, if you ever want to go back to taking screenshots in PNG format, just replace jpg with png in the above code.
20. Mark the Hidden Apps
We all know that macOS lets us hide apps using the “Command+H” keyboard shortcut. Hiding app is a good way to keep your desktop clean. One major benefit of hiding apps instead of minimizing it is that you can use the “Command+Tab” keyboard shortcut to call an app back. To call up a minimized app, you need to hold the option key and release the tab key while command tabbing through the cycle. It's not as intuitive as using CMD+Tab.
defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool TRUE; killall Dock
However, there’s one problem with hiding apps. There is no indication which apps are hidden and which are closed. It makes it harder to call back apps as closed apps don’t come up using the keyboard shortcuts. Well, I am going to save this problem for you today. Just open Terminal, copy and paste the command written above and hit enter. Once you do that, you will see the hidden apps are a little greyed out than the rest of the apps, just like shown in the picture below.
Bonus: Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts
The last tip I want to live with you today is one which can greatly improve your productivity. Using keyboard shortcuts is one of the fastest ways to get something done. Not only it makes the process faster, once you are used to it, you can perform that action without even thinking about it. That’s why I always make sure that I create custom keyboard shortcuts for all my frequently used actions. For example, I take a lot of screenshots and resize them using Mac’s preview app. However, there’s no keyboard shortcut to open the resizing window on the Preview app. So, I created one for myself.
To create a shortcut go to System Preferences→Keyboard → Shortcuts → App Shortcut. Now click on the + button choose the app you want to create a shortcut for. Here, enter the name of the action you want to create a shortcut for and then type in the keyboard shortcut you want to use. It’s as simple as that.
MacBook Pro Tips and Tricks: Conclusion
That ends our article. I wanted to add more but the article is already too long. If you want more tips, be sure to let me know either by liking this post or commenting below. Your engagement proves that the work I am doing is helping some of you out there. Also, if you found this article helpful, do share this with others because we need your help to share the blog with others.
On this website, I have covered a ton of paid apps, and that’s because in general, paid apps tend to offer more when compared to free apps. However, that does not mean that there are no good free apps out there. In fact, there are a ton of them. That’s why it is going to be a long article as I am bringing a list of 35 best free apps you can get for your Mac right now. Some of the apps on this list are evergreen and you most probably already have them installed on your device. But some of them are entirely new. Well, at least they are new to me and that’s the beauty of it. No matter, how old an app is, it is new for somebody out there. That said, no matter how avid a Mac user you are, I can bet that you will find new Mac apps in this article that you have never heard of before. So, open your Macs and get ready to download these awesome free Mac apps.
Note: Be sure to read our must-have iPhone apps article to get the best apps for your iPhone in 2020.
Best Free Mac Apps You Should Install in 2020
While most of the apps in this list are free, some of them offer a paid option. That being said, when it comes to paid apps, I have only included those options that offer a generous free tier. I am using free versions of all the apps (that offer paid options) and find them suitable for most users. No app with a free trial or heavily restricted free tier has been included.
1. Audiobook Binder
While you can listen to books in MP3 format, I like the M4B format more as it supports chapters. M4B is also the native format that Apple Books support. If you want to keep your music library separate from the book library, this is the format to use. Audiobook Binder is an app that lets you convert MP3 files into M4B files. It also lets you bind multiple MP3 files into a single M4B file and converts those MP3 files into chapters. You can also add custom book cover and edit book’s metadata including name, author, and narrator. I have been using this app for the past year and a half to listen to public domain audiobooks and lectures and it has never failed me.
Install:Free
2. LastPass
Password management is something people ignore. Since passwords are hard to remember and most third-party password managers charge a hefty monthly subscription fee, not everyone is aboard the strong and different password train. To those users, I suggest LastPass. LastPass offers a very generous free tier that allows you to use the software on two different machines. And if you want to use it on more, you can always use its web app that works everywhere. I have been using LastPass for the past two years to manage my passwords and I never had any problem.
