7 ms·

Must-have OS X apps for developers and designers

42 points by abdophoto 14y ago

bajsejohannes 14y ago
> Brightness Slider for reducing screen brightness. I was going to write a little rant about how this should be possible without 3rd party software. Researching a bit, I found that Apple has restored the ⌥+⇧ modifier for volume as well as for brightness (if that was even there before). So no need to install this; adjust brightness with ⌥+⇧+☼ instead! http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/19146/is-fine-volume-adjustment-possible-in-os-x-lion http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/19146/is-fine-volum... Edit: Trying it out, it seems the actual brightness level has the same minimum as before, even when the setting is at 1/4 of a square. It only works for values higher than one square. :(
- trotsky 14y ago
  I think this is actually a restriction of their current backlight controller. As far as I know the apps that reduce brightness below one square actually do it by placing a black element over the entire screen and adjusting its transparency.
- hkuo 14y ago
  The lowest brightness you can achieve by the standard Mac controls is equal to the halfway mark of this brightness app. So this app adds a huge level of control between that lowest setting and pure black. I'm often unsatisfied with the lowest brightness setting when in a dark room, and this solves that perfectly. I just downlaoded it right now and tried it out and it works perfectly. I'd recommend you do the same as it's free before making judgment on it. Edit: I just saw your edit, and I think you have it incorrect. Try clicking the brightness app menu bar icon, and then use your keyboard brightness keys to adjust, and you'll see at the lowest setting, it goes to the halfway mark.
ja27 14y ago
Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://thetechblock.com/must-have-osx-apps-designers-developers/&hl=en&strip=1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
Cacti 14y ago
No emacs or vim? Ouch...
- pudquick 14y ago
  He did mention Sublime Text 2, which does have this: http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/2/vintage.html http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/2/vintage.html As for all the other additional things that emacs / vim does, they're not necessary to his workflow - he was just sharing what works for him. As a side note, he also seemed to only be recommending bundle-style Mac OS X native .app applications. True, there's MacVim ( https://code.google.com/p/macvim/ https://code.google.com/p/macvim/ ), but the learning curve is still very steep in comparison to Sublime Text 2.
  - Y0L0 14y ago
    Vintage mode is useless without: https://github.com/SublimeText/VintageEx https://github.com/SublimeText/VintageEx
civilian 14y ago
> Tower for pushing code to GitHub. Makes Git simple. Say goodbye to the command line. http://wheningit.tumblr.com/post/32917749004/when-someone-says-a-git-gui-is-better-than-the-command http://wheningit.tumblr.com/post/32917749004/when-someone-sa...
- pico303 14y ago
  zsh + oh-my-zsh. Better than any GUI. But thus guy lost me when he said he "wasn't any good at the Terminal". And using Spotlight over Alfred? Launchpad? who uses Launchpad? Crazy.
  - homosaur 14y ago
    Alfred is using Spotlight under the hood. The searching is basically no better. I prefer Quicksilver which has a much richer search capability. Alfred 2 has some nice workflow features though, I've been experimenting with it.
  - steeve 14y ago
    Allow me to point you to prezto https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto, which is a lightweight version of oh-my-zsh. I couldn't stand waiting 10+ seconds to open a new prompt...
    - tvon 14y ago
      Excellent, now I don't suppose you know of a stripped down Janus?
      - aerique 14y ago
        Emacs.
      - Vitaly 14y ago
        http://github.com/astrails/dotvim http://github.com/astrails/dotvim
    - 14y ago
kevjiang 14y ago
Another really useful app is Spectacle, for keyboard shortcuts to dock an application the left or right half of the screen (like winkey+left and winkey+right on windows 7/8). http://spectacleapp.com/ http://spectacleapp.com/
- Jasber 14y ago
  I really like http://sizewellplugin.com/ http://sizewellplugin.com/ for this same thing
- tom_usher 14y ago
