Jan 24, 2014 X-Mirage (Paid app; Mirror and record your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad’s screen on your Mac) 10. Autotracker (Automatically records a history of all actions taking place on your Mac) 11.
The Mac App Store has a wealth of content to help you find the right apps for your daily computing life. New apps arrive in the Mac App Store every single day, which makes it nearly impossible for one to keep track of the latest and greatest. We've dedicated our time (a lot of it) to track down and test out the best of the best. We even made a list of the best free apps for Mac. Here are the best paid apps for the Mac.
1Password
- Mac Catalyst: iPad Apps for Your Mac In a continued effort to make the Apple experience more singular, Mac Catalyst brings common iPad apps to users' desktops and laptops from the App Store.
- In this post we will explore 10 best places to look for free Mac OS X applications. CNET is a great resource for checking out free app reviews and news for both free and paid Mac apps. CNET is divided into five sections including reviews, news and blogs, CNET TV, How To and downloads.
Every computer should be equipped with 1Password. It's our personal favorite password manager, as it stores all of our web logins (I have hundreds), credit card info, bank accounts, drivers licenses, social security info, and more, and everything is encrypted and locked behind a Master Password that only you should know. It's also fantastic for randomly generating strong and secure passwords, auditing your existing passwords (don't reuse them and change them often), and you can log in with just a few clicks.
1Password is free to download and use (30-day free trial), but afterward, you'll need an individual ($4/mo) or family ($7/mo for up to five people) plan to continue using. However, it's simply the best password manager there is and well worth it.
Logic Pro X
Logic Pro X is Apple's pro-level audio program. If you are a songwriter, producer, or engineer, you probably already have Logic in some form or another. If you don't already have it, Logic Pro X is the one for you. It has hundreds of tools for recording and editing both digital and analog music. You can create an entire album's worth of music using nothing more than a computer, or you can connect to a mixing board and edit tracks recorded by a live band. If the drummer forgets to show up for a recording session, no problem! You can add a virtual drummer with a distinct sound.
If you're new to recording music, Logic Pro X can be a little intimidating, but there are a lot of video tutorials and online how-to guides that can help get you started. It's a hefty investment at first, but worth the initial startup cost if you're planning on becoming a self-recording artist or want to have a home-grown studio.
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is one of the most comprehensive photo editing apps you can get on the Mac. It has professional-quality tools, like advanced color manipulation and 32-bit channel editing. It also has dozens of useful features, like multiple editable layers, vector graphics tools, advanced image processing, and retouching and correction masking tools. View the Histogram, manually make color and lighting adjustments, or select from the suggested default options. There are so many tools it would take you months to actually try them all out.
Affinity Photo also comes with paint, clone stamp, annotation, cropping, and selection tools. It's not entirely unlike Photoshop, but it is specially designed for Mac and has a better user interface.
It is somewhat intimidating for new users, but there is a fantastic in-house tutorial section to help photo editors of all levels of experience. You'll be able to call yourself an expert in no time at all.
MacX DVD Ripper
If you're ready to turn your DVD collection into a digital library in iTunes, MacX DVD Ripper is currently the best option for the Mac. I gave MacX DVD Ripper a try a few months ago and realized that it is definitely my new favorite digitizer. It has dozens of great features, like 1:1 copying with original video quality, excellent protection bypass tools (including for region codes and Disney DRM), and batch conversion. The ISO copy takes a long time but produces perfect quality digital files every single time. If you don't want to take the time, you can get faster ripping speed with hyperthreading. You can select which type of device to output the digital file to, including iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. You can also use MacX to clip video segments to upload to YouTube, Vimeo, and more.
And if your Mac does not have an optical drive, we recommend picking up an Apple Superdrive. It's affordable and connects to your USB port, so you can still use that physical media laying around the house.
Scrivener 3
For the aspiring writer in all of us, Scrivener is nothing short of the most comprehensive writing program around. It features all of the tools you need to get started, like brainstorming tools, note cards, and a virtual draft board for pinning your ideas. Once you're ready to actually start writing, Scrivener makes the process smooth with pre-made templates for building scripts, novels, academic papers, and more.
There is a section where you can keep research documents close at hand for quick access. It comes with half-a-dozen templates for different types of documents, including screenplays, novels, short stories, scripts, and more. It has everything a writer needs to prepare for writing that novel they've always wanted to tackle.
Markdown Pro
If you're in the coding biz, especially if you spend a lot of time using Markdown, Markdown Pro is the best writing app for Mac that you can get your hands on. It shows you a real-time preview of your content, so you'll always know if you've made a mistake or if the end result doesn't look the way you intended. You can add a custom CSS template so you can always have your blog pages ready to go. All files can be saved as HTML or PDF. There is even a handy help guide with the most popular codes for Markdown listed for your convenience.
