Apple’s desktop operating system is arguably the best reason to buy a Mac, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Fortunately, there are plenty of disposable apps that let you fix, tweak, and add things Apple forgot to include.
1 Magnet for locking windows
Apple has promised to add native support for window snapping to macOS 15 Sequoia, but apps like Magnet will still have their place. This simple window management app lets you snap windows into place either by dragging them or by using keyboard shortcuts.
Magnet costs $4.99 on the Mac App Store, but you can get similar features with the basic free version of Rectangle.
2 TripMode for filtering hotspot traffic
If you’ve ever used your iPhone’s personal hotspot to work remotely on your MacBook, you probably know how quickly you can use up data. TripMode is an app that filters traffic when it detects that you’re connected to a cellular hotspot.
By default, traffic is blocked. This lets you create an allowlist of mission-critical apps. You can then block the heavy hitters like Photos or your Mac’s cloud sync processes running in the background. Try it for free, then buy a single license for $17.
3 Maccy to retrieve clipboard items
Maccy is a clipboard manager for macOS that you can download for free from the project’s GitHub page or for $9.99 from the Mac App Store. The app stores your clipboard history for easy retrieval and has a global hotkey (Command+Shift+C by default) for quick access to the app.
The app is well optimized so performance is solid. You can easily customize how many items are stored (200 by default) and how the app looks. You can even pin items to your clipboard for frequent access.
Apple’s media keys can be a bit erratic. I like listening to music with Apple Music while I work, but sometimes I have YouTube tabs open by accident. It’s frustrating when pressing the play/pause button starts or stops a YouTube video instead. MacMediaKeyForwarder is an app that solves this problem.
The app limits the play/pause button behavior to Apple’s music app or Spotify. Pressing this button will no longer launch random videos on background tabs!
5 Amphetamine to keep my Mac awake
Sometimes you need to keep your Mac awake, and Amphetamine is the solution. This highly configurable free app is designed to prevent your Mac from sleeping, allowing you to keep your Mac awake in a variety of situations.
The app lets you put the screen to sleep but keep your Mac running, keep everything awake so the screen stays on, or even close the lid without putting your MacBook to sleep (which requires the free Amphetamine Enhancer add-on). You can configure triggers and hotkeys, use the app as a mouse jiggle, and more.
6 Homebrew for installing software via the terminal
There are many ways to install software on your Mac, but the easiest method is to use Homebrew. This package manager lets you install full applications and command-line utilities with a single command, and it even keeps things up to date for you.
Some applications and utilities use Homebrew as their primary installation method, so it makes sense to install this utility. Read our complete guide on how to get started with Homebrew on your Mac and install it now by running the following command in Terminal:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
7 Speedtest CLI to test internet speed
Speedtest by Ookla is one of the most popular services for testing internet speed. However, it can be a pain to open a new tab, navigate to the website and click the “Go” button. The quickest way is to use the accompanying command line utility.
First, install Homebrew (using the instructions above) and then install the official Speedtest command line utility by running the following command in the terminal:
brew install speedtest-cli
Once the app is installed, you can run a full internet speed test in the terminal at any time using the following simple command:
speedtest-cli
The utility has a number of flags that allow you to do things like specify a server or exclude upload or download speeds. Check these by running:
speedtest-cli -help
8 Ulysses for writing in Markdown
I write almost everything in Markdown, a lightweight markup language with simple inline text formatting. This makes it easy to publish to the web or export to HTML and other formats, but it’s also great for personal offline writing. My app of choice is Ulysses, a premium Markdown editor that costs $5.99 per month.
Paying for a writing app makes sense if you’re getting paid for your writing, but that’s not ideal for everyone. Luckily, there are some great free Markdown editors to choose from, with Marktext being my personal favorite.
9 Apple Notes to organize my life
I’m not paying for a fancy note-taking app, Apple’s included app has everything I need. While it doesn’t support Markdown (you need an app like Obsidian for that), it covers the basics, like syncing with my iPhone so I have everything I need with me no matter where I am. It also supports advanced features like collaboration and linking between notes.
Switching from Evernote to Apple Notes was one of the best decisions I’ve made to improve my personal organization. If you also use Android or Windows, be sure to check out our note-taking app roundup for better recommendations.
10 Hyperkey to improve keyboard shortcuts
Have you ever felt like you’re running out of keyboard shortcuts? You can always use a longer modifier combination like Ctrl+Alt+Command (and even add Shift), but it gets complicated quickly. An easier method is to use the Hyperkey app to repurpose the Caps Lock key as a “Hyper” key, which triggers these modifiers for you.
Then all you need to do is assign some keyboard shortcuts that depend on your new “Hyper” key. For example, instead of pressing Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Command+R to trigger a keyboard shortcut, you can just press Caps Lock+R instead.
Perhaps the most boring app on this list is The Unarchiver, a free app that adds support for archive formats not supported by macOS by default, like RAR and 7Z. It can also unpack obsolete formats from forgotten platforms and do interesting things like extract images and audio from SWF files.
It’s not exciting, but it’s essential. Download it for free from the Mac App Store so you’ll always have it on hand when you need it.
If you want to customize your Mac’s keyboard layouts, Karabiner-Elements is the place to go. Use a simple GUI to remap the function of each key and create separate rules for different keyboards. You can create your own tweaks and rules, disable keys completely, or make the useless Eject key usable again.
The app also supports more complicated modifications that allow you, for example, to prevent an application from accidentally quitting by changing the Command+Q keyboard shortcut so that you have to double-tap Q instead. There are hundreds of such rules available on the Karabiner-Elements community website that you can import with one click.
These apps can make your Mac more productive, but so can our must-have Mac productivity apps. You may also want to check out our list of must-have apps to install on a brand new Mac.