Its apps are installed on my primary MacBook Pro (learn MacBook Pro tips and tricks) and my iPhone. Since it supports browser plugins and iPhone’s automatic password fill feature, I never have to type my password or remember them. All my passwords are secure, long, and use an alpha-numeric combination. If you are still using the same password everywhere or setting weak passwords, try out LastPass. It’s free for personal use and you have no excuses not to use it. Its one of the best free Mac apps that you can get.
Install:Free, $3/user/month
3. Brave
While I love Safari and use it for most of my tasks, it’s not perfect and I have to turn to other browsers from time to time. My biggest problem with Safari is its nescient extension library. Safari is also slow to adopt the latest web technologies. I know Apple does this to keep browsing private and secure, but sometimes it causes hindrance in my work. For a long time, I was using Chrome for this work but I hated two things about it. First, Google Chrome is a resource hog and decreases battery life, causes overheating, and several other problems. Second and more importantly, I don’t like sharing my data with Google more than I already do. It was one of the reasons why I switch from Android to iOS several years back.
The solution is the Brave browser. It’s a browser that is built on the same Chromium engine that Google Chrome uses, so you are getting all the features and extension support. But, since the creators focus on privacy, your data is always secure. It brings an automatic tracking blocker and even blocks most of the annoying ads. Since it blocks the most harmful scripts, you get to enjoy a faster internet. Also, in my testing, it’s far better than Google Chrome at handling resources. While it’s not as good as Safari, that’s a trade-off that I am ready to make. If you are also looking for a good Chrome alternative, you should try using the Brave browser.
Install:Free
4. CopyClip
CopyClip is a Mac utility that stores everything you copy in a clipboard. Copy-and-paste is so integral to our work that we cannot even imagine a time when this feature was not available. Still, Mac’s clipboard is probably the most neglected feature in the macOS. Even after so decades, you still cannot hold more than one entry in your clipboard. Enter, CopyClip. It’s a clipboard manager that saves entries into the clipboard. You can use a simple keyboard shortcut to easily copy any item and paste them anywhere you want. CopyClip not only saves text input but also preserves images and documents. While I use “Paste” for my clipboard management as it offers more features, for a free app, CopyClip works exceptionally well.
Install:Free
5. BBEdit
For a long time, it was hard to recommend a good free text editor on Mac. All the good ones were paid, and the free ones were just not up to the mark. Well, after a long hiatus, BBEdit, one of the most exemplary text editors, is back on the Mac App Store. For the past 20 years, BBEdit has been the text editor to beat and now that it’s back on the App Store with a freemium model, you can use it for free. Only the advanced features of BBEdit are hidden behind a paywall and 90% of regular users will not need those features.
Whether you want to write a long blog post, edit snippets of code, design website or web apps, BBEdit is the text editor to use. The best thing about BBEdit is how fast it works. It opens text files with hundreds of thousands of words in seconds and never falters. In my years of using this app, I have not lost even a single line of text. It has a powerful search that lets you locate and find keywords across files. There’s no free text editor out there that can match its prowess.
Install:Free, $49.99
6. NetNewsWire
The death of Google Reader placed a dark cloud over the future of RSS readers. But, if anything, RSS is showing a sign of resurgence in the past year or so. From the launch of acclaimed RSS reader app Reeder 4 to the rebirth of NetNewsWire, RSS readers are becoming popular again. And if you are looking to create a personal news feed, there’s no better app to do it with than NetNewsWire. Built on-top of free and open source reader named Evergreen, NetNewsWire is an excellent feed reader for Mac.
The app makes it easy to subscribe to RSS feeds and brings excellent search capabilities. It also brings a beautiful design and I adore its dark mode. It also supports online feed syncing services such as Feedbin. I still prefer Reeder 4 as it brings more features, but seeing how NetNewsWire is still young and free to use, I cannot fault it. If you are looking for a free RSS reader, you should try NetNewsWire.
Install:Free
7. DaVinci Resolve
While Macs come with a basic video editor for free (iMovie), anyone who is serious about video editing will have to go for the pro video editing apps. The problem with apps like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro is that they cost a lot. If you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, and still want to use a full-fledged video editor, DaVinci Resolve is the best option for you. Even when I am writing this, I cannot believe that such a capable video editor is free to use.
