It’s always such a pleasure to find out when one of my favorite developers has released a new app. That’s how I felt recently, when I read that The Low‑Tech Guys not only had a new app but that it was going to be a pretty strong player in the Mac automation field. That prompted me to approach the lead developer to learn more about the past, present and future of the company. But first, the apps.
Crank
Crank
Crank acts on triggers you define to take action without requiring user intervention. It’s more powerful than just Apple Shortcuts or Shortery, but at just €8 for a five-seat lifetime license, it stops short of Keyboard Maestro’s complexity and price.
Crank can do all of this and a lot more:
Stop notifications from interrupting Zoom calls
Check and fic quarantine issues on everything you download
Toggle VPN usage based on the connected wi-fi network
Move downloaded ebooks right into calibre
Change the audio output to bluetooh headphones or speakers when they connect
Automatically adjust your display
Disconnect Bluetooth devices before closing the MacBook lid
The Portfolio
It was the quality of Low Tech Guys' previous applications that made me happy to hear about their new release. I first encountered one of their apps a couple of years ago when I discovered Clop. Since then, I have systematically gone through their portfolio to take advantage of the extremely useful, free, and low‑priced powerhouses they’ve developed.
Clop
Clop ($15) - Clop automatically optimizes (reduces) the file sizes of images, videos and PDFs copied to your clipboard. Optionally, it can also convert files on the fly. Clop can even feed the results to a shortcut for further processing. You can set it so that it watches specific folders for different file types. - Clop - Image, video, PDF and clipboard optimiser
rcmd (FREE) - rcmd uses your right command key + a letter to launch applications. You get app-launching hotkeys without having to set them up manually, although you can do that too. You can use the same hotkey to hide an app or cycle through other apps. If you pait rcmd with Hammerspoon, you can even cycle through windows, not just apps. rcmd - Switch apps instantly using the ⌘ Right Command key
Lunar
Lunar ($23) - Lunar is the acknowledged leader in display control for all DDC capable monitors, whether it’s a brand new Apple Studio with a Mac Pro, or a no name brand connected to a Hackintosh. It’s features include:
Extending keyboard control for brightness and volume to all displays
Extra controls on Apple native displays
Sync mode to change the brightness of all connected displays based on the built-in Ambient Light Sensor
Exceed the brightness constraints on XDR Apple laptop displays
Dial screen brightness below the 0% setting (because that’s not really 0%)
Startup Folder (FREE) - Startup folder gives you aw way to open anything at startup, apps. shortcuts, links and files. It can hide anything you wajt running but not on screen even when that’s not a native feature. You can optionally set it up to keeps apps from quitting and if they fo, they will automatically be relaunched. Startup Folder - Run anything at startup by simply placing it in a special folder
Pipiri
Pipiri (€8) - Pipiri brings picture in a picture functionality to ant macOS window and that has more use cases than you would think"
Watching a long-running terminal command while working in another app
Keeping logs visible while debugging software
Keeping an eye on AI agent progress (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, etc.) while browsing
Streaming a video that doesn’t support native PiP (Twitter/X, Reddit, Twitch, etc.)
Monitoring a dashboard or CI pipeline without switching windows
To see everything The Low Tech Guys have to offer, check out this page,
"Low-Tech Guy \#1"
If you’ve ever wished your external monitor behaved more like a MacBook display, you’ve probably encountered Lunar, the powerful monitor control utility from developer Alin Panaitiu. Over the past several years Alin has quietly built a small ecosystem of thoughtful Mac tools including Clop, rcmd, Crank, and others that focus on real workflow problems rather than novelty.
I asked Alin about how he got started, the challenges of building hardware-adjacent Mac apps, and what he’s working on next.
How did you get started in app development?
I got started in 2017 after buying my first external monitor for my MacBook; an LG 4K display with USB-C.
It was a great monitor, but something felt off. Unlike the MacBook, it had no adaptive brightness. In fact, the brightness couldn’t be adjusted at all.
