AppAddict

Duplicati - Free Encrypted Offsite Backup for Your Mac

I am a firm believer in establishing a backup routine with multiple failsafes. I've managed to hold on to some of my data for over 25 years as a result. Yep, I still have the MP3 files I downloaded from Napster in the 90s. I run a Time Machine backup and I make regular SuperDuper full disk clones. For offsite data storage, I recently discovered Duplicati, a free, open-source backup program that uses encryption to securely store your data on various cloud services, local drives, or remote servers. It offers flexible scheduling, versioning, and incremental backups for reliable data protection....

October 21st, 2024 Mac Apps

ClicKnow - A Different Kind of AI Tool

Most AI tools on the market these days fall into one of two categories: • Writing assistants that correct spelling and grammar or do other text manipulation • Basic question answering or search engine type functions ClicKnow by independent developer aike9m studio doesn't do either of those things. It also doesn't require a monthly fee or the use of your own API key. What ClicKnow does is act on text you select to perform a variety of functions. It is compatible with PopClip in that you can have apps running at the same time and get full functionality from both...

October 20th, 2024 Mac Apps

Kiano - A Unique Image Sorter and Viewer for Apple Photos

Kiano, a free app from the Visual Computing Group, provides a unique way to view and search your photo library. On my M3 iMac, it analyzed 22K images in about two and half minutes. It then displayed a grid of all the photos grouped together by similarity to one another. For example, all the landscape images I had showing broad expanses of sky were together, as were the man, many dual selfies of my wife and i. You can choose to have the sorting weighted towards color or towards content. Clicking on an image opens it within the program, where...

October 19th, 2024 Universal Apps

Deskpad - A Virtual Monitor for Screen Sharing

If you have a large monitor and have the need to share your screen with others, you can experience issues when they can't match your resolution. The free app, Deskpad, creates a virtual display within an application window that you can easily share with others. Launching Deskpad is equivalent to plugging in an additional monitor. You can use the display settings in System Settings to change the resolution and wallpaper, as well as any other monitor specific setting you have access to. Whenever you move your cursor to the virtual display, the color of the window title changes to blue,...

October 18th, 2024 Mac Apps

Five Free Single Purpose Apps

I've been making my way through some of the recent additions at thriftmac and testing some of the most useful looking apps. Here are five that address some real world issues in a simple and understandable way. You won't have to spend a lot of time reading documentation or setting up intricate preferences. You can start using these quickly. • TrashSweep - For anyone who churns through a bunch of files, whether you are a chronic downloader. doing video editing or just overworked, automating the size of your Trash can be accomplished with this app that lets you set a...

October 17th, 2024 Mac Apps

Gladys - Free Shelf Utility that Syncs With iOS

I recently discovered Gladys, a free app that allows you to stash a variety of data types an a shelf on your computer display to retrieve later or to access from another computer or iOS device. I quickly tested: • A dragged image from a web page • Pasted text copied from the web • A URL dragged from my browser • An image file from Finder • A text document from Finder All of these quickly synced via iCloud and were available immediately on my iPhone. Some of the functionality is similar to Yoink, a paid app that also...

October 16th, 2024 Mac Apps

Mac Pilot for Customization and Utilities

Mac Pilot, a customization and utility app from Koingo Software is currently $3.00 on BundleHunt. There are similar apps like Onyx and Tinker Tool out there that are free, but for the price I thought I'd take a look. Applications Mac Pilot contains settings for several system apps. Here are just of the few things it can control. • Calendar - change event duration • Dock - single app mode, enable window previews • Finder - enable "Quit Finder" • Help Viewer - user normal instead of floating windows • Launch Pad - Reset contents, control # of rows and...