Notability
When it comes to taking notes, Notability is tops. It has powerful note-taking and annotation features that make it a must-have for college students. You can drag images, PDFs, and other documents into a note. When you record while taking notes, you can tap a word to skip ahead to that specific spot in the recording to playback what was said at that moment. Its note-taking tools are its most ... notable feature. You won't be caught without pen and paper if you have Notability on your Mac.
OmniFocus 3
OmniFocus is bursting at the seams with features. It has dozens of organizational options and lets you create project lists with sub-categories. You can add due dates, flag important items on a list, and view tasks like an email inbox. It definitely scratches my itch for list-making and organizing.
OmniFocus 3 is definitely worth downloading if you need a task manager that can cover every aspect of your working life. If you need a powerful GTD (getting things done) style organizer, OmniFocus 3 is the best one available on the Mac. It's free to download and includes a 14-day free trial. Afterward, you can get the Standard features for $50 or the Pro features for $100.
Gemini 2
Gemini 2 is a flexible, user-friendly duplicate file finder that lets you scan your entire computer or individual files for duplicates. Whether you are trying to track down songs, movies, photos, or documents that are doubles, Gemini has you covered. This is a great app for people that are a little nervous about going around deleting files from their computer.
It has a great looking interface with clear and understandable instructions. You can select a folder to scan. Then, review the duplicates, select the ones you want to get rid of, and hit the Trash button. It is simplified, but still gives you the freedom to scan your entire computer or just specific folders you want to check.
The app is free to download and includes a trial. Afterward, you can purchase a license for $20.
Airmail
Airmail treats your email like a to-do list. You can triage your inbox by scheduling when you are going to take care of an email. If you can't get to it right now, snooze it for later. If it's an email that requires an action, send it to your to-do folder. If it's something important that you'll want quick access to, mark it as a memo. And, when you've finished dealing with your email, send it to the 'Done' folder to get that sweet satisfaction of having completed something on your task list.
Final Cut Pro
If you deal with video editing on a daily basis, then iMovie may not be enough for you. That's when you need Final Cut Pro.
Final Cut Pro is packed with a ton of powerful features to make your job of video editing easier. You'll have access to plenty of cool tools to streamline your editing, and organizing your media is a breeze with tools like smart collections. There are fun things like 2D and 3D titles, plenty of different transitions, and more. You can customize it with a large variety of third-party plug-ins and custom interfaces. The program utilizes all of the GPUs in your Mac for superior playback performance and speedy background rendering, so if you have a powerful machine, it's fully put to use with Final Cut Pro.
Magnet
If you work in multiple workspaces on your Mac, then Magnet is a must.
Magnet makes it super easy to automatically adjust the window size of any app you're working in, so you don't have to manually drag and resize every window each time. With Magnet, just select what size you want the active window to be, and voila, it will change it with one click. Then pick the other app you want to work with side-by-side, select the size you want (and the side), and boom! Now you have two apps side-by-side (or however you want to work it) with just a few clicks. No dragging and rearranging. Magnet lives in the menu bar, but you can also activate it with keyboard shortcuts if you're a keyboard wizard.
Day One
Journaling is a great way to reflect and capture important memories or thoughts, and Day One is the best journaling app you can get on Mac.
Day One has a beautiful interface that is pleasant and relaxing to work with. You can have multiple journals, and the ability to add multiple photos and audio clips to entries makes them more personable than ever. You can organize by tags, see where you were, format your entries with rich text, and more.
Day One is free to download and use, but you'll only have basic features. If you opt for a Premium subscription for $25 a year, you'll get unlimited photo storage, unlimited journals, cloud sync, unlimited encrypted cloud storage, and more.
Fantastical
While Apple has a built-in Calendar app, it's just not fantastic enough. That's when Fantastical comes in.
With Fantastical, you get a gorgeous interface that makes it easy to see your schedule at-a-glance, whether you're looking at the full app or just the mini menu-bar version. Inputting events is super easy, thanks to the natural language parser. Just type in something like 'Get coffee with Lory tomorrow at 3 pm at Stumptown Coffee Roasters' and Fantastical will take care of the rest. There is also full integration with Apple Reminders, so you can have your schedule and tasks in one place.
Your favorites?
What are the go-to paid apps for Mac you have on your laptop or desktop right now? Put them in the comments and let us know why they are so important to you.
July 2019: Updated to reflect the latest versions of apps, and added some new options. These are the best paid apps for your Mac!