  Slate is my preferred way of managing windows on OSX. https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate
- Y0L0 14y ago
  Also this: http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/ http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/
- rimantas 14y ago
  I am using BetterTouchTool for that.
- div 14y ago
  Chiming in to plug SizeUp for this, wouldn't be able to live without it: http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/
mongrelion 14y ago
You're missing Alfred, an awesome application launcher that works on top of Spotlight: http://www.alfredapp.com/ http://www.alfredapp.com/ Definitely worth giving it a chance.
- lukifer 14y ago
  Mandatory plugs for Alfred's cousins, LaunchBar and QuickSilver. Each has strengths and weaknesses; the only poor choice is to not use any of the three. :) http://obdev.at/products/launchbar http://obdev.at/products/launchbar http://qsapp.com/ http://qsapp.com/
- ndrake 14y ago
  How does it compare to Quicksilver?
Y0L0 14y ago
Using your DSLR as a Webcam is a great way to destroy the sensor.
- bluetidepro 14y ago
  I second this. Doing this has ruined my friends DSLR. Not sure the technical reasons behind this, but it does indeed have consequencing effects.
  - zacksjoden 14y ago
    I've read about this a bit for mods on DSLRs for taking older Canon's and allowing them to record video. If the DSLR isn't designed for recording video the sensor isn't designed for continuous light exposure which will heat up an ruin the sensor. I don't know the differences but I'd imagine using one of the newer DSLRs that have video recording capability as a webcam would be fine.
- bjcy 14y ago
  I'm interested in knowing why this is the case. Can you point me to any resources with the technical reason why this happens?
vor_ 14y ago
xScope (http://iconfactory.com/software/xscope http://iconfactory.com/software/xscope) is a very useful tool for designing layouts.
zyb09 14y ago
My vote goes to Soulver (http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/ http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/), which is basically the best calculator app ever. Useful for so many things, from figuring out algorithms to doing taxes.
- ar4s 14y ago
  Thanks for the link, they got me at "The trial is smart, and will only end after 10 days on which you have actually used Soulver."
licorna 14y ago
Edit with Sublime, then refresh page? I think that's "Web developer & designer".
- ryanSrich 14y ago
  I'm not sure what you're implying with this comment. Are you saying non-designers don't refresh pages?
  - licorna 14y ago
    No, I'm not.
cpursley 14y ago
totalfinder
- blacksmith_tb 14y ago
  Or Path Finder. I guess his dislike for Terminal means no mention of iTerm2, and as a knock-on that there's no mention of homebrew. I would be sad on any OS w/o some kind of multiple clipboards, on OSX I am pretty happy with ClipMenu, though it doesn't seem to be getting developed much these days.
cpursley 14y ago
totalfinder
mikec3k 14y ago
I'm not familiar with AppTrap, but I use Hazel for that and a lot more. In addition to moving associated files to the trash when you move an app to the trash, it also lets you create your own rules for things like sorting & color coding downloads, removing backups older than a particular age, and automatically deleting trashed files over a certain size or that were sitting in the trash for a certain time.
skeet 14y ago
ClipMenu is a nice free clipboard manager. http://www.clipmenu.com/ http://www.clipmenu.com/
medolino 14y ago
I wrote a similar post a while ago, recommended for developers: http://damir.me/posts/essential-tools-and-apps-for-mac http://damir.me/posts/essential-tools-and-apps-for-mac
jkira 14y ago
I know it's a list of desktop apps, but I just recently launched a quick reference (iPhone) app for iOS devs: http://www.idev101.com/app/ http://www.idev101.com/app/ The color picker is my personal favorite. It'll convert between hex colors, RGB and HSB. Plus it shows the UIColor code for whatever color you're previewing.
sambeau 14y ago
You do not let me zoom your page on my iPad and you limit the font-size to really small. You limit page width to the same tight column when I change to landscape. Why anger your readership? I will not read your stinking blog.
celias 14y ago
I like CodeRunner for testing snippets of code http://krillapps.com http://krillapps.com

