See full list on lifehacker.com. Mar 25, 2016 Best Mac Apps: Productivity. Price: $10 Link. Running just $10 in the Mac App Store, AirMail builds upon the basic functionality in the Mail app and adds some pretty nice integration and power user features (superior keyboard shortcuts, snoozing an email like Gmail’s Inbox does). Powerful Mac apps that won't break the bank. There’s something of a misconception when it comes.
Windows has the highest number of Program and software available. One of the perk of the popularity of Windows is that you have so many apps and games. For Example, just imagine MAC users playing a popular high-end game. No, you probably can’t because MAC does not support them, windows do. Windows 10, is the most killer outcome from Microsoft, we all love it. The new windows 10-anniversary update is even better. Other operating systems have advantages, though, yet they fail when it comes to choosing apps that matter to you.
Let’s start the drill down.
Productivity
01. Simplenote
As the name speaks for itself, notes – real-time sync, distraction-free writing and word counter and text styling options. Bold, italic, and strikethrough and if you enable the markdown extension it will support more which you can read more about it here. Despite the fact that it doesn’t provide features like Evernote does nonetheless its a text-based writing tool. Recently Dropbox launched Paper to compete with other note-taking/ writing tools.
There are several options to use this application as it provides enough for most platforms, Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, Windows and native web application. Sharing your notes and printing them is just a click away. Overall this application is a must have an android app.
02. Grammarly
Write error-free with this Grammar and Spell Checker. Free version detects 150+ style mistakes, and premium version has Plagiarism checker and plenty of predefined document type to get specific suggestions for corrections. Ginger is one reliable alternative to it and even offers Android/iOS keyboard to check and remove spelling, grammar mistakes as you type.
03. Voice to Text App
Well, chrome makes is super easy to utilize the Google API that converts voice into text. You must be aware of Google Docs’s built in voice to text feature. Fortunately, there are a bunch of websites providing you the ability to write by your voice. One good site for this purpose is speechnotes, also a chrome extension is available to write with your voice to any website.
Internet browsing
Hail, hail, nothing is close to Google Chrome when it comes to security with speed, Chrome gets regular updates. There are several Chrome variants for different users, Canary for example which comes with the latest features. Google Chrome is the only browser that currently supports Voice API and many more hidden features. You can turn on full material design in chrome to make it looks even better.
MAC users can also install the Chrome Browser, yet there are some alternative browsers as well.
04. Vivaldi
A new web browser and based on the same Chromium project that powers Chrome. It does get pretty features from customization to speed. Read more about Vivaldi
Entertainment
7 Best Video Players For Windows (2017)
05. KMPLAYER
KMP is one of our favorite media player of all time, supports almost every kind of media formats, even VR or 3D files, and KMP can play all. Customization support for subtitles and everything that matters seeking a video file is fast and accurate with arrow keys. Some of the best useful keyboard shortcuts are CTRL+X to toggle audio stream, Enter to Full screen, and ‘[ / ]’ keys to subtitle sync.
06. VLC
This tiny little robot is famous, very famous. It also can play any media formats and search, and downloading subtitles are just matter of 2-3 clicks. We use to call it a multi-tool because it can play a video from an URL, supports additional audio files and converts files into one to another format. The desktop mode plays videos on your desktop screen.
Both media players support audio and subtitle sync.
Everything else
More apps that you can install and make your windows a super machine.
Best Essential Windows Apps
20 Best Software to Install On windows 10
07. XION Audio player
What is your favorite audio player? Media player that comes preloaded with Windows? Try Xion audio player, supports most of the audio formats and is fast, crossfader, equalizer. Also one of the best parts is it only need tiny Cpu and Ram consumption.
08. RIOT
Riot is an image encoder that makes the Image file size smaller. The new png compressor can be little sluggish but worth, how many spaces your photos are taking, do you take photos with your camera and Phone, make sure to try Riot to give photos the file size, they deserve.
09. TheRenamer
Update: The last version was released in 2014, which worked great until IMDB launched v2 and Windows 10 latest version does not run the software anymore. Please use “Rename my TV series” as an alternative.
Everyone loves TV serials on a laptop or computer, does not matter if the program airs in your country or another. I personally have a folder on my PC, where you can find at least 20 Serials. So how to rename all those serial’s name with the understandable name.
Here comes the TheRenamer, select all episodes files and drag them to this too, it auto fetches details of serial episodes and with one click you can rename all of the episodes at once. In settings, you can choose the rename settings.
