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UTM. The best free VM software that works on all Macs, M1/M2 included. Can even virtualise MacOS instances relatively easily.
I'll have to play around with this for Linux.
Runs like an absolute dream on an M1 - provided you use an ARM64 image. X86 performance is shit.
+1 for Rectangle
As a developer, the following are musts for me -
- VS Code
- iTerm2 + oh-my-zsh
As a general user,
- Amphetamine
- Hidden Bar
- MonitorControl
- AdGuard for Safari
- CheatSheet to keep track of keyboard shortcuts
- IINA, the best video player for Mac
- Scroll Reverser to set Mouse and Trackpad scrolling directions reverse of each other
Massive fan of Hidden Bar, but now with a nodge it is lacking progression, but it seems this repo has picked up the pace: https://github.com/UeharaYou/HiddenBar
Never heard of Scroll Reverser but it looks like it solves one of my pet peeves of macOS that should just exist natively.
IINA looks promising. Especially if it can output a HDR signal instead of tone mapping. Open source too!
It's all around a wonderfully done app
Definitely check out the Contexts app.
It replaces some of the core window management features and can be configured to make Mac window management a bit more like what you're used to on Windows/Linux.
Some of my general programs
- Homebrew (https://brew.sh/)
- Magnet
- Shottr
- Velja
- Bitwarden
- Spark
- Firefox Nightly/Chrome
- Ferdium
- Pdf expert (before the subscription junk happened)/ PDF Studio
- Day progress
- Horo
- Obsidian
- Bartender (testing it)
Horo
For anyone reading this Horo is a timer for your menu bar. It’s simple but I can’t recommend it enough, I use it so often these days that I don’t know how I ever got by without it.
App Cleaner!
As a Mac user it is a bit of a shame that we need to depend on apps like this... Despite this app is awesome lol.
Sometimes getting rid of certain programs is like getting rid of malware lol.
Does Mac not cleanly uninstall programs? Is this needed for programs installed from the official Mac store too?
Most Mac apps don’t have an uninstaller (or installer) you’re meant to just toss the app in the trash. The problem is this leaves in place your preferences files, any “application support” files it may have downloaded, maybe a cache, etc
That said, I’ve been migrating the same Library folder from Mac to Mac since around 2003 and have never used an app cleaner. It really isn’t an issue 99% of the time.
I can't speak for all the programs but I think almost all the programs I have ever used let a lot of undesired files everywhere, in theory moving the app to the thrash bin should be enough, but why let all that crap hanging around there?
Yeah, I do like the option of if I uninstall something to get rid of everything so it is back to the state it was before instead all these random misc and now unneeded files. I did some searches and lot of users were wondering why this functionality isn't present already.
The problem is AppCleaner is effectively guessing based on file name (and potentially other metadata) what to get rid of, you have to use your brain to check the list of what it is proposing to delete (hence why they show it to you and make you check the additional boxes). Someone who is actively seeking out the app to do something like this is more likely to check, but if it was a default functionality from Apple, many users would just ignore it and delete everything, even if it's something they'd want to keep. Apple's ethos of how they view users is also not predisposed to this.
It's also notable that many things get left behind even after unintsalling apps in Windows. Sometimes the manifest just doesn't encompass everything an app will spit out during its existence on your device.
But if it was a default functionality from Apple, presumably apps would be packaged, installed, and run in such a way that the OS is aware of what files it's creating and use that context to clean up after themselves properly when uninstalled.
The OS doesn't create the files, the application does. The OS would need a way to track what's being created throughout the lifecycle of the application on the device. For example, at install the app may just put the .app bundle in /Applications and then complete. During first startup, licensing, saving, customization, and at other various indeterminate points the application might create preference files, directories/files in /Library/Application Support, etc. macOS does log things but those get rotated, if you just keep infinite logs you end up using up a ton of space.