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My heartThis timelapse of macOS 10.0 through 10.15 is a nostalgic wonder
The very first version of macOS, or Mac OS X as it was known, arrived almost 20 years ago. This video takes us through every major update the Mac has seen since in one amazing timelapse.
With so many apps available on the app store, it can be daunting to find the best apps that will benefit you. Below I have included a list of some of the best apps on the market that can help enhance your experience with your Mac computer or laptop. This is a list of many great apps, therefore, it is not necessary to download every app on this list. It is best to choose the apps that will align with the goals you plan to accomplish with your Mac device.
This list consists of both free and paid apps. They range from apps that help in productivity, photo editing, cloud storage and more.
1. Magnet
A typical computer session for me involves rearranging my windows around my screen so that I can have two or more windows viewable at once so that I can multitask between them. This became a hassle to do manually for each of my windows which led me to eventually finding out about Magnet.
Magnet is a $0.99 application that allows you to move and resize windows around your screen with keyboard shortcuts or by dragging windows. I prefer to use the keyboard shortcuts within the application. This application has made managing the windows on my screen more convenient.
2. Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a powerful cross-platform browser that allows users to navigate through the web. This is one of the fastest browsers out there and there are different extensions or themes that can be downloaded from the chrome web store to customize your browser.
You can download chrome on your other devices and assuming you are logged on to the same account, all the information will be synced across the devices.
Another advantage of Google Chrome is Chrome Dev Tools. If you are a web developer then you will enjoy the debugging tools and other features that come with Chrome Dev tools. Taking the time to learn it will help improve your programming skills and making programming more efficient.
3. Dropbox
Dropbox is one of many great cloud storage systems out there. Some features of Dropbox include storing files, sharing files, transferring files, automatic back-up, syncing between multiple devices and data migration all through the cloud. This software is used by many businesses because it is great for sharing files between teams for team collaboration. It is also great for personal use to back-up personal files or free space on your local machine.
Dropbox offers 2 GB of space for free when you sign-up but you can also earn up to 14 GB more of space for a total of 16 GB of space by inviting friends to sign-up to Dropbox. If you need more space you can pay a monthly fee for up 1 TB of space up to 2 TB of space.
To learn more about cloud storage check out my post here (click here to navigate to the post on cloud storage).
4. Google Drive
Google Drive is also known as Back up and Sync but is also another great cloud storage system. The system not only syncs files and folders to Google Drive but also syncs files and folders from Google Drive to your local computer. This allows users to access their data for offline use. Some other features include syncing deleted items between your local computer and Google Drive and syncing Google Drive between multiple devices.
Google Drive offers 15 GB of space for free. If you want more space you can pay a monthly or yearly fee for 100 GB of space up to 30 TB of space.
To learn more about cloud storage check out my post here (click here to navigate to the post on cloud storage).
5. LastPass
LastPass is a password manager that saves the username and passwords for the different accounts you have. The application makes you create a master password then the credentials for your other accounts are saved within a vault. Whenever you visit a website and need to login, LastPass will offer to autofill your username and password. Another feature of LastPass is that it autogenerates passwords for you and saves those passwords within the LastPass vault.
You can download Laspass over multiple devices to make logging in more convenient. There is a free and paid version of LastPass. The paid version includes multi-factor authentication options, priority tech support, 1 GB of encrypted file storage and emergency access.
6. Back Blaze
Most of us have important data on our computers, therefore, keeping it securely backed up and accessible is important. BackBlaze is an app that you can download across multiple devices that automatically backs up unlimited data from your devices securely on to the cloud.
The service cost $6 per month but you can test it out with a 15-day free trial first. BackBlaze takes security seriously by offering two-factor-authentication, encrypted data and enforcing security measures at their data centers.
7. Spotify
Spotify is a music streaming platform. The free version of the application allows you to download and stream music while connected to a wi-fi connection. The paid version allows you to download music and listen to it offline or while not connected to a Wi-Fi connection.
If you are a student then you can use Spotify for $5 a month. Other user will have to pay $10 a month. Spotify has partnered with Hulu therefore when you purchase their monthly subscription you will also get access to Hulu.
8. CleanMyMac
Mac Os App Store
CleanMyMac is a cleaning software that allows you to delete apps within it, remove junk data, remove malware, monitor the health of your computer and it supplies tools to speed up your computer. The app is created by MacPaw and cost $34.95 for a 1-year subscription and $89.95 to own it for life. Their website currently has a 20% discount so you can get it for $27.96 for the 1-year subscription and $71.96 to own it for life.
9. App Cleaner
When you are trying to get rid of old applications by moving it to the trash and then deleting it from there sometimes there are other unwanted files and folders spread around your computer. App Cleaner is a free app that removes unwanted apps and the extra files and folders that are downloaded with them that are placed around your system.
