I used to be a Windows guy. I had to switch over to Mac for software development. I disliked iOS. It took about a year of installing the right apps and getting used to the Mac.

Now I won’t go back to Windows unless I’m forced to (thanks Windows updates).

Below are the applications I regularly use on my Mac.

Lunar

I have an external monitor and I often lower brightness and contrast at night. Instead of pressing buttons on my monitor, Lunar lets me natively control those settings from the app.

Ubar

I couldn’t get used to Apple’s Mac Dock. Windows / Linux taskbar made more sense. Ubar gave me the taskbar back.

Rectangle

Rectangle lets me reposition windows and move them to different screens quickly without using a mouse.

f.lux

Save your eyes at night and sleep better by lowering the color temperature of your screen with f.lux. iOS has night mode built-in but it’s lacking color ranges. That’s why I continue using f.lux.

Pathfinder

Mac file manager (finder) is frustrating. It’s limited. Pathfinder makes it better.

AppCleaner

Want to fully remove an application? AppCleaner does that.

Monosnap

I use Monosnap to take screenshots and annotate over them.

AudioHijack

Need to record audio that is coming from a meeting? Or combine audio sources in a recording? Or do pretty much any kind of magic with audio. AudioHijack does that.

Loom

This is the easiest screen recorder I’ve used. I make lots of recordings showing demos and explaining things to teammates. I use Loom.

iTerm

iTerm is a customizable terminal.

Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager. Instead of having to download, install, and update applications individually, it’ll do that work for you.

Jetbrains RubyMine

I program with Ruby and Ruby on Rails as my day job. RubyMine is a fantastic IDE. It’s not free but it’s feature-rich and well-integrated with Ruby.

As an added benefit, if I had to switch languages to Python or Javascript, I could use Jetbrains’ PyCharm or WebStorm and be comfortable because they look exactly like RubyMine.

Postico

Postico is the tool I use to explore PostgreSQL databases. It’s intuitive and lets you connect to local or remote PostgreSQL databases and query them.

Productivity Tips

Here are some Mac productivity tips.

Multiple Desktops with Mac

I’m used to working with an external monitor. When I travel, I don’t have an external monitor. That’s where multiple desktops come in.

It’s not an app but a feature of iOS.

Put 3 fingers together and swipe up on the trackpad. Add a desktop from the top. Enter a desktop. Now swipe left or right with 3 fingers together to switch between desktop views.

Switching between apps

You can use your mouse or trackpad to switch between apps but it’s too slow. Hold cmd and keep pressing tab until you select the app you want to bring up. You can then use Rectangle app to adjust it on your screen.