Recommendations for Some Exquisite and Useful Software on Mac

As Apple said at its October launch, 76% of buyers in China are new to Macs (Source: October Event 2018 - YouTube). There must be many Mac users who do not know what good software is available, nor what software needs to be installed. The toolchain required on Mac is different from Windows. This article will introduce some exquisite and practical software (I often use), focusing on the exclusive software on the Mac, hoping to help new and old users.

For new users, be aware of the two correct ways to get Mac software: Download from the App Store/Download over the Internet. It is safest to download software from the App Store, because all software listed on the App Store has been reviewed by Apple; be careful with software downloaded from the Internet, as it may be malicious software, see the “Mac System Security” section of this article for details. .

System Tools and Maintenance App Recommendation

Setapp Software Subscription Service

US$10/month for two Macs or $15/month for two Macs + five sub-accounts. The combined purchase of the family version is about $26 per year. Setapp is the equivalent of another Mac App Store. The difference is that Setapp is a subscription system. Compared with buying out the software, you only need to subscribe to Setapp for a fixed monthly fee, and then you can download all the software that cooperates with Setapp for free, and enjoy subsequent updates. All require a paid buyout (or additional subscription/in-app purchase). Setapp is priced at US$10/month and can be used on two Macs, and additional Macs are $5/month each. The recently released Home Edition costs only $15/month and can add five additional sub-accounts (sub-accounts are limited to one Mac). Therefore, if you form a group to buy the family version, it will be very affordable, and the price will be around $26 per year. Many of the software described in this article are included in Setapp. If you have subscribed to Setapp, you do not need to purchase additional software. These software are already marked.

BetterTouchTool

Paid software, available for download via Setapp This software lets you customize your Mac touchpad and mouse gestures to take full advantage of multi-touch capabilities. In addition, by using its built-in Window snapping function, you can achieve a Windows-like “move window to the edge of the screen to quickly adjust the window size”. I use BetterTouchTool mainly for its Window snapping function.

Adblock Plus

Freeware Content Blocker. By using this browser plug-in, you can block annoying advertisements on web pages and give you a clean browsing experience. At the same time, it can also achieve the effect of power saving.

The Unarchiver

Freeware Unzip software. It can decompress compressed formats such as RAR that are not supported by the Mac system.

Bartender

Paid software, available via Setapp Optionally hides the Mac menu bar icon. When more and more third-party software is installed, the menu bar will become more and more full. By using Bartender, some menu bar icons can be hidden/collapsed. It can also be configured to automatically display when the menu icon is updated.

Image2icon

Free + in-app purchase software, you can download and unlock in-app purchases through Setapp You can automatically generate various styles of icons from pictures or text, and apply them to files/folders/disks. Can help you generate personalized, beautiful file/folder/disk icon.

Carbon Copy Cloner

Paid software, $39.99 buyout Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) is a full-featured backup management software. Compared to the Time Machine that comes with the Mac, it can back up external disks, select directory backups, back up the system to an APFS formatted hard drive, and create a bootable external disk. This software fully supports the Snapshot function under APFS, and has a visual interface to manage these snapshots (supports operations such as mount, restore, delete, etc.). Personal suggestion: For scenarios where Time Machine can be applied, use Time Machine first, otherwise use CCC.

CleanMyMac X

Paid software, you can download it through Setapp CleanMyMac can help users clean up system junk files, uninstall software, manage startup items, and implement basic system monitoring.

Run a scan with one click on the main interface

Personal suggestion: Unless the system space is insufficient, otherwise do not clean the system junk frequently, especially user cache files and system cache files, cleaning them may cause the program to run slower.

Gemini

Paid software, available via Setapp It finds duplicate or similar items on your disk and optionally deletes those files to free up more disk space on your Mac.

Disk Drill

Free + in-app purchase software, can download and unlock in-app purchases through Setapp Disk recovery software on Mac. If you delete important files by mistake, and you don’t have any backups, you can try to recover your files with this software. It is highly recommended to make a backup of your files so that you don’t need to use this type of software. However, it is still good to use this software for emergency rescue in critical situations.

Writing Software - Ulysses

Subscription software, you can unlock the subscription through Setapp In addition to the system’s own memo, Pages, and Microsoft Word, here is an additional recommendation Ulysses, Markdown-based plain text editor. The feature is simplicity and ease of use.

iOS management app recommendation - iMazing

Paid software, can be downloaded through Setapp It can replace iTunes to complete backup/restore backup/reinstall system/upgrade system, and has more functions than iTunes. For example, it can access specific data in backups, including software archives for each program. You can also manage applications, install the previous version of the software or the software that has been removed from the shelf through the .ipa file, manage mobile phone ringtones, etc. Of course, it is more recommended to use Apple Configurator 2 to manage iOS apps on Mac.

