Ask HN: Must have tools for a new MacBook
Hey HN,
What apps should your new Mac have.
I will go first:
- sublime text
- tunnel blick
- thunder bird
- vlc
Hey HN,
What apps should your new Mac have.
I will go first:
- sublime text
- tunnel blick
- thunder bird
- vlc
$ brew list -1
https://github.com/jaywcjlove/awesome-mac is a list of all the cool stuff you could need on a new mac organized by category.Homebrew Package Manager
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_(package_manager)
Maybe XCode Developer Tools
https://mac.install.guide/commandlinetools/index.html
Also for me: Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Office, Latex
My two cents:
- Alfred (super charged application launcher)
- Dash (API Documentation Browser)
- Karabiner (key remapping)
- Keyboard Maestro (Automation tool)
- SizeUp (window manager)
- iTerm2
- 1Password (Password manager)
Inspiration:
[1] https://works-for-me.github.io/
[2] https://usesthis.com/
[3] https://github.com/nikitavoloboev/my-mac-os
Karabiner-elements is a good one. There is a script that adds the middle-mousewheel hold to drag scrolling like on Windows.
These are the ones I use the most
-Notion for note taking
-TickTick for to-do (though I'm currently developing my own to-do app)
-Fig for autocomplete in the terminal
-iTerm with zsh and ohmyzsh
-f.lux for eye care
-Hazel to dim windows other than the current active
-Alfred as spotlight replacement
-CleanShotX for screenshots and recording
-CommandQ to have a timer if you accidentally hit Cmd + Q
-1Password as password manager
-aText for text shorcuts
-Menuwhere to get the menu of the current app with a shortcut
-Hookshot for window management
-ColorSlurp as color picker
-EasyFind to search for files and folder
-Calibre to read epub and ebooks and manage books library
-Contexts as window switcher (Cmd + Tab replacement)
-DaisyDisk as disk space usage calculator
-Fork as git client (Tower and GitKraken are pretty good too)
-Postman as http client
-Rocket for easy emoji access
-TinkerTool modify macOS preferences not visible in user preferences
-VLC as video player
-VOX as music player
-VS Code and JetBrains Rider for development
is there any advantage of using f.lux over the native nightshift these days?
Applet to keep your screen awake, owly is what I use: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/owly-prevent-display-sleep/id8...
Magnet for window management
Iterm2 for terminal
Zsh and oh-my-zsh for nice looking terminal and easy ways to change theming etc.
Here’s the list from when I got mine:
Things installed on new MacBook:
- Spotify
- Xcode tools
- Vs code
- iterm2
- Home-brew
- Zsh and ohmyzsh
- Emacs (mainly for org mode)
- Firefox
- Chrome
- Node
- Steam
- Python 3.10
- R language
Why do you need a third party tool to keep the screen awake? You can do so from System Preferences. Also zsh is preinstalled.
Magnet is deprecated, use Rectangle which is open source.
Magnet is not deprecated. It just got updated about a month ago.
There’s a simple thing called “Show Desktop.app” which does as the name suggests. I created a shortcut on the desktop in the far right corner with an invisible icon and Unicode whitespace name, so that now I have a “show desktop” button in the bottom right corner of my screen just like windows. Can’t live without it.
There is a trackpad gesture for this as well.
The built in gesture/hot corner thingy doesn’t work the same way. The built in method “shows your desktop” but doesn’t minimize all the open windows like Windows does.
Karabiner for key remapping, and Goku for making it nerdy and text based rather than GUI and XML:
https://www.swyx.io/karabiner_lindquist
Just set up a new M1 last week.
IntelliJ, git (and Xcode tools), VS Code, Wireshark, KeyStore Explorer, Divvy, Homebrew, fish shell, maven/gradle, Parallels.
Usually iTerm2 but trying to give Terminal.app another chance.
Why are you trying to go back to Terminal.app?
Because I can't answer the question "Why did I start using iTerm instead of Terminal.app?" any more.
Better touch tools is a must. My computer feels broken without it. https://folivora.ai/
The same with Alfred.
Some of the apps I download on a fresh mac.
==> Casks
1password
anki
bartender
bitwarden
brave-browser
calibre
cryptomator
deepl
docker
exifcleaner # Cleans images metadata
fantastical
firefox
flux
freetube # Privacy respecting youtube client
imageoptim
karabiner-elements
keka
knockknock
libreoffice
little-snitch
microsoft-teams
obsidian
oversight
postman
protonmail-bridge
protonvpn
raycast
rectangle
shottr
signal
slack
spotify
tableplus
thunderbird
tor-browser
transmission
tresorit
vlc
vscodium # Microsoft-free VSCode
I maintain my mac's configs in a dotfile repo, feel free to check it out for more configurations: https://github.com/mansour-ahmed/dotfiles
Flycut as a light weight clipboard manager: https://github.com/TermiT/Flycut
Figterm for terminal command autocomplete with interactive drop downs: https://fig.io/
- As few additional apps as possible, since any additional software introduces security, maintenance and cognitive burden.
I wouldn’t use iTerm2 instead of the default terminal because it’s a lot slower.
A window manager. I use Moom.
Rectangle (It's a window manager)
Chrome
Firefox
VSCode
My extensions for various web browsers
Homebrew
Other then that it's just what I end up needing in the course of work.
- Rectangle Pro
- Alfred or Raycast (both have also awesome clipboard management as bonus)
- iTerm or Warp terminal
- Chrome
- Bitwarden
- VSCode
- 50 bash scripts on $HOME/bin
yabai for keyboard driven window management.
https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
just set up a new m1 this week:
apple command line tools, emacs for os x, warp, rosetta terminal (for installing intel stuff), homebrew, the silver searcher, keyboard maestro, alfred, rescue time, docker, bartender, paw, tableplus, hopper disassembler, proxyman, textual, dash, nordvpn
Can you share your usecases for Alfred? I downloaded it but never used it.
the launcher is huge for me dash integration workflow empty trash I set up a few snippets for terminal commands clipboard history also another workflow for setting my audio input/outputs from headphone/mic to speaker etc
I use:
Istat, Bartender, AltTab, Paste, 1Password, The Clock, Hammerspoon, Tripmode, DaisyDisk, Charles, TinkerTool.
oh-my-zsh
https://ohmyz.sh/
Brew was the first thing to go on mine
Here is my list:
- Xcode and commandline tools,
- iTerm2,
- Emacs,
- Tiles,
- AppCleaner,
- VLC,
- Firefox plus Dev. Edition,
- Vivaldi,
- MacPass,
- Hush,
- Wipr,
- The Unarchiver,
- Pages, Numbers, Keynote,
- GarageBand and iMovie,
- Iosevka fonts.