Recently, a friend converted over to the Mac from a PC and wanted to know what everyone’s “must-have” Mac apps were. As I recently obtained a new work MacBook Pro, the list was pretty fresh in mind as I set them all up.

Blame The Mac Power Users for any impact hese have on your wallet… it’s where I found/heard about most of them. Some can often be found on sale or part of a bundle, such as MacHeist. Prices are as of 2014-05-28.

In no particular order:

  • Dropbox - first install on any new Mac. (Free)
  • 1Password 4 - Fantastic password manager, also available on iOS. ($49.99)
  • Alfred 2 - Launch utility, Spotlight has nothing on this. (free, PowerPack enables additional features for £17)
  • iTerm2 - I prefer this over Terminal.app (Free)
  • Homebrew - For installing software from source. (Free)
  • OmniFocus - Get things done. ($39.99 Standard, $79.99 Pro)
  • YNAB 4 - Best finance app I’ve ever used. ($59)
  • DaisyDisk - Find & clean up large files on your Mac. ($9.99)
  • Soulver - Nice calculator/scratchpad app. ($11.95)
  • TextExpander - saves me hours of typing a year. ($34.95)
  • Bartender - Clean up menubar clutter. ($15)
  • Hazel - automatic actions on files. ($28)
  • Keyboard Maestro - Hotkey manager on steroids. ($36)
  • Caffeine - Keep your Mac from sleeping with the lid open. (Free)
  • NoSleep - Prevent your Mac from going to sleep when you shut the lid. (Free)
  • Fantastical - Great quick entry/viewing for calendar entries. ($19.99)
  • Authy Bluetooth - pairs with the iOS app - simplifies 2-Factor auth logins. (Free)
  • Patterns - useful for testing regexps. ($2.99)
  • Dash - man(1) on steroids. (Free)
  • iStat Menus - key system stats in your menubar. ($16)
  • coconutBattery - detailed information on your battery health. (Free)
  • Palua - toggles F1 vs. Fn keys on a per-app basis. ($0.99)
  • Moom - automatic window arrangements based on different displays. ($10)
  • Better Touch Tool - allow for custom gestures on trackpads or a Magic Mouse. (Free)
  • Tunnelblick - Simple OpenVPN client. (Free)
  • Adium - Messaging client. (Free)