My favourite 8 Mac apps that put Apple's default choices to disgrace

Key Takeaways

Apple’s macOS working system comes with plenty of default apps and packages out of the field.
Apple continues to enhance its native apps yearly, however third-party options merely provide extra performance.
Listed here are a number of the greatest third-party apps that blow Apple’s choices out of the water.

Apple’s Mac working system, often called macOS, comes with some fairly nice built-in apps by default. The corporate usually updates these apps and utilities to coincide with main OS updates, which happen as soon as each fall. This 12 months, for instance, we obtained updates to Messages, Calculator, Calendar, and extra, within the type of macOS Sequoia.

Apple’s first-party Mac apps cowl the fundamentals, however third-party builders have spent years crafting their own solutions. Oftentimes, these non-Apple apps embody tons of options and utilities not accessible out the field on the Mac. Listed here are 6 Mac apps I all the time obtain and run as a substitute of the default macOS ones.

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1 PDFgear

A full-featured PDF viewer and editor

PDFgear

A full-featured PDF reader and editor app for Mac with an intuitive interface.

By default, PDFs launch on Mac utilizing Apple’s built-in Preview app. Preview is completely advantageous for viewing paperwork, and even gives some primary instruments for enhancing. Nevertheless, if you happen to’re searching for one thing with somewhat additional oomph, then a third-party PDF app is what you will wish to obtain.

There are numerous PDF apps accessible on the market, together with Adobe’s own Acrobat Reader. Nevertheless, my suggestion is the superb and fully free PDFgear. It gives tons of choices for formatting and web page enhancing, a easy and intuitive person interface, an indication and form-filling instrument, and even primary AI integration for summarizing and translating textual content.

iPhone mirroring on Mac on colored background

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2 The Unarchiver

The perfect instrument for opening compressed information on Mac

The Unarchiver

A easy archive utility for Mac that helps even probably the most obscure compression codecs.

Apple’s default utility for opening and decompressing RAR information is constructed into its Finder software, however integration is pretty bare-bones. There are quite a few archive instruments accessible for macOS, however my favourite is The Unarchiver. The app is totally free, light-weight, and gives assist for a genuinely large variety of archival codecs.

When you ever run into an obscure format like XAR, Ar, SWF, or AlZip, then The Unarchiver is just the best instrument for the job.

The Unarchiver helps non-Latin characters out of the field, and the file extracting interface is easy to make use of in comparison with another options on the market in the marketplace. When you ever run into an obscure format like XAR, Ar, SWF, or AlZip, then The Unarchiver is just the best instrument for the job.

Android in hand with a park in the background.

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BetterSnapTool

A light-weight utility that brings Home windows-style app snapping to the Mac desktop.

Apple introduced a built-in window snapping tool with the current launch of macOS Sequoia, after years of buyer hankering for the function. Apple’s implementation is strong, however removed from full-featured. Fortunately, the third-party BetterSnapTool continues to be round with some superior functionalities on provide.

BetterSnapTool sits in your Mac’s menu bar, with a drop-down number of decisions to type by. You’ll be able to create customized snap areas, toggle ‘float window on prime,’ disable options for a particular window, and shortly transfer home windows from one monitor to the subsequent. BetterSnapTool prices $3 on the Mac App Retailer, and is properly definitely worth the buy.

Another window snapping app,
Magnet
, can be standard amongst Mac customers, however prices barely extra at $5.

An Android phone with Aptoide pulled up in dark mode.

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4 Bitwarden

An especially safe third-party password supervisor

Bitwarden

A extremely safe password supervisor app that works throughout platforms and working techniques.

With the discharge of Apple’s macOS Sequoia, the corporate debuted a new Passwords application. This app is a password supervisor like some other, saving your varied passcodes, passkeys, and extra, for simple and safe entry. The app is easy sufficient, however hardly groundbreaking — it is merely a brand new dwelling for an present Apple function beforehand discovered inside Settings.

The app is cross-platform, which signifies that, not like Apple’s resolution, it’s going to work on Android gadgets.

That is the place Bitwarden, a well-liked third-party password supervisor, is available in. The app is cross-platform, which signifies that, not like Apple’s resolution, it’s going to work on Android devices. Auto-generation and autofill of passwords, safe end-to-end encryption, and an open source code that’s usually assessed, make BitWarden a wonderful selection. Bitwarden is free to make use of, however gives a Premium subscription plan with entry to safety reviews, an built-in authenticator, and extra. For most individuals, the free plan is greater than serviceable.

