
Ask HN: Suggestions for native Mac apps? - _justinfunk
With an updated Mac App Store coming this fall, I started evaluating my own use of Mac software. Aside from a code editor and music player, practically everything else that I do on MacOS is in a browser (streaming video, documents, maps, email, etc).<p>Help me change this (should I change this?) - what apps should I be using natively?<p>I work full-time doing programming, consulting, and other general-purpose internet-y things.
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kiwicopple
It’s worth checking out [https://setapp.com](https://setapp.com) (no
affiliation). They have some useful utilities.

Personally though, I like the interoperability of a browser-based workflow. I
use multiple different computers - Mac, windows, and Linux - and the switch
feels seamless because most of my life is spent in Firefox, chrome, and VSCode

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ljsocal
Notes app is a really usefully tool. It’s easy to use but has a lot of
powerful features if you dig a little.

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jonhendry18
OmniOutliner

OmniFocus

NetNewsWire

Photoshop

Corel Painter

Autodesk Fusion 360

Cura (3D printing slicer)

WWDC.app (WWDC videos app for macOS, from a 3rd party)

Skim.app (PDF reader)

Timing (time tracker)

Audio Hijack

Navicat for SQLite

WireShark

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codyogden
Loving [Numi]([https://numi.io](https://numi.io)) as a nice scratch pad for
math. Has support for things like variables, constants, functions, and even
px/em/pt values conversions. You can hack it with JavaScript to add personal
global values, etc as well.

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writepub
Please try [http://write.pub](http://write.pub)

WYSIWYG markdown editor + git baked in, with rich WYSIWYG diff visualizations.

For power users, it has a raw markdown editing mode, plenty of extensions.
Would love your feedback on 6+ months of blood, sweat & tears poured into this

~~~
maz1b
When will collaborative editing be launched?

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mtmail
I quite enjoy native Markdown editors with instant preview.
[https://macdown.uranusjr.com/](https://macdown.uranusjr.com/) or
[https://getlightpaper.com/](https://getlightpaper.com/)

~~~
jp_sc
In that space, my favorite is Typora
([https://typora.io/](https://typora.io/))

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sgillen
I really like the mail client, since I have 5 different email addresses I use
that would otherwise be difficult to coordinate by just forwarding everything
to one gmail inbox.

Also I big fan of the messages app, if you use an iPhone it’s very convenient.

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ecesena
In addition to editors and notes, I user mail, terminal, and IMs. IMs are
really important to me -- basically for everything I care about being
notified, I prefer an app rather that in-browser.

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m3tr0s
Noizio, Bear, TickTick, Airmail, GitKraken are one of my favourite Mac apps,
have a look at them. Most of them are cross platform too.

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SyneRyder
I just finished reinstalling my Mac, so I've been working on a list of all the
native apps that I reinstalled. Apologies for the giant comment, but I hope it
helps:

 _Mac Specific Utilities_

* Alfred (best reason to own a Mac) [https://www.alfredapp.com/](https://www.alfredapp.com/)

* Bartender 3 (for tweaking the menu bar) [https://www.macbartender.com/](https://www.macbartender.com/)

* Coconut Battery (battery menu-bar monitor) [https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/](https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/)

* Focus (block distracting websites & apps) [https://heyfocus.com/](https://heyfocus.com/)

* Camouflage (hide desktop icons) [https://briksoftware.com/products/camouflage/](https://briksoftware.com/products/camouflage/)

* Caffeine (stop your Mac going to sleep) [http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/](http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/)

* Soundsource (switch between audio inputs) [https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/](https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/)

 _For coders / developers_

* Panic Transmit 5 (File transfers, S3, Backblaze B2, Dropbox, OneDrive) [https://www.panic.com/transmit/](https://www.panic.com/transmit/)

* Panic Coda 2 (an IDE for editing websites) [https://www.panic.com/coda/](https://www.panic.com/coda/)

* Cathode (gorgeous terminal app) [http://www.secretgeometry.com/apps/cathode/](http://www.secretgeometry.com/apps/cathode/)

* Sequel Pro (beautiful MySQL admin tool) [https://sequelpro.com/](https://sequelpro.com/)

* Beyond Compare (cross-platform diff tool) [http://scootersoftware.com/](http://scootersoftware.com/)

* Tower (Git client, alas subscription only) [https://www.git-tower.com/mac](https://www.git-tower.com/mac)

* MAMP (Run MySQL, Apache, PHP etc locally) [https://www.mamp.info/en/](https://www.mamp.info/en/)

* Synalyze It! (Color-coded Hex editor for Mac) [https://www.synalysis.net/](https://www.synalysis.net/)

* Feeder (RSS editor / micro-blog tool) [https://reinventedsoftware.com/feeder/](https://reinventedsoftware.com/feeder/)

* Xojo (cross-platform IDE for making native apps in Basic) [https://www.xojo.com/](https://www.xojo.com/)

* Corona SDK (mobile focused cross-platform apps in Lua) [https://coronalabs.com/](https://coronalabs.com/)

* Parallels Desktop 13 (for running Windows / Linux) [https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/](https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/)

* DropDMG (create DMG installers for Mac) [https://c-command.com/dropdmg/](https://c-command.com/dropdmg/)

* Iconographer (multi-platform icon creator) [http://www.ohanaware.com/iconographer/](http://www.ohanaware.com/iconographer/)

 _For Backup_

* SuperDuper! (create bootable external USB backups) [https://shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.ht...](https://shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html)

* Arq (cloud backup to your choice of host) [https://www.arqbackup.com/](https://www.arqbackup.com/)

 _Internet Utilities_

* Tweetbot (Twitter without ads or annoyances) [https://www.tapbots.com/tweetbot/mac/](https://www.tapbots.com/tweetbot/mac/)

* Postbox (Powerful email client) [https://www.postbox-inc.com/](https://www.postbox-inc.com/)

* EncryptMe (VPN with a Mac-first design) [https://www.encrypt.me/](https://www.encrypt.me/)

 _Productivity_

* Soulver (spreadsheet as a text notepad) [http://acqualia.com/soulver/](http://acqualia.com/soulver/)

* Harvest (timetracking service for freelancers) [https://www.getharvest.com/apps/mac](https://www.getharvest.com/apps/mac)

* NeoOffice (Mac specific version of OpenOffice) [https://www.neooffice.org/](https://www.neooffice.org/)

* Affinity Photo (non-subscription Photoshop competitor) [https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/](https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/)

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andrei_says_
Gitup is wonderful if you use git.