42 points by abdophoto 14y ago

> Brightness Slider for reducing screen brightness. I was going to write a little rant about how this should be possible without 3rd party software. Researching a bit, I found that Apple has restored the ⌥+⇧ modifier for volume as well as for brightness (if that was even there before). So no need to install this; adjust brightness with ⌥+⇧+☼ instead! http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/19146/is-fine-volume-adjustment-possible-in-os-x-lion http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/19146/is-fine-volum... Edit: Trying it out, it seems the actual brightness level has the same minimum as before, even when the setting is at 1/4 of a square. It only works for values higher than one square. :(

trotsky 14y ago
I think this is actually a restriction of their current backlight controller. As far as I know the apps that reduce brightness below one square actually do it by placing a black element over the entire screen and adjusting its transparency.
hkuo 14y ago
The lowest brightness you can achieve by the standard Mac controls is equal to the halfway mark of this brightness app. So this app adds a huge level of control between that lowest setting and pure black. I'm often unsatisfied with the lowest brightness setting when in a dark room, and this solves that perfectly. I just downlaoded it right now and tried it out and it works perfectly. I'd recommend you do the same as it's free before making judgment on it. Edit: I just saw your edit, and I think you have it incorrect. Try clicking the brightness app menu bar icon, and then use your keyboard brightness keys to adjust, and you'll see at the lowest setting, it goes to the halfway mark.

ja27 14y ago

Cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://thetechblock.com/must-have-osx-apps-designers-developers/&hl=en&strip=1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

Cacti 14y ago

No emacs or vim? Ouch...

pudquick 14y ago
He did mention Sublime Text 2, which does have this: http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/2/vintage.html http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/2/vintage.html As for all the other additional things that emacs / vim does, they're not necessary to his workflow - he was just sharing what works for him. As a side note, he also seemed to only be recommending bundle-style Mac OS X native .app applications. True, there's MacVim ( https://code.google.com/p/macvim/ https://code.google.com/p/macvim/ ), but the learning curve is still very steep in comparison to Sublime Text 2.
- Y0L0 14y ago
  Vintage mode is useless without: https://github.com/SublimeText/VintageEx https://github.com/SublimeText/VintageEx

civilian 14y ago

> Tower for pushing code to GitHub. Makes Git simple. Say goodbye to the command line. http://wheningit.tumblr.com/post/32917749004/when-someone-says-a-git-gui-is-better-than-the-command http://wheningit.tumblr.com/post/32917749004/when-someone-sa...

pico303 14y ago
zsh + oh-my-zsh. Better than any GUI. But thus guy lost me when he said he "wasn't any good at the Terminal". And using Spotlight over Alfred? Launchpad? who uses Launchpad? Crazy.
- homosaur 14y ago
  Alfred is using Spotlight under the hood. The searching is basically no better. I prefer Quicksilver which has a much richer search capability. Alfred 2 has some nice workflow features though, I've been experimenting with it.
- steeve 14y ago
  Allow me to point you to prezto https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto, which is a lightweight version of oh-my-zsh. I couldn't stand waiting 10+ seconds to open a new prompt...
  - tvon 14y ago
    Excellent, now I don't suppose you know of a stripped down Janus?
    - aerique 14y ago
      Emacs.
    - Vitaly 14y ago
      http://github.com/astrails/dotvim http://github.com/astrails/dotvim
  - 14y ago

kevjiang 14y ago

Another really useful app is Spectacle, for keyboard shortcuts to dock an application the left or right half of the screen (like winkey+left and winkey+right on windows 7/8). http://spectacleapp.com/ http://spectacleapp.com/

