Lifehacker Approved Mac Apps You May Not Need
If I could push one disclaimer in every Lifehacker article, it would be: Not every hacker, tip, or app is for everyone. In that spirit, here are Lifehacker approved apps that I have stopped using. I haven’t installed them on my new Mac , and I’m curious how many of you have ditched them too.
Bear and Simplenote
I am ashamed when I like the standard Apple apps. But while some of my Lifehacker colleagues use third-party note-taking apps like Bear and Simplenote , I’m happy with Notes . It syncs easily via iCloud, is searchable, uses folders. I’m even used to the bad default immutable font. Because, very importantly, Notes supports basic text formatting.
All worthy competitors to Notes have Text or Markdown only. I really don’t get it! All old style text editors have WYSIWYG formatting: Word, Google Docs, TextEdit, Notepad. Hell, the Mac Stickies app supports text formatting. Why can’t a bunch of notes app handle this without resorting to pseudocode solutions like Markdown? Why is it so hard to use bold and italics? I don’t want to resort to heavy subscription-based apps like Evernote. Speaking of which:
Evernote
I’m probably just using Evernote wrong . But now I don’t use it at all. I used to save interesting snippets of “inspiration” in this scrapbook app, saving images, ideas, web pages that might have been deleted. But when I hit the limits of the free version (two devices per user, no offline mobile access), I realized that I could easily get by with simpler apps instead of paying $ 8 a month for Evernote Premium.
The vast majority of my notes are text, so I’m fine with notes (and sometimes Wunderlist for list-based notes). If I’m working on a visual project, I sometimes save things to my personal Tumblr (free). If you need to combine both, you can use OneNote or Google Keep . Or, if you’re like me, you don’t really need a bucket for everything.
Cardhop
I love Flexibits’ Fantastical calendar app, so I wanted to love their newest app too. Cardhop had to reinvent the way it interacts with its contacts. Instead of searching through different communication channels, I could start each interaction from the Cardhop app, using it as a command line like Spotlight or Chrome’s address bar.
But, as I wrote back then, the hardest part about Cardhop is remembering to use it. I can’t get rid of the habit of using the default Contacts app, no matter how bad it is, or starting conversations in different apps, even if later I find myself looking for old messages – did I send Cole this link via Google Hangouts, Twitter DM or text?
After a couple of weeks, I stopped using my free review copy of Cardhop. So I can’t recommend paying $ 20 for this. It’s hard for me to figure out which tasks with Siri are faster and which are slower. I have no mental room for another command line.
Fire fox
You might really want to switch to a browser that prioritizes privacy instead of connecting you to Google services. Firefox has caught up with Chrome in terms of speed and capabilities. But over the years that it has lagged, I’ve come to rely on a lot of Chrome extensions, and I’m not dying to search and calibrate their Firefox equivalents.
OmmBits by OmmWriter
Is there a secret government grant for anyone inventing a new no-distraction writing app? When I have a written project that does not include online research, adding links, or any other application switching tasks, I try to write in a physical notebook. So I stopped experimenting with these full screen, “locked” apps like OmmWriter and OmmBits that supposedly force you to write.
Vanilla
If you need a cheap app to temporarily hide less used menu items, you can opt for Vanilla over the more mature Bartender app. But in the end, Vanilla’s minimal interface felt too minimal, so I went back.
SEAL
The $ 10 STAMP app moves music between streaming services like Apple Music, Google Play Music, Tidal, or Spotify. But it’s the same with the free Tune My Music web service.
Maestro keyboard
Keyboard Maestro is a sophisticated control center for triggering functions through keyboard shortcuts, gestures, or even by plugging in headphones. It can manage multiple clipboard entries, position your windows, record macros for autocomplete, or set up custom notifications for events. It looks like a localized IFTTT .
But if you, like me, just used it as an overpriced text replacement tool, then you, like me, can get by with the built-in text replacement functionality on your Mac. (The inline version does not work in some fields, including the address bar.)
AppZapper
I used to uninstall apps to free up hard drive space, but these days I can free up a lot more space by out of sync my giant folders full of videos, or local downloads of my bloated collection of streaming music. AppZapper’s main feature seems to free up a bit more hard drive space – and a clutter of hidden configuration files that I never intended to see. But these days I don’t uninstall many apps at all.
I think something has changed dramatically. Years ago, when I switched to a new computer, I had to copy my applications along with other files or reinstall them from the CD. Now I buy all my apps online, so it will be easier for me to download the latest version and find the license key in my email. (For years, all my pirated Adobe apps were the last asset, but now I pay for Creative Cloud.)
I can keep the computer for four or five years, but this is not enough for applications to accumulate. Then when I get a new car, if I haven’t used the app for a long time, I just don’t bring it with me. This system never burned me.
I asked Lifehacker technical editor David Murphy about dropping AppZapper. He personally believes that if you’ve already paid your $ 13 for it, then you can use it. But he recommends the free AppCleaner alternative.
Etc
There are many other applications that I have not ported to my new computer: specialized media players such as Cog and Miniplay ; free audio editor Audacity ; failed experiments such as the boot loader and YouTube VideoDuke ThoughtTrain application to the taskbar. Moving to a new computer is like moving to a new home; you will get rid of a lot of clutter to avoid the hassle of transferring it. What applications did you leave on your last old computer?