Over time if you are removing apps by just moving them to the trash can then this could hurt your computer’s performance because of the extra data left on your computer. The extra data takes up storage space and can hurt the overall performance of your computer.
10. Be Focused
Be Focused is a productivity app that helps with time management. The app uses the Pomodoro technique. This means that you set a timer for how long you want to work for and how long you want to take a break. A common setup is 25 minutes of work with a 5-minute break. You can set up the stopwatch to automatically run so that it will just alert you when you are on a break and when you are supposed to break. After completing a certain number of Pomodoros you can set up a longer break for as long as you need such as 1 hour to take a break to eat a meal or workout.
11. Wunderlist
Life can get busy which is why writing down the task that you need to get done can help ease your mind. Wunderlist is a to-do list app where you can write down the task that you need to get done and have the app remind you of when the task needs to get done. It is convenient because you can download the app on your other devices and sync up the data between them. The app is free on the app store.
12. Evernote
Evernote is a premium note taking app. It helps with staying organized, setting up a to-do system and keeping track of projects you are currently working on.
Evernote has a free version which offers basic note taking features, 60 MB of storage space and usage on 1 device. The paid version is $8 per month and some of the features include an additional 10GB of new uploads per month, allows you to access your notes from different devices and better customer support.
13. Helium
Having a video play in the background while you are working can make the task feel more enjoyable. If you are running out of screen space due to your work, then consider getting Helium. Helium allows you to have a floating browser on your screen that sits over your main screen. They also offer a translucent screen that you can click on top of so that it is completely out of the way. The app is free to use.
14. Alfred
Alfred is a productivity app that includes features of Spotlight on Mac plus way more. The app allows you to search through your Mac using hotkeys, similar to how Spotlight uses cmd + space bar, and it allows you to search the web. The app includes a paid and a free version. The paid version cost £39 or $50.74.
Alfred allows users to add Workflows in the paid version which allows you to automate repetitive tasks. There are libraries of different workflows made by other users that you can pick and choose to customize Alfred to your liking.
15. Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is a professional photo editing software. This software cost a flat fee of $50 and competes with Adobe Photoshop as a cheaper option to photo editing. Even though the software is cheaper people do argue that it is just as good or maybe even better. Some of the features of the app include digital painting, 360° image editing, Panorama stitching, PSD editing, Raw Editing, and Professional retouching.
The program is about 340MB while Adobe Photoshop is almost 900MB. This difference in size means that Affinity will open faster and is more lightweight on your computer. The application does offer a free trial version which is worth giving a try before committing to buying it or any other photo editing service.
16. HandBrake
If you deal with video editing and need to convert videos from one format to another supported codec then consider trying out HandBrake. Handbrake is an opensource video transcoder which means the community can contribute to working on the application as long as they have the ability to code and their code is approved into the code base. This is a free app that could be useful if you are dealing with a video that is using an older format and you want to try to convert it to a modern codec.
Some features of the application include built-in device presets which means it has presets set up for different types of devices, therefore, you can start using the app right away. The app supports multiple different input and output sources. The app also supports subtitles, live static and video previews.
17. Rocket
Emojis add a fun dynamic to communicating and being able to write them quickly can make conversing over text more convenient. Rocket makes this possible by allowing users to write a colon + the emoji you are thinking about. For example you could write “:” + “smile” for a dropdown of smiley face emojis to pick from.
Top 10 Mac Apps
The app is free but they do have a $5 version. The paid version allows users to add custom emojis shortcuts, add your own emojis and offers a user interface for you to pick emojis from.
18. Bartender
The menu bar on the top of your Mac is pretty static and you may want parts of it rearranged or even hidden. Bartender allows Mac users to customize the menu bar to the way they like. The app does come with a free 4-week trial and if you do like it then you can pay $15 for the app.
19. Grids
The Instagram web application is limited in what it can do because you are not able to send direct messages to people, see photos in a better layout, or watch Instagram livestreams. Grids is a desktop application that gives you an experience closer to the mobile application and it supplies more functionalities than the web application.
The app is free to download but does offer those better features for that make it resemble the mobile application for $8.99.
20. Visual Studio Code
Best Mac Os Apps
As a developer myself, I find it necessary to have a text editor that I can rely on to have the plugins I need to get my task done. Visual Studio code is a great text editor that I typically use for front-end development in Javascript. The editor is developed by Microsoft and has been a staple for whenever I need to do front end development.
The text editor supplies syntax highlighting, linting, the ability to debug in chrome and compatibility with other popular programming languages like Google GoLang, Python and much more. The interface is pleasant to look at and I am still finding new features within it that help my day to day in developing software.