10 of My Favorite Mac Apps Are Off for Black Friday
One of the best things about using a Mac is that there are high-quality apps for almost everything. There’s a ton of Mac apps on sale this Black Friday, so now’s the time to grab a copy of some of my favorites. I’m going to talk about great deals on some Mac apps I use every day, as well as others I’ve been wanting to buy.
Cleanshot X: The Only Tool You’ll Need to Take Screenshots
Your Mac comes with a good screenshot tool , but Cleanshot X makes it much better . This app is well designed, has all the features you need to take screenshots, and is customizable enough for advanced users to enjoy. You can use it to take screenshots and screen recordings, but the fun is setting up simple workflows that work for you. Cleanshot X lets you decide what happens after you click an image. For some, this means simply copying the image to the clipboard, while for others, it means immediately uploading it to the cloud and copying the link. You can also use this app to take scrolling screenshots , set up keyboard shortcuts to capture text from images, and much, much more.
This Black Friday, Cleanshot X will be available for 50% off if you purchase it from a third-party kit website. (You can buy it separately or as part of a package.) Please note that the Cleanshot license guarantees one year of updates from the date of purchase. After this, you will no longer receive updates, but the application will continue to work.
Sale price: $14.50 (was $29).
Get it here: Unclutter App Bundle.
TextSniper: copy text from images
If Cleanshot X isn’t for you, you might want to consider purchasing a simpler screenshot tool for your Mac. TextSniper is a fast and easy app for copying text from images , PDFs, and other apps or sites that disable copying. You press a keyboard shortcut, drag the area where the text is, and the app copies it for you. It can also copy text from QR codes and barcodes. TextSniper is 60% off on Black Friday.
Sale price: $3.20 (was $7.99).
Get it here: Text Sniper (use code BF2024 at checkout).
LittleSnitch: Find out which apps call home
LittleSnitch is one of my favorite firewall apps for Mac. It has a great interface that makes it easy for anyone to see which applications are connecting to the Internet. You can use it to prevent apps from sending data back to servers in other countries, or even prevent apps from checking for updates. Even if you don’t want to use it to block any apps, it’s definitely worth monitoring connections on your computer. As I wrote earlier, you should definitely use a firewall on your Mac , but not Apple’s default option, which is rather lacking. Little Snitch is 30% off this Black Friday.
Sale price: $42 (was $63).
Get it here: Little Snitch
Link Unshortener: Find out what’s behind short links
Independent app developer Jeff Johnson specializes in creating great extensions for Safari , and some of them are on sale for Black Friday. In particular, Link Unshortener is really useful. If you wish, you can set it as your default browser. This means that whenever you click a link in Safari, this extension will follow it through all redirects and show the target URL. It can also remove all tracking options and allow you to choose which browser you want to open the link in. Even if you don’t use it as your default browser, you can use Link Unshortener to quickly expand all shortened URLs. This extension is 50% off on Black Friday.
Sale duration: November 25 – December 8.
Sale price: $3.99 (was $7.99).
Get it here: Link Unshortener
Things 3: Improved to-do list app
Things 3 on Mac is my favorite to-do list app. It has a beautiful interface that allows you to quickly create all kinds of to-do lists. On a Mac, Things 3 keyboard shortcuts let you control almost everything in the app without using a mouse at all. There is even a global shortcut (Option-Space) that allows you to add anything to Things at any time. Since its release in 2017, Things 3 has only gotten better and better. The developers do not offer subscriptions, but charge for each version of the application separately. This means that if you want the app to be available on all four platforms – Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro – there will be a total of four purchases. All of these versions are 30% off on Black Friday.
Duration of the sale: from November 25 to December 2.
Sale Price: $34.99 (30% off, regular price $49.99).
Get it here: Things 3 ( iPhone , iPad , Mac , Apple Vision Pro )
Keyboard Maestro: Automate Almost Everything
Few tools are as powerful as Keyboard Maestro on Mac . The application allows you to create macros to automate almost every action, and you can do this without any programming knowledge. You can use it to automatically fill out web forms, close some applications when you launch a particular application, or even rearrange all the windows of an application as you wish each time you launch that application. If you’re even remotely interested in Mac automation, you’ll find this app useful. 50% off on Black Friday.
Sale price: $18 (was $36).
Get it here: Keyboard Maestro
DisplayBuddy: Easily manage external monitors
If you connect your Mac to external displays, you’ll benefit from trying DisplayBuddy. The app allows you to control the volume and brightness of your external monitor using your Mac’s media keys. It also allows you to create presets for various tasks like watching movies, gaming, etc. You can use this to change multiple monitor settings with just one click. This app is 20% off for Black Friday.
Sale price: $14.24 (was $18.99).
Get it here: DisplayBuddy (use code INDIEGOODIES at checkout).
AirBuddy 2: The best way to control AirPods on Mac
I recently started using AirBuddy 2 to control my AirPods from my Mac and it’s been a game changer. I can now reliably connect to my AirPods, check their charge levels, and use keyboard shortcuts to switch between noise-canceling and transparency modes. These features alone are enough for me to use them regularly, but there are many more useful ones in the app, including low battery alerts. It’s also available for 50% off on Black Friday.
Discounted price: 6.5 US dollars (was 13 US dollars).
Get it here: AirBuddy 2.
Parallels Desktop 20: Run Windows on Your Mac
Parallels Desktop 20 lets you run Windows on your Mac. It allows you to open Windows in a separate window, meaning it’s pretty easy to access macOS whenever you want. You can even do things like open a USB drive in Windows or macOS, depending on where you need it. The app is 25% off for Black Friday.
Discounted Price (Subscription): $74.99/year (was $99.99/year).
Sale price (one-time purchase): $97.49 (was $129.99).
Get it here: Parallels Desktop 20.
DaisyDisk: Free up storage space
If you don’t have enough space on your Mac, you should use DaisyDisk. This application will show you exactly what is taking up space on your computer and how you can free up space on your computer. DaisyDisk is a useful tool that has been around for years, and it’s 50% off this Black Friday.
Discount price: $5 (was $10).
Get it here: DaisyDisk