The latest version of the software, DaVinci Resolve 16 combines professional 8K editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production all in one software tool. Color correction tools of DaVinci Resolve are better than most paid video editors including FCP and Premiere Pro. From custom timeline settings to facial recognition to keyframe editing, it brings all features that you require from a professional video editor. It is one of the best free Mac software that you can install. Free Mac apps don’t get better than this.
Install:Free
8. Folx
Folx is a powerful native download manager for Mac that not only works great but also looks cool. It features a true Mac-style interface and supports both direct and torrent downloads. The app also offers extensions for Safari, Chrome, Opera, and Firefox. The extensions help Folx in catching downloads and thus ensure that you are not using the crappy download manager of your browser. Folx can split downloads into multiple threads resulting in faster downloads and also support download pause and restart. The free version of the app is enough for most users. I was using it for years without any complaints. I only bought the paid version to support the developers. The extra features are nice to have but they have not drastically affected by usage.
Install:Free, $19.99
9. NightOwl
macOS Mojave introduced dark mode to our favorite desktop operating system. The dark mode on macOS Mojave is not half-cooked as it is on windows. When you turn on the dark mode on your Mac, not only it turns the system UI but also the stock apps. Not only that, apps that support automatic dark mode also adhere to the same guideline. Once you turn it on, they automatically default to dark mode.
While that's great in most situation, I wish Apple included a way to create a whitelist for apps that are not functional in dark mode. The default Mail app and the Evernote app are a few examples of an app that still work best in light mode. That's where NightOwl comes in. It's a menu bar app that allows you to create a whitelist of apps that you don't want to use in dark mode. Not only that, but it also allows you to quickly switch between dark and light mode with a simple click at its icon. You can read more about the app in our article here. The app is completely free to download and use with a voluntary donation.
Install:NightOwl
10. Unsplash Wallpapers
I want to start this article with an app which I have discovered just a couple of months back and have fallen in love. As its name suggests, Unsplash Wallpapers is a wallpaper app for Mac which gives you access to unlimited ultra-high resolution wallpapers for your Macs. One of the things that I love most about MacBooks is its display. Apple packs phenomenal displays on the Macs. Stop me if it’s just me, but I enjoy changing the wallpapers on a regular basis just because they look so damn beautiful on my Mac’s display.
Before I discovered Unsplash Wallpapers, it used to be a chore to change wallpapers. First, I had to find good wallpapers, then I had to download them, and only then I could use them. With Unsplash Wallpapers app, you can change the wallpaper just with one click. If you like a wallpaper, you can even download it. If you love wallpapers, you are going to love this free Mac app.
Install:Unsplash Wallpapers
11. The Unarchiver
This is one of the first free Mac apps that I download whenever I move on to a new Mac. The app is basically the best unarchiving app you can get for your Mac, free or otherwise. The Unarchiver cannot only unarchive common formats such as Zip, RAR (including v5), 7-zip, Tar, Gzip, and Bzip2, but it can also open formats such as StuffIt, DiskDoubler, LZH, ARJ, ARC, ISO and BIN disc images, Windows.EXE installers and more. Basically, it’s a one-stop solution for all your unarchiving needs.
Install:The Unarchiver
12. Amphetamine
We all know that Macs bring a long battery life and while some of it has to do with Apple’s excellent hardware, most of it is because of how macOS efficiently manages battery. One of the things that macOS does to preserve the battery life on your computer is to put it to sleep whenever you don’t interact with your Mac for a set period of time. While this is really good, sometimes you need to keep your Mac running even if you are not interacting with it. One of the examples that come to mind is when you are downloading a large file. If your Mac falls asleep during the download, it will stop it, and depending on the software that you are using to download the file, you might have to restart the download from the beginning.
Amphetamine solves this problem by allowing users to keep their Macs awake even when they are not doing anything. The app is powerful and allows users to keep their Macs awake for how much ever long they want. Not only that, users can also set triggers to keep their Macs awake. For example, you can tell Amphetamine to not put your Mac to sleep whenever a certain app is running. Lastly, it allows you to easily access all these features as it lives right there in your Mac’s menu bar. It’s one of the most useful apps for Macs and I love it.