10. PAINT.NET
Unless you are a professional photo editor who cannot leave without Photoshop and some other high-end photo editing tools, paint.net is all you need. It supports editing transparent (png) images and inbuilt effects. While maintaining the lightweight size, this program can easily be a paint or GIMP alternative for daily purpose.
Paint.Net Features.
Essential Mac Apps For Pc
- Support PNG/ JPG / BMP and other image file formats.
- Supports layer editing / Transparent Elements.
- Basic image editing features, cut, crop, magic hand,
- Fine tune your photos with Effects included in pain.net
The traditional photo editing comes with windows in Paint, that does reduce the overall quality when you save images, Paint.Net is a similar editing tool with basic and powerful features. It is a Photo editor for Windows 10 free and lifetime updates.
11. Notepad++
More powerful, various language highlighting and way better than Notepad. It remembers your last working location and will open the directory next time you open it. It also supports decode and encoding of Base64. Notepad ++ is not just a text editor — it is more than that. It has so many features that we can not sum up all here.
Internet Security
12. Zenmate
This free Chrome extension provides a 24×7 proxy, so hiding IP is nothing to concern when you have enabled it. The free tier lets you choose from 4 locations, for a week you’ll get premium service meaning you can choose from many locations. However, you may see some upgrades pop-ups from the extension, but they won’t bother you when you click on close button.
13. Connectify
Turns your laptop into a portable hotspot, share your laptop’s internet with other devices, this feature is in connectivity Pro which is a paid version. However, mHotspot is a free alternative.
Update: Windows 10 latest insider builds comes with a brand new feature called Mobile Hotpost, that create a hotspot with a single click.
Over to you,
Hope you like this article and have found some good apps to install on your Windows computer. Did you like this post? I know you did, shout out this story to anyone who matters to you.
Contents
- Productivity
- 03. Voice to Text App
- 04. Vivaldi
- Everything else
- Internet Security
We’ve put together a list of some of the best Mac apps anywhere: if you’re looking for a new utility, web browser, or photo app, you’ll probably find what you need on this list.
Whether you’ve been using a Mac for a very long time, or you’re unboxing your very first MacBook, it’s always nice to see the sort of software and tools that other people use.
While we don’t include them in our official best Mac apps list, since they’re free and from Apple, new users should always check out Apple’s apps that come with every Mac purchase.
Best Mac Apps: Utilities
1Password
Price: $49.99 | Link
1Password is the gold standard of password managers. With people cracking online accounts left and right these days, it’s more important than ever to use secure, complicated passwords – and never the same one twice. 1Password can keep track of all your passwords for you, and automatically enter them into your browser. The latest versions also keep track of sensitive data like insurance numbers, bank accounts, and credit card numbers, making it an important resource if your wallet or purse gets stolen. Apps are available for iPhone, iPad, and Android, making your data available wherever you are.
Caffeine
Price: free | Link
Have you ever started uploading a video to YouTube, walked away, and returned only to find your computer had gone to sleep (and thus corrupted the upload)?
While OS X is supposed to be smart enough to not do that, it doesn’t always work – and now, Caffeine will guarantee it.
Duet Display
Price: Free (on OS X, but requires a $16 iOS app) | Link
Built by a cadre of ex-Apple engineers, Duet Display lets you increase your screen space by taking advantage of your iPhone or iPad. With support for touch tracking and the full Retina display of your mobile device, Duet Display can be a godsend if you’re stuck editing on a cramped coffeeshop table.
There are a number of wireless iPad display options, but Duet Display is our top pick.
Dropbox
Price: Free (various premium service levels) | Link
By now, you’re probably familiar with Dropbox, but if you aren’t, this is the company that made cloud storage famous. These guys make sharing and storing files easier than ever, and helps make all your data accessible on each of your devices.
Viscosity
Price: Free 30-day trial, then $9 | Link
Viscosity is a great replacement for the built-in VPN tool in OS X. Designed to let you log on with just a couple of clicks, Viscosity will work with a number of VPN clients, whether you need to log into work, protect yourself at coffeeshops, or simply evade regional lockouts on media.
Chrome Remote Desktop
Price: Free | Link
There have been a number of tools over the years that let you log into your computer when you’re not at home, and one-by-one, they’ve all turned to a non-free model. Not so with the Chrome Remote Desktop. As long as both your home and away PCs are on, you’ll be able to log in and control the remote PC without paying a dime.
Note: both PCs will also need to have the Chrome web browser installed and allowed to run in the background.