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5 ProNotes

An extension that supercharges Apple’s built-in Notes app

ProNotes

An extension for Apple’s Notes app on Mac, that introduces plenty of enhancing options.

ProNotes is not an Apple Notes substitute, however reasonably it is a supplementary add-on that sprinkles in plenty of useful utilities throughout the board. The default notes app has grow to be a fairly highly effective instrument through the years, and ProNotes makes it all of the extra highly effective for on a regular basis use.

The app provides a Microsoft Phrase-like formatting bar for fast entry to instruments like daring, underline, and strikethrough, keyboard shortcuts for textual content formatting, slash command shortcuts, and way more. A ProNotes Gold subscription will web you some AI-based options like summarization and grammar correction, however with Apple Intelligence set to arrive soon, I would maintain off on the premium buy in the meanwhile.

Someone holding an iPhone with the Notes app open

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Your one-stop-shop for opening and taking part in media information

VLC Media Participant for Mac

A free and open-source media participant app with broad assist for nearly each file format on the market.

Apple’s macOS ships with Preview, which is an software used for launching and taking part in again multimedia information instantly in your laptop. VLC Media Participant is a free and open-source different that is been round for a few years. It is all the time been a well-liked third-party resolution, and for good purpose — it is appropriate with nearly any multimedia file you may throw at it, together with a number of the most obscure ones.

VLC is appropriate with nearly any multimedia file you may throw at it.

VLC also can play again CDs and DVDs, in addition to faucet into plenty of streaming protocols. Its interface design is not probably the most trendy on the market, however the app is a dependable and time-tested resolution that’ll have your again everytime you run right into a file that refuses to open with Preview.

7 Darkish Noise: Ambient Sounds

Apple’s built-in Background Sounds instrument is good, however Darkish Noise is the superior possibility in each regard

Darkish Noise

Darkish Noise takes Apple’s built-in Background Sounds function and takes it to the subsequent stage, with tons of ambient sounds to select from.

One of many lesser-known options inside macOS is its built-in Background Sounds possibility. When enabled, the instrument performs again one among a small number of ambient sounds — many individuals discover these sounds useful as background noise whereas finding out, working, or attempting to go to sleep. Apple added in two extra sound results — night time and fireplace — alongside the discharge of macOS Sequoia. The issue is that the function is buried deep within the system by default, nestled inside System Settings > Accessibility > Audio.

Many individuals discover these sounds useful as background noise whereas finding out, working, or attempting to go to sleep.

Darkish Noise is a third-party app that brings the same expertise to the desk, however does so in a method that is arguably simpler to entry. The sound results might be picked out from a devoted interface, and there are lots of extra sound choices accessible than Apple gives. These embody white noise, rain, desk fan, seaside, campfire, airplane inside, espresso store, and lullaby.

The app is free to obtain from the Mac App Retailer, however with a purpose to entry the broader array of soundscapes accessible, you will should spring for Darkish Noise Professional, which is subscription primarily based and in addition unlocks customized sound mixes, additional themes, alterative app icons, and extra. There’s additionally a lifetime possibility if you happen to’d favor to not pay month-to-month or on a yearly foundation.

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8 Yomu EBook Reader

The perfect purpose-built e-reader app accessible for Mac

Yomu EBook Reader

A wonderful and natively-built reader app for the Mac, with broad assist for varied e book file codecs.

Over time, e-readers and ebooks have grown immensely in reputation. It is not laborious to see why — ebook information take up comparatively little cupboard space, and successfully take up zero real-world area. The Mac comes with a devoted e book app by default: Books. The app is completely sufficient, however I discover myself preferring the third-party Yomu app as a substitute.

Yomu maintains a native-feeling app interface that feels proper at dwelling on the Mac, whereas offering broad assist throughout the reasonably fragmented e book file format ecosystem. EPub, Mobi, Kindle, .pdf, and extra will all perform right here with no hitch.

Yomu might be downloaded free of charge from the Mac App Retailer, however it comes with a 10-book restrict. There’s an non-obligatory Yomu Professional improve accessible by way of a one-time buy, which removes this doc restrict, in addition to removes all adverts, and introduces a cloud library function into the combination.