That sent me down the rabbit hole. I discovered DDC, the protocol used to control monitor settings, and started building Lunar so my external monitor could adapt its brightness automatically.
For about four years Lunar was completely free and open source. In 2021 I took the leap, quit my job as a Python engineer, and started working full-time on the paid Lunar Pro tier.
“I discovered DDC and started building Lunar because I wanted my monitor to adapt its brightness automatically.”
Is Low-Tech Guys your full-time job?
Yes; if you can call it a normal job.
It’s my only source of income and where most of my effort goes. But the rhythm isn’t typical.
Sometimes macOS changes break something important and I end up working 14-hour days. Other weeks are quieter; answering support emails and fixing the occasional bug.
Which of your apps has been the most challenging to build?
Lunar, without question.
It operates very close to hardware; communicating directly with monitors, Raspberry Pis, and ESP32 chips. That’s very different from most macOS software.
Hardware is unpredictable. Firmware quirks, kernel panics, monitors that stall or behave strangely; problems that only occur on a particular user’s setup.
Those are incredibly difficult to debug because they can’t always be reproduced locally.
“Hardware can be unpredictable; stalling, kernel panics, wrong firmware, missing bits. Things that only happen on a user’s very specific setup.”
Which developers do you admire?
Sindre Sorhus for building an enormous ecosystem of Swift packages that macOS developers rely on, including Defaults and Hotkeys.
I also admire Ryan Hanson for creating Superkey, which finally allowed me to ditch Karabiner-Elements.
And Saagar Jha, whose work on macOS reverse engineering taught me a great deal.
You recently released Crank. What are you working on next?
No new apps for the moment. Crank and Pipiri took a lot of effort and I’m a bit drained right now.
Instead I’m focusing on rcmd v3 and Clop v3.
rcmd v3
The next version of rcmd will include: • Native window switching • Launching apps by holding rcmd and typing letters Example: rcmd S P O launches Spotify • Window search with quick typing Example: rcmd X C jumps to Xcode → Crank window • Searching windows by title • Stages; saving sets of apps and windows as workspaces • Instant switching between stages using rcmd + letter • Optional trigger keys such as Caps Lock or Fn
Clop v3
Clop is moving toward a pipeline-based optimization system where multiple file operations can happen without repeatedly re-encoding data.
Example workflows might look like:
Images dropped into ~/Desktop/blog • optimize • resize to 1600px width • convert to WebP • move to ~/Projects/blog
Videos dropped into Dropzone • optimize using a high-quality encoder • speed up to 1.5× • remove audio • upload with Dropshare • copy the URL to the clipboard
PDFs dropped into an Invoices folder • optimize • crop to A4 • extract text to a file
Other improvements include a dropzone that appears near the cursor and better support for external storage.
I wrote a review of Cling that was a bit tough on it. You handled that gracefully. What’s the current state of Cling?
Tax laws in my country changed significantly, forcing me to move from an LLC to a sole proprietorship.
To simplify accounting I consolidated everything under Paddle.
That meant ending contracts with Setapp, Apple distribution agreements, and other marketplaces. As a result, my apps are now free on the App Store, while paid licensing is handled through Paddle.
I don’t expect that arrangement to change anytime soon.
Closing Thoughts
Talking with Alin, a theme keeps surfacing: the most useful Mac utilities often come from developers scratching their own workflow itch. Lunar began with a simple frustration; an external monitor that couldn’t adjust its brightness.
Since then that curiosity has grown into a small but influential set of tools used by Mac power users around the world. And if the roadmaps for rcmd v3, Clop v3, and eventually Cling are any indication, Alin is far from done refining the Mac experience.
For users who care about thoughtful utilities and deep macOS integration, his work is well worth watching.
I get a lot of use out of my Elgato Stream Deck. It’s one of the best hardware purchases I’ve made in a long time.
It didn’t start that way.
