Many mistakenly believe that the Mac does not shine with a variety of software - especially free and created by indie developers. Moreover, there are those who for some reason believe that applications on macOS can only be installed through the Mac App Store. Both opinions are wrong. Moreover, experienced Mac users are familiar with a host of unique applications that the vast majority of users have not heard of at all. I would like to talk about some of them separately.
YouType - shows the input language flag in the menu bar and near the cursor
A useful application that will help you maximize personal efficiency when using MacBooks with relatively small screens. On them, many programs are most often used in full-screen format, in which the menu bar is usually automatically hidden from the screen along with the input language indicator. When working with text, this can be inconvenient - you have to guess the current input language. YouType adds an active keyboard layout flag icon not only to the menu bar, but also to the cursor that is shown when hovering over the input field. At the same time, the possibility of erroneous input is globally reduced - you have to check the typed less and less. It is important to try the application if you spend a lot of time in correspondence or office applications.
💻 Download app from GitHub (free, there is voluntary support of developers).
Aural - music player in the manner of the classic WinAmp
An audio player for playing offline audio compositions, inspired by the classic WinAmp, which was once actively used on computers running the Windows operating system. When creating it, the developer was guided by two dogmas: first, he sought to make the application interface as customizable as possible; secondly, a huge number of codecs have been added under the hood of the application to play files of any type. At the moment, the player only handles offline playback. However, the developer assures that soon he will also be able to pull files from online storages.
💡 Interesting fact: you can participate in the development of this project. The developer does not need help with the software part yet. But you can offer your candidacy for the role of the application localizer so that the Russian language finally appears in it.
💻 Download app from GitHub (is free).
Stats - output useful data to the macOS menu bar
A great opportunity to display important data about the operation of your Apple computer in the menu bar. Battery level, Bluetooth connection, CPU utilization, free storage space, built-in active cooling fans speed, graphics adapter utilization, RAM status, current network transfer status, and so on. The only thing, it is important to understand that such control of work together with the entire system usually loads it well. However, this is highly dependent on the performance of the Mac hardware itself.
💡 Interesting fact: the application, to a greater extent, is aimed at owners of Apple computers that are running Intel processors. Solutions based on M1, M2 and their modifications do not provide a full-fledged opportunity to control absolutely all system characteristics.
💻 Download app from GitHub (is free).
Hidden Bar - hiding unnecessary items from the menu bar
In the hands of an active user, macOS is systematically acquiring additional software. Many applications throw shortcuts into the menu bar for quick access to some "very important" features. Some icons can be removed from here with standard tools, but not all. This is where an app like this comes in handy. It will allow you to hide not the most important programs behind the "arrow", as in Windows, so that they have relatively quick access, but they were not right in front of your eyes. From experience, I always recommend installing this program on a Mac almost in the first place.
💻 Download app from Mac App Store (is free).
Karabiner - simple keyboard button remapping
The most powerful key remapping tool for the most flexible customization of the operating system. With it, for example, it will be possible to select actions for each physical function button. Moreover, it will also be possible to create certain rules for changing the actions of certain keys if others fail. For example, if the left Command, due to frequent use, works every other time, if Fn can take over the role, as well as the left Option or Control. As a temporary solution until replacement - just fine.
💡 Interesting fact: the developers divided their project into different versions. For older Macs on macOS 10.12 Sierra or earlier, use here this application. The above applies to newer systems and is separately optimized for macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 12 Monterey, and macOS 13 Ventura.
💻 Download app from GitHub (free, there is voluntary support of developers).
Ferdi - a simple aggregator of unclaimed messengers
A fairly simple application that combines the interfaces of popular professional services. It's hard to say that the implementation is 100% successful, but you don't need to add all your main tools for communication and planning there. It is logical to use such an aggregator for those applications that are needed no more than a couple of times a month. This will at least help reduce the number of applications installed on the Mac.
💻 Download app from GitHub (free, there is voluntary support of developers).
Numi - Universal Text Converter Calculator
An insanely handy tool that can be hung on a convenient keyboard shortcut and quickly called up when you need to calculate something. You can visually perform short simple calculations, insert some complex mathematical examples here, convert currencies, cryptocurrencies and physical quantities. Plus, with this application, you can also temporarily store short recordings that you may need sometime in the very near future. My personal recommendation.
💻 Download the application from the official site (free, optional payment that will remove the offer to do it).
Clipy - the simplest clipboard manager
The application adds its own icon to the menu bar and adds all the text information that enters the clipboard to the copy history section. This is very convenient when actively working with office documents, as well as code. You can also create small snippet templates for quickly entering anything. This is where the useful features of the tool, by and large, end.
💻 Download app from GitHub (free, there is voluntary support of developers).
BackgroundMusic - individual application volume
The tool adds its own icon to the menu bar. Clicking on it displays all running multimedia applications. Near each of them there is an individual volume control, which will help you adjust the entire bundle as you wish. It is unlikely that someone will need this on an ongoing basis, but sometimes the solution can still come in handy.
💻 Download app from GitHub (is free).
Sloth - the simplest manager of running processes
Something between the primitive system menu "Force Quit" and "System Monitoring". Shows all running processes in the form of a tree, makes it possible to control their activity, as well as terminate something that does not behave as it should.
💻 Download the application from the official site (is free).
