5 ms·

Ask HN: macOS apps/utils you can’t live without?

I bought new MBpro (nice machine, m2 max, 96 gb ram, 2tb ssd) after running my original 2015 i7 machine down. I thought that is good time to revisit my tools. I am using my machine for security research, pentesting (not so much these days), sw development - more like scrips and tiny apps/automations. I also use the machine for some video edits - mostly board sports. After using mac for so long, I am wondering - is there some killer app I am missing? I use so far (except mail, calendar, office and other “defaults”): - iterm2 - pimped zsh - sublime text - neovim - UTM - little snitch - wireguard - monitor control - synergy (to connect to corporate mac) - amphetamine In Safari I have: - wipr - super agent - hush - vinegar - amplosion Dear hackers, is there killer app you use? What can’t you live without? Thanks!

surprisetalk 4y ago
Amethyst is a lovely tiling window manager for MacOS. I don't know how people survive without TWMs. [1] https://ianyh.com/amethyst https://ianyh.com/amethyst
lanna 4y ago
Dash for API browsing https://kapeli.com/dash https://kapeli.com/dash Flycut for clipboard management https://github.com/TermiT/Flycut https://github.com/TermiT/Flycut iStat Menus for system resource monitoring https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ Kaleidoscope for file merging https://kaleidoscope.app/ https://kaleidoscope.app/ OmniOutliner for note taking https://www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner/ https://www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner/
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  Will try, thanks! FlyCut especially seems like something i am missing. Clipboard manager is something I have in todo list for a while.
  - is_taken 4y ago
    I you want to try Alfred anyway, it has this multi clipboard functionality included.
frankjr 4y ago
I'm a big fan of Atuin (fuzzy shell history search) and lately I've been using Helix for most of programming. Check out Btop or erdtree as well. https://github.com/ellie/atuin https://github.com/ellie/atuin https://github.com/helix-editor/helix https://github.com/helix-editor/helix https://github.com/aristocratos/btop https://github.com/aristocratos/btop https://github.com/solidiquis/erdtree https://github.com/solidiquis/erdtree
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  Helix looks great, thanks! I am quite satisfied with sublime but server side editing is limited. That is why i have in terminal neovim and in gui sublime. Merging two editors to one seems like logical improvement.
coldtea 4y ago
Alfred, brew
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  Alfred is on the radar for years. Thanks for push, will try. As for brew - yeah that is essential. :)
pinewurst 4y ago
Carbon Copy Cloner - not open source but well worth the purchase, in value and support
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  Thanks, honorable mention. I am using that, also can recommend to team up CCC with Arq backup for hourly snapshots. Apple timemachine was rather unstable and i ditched it long ago.
zamnos 4y ago
Contexts.app, to fix alt tab behavior Hammerspoon, for Linux style click to drag/resize windows
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  I will try contexts. Macos window management is surprisingly shitty for ui/ux oriented company. Thanks for Tje tips.
- olivertaylor 4y ago
  Never heard of contexts before, this app is awesome. So many great features. I even like having the shelf to the side, feels like a more Mac-like Stage Manager or something. Thanks!
hitpointdrew 4y ago
For me THE reason to get a Mac is because of iterm2. The BEST feature it has is a built in password manager. Need a password for sudo, no problem option+command+f brings up a small window here you can add as many passwords as you like and name them and save them. Double click the password and it puts in the command line for you, it even warns you if it detects that you are not actually at a password prompt. This great if you have passwords for postgres, redis, sudo access, etc. etc.
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  I like also terminal splitting and tmux support. Never used integrated pass manager, good hint. I am guilty of using maybe 5% of iterm capabilities. :)
- is_taken 4y ago
  On Macs with touch id, you can enable sudo via fingerprint reader for the local machine. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/259093/can-touch-id-on-mac-authenticate-sudo-in-terminal https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/259093/can-touch-i...
  - hitpointdrew 4y ago
    That's great for the the local machine..... what about the 80 servers I manage with ssh access? The vast majority of what I do is on remote servers.
    - is_taken 4y ago
      I agree that iterm2 password manager is great (i use it too). I just wanted to mention the sudo-fingerprint feature for the local machine in case someone did not know.
    - ShittyKickflips 4y ago
      I kind of solved this with salt stack. But i still have like 15 machines where cfg management is nogo. I will use built in pass manager there. But i am open to tips.
is_taken 4y ago
Forgot to mention https://rectangleapp.com https://rectangleapp.com
- ShittyKickflips 4y ago
  Oh nice. I forgot i was using stay for automated window positioning but it was not working as i wanted. Also good app is/was fluor for switching keys between mac functions and normal f keys in terminal. Does not work on m2 in combination with monitorcontrol but the feature is already missed. :)
  - is_taken 4y ago
    I have the keyboard settings to use F1, F2 as standard fn keys. If i really need the mac functions (not so often) i can press Fn+F1 etc.
    - ShittyKickflips 4y ago
      Hmm. Might be better from ux perspective as keyboard works consistently across apps.
is_taken 4y ago
https://www.mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet/?lang=en https://www.mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet/?lang=en
deanmoriarty 4y ago
AlDente for better battery management than Apple’s default heuristics. It pains me too much sitting at my desk all day with the laptop plugged in at 100% capacity. Now I can leave it plugged at 70% and charge it to 100% only when I know I’ll need it.
overvale 4y ago
Hammerspoon - http://www.hammerspoon.org http://www.hammerspoon.org Bike Outliner - https://www.hogbaysoftware.com/bike/ https://www.hogbaysoftware.com/bike/ Magic Lasso - https://www.magiclasso.co https://www.magiclasso.co