Shortly after I bought it, I discovered that the device falls under the privacy policy of its parent company, Corsair. The policy reads like it was written by lawyers trying to cover every possible future use case.
According to the policy, potential data categories include:
identity information (name, account ID, email)
device identifiers and serial numbers
IP address and network data
usage data and clickstream behavior
crash diagnostics and performance metrics
location information
audio/visual content uploaded through services
inferred behavioral profiles based on collected data
That’s a lot of potential data collection for what is essentially a programmable USB button panel.
The Stream Deck itself doesn’t need the internet to do its core job. At its heart, it’s a USB device that sends keyboard shortcuts, launches apps, and runs scripts. None of that requires a network connection.
However, the official Elgato software integrates a plugin marketplace and update system. Plugins can call APIs, communicate with remote servers, and run Node.js components. That’s where the network traffic starts.
The Practical Privacy Fix
The simplest solution is to block the Stream Deck software from accessing the internet.
It’s subscription-based, but it gives me a second Stream Deck surface on an iPhone or iPad. That’s useful when the physical device is already full or when I want a secondary control panel on another screen. You have to own a physical Stream Deck in order to use it.
For something that started out looking like an overengineered YouTuber gadget, the Stream Deck has quietly become one of the most practical automation tools on my desk.
macOS 26 (Tahoe) is now months into its lifespan. The UI chaos it caused for menu bar management apps has calmed down a bit, but the situation is still far from stable.
A combination of API limitations, OS-level redesigns, and tighter security controls broke many of the assumptions apps like Bartender, Ice, and Barbee relied on. As a result, behavior that used to be predictable is now anything but.
Common symptoms include:
icons disappearing and reappearing randomly
the OS overriding the order of icons
management apps losing track of icon positions
items reindexing themselves
settings resetting
hidden items suddenly reappearing
Even something as basic as determining whether a menu bar icon is visible has become unreliable. For example, NSStatusItem.isVisible can return true even when the icon is hidden behind the notch or pushed offscreen by menu titles.
The new OS-level menu bar controls are also incomplete. Tahoe will quietly hide items when the bar gets crowded, and apps receive no notification when that happens. From a developer’s perspective, the OS is moving the furniture around without telling anyone.
To work around this, some menu bar managers now request:
Screen Recording permission
Accessibility access
Event monitoring
That understandably makes some users uneasy. Worse, Tahoe’s restrictions on these permissions sometimes cause side effects such as ghost clicks, cursor interference, or other input glitches across the system.
None of this is malicious; it’s just what happens when an ecosystem built on clever workarounds collides with a new security model.
What the Future Probably Looks Like
Long term, the situation likely resolves in one of three ways:
Apple ships a real menu bar overflow manager
Apple exposes proper status-item APIs for developers
The category slowly fades as launchers replace menu bar workflows
The third possibility is already happening.
Launchers are increasingly taking over tasks that used to live in the menu bar. The bar itself is drifting toward a status display, not an interaction surface. You glance at it to see whether something is syncing or connected. When you actually want to do something, you open a launcher.
Accepting a Partial Solution
Over the past few months I’ve tested most of the menu bar managers currently available. Like many power users, I ended up choosing the option that annoys me the least. That is not the same thing as finding a solution that makes me happy.
Different setups behave differently. The manager that works well for Power User A might be completely unusable for Power User B depending on hardware, display configuration, and which menu bar apps are installed.
I only recently realized that my use of screenshots falls into two very different categories.
On one hand, I use screenshots to illustrate blog posts and social media. That usually amounts to two or three captures a day.
On the other hand, I take screenshots constantly for technical reasons; learning a new application, documenting my self-hosted server configuration, keeping track of network settings in my home lab, or simply capturing information during everyday tech work.
For the past couple of years, I’ve relied almost exclusively on CleanShot X for screenshots.
Recently I discovered ScreenFloat, which is designed for the second scenario. It’s not really an app where you capture a screenshot and file it away. Instead, the screenshots you take stay visible while you work so you can reference them.