Install:Amphetamine
13. GIPHY Capture
Gifs are all the rage today. More and more users are creating and sharing their own gifs. And if you want to be one of them then this is the tool you need. GIPHY Capture is an app that lets you capture and create gifs. Once you launch the app it will create a translucent green window with a capture button at the bottom. All you need to do is to drop the window on top of the video you want to capture and click on the capture button. Once you are done with the recording, click on the record button again to stop the recording. It is probably the easiest way to create gifs on your Mac.
Install:GIPHY Capture
14. Spectacle
Spectacle is one of the apps that I install instantly on a new Mac. Macs are good at many things but one thing that still eludes it is a good window management feature. Apple has not solved the window management problem in the latest macOS Catalina so I guess, we have to wait for one more year. In fact, the window management problem has become even worse in macOS Catalina in my opinion. If you are also fed up of Apple's native approach towards window management, you should Install Spectacle.
This is a simple menu bar app that allows you to easily resize and place windows with keyboard commands. I can easily set a window to either half of the display both vertically and horizontally, make it go full screen, snap it to the center, and more. Once you install this app, your window management workflow will become ten times faster.
Install:Spectacle
15. ImageOptim
ImageOptim is one of the most used free Mac apps on my MacBook Pro. In my line of work, I have to attach a ton of screenshots (like in this article). And before I upload any picture on my website, I pass it through ImageOptim. The app deletes all the unnecessary metadata such as GPS position and camera's serial number and compresses the image. This allows me to upload the image on the web without any privacy hazards and ensures that the file sizes are low.
![Google app for macbook air Google app for macbook air](/uploads/1/1/9/8/119845173/232230467.jpg)
The app is pretty easy to use. You just drag and drop images into its window and then click on the button at the bottom-right corner. If you share a ton of images on the web (whether on your blog or social media websites like Twitter and Facebook), it will be good for you to pass it through ImageOptim first. I have used paid image compression apps but nothing has been as good and as easy to use as ImageOptim.
Install:ImageOptim
16. Alfred 4
Alfred is an all-purpose tool for your Mac which can boost your productivity ten folds if you learn how to use it. Of course, there’s a learning curve to this app, but if you invest in it, it will pay you back. Alfred allows you to quickly launch apps, use text expansion snippets, search on the Mac and web, use hotkeys and keywords, and much more. Alfred used to be a paid app, but the developers were kind enough to release the app for free. There are add-on power packs that you can buy, to use cool features like Alfred workflows. But, for most normal users, the free app itself is enough to boost their productivity.
Install:Alfred 4
17. Pocket
Pocket is a popular read it later service which allows you to save articles offline so that you can read them later. I mostly browse for articles on my Mac and whenever I find something that I would want to read, I just save it in Pocket. Pocket has an excellent Safari extension that allows me to save articles and read them later. Since Pocket syncs across devices, all my saved articles are automatically synced to my iPhone where I can read them at my will. Recently, I have also started using Pocket as a research tool. Since Pocket allows me to organize saved articles using tags, I just tag the items I am using for research so that I can find them easily later.
Install:Pocket
18. Spark
Spark is my most favorite free app on Mac. For those who don’t know, Spark is an email client for Mac. I love spark because it intelligently categorizes all the emails that I receive into different categories, giving me access to the most important emails first. It also has a very robust set of features. I can easily snooze, archive, delete, and tag emails. I also love the fact that it allows me easily search for emails using natural language search. I can also search for emails based on attachments, and more. Lastly, Spark also has apps for both iOS and watchOS so no matter which device I am on, I can user Sparks to get through all my emails.
Install:Spark
19. GIMP
GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is an open source photo editor for Mac which packs so many features that you won’t be able to discover all of them in your lifetime. It is basically Photoshop but free. You can use GIMP to perform any kind of image manipulation that you can think of. That said, since it packs so many features, GIMP also has a pretty steep learning curve. Also, being a free an open-source project, its user interface is not very intuitive and feels archaic. That’s why I recommend GIMP only to those users who need a robust photo editing software but cannot afford to buy one.
Install:GIMP
20. DarkTable
As per the description of the app on its website, 'DarkTable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer. A virtual light-table and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable light-table, and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them'.
