In this post I’ll be sharing the apps, websites and tools I use on a daily basis, in no particular order.
What’s the point? Well, I’d like to look back to this lineup on a yearly basis and see whether I can improve the way I work online.
Moreover, maybe you’ll find a new app/website listed here and you’ll decide to try it out based on my recommendation.
Software & Online Apps
Day One – where I keep my personal journal.
Telegram – Mac app for Telegram. Much better than the Whatsapp app that needs the phone to be active nearby. I try to keep some distance from Whatsapp as it’s such a big distraction. Telegram is used to communicate with my family mostly.
Dropbox – backups of my work files and sharing with the rest of my family and team.
Waltr 2 – drag and drop media to iOS devices and have it automatically put in the best app.
iMazing – backing up iOS in Time Machine fashion
Squash 2 – Image converter and optimizer.
Focusmate – Accountability and focus app for working with other people
Transmission / Folx – torrent client
Jump – better than Screens 4 as it supports both windows and mac, is cheaper, and 2 protocols plus whole team behind it and more updates released. allows use of mouse, while screens allows iphone as mouse.
Tripmode – for working on 3g connections and not waste all data,
Evernote – save any important (or trivial) pieces of information I come across for perusal at a later stage.
Chrome – my favorite browser (including many awesome extensions).
1Password – no more lost passwords.
Cheatsheet – Keyboard shortcuts panel for any software on my MacOS devices.
Skype – video conversations (masterminds, family, team).
Google Calendar – calendar app.
Things3 – experimenting with this todo list app this year.
Funter – showing/hiding system files.
FreeFileSync – backups to offline drives.
Speedtest – Wifi speed tests.
Clippings.io – Upload and organise Kindle notes and highlights.
Sublime Text – text editor.
Lightshot screenshot – Screenshots and simple annotations. I use Awesome Screenshot when I want to take a scrolling browser screenshot, which is increasingly rarer these days.
SnagIt – Screenshot app.
Slack – real-time communication with my team.
MAMP Pro – local server.
Camtasia + Screenflow – screencasts.
Trello – official Trello app.
ShiftIt – arranging windows on Mac. Used SizeUp before, but it wasn’t free.
Hostbuddy / Gas Mask – Editing tool for the hosts file on Macs.
Transmit – FTP.
The Thread Reader App – Unroll Twitter threads.
Alfred – find and open files and apps faster.
OpenEmu – for playing retro games.
Duet – using the iPad Pro as a third or second monitor.
LinkLiar – changing the MAC address on demand. See my post on why this is useful.
Zencastr – recording podcast episodes when we have multiple guests. All done through the browser, for free.
Boomerang for Gmail – scheduled sending and email reminders.
Final Cut Pro X – used for scrubbing through padel videos to analyse the game.
Followupthen – delaying emails or reminding me about them later (online service not an app per se)
MailPlane – manage all my Gmail accounts from one app.
Time Machine – backups for my Mac.
The Unarchiver – opening zipped files.
Strava – Monitoring my cycling and running.
VNC Server and Viewer – connecting remotely to my Raspberry Pi.
Scroll Reverser – reversing scrolling directions for my mouse.
WordPress – CMS powering all my websites.
Whatsapp – desktop app for whatsapp messenger.
Pocket – all clipped articles go to Pocket first, then I save the ones I want to keep in Evernote.
Photoshop – image editing.
MindNode Pro – mindmaps.
myTuner – for listening to local radio stations.
CleanMyMac – cleaning up the Mac’s drives.
Bartender – lets you organize your menu bar apps, by hiding them, rearranging them, or moving them to Bartender’s Bar.
Cornerstone – management of WordPress.org SVN plugin repositories.
Brew – The Missing Package Manager for macOS
SourceTree – management of Bitbucket Git repositories.
ManageWP – multi-site management and downtime notifications to my phone.
DaisyDisk – cleaning out big files on my laptop.
Calibre – ebook format conversions.
Plex – Media Server
High Sierra Media Key Enabler – check this post on how I use it.
Youtube-dl – Command-line utility for downloading videos from YouTube. Used iSkySoft before, but this is more convenient as it’s a free website instead of a paid app. I mostly use it to download padel matches for slow motion analysis of moves. Warning: It’s quite technical as it is a command-line utility. Alternative: You-Get. If these tools sound daunting, try Conv, Peggo, or ClipConverter.
Ecamm Call Recorder for Skype – does what it says.
Zoom – meetings.
IFTT & Zapier – online task automation.
Forest – App for staying focused on iOS.
Calendly – Scheduling guests for the Mastermind.fm podcast.
Giphy Capture – Make GIF animations.
For those frequent sites, I visit which don’t have a desktop app, I use Nativefier to create a Mac app. I use it for Google Maps and Google Calendar, for example.
Social
Facebook – connects me to several groups revolving around my interests.
Messenger – Chatting with Facebook friends without the distractions of Facebook.
Quora – when I need a complex question answered.
Goodreads – discover new books to read.
IMDB – movie reviews.
Tripadvisor & Foursquare – Finding new restaurants to try out.
AirBNB – renting apartments when traveling.
YouTube – how to videos and publishing through the WP Mayor and WP RSS Aggregator channels.
Vimeo – private video uploads
Twitter – my source of quality real-time news (rarely used).
Chrome Extensions
- Awesome Screenshot
- Evernote Clipper
- Goodreads
- Pushbullet
- The Camelizer
- OneTab
- Save to Pocket
- Google Translate
- Tripadvisor
- 1Password
- Grammarly
- News Feed Eradicator for Facebook
Music
Spotify Premium – no more need for an MP3 collection. Experimented with Google Play briefly, but Spotify remains the most convenient due to its seamless integration across all devices.
Brain.fm – scientifically proven (so they say) music to help you be more productive.
Am I missing out on anything you use? Let me know in the comments.
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