Apple could try and require that every Application provide a manifest of where it may put all files, but I don't really now how they'd enforce it and this is still subject to error and may result in the wrong thing being deleted. Also, keep in mind there are some shared folders and file between apps within the same suite. For example, Autodesk puts a lot of things from various apps into /Application Support/Autodesk.
Another thought is, sometimes you don't want it to delete all associated files created. Often applications create a save directory in /Documents. I think SPSS or Stata might do this (haven't work with them for a bit). So if /Documents/Stata has all your work and some automated Apple uninstaller removes it, that isn't ideal. It may even be disadvantageous to remove a plist file. For example if you're installing an old version of an app for a new one, it may use the same plist with your settings so you don't have to reconfigure the app. There's just a lot that can go wrong if you automate this process for what is often relatively little gain.
the os doesn't create the files, the application does
When an application wants to create a file, who does it ask for permission? Who facilitates finding a spot on the disk for the new files to go?
Frankly I can't speak to the overhead for managing it but the OS is aware and could very much keep track of which applications own what. As for shared directories if they know the specific app owner obviously just remove files from app A but keep the directory if app B also uses it.
As for configuration files and save data, these are generally located in consistent places but ultimately that's going to be a responsibility of the app developer to keep with standards for where those config files go so they can persist through reinstalls.
'Do you want to delete this application completely, or would you like to keep configuration files and save data?'
But Apple doesn't really care, they want everything to feel seamless and look pretty. Actual functionality is a second thought.
It has permission via certificates and writes/copies either via bin commands (cp) or the user does it (drag app to applications). Applications don't own files within macOS. It's UNIX methodology where it's a user/group/everyone situation. Often files will be owned by "system" or the logged in user that installs them. The OS would need to snapshot what is done during installation (which is actually done by packaging utilities like composer) but this is also prone to error because it tracks all changes during installation, so if you're modifying files with other apps while the current installer is running in the background it will capture that. And I think you'd be surprised how many apps keep files in non-traditional places.
It's just not as straight-forward as you think it is and no OS really does this will. Windows uninstaller often misses a lot of registry keys and programdata/appdata files. Linux will only uninstall what it install during the apt/dnf/whatever process. Even iOS leaves things behind like folders in Files.
AppCleaner
BetterTouchTool (which isn't free but is worth every penny) lets you do everything rectangle does. Also lets you configure your mouse buttons to do whatever you want. Also infinite custom hot keys and shortcuts.
Also Raycast as a replacement for Spotlight.
Raycast has replaced BetterTouchTool for me. I own a license for BTT, have it installed, but it's never running anymore.
These are the Mac-exclusive apps I use regularly on my MacBook Pro 14" CotEditor Amazing open source text editor just for Mac BetterSnapTool for snapping windows (old school I know) Image2icon is useful for making my dock icons consistent TopNotch because the notch is annoying TG Pro because Macs get hot Keka because sometimes you run across a RAR or 7z file
These are just Mac apps, but I also use a bunch of cross-platform apps
Maccy - clipboard app Alfred - launcher Iterm2 - terminal Firefox BettertouchTool - touchpad gestures Hidden bar - hide menu bar icons Itsycal - menubar calendar IINA - gui for mpv video player Keka - extract archives Espanso - text replacement
Suspicious Package: A great utility for inspecting the payload of a package, including scripts.
Macs Fan Control: Both a temp monitor and fan control. Especially useful on older Intel Macs.
Amphetamine: Good GUI for caffeinate.
coconutbattery: Monitor your battery health, cycles, etc.
The Unarchiver: Think 7-Zip for macOS.
Jamf Now: Stripped down version of Jamf, MDM for Apple devices. You get 3 devices for free. This is more if you want to dabble in endpoint management/light automation. You will get sales emails.
beardie. i'm used to managing my music with alt+shift+{z,x,c} from my linux days, so thanks to beardie i can use the same bindings on macos
I installed an app to work around mouse scroll wheel acceleration, literally right after installing FF. I can't recall the name though.
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this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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