Five Interesting Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - June 2018

How about highlighting apps that actually let you create something rather than merely consuming? I really like the idea behind this series, but we really don't need to hear about yet another Twitter client, yet another file manager, yet another pastebot, yet another dock & bar extension...

How about something like...

* Scrivener that helps writers compose books & articles;

* Acorn that helps designers create icons for their apps;
* Aseprite for helping spriters create pixel art;

* Blocs for building websites WYSIWYG;
* Transmit for moving content to remote servers;
* PaintCode 3 for crafting animations and then translating them to code?


Focus on the creators for once, instead of more consumer crap. God forbid the world needing people to tweet faster... The world won't benefit from one more tweet, there is enough noise and chatter without it. >_>

A: "When did you two meet?"

B: "Here! Log into my web dashboard and you can track it in real-time!"

[A backs away slowly]

Also, how can an anniversary be more than 12 months away?

* Infinity Dashboard ('https://fiplab.com/apps/infinity-dashboard-for-mac') ($14.99) - Infinity Dashboard is a smart little app that's designed to let you track and monitor anything, from your wife's birthday to the weather at your upcoming vacation spot to the current price of Bitcoin. There are 35 built-in modules for tracking weather, travel times, website stacks, stock prices, social network metrics, and more, and you can also write your own custom modules. Some modules, like price trackers, support notifications, and there are several design themes to choose from. A free trial ('https://fiplab.com/apps/infinity-dashboard-for-mac') is available.

A: "When did you two meet?"

B: "Here! Log into my web dashboard and you can track it in real-time!"

A: [backs away slowly]

UBar appears to be $30 dollars rather than $15. $15 dollars is the upgrade price.

... and there's no way I'm paying even a single dollar to make my Mac look more like Windows with its Task Bar! :p

Do people still use Macs?

Apple/Cook must be disappointed.

I love that there are these great Mac apps, but I don't purchase any because I've had all my needs met for a long time. I wish there were something that appealed to me because I'd like to support them.

I feel like there are a few things going on. The 1980s heralded desktop publishing. Then there was the Web age which came around the same time as the multimedia CD-ROM age. Then there were apps for MP3s (eventually iTunes), and apps for creating media (iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand) along with the apps for organizing/managing your devices (iTunes, iSync, iPhoto). But all those devices are now self-servicing. And all multi-media stuff can easily be consumed on the web, or can be shared/edited from the same mobile devices from which it's captured. Web-page creation is sort of now only for pros or it's done through blogging template sites (oh how I miss GoLive--one of my favorite apps of all time). There's no real big "era" of software right now filling a need on the desktop.

When I have had to send my MBP in for repairs, I've used a Chromebook and been able to play my music from Spotify, watch Netflix, and edit documents in Google Docs. The MBP is certainly nicer for those things, but the Web being so capable has probably made native applications less necessary than they used to be. In some cases even with media, I find the Web superior. For example, scrubbing video in QuickTime is a pain. I can more easily scrub video in YouTube. And selecting clips to trim in QuickTime is also bafflingly difficult (why doesn't the playhead remain in place when you drag the yellow sliders?).

Anyhow, after being so dreary about apps, my favorites are: Chrome (bloated but works well), Spotify (love the UI), EvoCam (simple to use, unfortunately no longer supported), Sleepytime (turns off music/sound in various apps after a certain time when you're going to bed), F.lux for my sensitive pupils, Chroma (for controlling my Philips Hue lights), OneDrive (my current online storage of choice--to be honest, Google Drive, OneDrive, and DropBox seem identical to me--just using this now because I have 1 TB free through my dad's subscription to Office), Microsoft Word (it's still the best for word processing), Pages (the best for page layout--I make pretty elaborate invitations, etc., with this--but it is wretched for word processing), Pixelmator (I generally use this for making titles in iMovie), iMovie (which I actually really don't like anymore--iMovie 6 HD was the last version I really enjoyed, but it's what I still use in spite of it seeming much less user friendly than it used to), DaisyDisk (for finding what is mysteriously taking up disk space), and Tidepool Uploader (an app that interfaces with tidepool.org and lets you upload data from various blood glucose monitors and continuous glucose monitors and has an infinitely better interface than ones included with the products--if you have diabetes you should give it a try).

Also, how can an anniversary be more than 12 months away?

Easy, you're not married yet.

Also, how can an anniversary be more than 12 months away?

Time travel. That's how.

Also, how can an anniversary be more than 12 months away?

Could be a specific special anniversary like a 25th I suppose. :)

Little Snitch and 1Password are my main two that I use most.