Jasber 14y ago
I really like http://sizewellplugin.com/ http://sizewellplugin.com/ for this same thing
tom_usher 14y ago
Slate is my preferred way of managing windows on OSX. https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate
Y0L0 14y ago
Also this: http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/ http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/
rimantas 14y ago
I am using BetterTouchTool for that.
div 14y ago
Chiming in to plug SizeUp for this, wouldn't be able to live without it: http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/

mongrelion 14y ago

You're missing Alfred, an awesome application launcher that works on top of Spotlight: http://www.alfredapp.com/ http://www.alfredapp.com/ Definitely worth giving it a chance.

lukifer 14y ago
Mandatory plugs for Alfred's cousins, LaunchBar and QuickSilver. Each has strengths and weaknesses; the only poor choice is to not use any of the three. :) http://obdev.at/products/launchbar http://obdev.at/products/launchbar http://qsapp.com/ http://qsapp.com/
ndrake 14y ago
How does it compare to Quicksilver?

Y0L0 14y ago

Using your DSLR as a Webcam is a great way to destroy the sensor.

bluetidepro 14y ago
I second this. Doing this has ruined my friends DSLR. Not sure the technical reasons behind this, but it does indeed have consequencing effects.
- zacksjoden 14y ago
  I've read about this a bit for mods on DSLRs for taking older Canon's and allowing them to record video. If the DSLR isn't designed for recording video the sensor isn't designed for continuous light exposure which will heat up an ruin the sensor. I don't know the differences but I'd imagine using one of the newer DSLRs that have video recording capability as a webcam would be fine.
bjcy 14y ago
I'm interested in knowing why this is the case. Can you point me to any resources with the technical reason why this happens?

vor_ 14y ago

xScope (http://iconfactory.com/software/xscope http://iconfactory.com/software/xscope) is a very useful tool for designing layouts.

zyb09 14y ago

My vote goes to Soulver (http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/ http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/), which is basically the best calculator app ever. Useful for so many things, from figuring out algorithms to doing taxes.

ar4s 14y ago
Thanks for the link, they got me at "The trial is smart, and will only end after 10 days on which you have actually used Soulver."

licorna 14y ago

Edit with Sublime, then refresh page? I think that's "Web developer & designer".

ryanSrich 14y ago
I'm not sure what you're implying with this comment. Are you saying non-designers don't refresh pages?
- licorna 14y ago
  No, I'm not.

cpursley 14y ago

totalfinder

blacksmith_tb 14y ago
Or Path Finder. I guess his dislike for Terminal means no mention of iTerm2, and as a knock-on that there's no mention of homebrew. I would be sad on any OS w/o some kind of multiple clipboards, on OSX I am pretty happy with ClipMenu, though it doesn't seem to be getting developed much these days.

cpursley 14y ago

totalfinder

mikec3k 14y ago

I'm not familiar with AppTrap, but I use Hazel for that and a lot more. In addition to moving associated files to the trash when you move an app to the trash, it also lets you create your own rules for things like sorting & color coding downloads, removing backups older than a particular age, and automatically deleting trashed files over a certain size or that were sitting in the trash for a certain time.

skeet 14y ago

ClipMenu is a nice free clipboard manager. http://www.clipmenu.com/ http://www.clipmenu.com/

medolino 14y ago

I wrote a similar post a while ago, recommended for developers: http://damir.me/posts/essential-tools-and-apps-for-mac http://damir.me/posts/essential-tools-and-apps-for-mac

jkira 14y ago

I know it's a list of desktop apps, but I just recently launched a quick reference (iPhone) app for iOS devs: http://www.idev101.com/app/ http://www.idev101.com/app/ The color picker is my personal favorite. It'll convert between hex colors, RGB and HSB. Plus it shows the UIColor code for whatever color you're previewing.

sambeau 14y ago

You do not let me zoom your page on my iPad and you limit the font-size to really small. You limit page width to the same tight column when I change to landscape. Why anger your readership? I will not read your stinking blog.

celias 14y ago

I like CodeRunner for testing snippets of code http://krillapps.com http://krillapps.com