surprisetalk 4y ago

Amethyst is a lovely tiling window manager for MacOS. I don't know how people survive without TWMs. [1] https://ianyh.com/amethyst https://ianyh.com/amethyst

lanna 4y ago

Dash for API browsing https://kapeli.com/dash https://kapeli.com/dash Flycut for clipboard management https://github.com/TermiT/Flycut https://github.com/TermiT/Flycut iStat Menus for system resource monitoring https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/ Kaleidoscope for file merging https://kaleidoscope.app/ https://kaleidoscope.app/ OmniOutliner for note taking https://www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner/ https://www.omnigroup.com/omnioutliner/

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
Will try, thanks! FlyCut especially seems like something i am missing. Clipboard manager is something I have in todo list for a while.
- is_taken 4y ago
  I you want to try Alfred anyway, it has this multi clipboard functionality included.

frankjr 4y ago

I'm a big fan of Atuin (fuzzy shell history search) and lately I've been using Helix for most of programming. Check out Btop or erdtree as well. https://github.com/ellie/atuin https://github.com/ellie/atuin https://github.com/helix-editor/helix https://github.com/helix-editor/helix https://github.com/aristocratos/btop https://github.com/aristocratos/btop https://github.com/solidiquis/erdtree https://github.com/solidiquis/erdtree

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
Helix looks great, thanks! I am quite satisfied with sublime but server side editing is limited. That is why i have in terminal neovim and in gui sublime. Merging two editors to one seems like logical improvement.

coldtea 4y ago

Alfred, brew

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
Alfred is on the radar for years. Thanks for push, will try. As for brew - yeah that is essential. :)

pinewurst 4y ago

Carbon Copy Cloner - not open source but well worth the purchase, in value and support

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
Thanks, honorable mention. I am using that, also can recommend to team up CCC with Arq backup for hourly snapshots. Apple timemachine was rather unstable and i ditched it long ago.

zamnos 4y ago

Contexts.app, to fix alt tab behavior Hammerspoon, for Linux style click to drag/resize windows

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
I will try contexts. Macos window management is surprisingly shitty for ui/ux oriented company. Thanks for Tje tips.
olivertaylor 4y ago
Never heard of contexts before, this app is awesome. So many great features. I even like having the shelf to the side, feels like a more Mac-like Stage Manager or something. Thanks!

hitpointdrew 4y ago

For me THE reason to get a Mac is because of iterm2. The BEST feature it has is a built in password manager. Need a password for sudo, no problem option+command+f brings up a small window here you can add as many passwords as you like and name them and save them. Double click the password and it puts in the command line for you, it even warns you if it detects that you are not actually at a password prompt. This great if you have passwords for postgres, redis, sudo access, etc. etc.

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
I like also terminal splitting and tmux support. Never used integrated pass manager, good hint. I am guilty of using maybe 5% of iterm capabilities. :)
is_taken 4y ago
On Macs with touch id, you can enable sudo via fingerprint reader for the local machine. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/259093/can-touch-id-on-mac-authenticate-sudo-in-terminal https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/259093/can-touch-i...
- hitpointdrew 4y ago
  That's great for the the local machine..... what about the 80 servers I manage with ssh access? The vast majority of what I do is on remote servers.
  - is_taken 4y ago
    I agree that iterm2 password manager is great (i use it too). I just wanted to mention the sudo-fingerprint feature for the local machine in case someone did not know.
  - ShittyKickflips 4y ago
    I kind of solved this with salt stack. But i still have like 15 machines where cfg management is nogo. I will use built in pass manager there. But i am open to tips.

is_taken 4y ago

Forgot to mention https://rectangleapp.com https://rectangleapp.com

ShittyKickflips 4y ago
Oh nice. I forgot i was using stay for automated window positioning but it was not working as i wanted. Also good app is/was fluor for switching keys between mac functions and normal f keys in terminal. Does not work on m2 in combination with monitorcontrol but the feature is already missed. :)
- is_taken 4y ago
  I have the keyboard settings to use F1, F2 as standard fn keys. If i really need the mac functions (not so often) i can press Fn+F1 etc.
  - ShittyKickflips 4y ago
    Hmm. Might be better from ux perspective as keyboard works consistently across apps.

is_taken 4y ago

https://www.mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet/?lang=en https://www.mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet/?lang=en

deanmoriarty 4y ago

AlDente for better battery management than Apple’s default heuristics. It pains me too much sitting at my desk all day with the laptop plugged in at 100% capacity. Now I can leave it plugged at 70% and charge it to 100% only when I know I’ll need it.

overvale 4y ago

Hammerspoon - http://www.hammerspoon.org http://www.hammerspoon.org Bike Outliner - https://www.hogbaysoftware.com/bike/ https://www.hogbaysoftware.com/bike/ Magic Lasso - https://www.magiclasso.co https://www.magiclasso.co