Recommended Password Management App - 1Password

Paid software, can be subscribed or bought out Compared with the password management function that comes with browsers (such as Safari, Chrome), 1Password can support more browsers and is cross-platform. It can choose the formula for password generation, and can automatically check insecure passwords, leaked passwords, etc. through Watchtower, and can also save more types of information, such as credit cards, ID cards, driver’s licenses, databases, wireless routers information, etc. By using 1Password, you can get into the habit of setting a different, secure, random password for each website to keep your internet accounts safe.

Development App Recommendation

In addition to Apple’s Xcode, here are some development tools for your reference:

TextMate: Free, lightweight editor on Mac, running fast and supporting many languages.
Software under JetBrains: paid, including C/C++, Java, PHP, JavaScript, Go and other software required for development. Students can obtain authorization free of charge.
*Surge: Paid, proxy Internet access, HTTP packet capture tool.
Paw: paid, can be downloaded through Setapp, API management tool, it can handle whether it is simply sending HTTP requests or testing HTTP/REST services.
Sourcetree: Free, a visual Git management tool on Mac or PC.
VMware Fusion: Paid, virtual machine on Mac.
CloudMounter: paid, can be downloaded through Setapp, this software mounts services such as S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, SFTP (VPS) in the format of network disks into the Finder.
Karabiner: Free, software for adjusting keyboard key positions on Mac.

Player App Recommendation - IINA

Freeware The interface is simple and beautiful, supports video playback in many formats, and is compatible with Touch Bar.

RSS reader recommendation - News Explorer

Paid software, can be downloaded via Setapp Cross-platform RSS reader (need to purchase separately for iOS), can be synced via iCloud.

Recommended Financial Management App - MoneyWiz

Subscription software, which can be unlocked through Setapp Accounting software on Mac, fully functional, can add various types of accounts, and can generate reports in various formats.

Recommended for Professional Video Production Apps

Final Cut Pro, [Compressor](https://www.apple.com/en/final-cut-pro /compressor/), Motion

Paid software, there is [student discount] (https://www.apple.com/us-edu/shop/product/BMGE2Z/A/pro-apps-bundle-for-education) Apple’s professional video production software, equivalent to an upgraded version of iMovie, can be More custom settings, the ability to process RAW video recorded by the camera, the ability to create 360-degree videos, and more. Compared with Adobe Premiere Pro CC, it will be easier to use and the price is relatively cheap.

Final Cut Pro uses ProRes RAW to tune video

Adobe image processing software: Lightroom Classic CC, [Lightroom CC](https://www.adobe. com/hk_en/products/photoshop-lightroom.html), Photoshop CC

Subscription software, Minato Photography Plan, including the latest version of Lightroom Classic CC, Lightroom CC, Photoshop CC and 20GB cloud storage. The image processing software Apple developed, iPhoto has been integrated into the Photos (picture) software, and the professional software Aperture has also stopped maintenance. While the Photos software is good enough to handle the vast majority of photos, it’s still weak for RAW photos. And its cloud sync syncs all photos and videos in the library, which is not economical for lossless pictures. The Lightroom series software is similar to Photos, iPhoto, and Aperture, and is also used to manage photos. There are two current versions: Classic CC, only on the desktop side, suitable for storing the original files of all pictures locally; CC, with desktop, mobile, and web terminals, suitable for storing the original files of all pictures in the cloud. Personally, I tend to use Classic CC on desktop and CC on mobile. Because the lossless images in RAW format or TIFF format that are often processed are large, it is not economical to upload the original image to the cloud. Moreover, I mainly process images on the desktop side. The desktop side of CC feels that it is not so convenient to use it on the desktop side in order to accommodate other platforms. Moreover, Classic CC can also transmit the compressed preview to the cloud, and can also use CC to synchronize editing on other platforms. For simultaneous previews, the Photography Plan’s 20GB space is sufficient. Note: The Creative Cloud function in China has been castrated, and there are no preferential plans. It is recommended to buy Docklands (cheapest).

Lightroom Classic CC, Lightroom CC, Photoshop CC software icons

Appendix: Mac System Security

As with Windows, installing software from the Internet on a Mac requires a lot of attention to where the software comes from. It is highly recommended to select “App Store and by any developer” in “Security & Privacy” in Mac settings (default) instead of “Any source”. If any source is allowed, your computer will be able to run tampered software, unauthenticated software, and malware.

The vast majority of Mac software can run at this level of security, and none of the software recommended above does not require “Any Source” to be enabled, unless you’re not downloading the original software, but tampered with. If the option here is “Any Source” on your Mac, run the following command in Terminal to re-enable this security setting.

sudo spctl --master-enable

At the same time, it is not recommended to turn off the SIP function. The SIP function helps to ensure the integrity of the Mac system. To check if SIP is running, use the following commands: