My Software Toolbox – 2020 Edition

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.