[Editor’s Note: This is part one of a five part series of must-have apps.]
This is part of a series where the Churchmag authors are choosing their top 5 subject. Today I’m doing Apps for Macs.
Just choosing five apps was very tricky!
So I’ve chosen the ones I spend most time in or help me be the most productive.
So here we go with my five chosen apps:
#1 Chrome (Free)
Ok, this technically isn’t a ‘Mac only App’, but being a web designer I spend most of my day in a web browser, so it’s very important for me, and Chrome is my browser of choice. Over the years I’ve used Netscape, Opera, Firefox and Safari (notice the one I’ve missed out!!!), but for me at the moment Chrome is the fastest and most reliable.
The built in WebKit ‘Developer Tools’ also make it simple to debugging CSS and javascript.
I don’t use that many extensions but ones like Adblock and Xmarks Bookmark Sync make it even better!
#2 Coda ($99 | also on the App Store)
Coda is my text editor of choice. With auto complete, site management and built it FTP I just love it!
When I started in web design 10+ years ago I used Dreamweaver 3. When I made the jump to fully coding by hand (no more wysiwyg), I was on Windows and used Notepad++.
When I became a Mac I wanted a great and beautiful text editor that was also simple to use! I tried a few and for me, Coda fits the bill perfectly.
#3 1Password ($49.99 Mac | also on the App Store ; $14.99 iPhone/iPad on the iTunes App Store)
With lots of clients come lots of passwords for hosting, email accounts and logins of all shapes and kinds!
For managing my passwords 1Password really is a life saver. And being able to store the 1Password database in my Dropbox means I can access the passwords/logins on my main work computer (a Mac Mini), my Macbook Pro or iPhone! (1Password is also available on Windows and Android.)
#4 TotalFinder ($18)
TotalFinder brings the wonder of tabs to Finder (seriously Apple why aren’t they there anyway?!). So if, like me, you have a lot of Finder windows open for accessing different folders/files or moving things around, TotalFinder might make your life a lot easier!
It can also do other nifty things like putting folders on the top of file lists, showing system files and there’s a ‘dual pane’ mode where two folders can be shown side by side. You can also have Finder available as a ‘visor’ that appears from the bottom of the screen using a hotkey.
I honestly couldn’t imagine using a Mac without it now!
#5 Alfred (Free | also on the App Store or £12 for the PowerPack)
I’ve blogged about my love for Alfred on Churchmag before and I still love Alfred just as much!
I use it for everything from simply opening an app and doing a quick calculation through to controlling iTunes. (Yes there’s Spotlight but seriously Alfred is better!)
Alfred is another ‘must have’ app for me.
So those are my five! Honourable mentions that were in and out of the list were: Echofon (a simple and elegant Twitter Client), BetterTouchTool (which allows you do more funky things on your trackpad), Keynote (Apple’s own amazing presentation app – using PowerPoint now makes me cry…) and Spaces (Part of Mac OSX and a way to organise virtual desktops).
What are your five favourite Mac apps?
[Image via Apple]
Marcus Williamson says
I hear Alfred is legit man. Solid post
James Cooper says
Thanks Marcus. If you’ve not checked Alfred out – go do it!!!
Jacob Gillespie says
Basically the same list for me, though Coda would be replaced by TextMate – as far as usage goes, I also use Musicality a lot (Pandora client).
James Cooper says
Great minds think alike Jacob! 😉
Craig Allen says
Is DropBox secure enough for such sensitive information? I’ve heard they aren’t.
James Cooper says
Thanks Craig. I’ve never had any problems with Dropbox. Also the 1Password database is encrypted so can only be opened with your master 1Password…