If the screenshot contains text, that’s not a problem. ScreenFloat includes some of the strongest built-in OCR capabilities I’ve seen in this category.
Capture
Capturing screenshots is straightforward. You can grab a static region of the screen or use a timer when you need to trigger some UI element before the capture occurs.
ScreenFloat also supports screen recording with microphone and system audio.
You can start a capture from:
a keyboard shortcut
the menu bar
a widget
One small but practical detail; unless you change it, the next capture will reuse the same screen region as the previous one. When you’re repeatedly documenting the same part of an interface, that saves time.
Floating Screenshots
Floating screenshots are surprisingly useful when you treat them as working references.
Typical examples:
coding or scripting while referencing documentation
technical writing while capturing UI elements
design work where you need to sample colors or inspect visual details
Anyone working in a screen-heavy workflow quickly understands the value.
ScreenFloat works well here for two main reasons.
First, it includes a solid set of built-in editing tools. You can crop, rotate, resize, annotate, and redact sensitive information such as text or faces. Screenshots can also be folded (collapsed) so they stay available without taking up much screen space.
The text tools go beyond simple OCR. ScreenFloat can detect and interact with:
links
phone numbers
barcodes
Second, the app is designed around the idea that screenshots are reference material, not just disposable images.
Every capture is stored in a built-in library called the Shots Browser. It includes:
smart folders
tagging
favorites and ratings
full-text search
If you run ScreenFloat on multiple Macs, you can access the same Shots Browser from other devices. That’s a genuinely useful feature. Most competing tools simply dump screenshots into Finder folders and leave organization up to you.
What’s to Like
Aside from the feature set, the one-time purchase price of $17.99 is refreshing.
ScreenFloat also supports Mac automation tools such as:
Shortcuts
AppleScript
That makes it much easier to integrate into an existing automation workflow.
The developer, Matthias Gansrigler-Hrad, has a long-standing reputation for maintaining his apps and responding to users. I bought my first app from him more than a decade ago; the long-lived shelf utility Yoink.
ScreenFloat has also seen frequent updates since version 2 was released.
Version 2.3.5 (March 2026) added:
improved search results in the Shots Browser
ability to capture the mouse cursor in timed shots
drag-and-drop support in the markup editor
improved widget appearance
easier access to image-copy options
Possible Drawbacks
Like any feature-rich tool, ScreenFloat has a bit of a learning curve. The interface is well designed, but it still takes some time to understand everything it can do.
My recommendation is simple; start with one feature and build from there.
Another practical consideration is that floating screenshots are still windows. If you leave a few dozen of them open, you can expect some impact on system resources.
And if you’re looking for a full-blown screen recording and media production suite, this isn’t that kind of tool.
Conclusion
ScreenFloat isn’t just another screenshot utility. There are plenty of good ones.
What makes ScreenFloat interesting is that it treats screenshots as working references, not just images you capture and forget.
For developers, designers, writers, or anyone else who spends their day juggling information across multiple windows, that idea turns out to be surprisingly powerful.
Requirements: Requires macOS Monterey 12.3 or newer
Privacy Policy: The developer does not collect any data from this app.
I’ve long been in the habit of using third-party file managers on macOS. I used Pathfinder for years, then switched to Qspace Pro a couple of years ago. I also bought Bloom during a Black Friday sale last year to see what it could do.
Recently, though, I’ve grown tired of paying the RAM tax these apps demand. Both Qspace and Bloom routinely use over 1 GB of memory. In my setup, they are often the most RAM-hungry applications running other than Chromium- or Gecko-based browsers.
I still don’t understand why Apple hasn’t implemented an optional dual-pane interface in Finder. But if the goal is freeing up system resources, there are workable alternatives.
The approach that’s been working for me is simple: keep using Finder, then add a handful of small utilities that extend it. Apps with Finder extensions can restore many of the features people install full replacement file managers to get in the first place.
You won’t replicate every feature found in Qspace Pro or Bloom, but you can get surprisingly close by layering a few focused utilities on top of Finder.
