Mac is good without all that software. Utilities but with them, it's great.
I like to use my Mac. And yet when I encountered a new device running MacOS, I was struck by the barren spread, which is Mac's default experience. It's not on Mac, it's on me - I've been incredibly reliant on some amazing utilities that are enhancing the Mac experience in countless ways. Every now and then I mention these utilities to friends who are Mac users, or they see me using them, and they are often surprised. This reminds me that, to a surprising extent, there are many Mac users who have never used the utility to make Mac more powerful, but it does come out of the box. Here, then, are some of the utilities that make Mac feel like home to me.
6 Powerful Mac Features
Follow the APPS
A few years ago, utility enhancements provided instant access to your Mac apps by typing a few key strokes. Launch bars (go.macworld.com / lbr6), Alfred (go.macworld.com/alfr), and Quix Silver (go.macworld.com/qksv) are prominent examples of this. Then Apple came in and (rightly so) added a quick app launching in Spotlight, and all these utilities existed, eliminating the root cause. No worries. Instant Launcher apps have managed to stay relevant by adding all sorts of other features. I know a lot of people who rely on Alfred, but I've been a user of Objective Development's La 29 Launch Bar (go.macworld.com/lbrv) for years, and my Mac feels empty without it. Yes, I use La Launch Bar to launch apps and open files - its algorithm to guess that what you're looking for is better than Spotlight probably but It probably would have been thrown if I hadn't come to trust so many people. Other Features I use the launch bar to enter iMessage, do instant math calculations on the fly, launch automation routines, and open specific Google documents. To find the right emoji. Probably most commonly, I use the launch bar as a clipboard manager. There are many apps out there that will turn Mac's traditional single-use clipboard into a large, accessible stack of clipboard items. Since this is a feature in the launch bar, I don't need anything else. Regardless of whether you use the launch bar or anything else, I recommend that I use one of the many great clipboard managers on Mac (go.macworld.com / Club). Being confident that what you copy to the clipboard remains accessible can greatly increase its productivity. The tasks that need to be toggled back and forth between different apps can be done in a more granular way - you copy everything you need to one at a time, and then switch to another app, all in one Paste it.
Automate your tasks
I am a huge fan of consumer automation because if there is anything good in the computer, it is doing a lot of repetitive work that is absolutely boring for humans. If you're stuck with boring, repetitive tasks on your computer, you can save yourself time. There will be fans that can automate. The problem is that many user automation solutions are difficult for most people to understand. Once you've been asked to write a code, the jig is gone. Fortunately, there are easy to use Mac automation tools that provide you with a surprising amount of power without the need to write code (if you prefer). I'm constantly amazed at what StarView Software's $ 36 keyboard maestro (go. Macworld.com/kybm) can do. You can automatically release opening apps, menu commands or keyboard shortcuts, click buttons, and anything else you can think of. It does not rely on the built-in automation features of individual apps, either - if you need to automate something by clicking on a particular item on the screen, the keyboard masters can be specifically told what to search for. To do and where to click. It's a bit like magic. I've used a keyboard teacher (eg macworld.com/kyrv) to automate repetitive tasks on my Mac so as to start or end certain types of tasks. For example, when I'm going to record a podcast, I need to launch multiple apps in Safari, the keyboard teacher needs to open specific pages, and click on different interface elements and the corresponding keyboard Setting up multiple features of an app by typing a shortcut. It's like a 30-step process that I have to do at least every week. With a keyboard teacher, this process can be reduced to a single click or a keyboard shortcut. I consider wasting time transferring files in Finder. But I still need to handle my files! So I rely on NoodleSoft's $ 32 hazel (Go macworld.com/hazl) to manage my files for myself. Hazel works by viewing folders on your Mac and editing files based on a series of rules. For example, I've found a rule that looks at this folder where I save all my tech texts, and after a few weeks, move the unedited stories to the archives folder. Another principle is taking old podcast files and compressing them so they take up less space. And yet another shared dropbox appears in the folder used to move audio files back and forth, and delete any of them older than two weeks. I used to do all the restoration work manually, but with Hazel (at go.macworld.com/) I didn't have to do much. If you find yourself having the mental gymnastics to decide which files need to go, you can make these ideas a basic set of hazel rules and allow the computer to work automatically.
Power in the menu bar
I've mentioned the Mac menu bar (go.macworld.com/menu) well in this area before, but my menu bar has been greatly improved with the addition of some smart utilities. The $ 15 Utility Bartender (go.macworld.com / bar3) lets me clear my menu bar, hiding icons that I don't use often under an item. This left more space for things that I would really like to see, such as graphs from Bizango's i12 iSat Menus (go to macworld.com/ ista). iStat menus provide you with a wealth of information about the current state of your Mac, ranging from processor temperatures to individual processor cores. Rogue Amoeba's $ 29 sound source (GoMcworld.com/messages) gives me full control over where the audio is going on my Mac. I can quickly rebuild iTunes from my external speakers to my headphones, and adjust the output volume right from its drop down control panel. And the free Utility Bit Bar (go.macworld.com/baby) allows me to insert at least something into my menu bar, through an expandable plug-in system. I got the current status of my home's weather station, the speed of my local network, and even the number of listeners live for my podcasts, all of which are displayed in the menu bar via small buttbar extensions. Is. Of course, Mac is good without all those utilities. But with them, it's great - and it feels like home to me.
0 Comments