AppAddict

Dockside - A New Shelf Utility

There is a new player in the category of apps that includes Yoink, Dropover and Dropshelf. Dockside, from Hachipoo Apps is a shelf utility that uses the space on either side of your dock (if you position it on the bottom of your monitor). For those of use who position our docks on the left or right sides of the screen, Dockside places a couple of landing places at the bottom of the display, hidden until you need them. Dockside creates a shelf for your Downloads folder and the default location you have designated for screenshots. In addition, you specify...

November 6th, 2024 Mac Apps

Three Free Apps for Text and Writing

If you are a writer or just like words, the chances are you find Apple's built-in Dictionary app a little lacking. There are websites that offer advanced functionality, but you have to be online to use them. There are a few free tools that can help you out. Nisus ThesaurusFrom the developers of Nisus writer, this free thesaurus app, integrates with Apple's services menu to allow use in just about any application where you can enter text. Just highlight the word, "and choose Nisus Thesaurus from the Services menu. When you select a word in Nisus Thesaurus, the synonyms for...

November 5th, 2024 Universal Apps

Mail Archiver X - Give It a Pass

I bought Mail Archiver X by Moth Software at a discount from Bundlehunt a few months back and didn't have to pay the full $49.95 they charge on their website. My intention was to keep a regularly updated archive of my 19-year-old Gmail account containing 155K messages. I also wanted to retrieve a Yahoo account that I use solely for newsletters. I knew beforehand that it's extremely easy to use Google Takeout to download an archive of your email in the universally recognized mbox format because I've done it several times. My Gmail archive weighs in at about 8GBs. You...

November 4th, 2024 Mac Apps

Task Til Dawn - A Free Mac Automation App

One of my favorite parts of using a Mac is making use of all the automation apps, including the built in ones, Automator and Shortcuts. My productivity would be severely hampered without: • Apps to Enhance Apple Shortcuts • Clop for image processing • Hazel for file management • Keyboard Maestro for all kinds of stuff ( I have 800 macros) • Better Touch Tool for Magic Trackpad and more All of those are paid apps though. If you want a free app (donation ware) to explore the possibilities of automation, try downloading Task Til Dawn by developer Oliver Matuschin. It's...

November 3rd, 2024 Mac Apps

Scratchpad - Floating Notes But Better

For years, I kept a text editor open on my computer at all times and when I needed a scratchpad, I would switch to it and type or paste whatever I needed. Then Raycast came along with it's floating notes feature, which is nice. It can be summoned with a hot key. Then I found Scrap Paper, which can also be called with a hotkey, syncs between computers and has an iOS version. You can hide the icon in the menu bar if you just want to use the hotkey. Furthermore, you can have the text window stay on top...

November 2nd, 2024 Universal Apps

An App to Copy an Image and Paste It as a File

A free app by a developer who goes by INCHMAN1900 on Gumroad can provide an easy way to manage images if it fits your workflow. His small app, FASA (Forget About Save As), lets you copy images from any source to your clipboard and then paste them as files in the Finder. You can use this procedure to quickly export files from the Photos app, skipping the dialog boxes you normally get. It even works on screenshots that you copy to the clipboard. The programs preferences let you choose between jpg and png for your preferred file type. You can...

November 1st, 2024 Mac Apps

Elephas Did What Others Wouldn't

I had a real-world task today that was perfect for AI, except all the tools I tried kept quitting halfway through. I had a list of over 100 URLs that I needed to convert into a Chrome bookmark file for an import I was trying to do. This involves going out on the internet to get the title of each page and formatting an HTML link, complete with the correct header and footer. I tried: • Google Gemini Pro • ChatGPT Web Interface • Typing Mind All three of these would generate between 40–50 lines of code and then quit....

October 31st, 2024 Universal Apps

NextDNS for Mac

With the deprecation of the classic uBlock Origin as blocker by Google Chrome in favor of a less powerful Light version and the ever-increasing need for security, Mac users have the option of downloading the NextDNS configuration app from the Mac App Store and setting up a free account with the enhanced DNS server. If you aren't into acronyms, DNS stands for dynamic name service and it is what translates IP addresses into the URLs we use to name websites. You can use a special DNS service to block malware, ads, trackers and other unwanted traffic from ever reaching your...