Crashplan
Price: Free to external drives, 30-day cloud storage; $60 per year for backing up one computer; $150 per year for backing up between 2 – 10 computers | Link
Crashplan is backup made simple. If you don’t want to pay, the company will offer you free use of their backup software (if Time Machine is not to your liking) as well as 30 days worth of online backups.
Their paid plans are really compelling, however: $60 a year gets you unlimited online backups of your entire computer and network attached storage. You can retrieve individual files or, should emergency strike, pay to have a new hard drive with your backup overnighted to your house.
TextExpander
Price: Free trial, then $45 | Link
TextExpander is kind of like autocorrect, but for your Mac. You can program snippets of text into the TE interface, and when you type them into nearly any program, TextExpander replaces them with your pre-chosen macro.
For example, you could type ‘soon5’ in a meeting email, and TextExpander would replace it with “I’m running late, but I should be there in five minutes.” The new version is easier than ever, and TE includes a fun chart that will show you how many hours you save, based on a specific typing speed.
Airfoil
Price: Free trial, then $29 | Link
Airfoil lets you send any audio from your Mac to any Airplay source – speakers, Airports, AppleTVs, you name it. It offers granular, per-app control that the system option sorely lacks, and lets you send audio out to multiple sets of speakers.
Rogue Amoeba, developers of Airfoil, include a free copy of Airfoil Speakers with each purchase, which lets you receiveAirplay audio on your Mac (or iPhone / Android device).
One fun way to use both of these is to set up Airfoil and Airfoil Speakers on your Mac, then Airplay your iPhone audio to your Mac – this way you can send one phone’s audio out over multiple sets of Airplay speakers, something that is otherwise impossible to do.
F.Lux
Price: Free | Link
F.lux is based on the idea that seeing blue light late at night is bad for your eyes, and impairs your quality of sleep. The app works by changing the color temperature of your display (computer displays are typically pretty “blue”) as the sun sets; by the time you’re ready to call it a night, things can be looking pretty orange.
It definitely reduces stress on your eyes; if you don’t believe us, try quitting F.lux after you’ve used it for an hour – you’ll be scrambling to re-enable it.
GrandPerspective
Price: Free | Link
One of the most frustrating things about the Mac to this day (not that the PC is all that much better, frankly) is the inability to see your disk space. How much free space do you have, what folders and files are using it all, etc.
GrandPerspective is a free utility that gets rid of all that storage uncertainty by displaying information in an easy-to-read, blocky interface.
Little Snitch
Price: $35 | Link
This is the best firewall you didn’t know you needed. Little Snitch not only monitors for inbound connections, but also outbound connections. It’s a great program for finding out what apps on your computer are calling home and transmitting information; you can block any of them at any time, just by tapping a button.
The devs recently released a companion product known as Micro Snitch; Micro Snitch has a similar philosophy to Little Snitch, except it explicitly monitors your webcam and microphone, so you can be sure nobody is using them to record you.
Malwarebytes
Price: Free | Link
Worried about whether your Mac can catch a virus or worm? With the platform’s growing popularity, you probably should be.
Marlwarebytes is a trusted name in PC security, and with a recent acquisition, they’re bringing expertise over to the Mac.
The software itself is free, but you can sign up for premium service and support at a rate of just $25/year.
Capture Gif
Price: Free, or $6 | Link
It may seem like a strange addition, but the ability to quickly record your screen and make GIFs can come in handy. You can keep it simple with basic text GIFs, or record yourself doing full-screen actions (take a look at our El Capitan Split View overview for an idea).
Capture Gif offers a free version with limited settings, but the $6 full copy is cheap and offers you the ability to change the framerate of the GIF as well as innovative mouse tracking features.
Best Mac Apps: Internet
GoogleChrome
Price: Free | Link
Google’s internet browser has become the world’s most browser, and for good reason. Unfortunately, those reasons don’t really exist on the Mac – not only is Chrome slower than Safari, but it’s also a power hog and can drop your battery life by up to an hour!
Still, it has its uses. Chrome comes bundled with an always-updated version of Adobe Flash, so you’ll never need to worry about updating a version for the Mac. Need to check out a Flash-enabled site? Just spin up Chrome, check it out, and shut it down. Given how many vulnerabilities Flash tends to introduce, it’s worth keeping exposure as limited as possible.
Skype
Price: Free | Link
You’re probably aware of Microsoft’s VoIP product by this point, but it’s worth pointing out. Despite competing alternatives, Skype’s sheer cross-platform connectivity and pervasiveness means that it’s always handy to have around if someone wants to call you.