October 15th, 2024 Mac Apps

Switch Glass - A Configurable Application Switcher with Per Display Settings

If you are one of those Mac users frustrated by the fact that the default dock is only visible on a single display, or you don't like the way it deals with hidden windows, or maybe you wish you could hide certain apps, you might want to try Switch Glass, an app by well known Apple podcaster, developer and writer, John Siracusa. Switch Glass lets you configure a (hide-able) floating app switcher for each display in your setup. • Visibility - Set it to be visible, hidden or auto-hidden/visible depending on mouse position • Position - Choose from eight positions...

October 14th, 2024 Mac Apps

Yonks - A Well Designed Day Counter

Yonks is a well-designed iOS app that works quite well as a standalone app on Apple Silicon Macs. It's a day counter that determines how many days since and event or how many days until an even with lots of extra special touches. For a one time purchase of $1.99 in the App Store vs. subscription apps at 4X that price just for a year of use, it's almost unbeatable. Ever wanted to know how many minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years have passed since you were born or since you got married? What about counting down to your...

October 13th, 2024 Universal Apps

Marta - A Free Dual Pane File Manager

Marta is a free, dual-pane file manager for macOS written entirely in Swift, making it fast and responsive to both keyboard and mouse commands, although it specializes in the former. Under development since 2016 by software engineer Yan Zhulanow of Jet Brains, Marta may move to paid model in the future but for no it can be downloaded for free at the dev's website. Some of Marta's key features include:• Extensive keyboard support • No user tracking • Ability to edit files inside archives and nested archives • Documentation to guide users in customization • Theme supprt (plus you can...

October 12th, 2024 Mac Apps

Keysmith - Record Automation Macros With Ease

Keysmith is an automation app that works in any other app on your Mac to record actions you can later trigger from a menu or with a keyboard shortcut. I've been a Keyboard Maestro user for many years. I have over 800 macros within that application and a lot of experience using it, but after working with Keysmith for just a short while, I have to admit it makes some actions easier to record and activate. It's not a replacement for Keyboard Maestro, but it will certainly supplement it. Keysmith detects buttons, lists, and page loads automatically. The first macro...

October 11th, 2024 Mac Apps

Licensed - A Nice Single Purpose App for Keeping Track of Your Software

One of the reasons that I go to r/MacApps every single day is the prospect of discovering news apps and developers. This week I found out that an ancient app (well, 17 years), Licensed, has been updated and is compatible with macOS 15. Licensed is a simple database to keep track of your software purchases. It has fields for: • Maker • Product • Version • Owner • Email • Code • Date • Notes The database is searchable. From the app's file menu, you can identify the data file for easy backups, and you can export your data as...

October 10th, 2024 Mac Apps

The Zen Browser

I've found myself in a small and unpopular minority over the past couple of years as user and sometimes advocate for Microsoft Edge, mostly because I use it for work where I'm required to use Microsoft Admin Center and the suite of Microsoft 365 apps. I still stand by my opinion that it doesn't suck, but I've been looking for a more privacy focused alternative to use outside of work, so I decided to take the Zen browser for a spin. Zen's promise on its website is “"Beautifully designed, privacy-focused, and packed with features. We care about your experience, not...

October 9th, 2024 Mac Apps

CurrentKey Stats - A Triple Threat App

CurrentKey Stats has several target audiences. • Time tracking your app usage and time spent working. Unlike Apple's Screentime, CurrentKey Stats only tracks an app when it is in the foreground, not the whole time it is open to give you a more accurate view of your time. • Controlling movement between spaces. CurrentKey Stats lets you name each space with a descriptive name and lets you move between them with a menu bar icon or a hot key combo. • Automators who want to trigger certain actions tied to individual workspaces. For time trackers, you can dedicate a task...

October 8th, 2024 Mac Apps

Apple Password App Is OK I Guess

I have been using the Apple Passwords App instead of a third-party alternative for a few weeks. I've managed to get my work done and not get locked out of any apps, so it's OK, I guess, but it does not have all the features I'm used to and it has presented some frustrations. To set up the app, you need to use a Mac and not an iPhone. You will probably already have some passwords in the app but you can download and import from your current password manager or browser and it will do a pretty good job...

October 7th, 2024 Universal Apps