Supercharge
Supercharge adds optional buttons to the Finder toolbar for actions like toggling hidden files or opening the current folder in Ghostty. It also extends Finder’s right-click context menu with a number of genuinely useful commands.
Examples include:
Cut & Paste
Copy Path
Copy To…
Move To…
Open in Ghostty
Toggle Hidden Files
AirDrop
Inline Share Menu
Show File Size
Show Image Dimensions
Open In App
It also adds a set of Finder behavior tweaks, such as:
Allow quitting Finder with ⌘Q
Open files with the Return key
Create new text files
Invert Finder selection
Automatically resize columns
None of these features are individually groundbreaking, but together they noticeably improve day-to-day Finder usability.
Menuist
Menuist is primarily a right-click context-menu extender, though it includes a few extra utilities as well.
It overlaps somewhat with Supercharge, but it also adds capabilities that normally require separate utilities. For example:
Folder history
Run shell scripts on selected files
Remove files from disk (bypass the Trash)
Create many types of new files
Set folder covers
Favorite folders submenu
Copy file or folder name without copying the full path
Menuist also replaces a couple of small utilities people often install just to color folders or paste clipboard images as files.
Other apps in this category include MouseBoost, which is fairly capable, and MagicMenu, which in my experience is best avoided.
HoudahSpot
One of the traditional advantages of third-party file managers is a more capable search interface.
Finder’s built-in search is decent but limited. Pairing Finder with HoudahSpot gives you something much more powerful.
HoudahSpot can add an optional toolbar button to Finder that launches complex saved searches or lets you build new ones on the fly. If you regularly search by metadata, file attributes, or nested criteria, it’s a major upgrade over the standard Finder search UI.
Default Folder X
Default Folder X is best known for enhancing file-open and save dialogs, but it also integrates tightly with Finder.
It adds a navigation toolbar that gives quick access to:
Favorite folders
Recent folders
Recent files
Open Finder windows
A fast inline search
It can also add a file shelf to Finder windows. This acts as a temporary staging area where you can collect files before moving them to their final destination. If you frequently reorganize files across multiple folders, this feature is surprisingly useful.
Keka
Keka is a free, powerful compression utility that integrates with Finder. Once installed, its compression and extraction features appear directly in Finder’s context menu and toolbar.
It supports common archive formats and can encrypt archives when needed, which makes it more capable than macOS’s built-in compression tools.
BetterTouchTool
BetterTouchTool is primarily known for input automation, but it can also extend Finder.
You can add custom actions to Finder’s toolbar or context menu and trigger scripts directly from them. In practice, this turns Finder into a launch point for your own automation.
For example, I use BetterTouchTool actions to:
Remove quarantine flags from apps
Fix the “damaged app” warning macOS sometimes shows for unsigned software
Run quick file-management scripts on selected items
At that point Finder stops feeling like a limited file manager and starts behaving more like a programmable front-end for your own workflows.
The bigger realization for me was this: many of the reasons people install heavy file-manager replacements are really just missing Finder conveniences. A handful of small utilities can fill those gaps while keeping Finder itself lightweight.
If your main complaint about Finder is the lack of a dual-pane interface, this approach won’t solve that. But if what you actually want is faster navigation, better search, stronger context menus, and automation hooks, extending Finder can get you surprisingly far without the 1 GB memory footprint.
NeoFinder is a macOS app that catalogs disks and media, creating a searchable database of your files no matter where they live: internal drives, external drives, NAS volumes, shared network drives, removable media (CDs, DVDs, USB drives), and even inside archives.
The real magic is its ability to search offline drives; drives that aren’t currently mounted. NeoFinder does this by maintaining an inventory of file names, folder structures, and a surprisingly deep set of metadata. It can even generate thumbnails and previews for many media types, so you can visually identify files without connecting the original drive.
For anyone with a long digital history spread across multiple devices and storage formats, that capability alone makes NeoFinder worth paying attention to.