October 30th, 2024 Universal Apps

A Different App for Managing Background Items

I posted yesterday about an app I'd tested called StartupManager that helps control the login items on your Mac by reordering them, starting them hidden and introducing delays. One thing it doesn't do is control items that launch in the background. Today I found an app that does a good job with that aspect of app management. Coincidentally, it's also called Startup Manager, but it's a totally different app by a different developer, Systweak Software (Shrishail Rana). Where it shines is in telling you all the apps that you have installed that have background processes, even if they are disabled....

October 29th, 2024 Mac Apps

Free Startup Manager with Many Options

macOS doesn't make it easy to manage your startup options anymore. The app, Startup Manager, by developer Arie van Boxel brings back some of the options that have been removed and adds quite a few more. If you use Startup Manager, you can once again choose the order in which apps launch, and you can have them hidden on launch as well. Other features include:• Temporarily disable a startup item without removing it from the list • Use different sets of startup apps which you can choose at login • Backup/restore login sets • Stop/Start all or a single Login Item with...

October 28th, 2024 Mac Apps

Obsdian’s Many Uses

In all my time using a Mac, I’ve never found more uses for a single app as I have for the note taking app, Obsidian. With a robust selection of over 1900 plugins, Obsidian can be configured to import and manipulate data from a great many sources. It can even be used for publishing. Using the Dataview plugin makes it function like a database. It stays open at all times on both my Macs. There are a great many resources to help you master it, including on Reddit, Discord, the developer’s website, YouTube and numerous blogs. Here are 77 use...

October 27th, 2024 Universal Apps

Virtual Buddy - Run Mac and Linux VMs with Ease on Apple Silicon for Free

If you want to test out betas without endangering your primary machine or if or if your a developer looking to test backwards compatibility with previous versions of macOS with your app or even if you just want a safe way to test software you want to try before adding it to your daily driver, take a look at Virtual Buddy, by developer Guilherme Rambo, a GitHub release with 5.1K stars. It also runs several Linux distros if you have a need for that. You can choose a Mac release (including betas) from a long list ranging from macOS 13.3...

October 26th, 2024 Mac Apps

Mouse Boost - Right-Click Powerhouse

One of the most useful features of Finder replacements like PathFinder or Qspace Pro is the enhanced right-click menus they offer with features like cut, copy and paste for files and the ability to create different types of new files among others. Not everyone wants to replace Finder though for various reasons like security and system overhead. Luckily, there is a handy utility, MouseBoost, from developer gmshrek that adds numerous features to the right-click menu in Finder itself. Features• Create new file - add any file type you want • Commonly used directories - I added Downloads and Screenshots •...

October 25th, 2024 Mac Apps

SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba

The default Mac controls for audio aren't that great if you have multiple sound outputs, laptop speakers, Bluetooth earbuds or external speakers in a docking setup. Rogue Amoeba's SoundSource is an example of what granular control should look like. A menu bar app that can be summoned with a hotkey or turned into a floating window, SoundSource offers machine wide controls for Output, Input, and Sound Effects settings for all system devices with a slider for each one's volume control. There is also a button for a feature called Magic Boost which does a great job of enhancing sound quality,...

October 24th, 2024 Mac Apps

Good Old Time Machine Editor - A Useful Free Utility

By default, the built-in macOS backup utility, Time Machine, makes a new snapshot on your designated backup disk once an hour. This can be problematic during your work day if you need the full system resources of your computer, but it has decided to start copying a bunch of files to your backup. The venerable utility, Time Machine Editor, a free app by developer Thomas Clement is the solution to this problem. To use TME, you first need to go into Time Machine options in System Settings and set your backups to "Manually." Download and install TME from the developers's...

October 23rd, 2024 Mac Apps