Transmission
Price: Free | Link
When it comes to BitTorrent, the cat is out of the bag, and it isn’t going back in. We like Transmission for an OS X torrent client, because it’s cross platform and open source, and also because it isn’t constantly trying to get you to download things you don’t want (ahem, μTorrent).
Best Mac Apps: Music and Video
Spotify
Price: Free, or $10/month Premium tier | Link
Spotify is one of the world’s largest music streaming services, with over 75 million users accessing either its free or pay tiers. The software itself is completely free, supporting your listening with advertising inserted into the streams.
If you don’t mind ponying up, however, you can snag unlimited ad-free music streaming for just $10/ month, with the ability to skip around to whatever music you like, and cache songs to your device for offline listening.
iOS and Android apps round out the experience.
VLC
Price: Free | Link
If you keep any quantity of your own media, VLC will be well known. For everyone else, this app is the gold standard for watching videos from the internet. No nonsense codec downloads, nothing else to install, just download it, open, and play.
Best Mac Apps: Productivity
AirMail
Price: $10 | Link
Running just $10 in the Mac App Store, AirMail builds upon the basic functionality in the Mail app and adds some pretty nice integration and power user features (superior keyboard shortcuts, snoozing an email like Gmail’s Inbox does). You can import files directly from services like Dropbox or Google Drive, or send attachments that are too large to email by using Droplr. One of the best features over Mail, however, is how AirMail has worked to integrate itself into the best known third-party productivity apps – so if you use software like Wunderlist, Fantastical, and Evernote, you should take a look at AirMail.
Clear
Price: $10 | Link
Clear, like Mailbox, made waves for introducing powerful features paired with an extremely simple and intuitive user interface. Mailbox was for, well, email, but Clear is for keeping you focused at the tasks on hand. It works best when you pair it with the iPhone and iPad apps (which together cost a $5 one-time fee); there’s also an app for the Apple Watch
Fantastical
Essential Mac Apps Reviews
Price: $40 | Link
OS X’s Calendar isn’t bad, but it’s also not very useful if you need to track more than the very occasional event. Fantastical (now actually Fantastical 2) is extremely powerful, with a natural language engine that lets you remember events just by typing them out. It comes with a free trial if you don’t feel the need to shell out $40 quite just yet.
Essential Mac Apps 2019
Microsoft Office
Price: $70 / year for 1 PC or Mac, $100/yr for 5 PCs or Macs, $150 one-time purchase for 1 computer | Link
There may be the free Google Docs and Apple iWork suites, but nothing can beat the powerhouse that is Microsoft Office. Aside from the fact that its omnipresence nearly requires you to use it (so that your files can all be shared between jobs), new versions for iOS and Android make it very easy to work on your projects on the go. While Microsoft’s attempts to send Office into the cloud with a monthly or yearly subscription, they do still offer standalone installations.
Best Mac Apps: Graphics and Photo Editing
Pixelmator
Price: Free 30-day trial, then $30 | Link
Adobe’s Photoshop CC might reign supreme at the top of the image editing heap, but if you’re not a professional, or very serious amateur designer or photographer, it probably doesn’t make much sense to shell out for it. For the price of less than one month of Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription, you can get a permanent standalone copy of Pixelmator. There are definitely Mac photo editing apps out there that can do more than Pixelmator, but few can match it on a features-per-dollar basis.
Best Mac Apps: Programming
Textmate 2.0 (beta)
Price: Free | Link
If you’re a programmer, you know that your choice of environment not only says a lot about you but can impact your workflow in drastic and unforeseen ways. Should Vim be getting you down, take a look at Textmate’s most recent version, a product of Macromates.
Textmate offers an easy way to work on a project’s many files at once without getting lost, and features powerful plug-in architecture should you need a tool that it lacks.
Best Mac Apps: Emulators
Andy Android Emulator
Price: Free | Link
If you’re on a Mac, chances are you probably prefer to use iOS over Android. Thinking about seeing how things work on the other side? The Andy Android emulator works extremely well to give you a virtual Android tablet. For the most part, this virtual model works exactly like you’d expect.
The only downside is that the most recent release – which came out in November – only goes up to Android 4.2.2, so some apps and features might not work. Hopefully, we’ll see an update to Android M or N before too long. If you just want to try things out, however, it’s more than good enough.
Disagree with the titles we’ve put on the best Mac apps list? Sound out in the comments with some of your favorite apps or tools that you think are the must-haves for any Mac user.
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