Basically, it is super powerful photo editing app for Mac that allows you to use pro-level photo editing features for free. You are required to learn the app as it has a steep learning curve but once you get used to it, you won't go back to even the best-paid photo editing apps on the market. This one is definitely one of the free Mac apps that you can download in 2019.
Install:DarkTable
21. Simplenote
Simplenote is one of the best designed free Mac apps you can find. As its name suggests, Simplenote is an easy note taking app which allows you to easily jot down notes. What I love about this app is that even though it is completely free, your notes are synced across devices. Apart from its online sync features, I am also a fan of its clean user interface. Simplenote is also a really good app for someone who is looking for a clean app to write long-form content. You can use tags to organize notes easily and search for them using either their title, content, or tags. I have been using this app for quite a few years and I still don’t understand how it’s free. If you love writing, you will love Simplenote.
Install:Simplenote
22. Itsycal
Itsycal is an open source small menu bar calendar application for Mac. If you like Fantastical 2 for Mac, but hate that it’s priced so high, Itsycal is for you. Although Itsycal is nowhere as powerful as Fantastical 2, it brings all the basic features that you would want from a menu bar based calendar app. It shows you month view of your calendar, your upcoming events, and also allows you to create or delete events. I also love the fact that I can configure Itsycal to show not only the date but also the month and the day in the menu bar icon itself. It’s a good menu bar application and a must have for anyone who schedules everything on their calendar.
Install:Itsycal
23. Audacity
Audacity is one of those free Mac apps that is even better than most of the paid apps out there. For those who don’t know, Audacity is an audio editor app for your Mac (available for Windows PC too). If you are someone who deals with a ton of audio, you must have already heard about this software. If you have not, you probably don’t need it. Still, it’s such a good app that I couldn’t keep it away from the list. Just remember that if you ever need to edit an audio file to make it better, Audacity is the tool to do it.
Install:Audacity
24. Lightworks
Lightworks is a full-fledged video editing app which gives you access to all the tools that you will need to get your video editing on. To be fair, Lightworks also sell a Pro version of the app, however, the free version is powerful enough to handle most of the tasks. Whether you are a budding YouTuber or someone who just want to give an edge to their homemade videos, Lightworks is the right tool for you. What I love most about this app is that the website gives you ample tutorial videos to get you started. If by any chance you were looking for a free video editing software, look no further and download Lightworks.
Install:Lightworks
25. HiddenMe
HiddenMe is a small menu bar app which comes in very handy at times when you want to show a clean desktop without having to organize your stuff. The app lives in your menu bar and allows you to do one thing and one thing only, and that’s hiding everything on your desktop. With a click of the button, everything that’s on your desktop is hidden, giving you access to a clean desktop. I constantly use this app whenever I am giving a presentation or taking screenshots of my desktop for an article. This small application has saved me from embarrassing myself a number of times and it can do that for you too.
Find Apps On Macbook Pro
Install:HiddenMe
26. AppCleaner
Do you know that whenever you delete an app on your Mac, it leaves behind a ton of residual files which does nothing but eating up storage on your Mac? Well, it’s true and if you install and uninstall a ton of apps, you might have lost gigabytes of storage already. While there’s another app on this list which (Onyx) which can help you recover that storage, AppCleaner is an app which makes sure that the apps you delete don’t leave any residual files. Just launch the app and drag and drop the apps that you want to uninstall and it will take care of the rest. It is a must-have utility tool for any Mac user who wants to keep their Mac clean.
Install:AppCleaner
27. LiteIcon
LiteIcon is the app from the same developers who made the AppCleaner. It is a simple app which allows you to change your system icons quickly and easily. Simply drag an icon onto the one you want to change, and click the Apply Changes button. That's all you need to do. If you want your older icon back, just drag out the new icon. If you like to customize how your icons look on Mac, try out LiteIcon.
Install:LiteIcon
28. GrandPerspective
I have written about GrandPerspective a couple of times on this website and you might be familiar with it by now. For those who are new to our website, it’s an app which allows you to visualize storage on your Mac. Using GrandPerspective you can easily find out which files are using how much storage and find and delete the files which are not necessary. GrandPerspective is a very nice app for anyone who doesn’t have any idea as to where all his/her Mac’s storage went.
