Tech Haven’s Favorite Mac Apps
After spending endless hours a day working on our Macs and our clients’ Macs, we’ve come to learn a thing or two about what Mac apps work well for a given task. While this list is by no means a complete list of our favorites, it covers a cross-section of our most commonly used or recommended apps. Take a spin through and see if there’s anything you like, or anything that might address your individual needs. As always, any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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1Password
1Password is indispensable here at Tech Haven. Fantastic for storing passwords, credit card numbers, banking info and many other types of important data, all with military-grade encryption. If you’re adrift in a sea of passwords, and really who isn’t, 1Password is the lifesaver you’ve been waiting for.
Alfred
Alfred is a fantastic utility to save time doing all sorts of things on your Mac. Opening documents and applications, accessing web pages, showing contact info, and more tricks up its sleeve you’ll discover every day, this utility will significantly streamline your daily workflow.
Day One
If you’re a journal keeper, or need to log any sort of daily activity, Day One is hard to beat. You can easily add in photos, Tweets, your daily step count, weather info and more. Integrate with IFTT to log your Instagram posts, Facebook likes, Uber travel and nearly anything you can think of.
Fantastical 2
Fantastical is both a full-screen traditional calendar app, but it also exists in your Mac’s menu bar and gives you easy access to your calendar and reminders. Syncs with iCloud, Google and other calendars. Easily create new events in natural language, view the day’s scheduled events, reminders and more.
Microsoft Office
Fact is, sometimes you just gotta have Microsoft Office. Still the standard-bearer in most workplaces, Microsoft’s venerable office suite has power beyond what most of us will ever need – but when we do, there’s no alternative. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, they’re all there.
Downcast
Everybody’s listening to podcasts these days, and if you’re not yet, you will be soon. With a clear and intuitive interface, Downcast is easily our podcast listening app of choice on the Mac, and also on the iPod. With iCloud-based syncing, the two stay perfectly in sync when you listen from device to device.
Cardhop
Another handy menu bar utility, Cardhop allows for super-simple creation of new contacts (and editing of existing ones) with an intuitive natural input method. Search and interact with your existing contacts like never before. Initiate calls and emails from right in the app.
Airmail 3
Apple’s default Mail app doesn’t appeal to everybody, and if you’re looking for a new email app, Airmail might fit the bill. With a wealth of features to allow you to read and reply to email efficiently, with the goal of attaining the mythical Inbox Zero, Airmail just might help you get there.
iMazing
iMazing is our go-to app for extracting, restoring and migrating music, messages, photos and other data between iPhones, iPads and Macs. If you want to export old text messages or voicemails to save copies, or move music from one device to another, iMazing is the tool you need to get it done.
Coconut Battery
Lots of talk about battery life these days, which is a cryptic discussion unless you know the facts – and it’s Coconut Battery that gets you the facts. See how much capacity is in your battery, how many charge cycles its had, and a wealth of other data. Works on both Macs and connected iOS devices.
Scrivener
Writing a book, magazine article, legal brief, or really anything longer than a Tweet? Scrivener is the app you need to organize your thoughts and research, and get down to some writing. Whether your starting with an outline or diving right in, this app makes it all easier. When finished export to eBook, PDF, whatever.
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