Install:GrandPerspective
29. Manuscript
Manuscript is a free Mac writing app for students which makes writing school assignments including dissertation easier. Manuscript is a powerful writing app which allows students to complete their assignments right from the planning stage to completing it. It lets students easily insert citations, figures, tables, mathematical equations, and more. The app also allows for importation of citations from various tools including Mendeley, Zotero, Papers 3, Bookends, and EndNote. If you are a student who is looking for a good writing app, you don’t have to look any farther than Manuscript.
Install:Manuscript
30. IINA
IINA is an open-source video player for your Mac which offers one of the best amalgamations of features and user interface. The app looks extremely beautiful and supports all the modern features including force touch, picture-in-picture, and even offers Touch-bar controls for the latest MacBook Pros. IINA also supports almost all the video formats that you can think of, including the ability to play even GIFs. The app also comes with theming capabilities allowing you to use either light or dark themes. I have discovered this app just a few weeks back and I am already in love with it. If you consume a ton of media on your MacBook Pro, this is the right app for you.
Install:IINA
31. OnyX
OnyX is your one-stop solution for all your Mac’s maintenance needs. In fact, I cannot describe the app better and more succinctly than what’s written on its website. OnyX is a multifunction utility that you can use to verify the structure of the system files, to run miscellaneous maintenance and cleaning tasks, to configure parameters in the Finder, Dock, Safari, and some of Apple's applications, to delete caches, to remove certain problematic folders and files, to rebuild various databases and indexes, and more. However, do remember that it is an advanced tool and hence before you do anything, make sure that you get familiar with the app as you don’t want to delete files which can corrupt your entire system.
Install:Onyx
32. SpotMenu
The last app on our list the SpotMenu app which is a nifty little menu bar application. The app basically allows you to control your iTunes and Spotify music player from the menu bar giving you access to controls such as play, pause, forward, and rewind. It’s a pretty basic application, however, it does come in handy. One thing that I like about the app is that it shows the name of the song that is currently playing right on your Mac’s menu bar. When you click on the icon, the drop-down window which harbors all the features also showcase the album art of the song that you are playing.
Install:SpotMenu
33. White Noise Lite
White Noise Lite is an app that helps you sleep better. If you are a light sleeper who wakes up multiple times in the night without any apparent reason then this app can help you sleep better. It brings fifty different HD quality ambient environment noises to help you sleep. The app brings a beautiful cover flow design which lets you easily swipe between cards to select different tasks. Although the app markets itself as a sleep enhancer, I mostly use to provide background music when I am working as it helps me concentrate. You should download this app right now and see if it helps you sleep better or work better. Whatever the result, you will be better off with this one in your arsenal.
Install:White Noise Lite
34. Shazam
Shazam is an app that needs no introduction. The app helps you discover songs by identifying whatever song is playing in the background. I personally use Shazam more as a tool to keep the list of songs that I have discovered. Suppose I am listening to a song and YouTube and want to save it. I just click on the menu bar icon of Shazam and it identifies the song and saves it on the list. I don't have to write it down anywhere. Later I can see the list and add to my Apple Music Playlist at my convenience. Shazam is a great app for discovering and keeping track of music that you like.
Install:Shazam
35. Muzzy
You know how when you accidentally yank headphones out of your iPhone, the music suddenly stops, well, Muzzy brings that functionality to your Mac. The app also does a lot of other things like allowing users to play, pause, and change the music from its menu bar app, integrates with Last.fm, shows songs lyrics, and more. However, I don’t care for any other features and I just use this app to stop music whenever I accidentally yank my headphones out. Sadly, the app only works if you are playing music through iTunes.
Install:Muzzy
Best Free macOS Apps: Final Thoughts
Top Free App For Macbook Pro
I hope that you found some apps which are useful to you. Do let me know which of these were your favorite and which ones you discovered. Also, if you know free apps that deserve to be on the list but aren’t, drop their names in the comments section. That’s all I have for this article. If you liked this article, share this on your social media profiles because we need your help to get the word out. As always, drop your opinions and suggestions in the comments section down below. We love to hear from our readers and your comments are always welcome.