Who NeoFinder Is For (and Who It Isn't)
NeoFinder's User Base
Families and couples with merged or parallel photo libraries This is where I fit in. My wife and I are longtime iOS users who also shoot plenty of photos with DSLRs. We’ve worn out multiple photo scanners over the years and still have photo discs dating back to the 90s.
Cold-storage users If you have stacks of USB hard drives, binders full of flash cards, or a NAS that only gets powered on occasionally, NeoFinder becomes extremely useful.
Multimedia digital packrats Tens of thousands of music tracks? A serious movie or TV collection? Huge ebook libraries? NeoFinder shines when that media is spread across multiple volumes.
NAS-centric setups Especially when the built-in search tools on your NAS aren’t good enough or when you want to catalog everything before reorganizing storage.
Small teams NeoFinder can run with a shared catalog database on a NAS or network share so teams can work from a common media index with consistent tags. (Different license tiers apply.)
People Who Probably Don't Need NeoFinder
If your entire media collection lives on a single always-connected cloud service and you rely on its built-in search, NeoFinder probably adds little value. NeoFinder becomes valuable when storage is fragmented across multiple drives, and some of those drives are offline, archived, or only occasionally connected.
It’s also not for someone simply looking for a replacement for Apple Photos without investing time in metadata. NeoFinder works best when you’re willing to use keywords, captions, people, locations, and other structured metadata.
What Makes It a Good Choice
Offline search, even accessible from an iPhone or iPad.
Extremely powerful metadata support, especially for media collections.
Deep macOS integration, including Finder context menus, AppleScript, Quick Look, and compatibility with apps like FileMaker and Roxio Toast.
Media-specific previews, including:
Photo thumbnails
Video metadata extraction via FFmpeg
Audio metadata including cover art, lyrics, and previews
The AppAddict Test
Music
I’m exactly the kind of user NeoFinder was built for.
My photo library is huge and messy. My music collection goes back to the Napster era and includes everything from original Carter Family recordings to spoken-word tracks from Gil Scott-Herron. My movie and TV collection is a mix of rips, downloads, digital purchases, and the occasional file that mysteriously “fell off a truck.”
My ebook library alone contains more than 18,000 titles in twelve different formats.
NeoFinder helps bring order to that chaos.
It can identify duplicates, normalize metadata, and organize photos using standardized metadata fields including geotagging. Finding photos from past trips or events becomes dramatically easier. We photograph a lot of ultramarathon events, and locating images from an obscure mountain race in 2018 used to be a real chore.
NeoFinder’s filtering tools also help with technical housekeeping. For example, you can identify videos using outdated codecs, unusual bitrates, or missing subtitle tracks. That makes it easier to modernize large collections over time.
Even ebook organization becomes simpler; building subject-specific libraries or collections for particular people takes minutes instead of hours.
Similar Apps
DiskCatalogMaker (macOS) A macOS cataloging utility that scans disks and folders to build searchable offline indexes of files, making it easy to locate content stored on external drives or archived media without mounting them.
iView MediaPro / Expression Media (legacy) Once one of the dominant professional digital asset managers, used to organize large photo, video, and document collections with rich metadata and powerful cataloging tools.
Extensis Portfolio / Canto Cumulus Enterprise-grade digital asset management platforms designed for organizations to catalog, tag, search, and distribute large media libraries across teams.
WinCatalog (Windows) A Windows disk cataloging tool that indexes external drives, network shares, and removable media so files can be searched even when the original storage is offline.
Every text expansion app promises the same core trick: type a short trigger; get a longer block of text. What actually matters is reliability, friction, and whether the app helps you build real workflows instead of just automating ⌘V.
Rocket Typistis a one-time purchase Mac text expander from Witt Software. It focuses on dynamic snippets built with simple macros, all managed from a centralized library that lets you preview exactly what will be inserted before you commit.
It’s normally $19.99 for the Pro version; it’s currently on sale at BundleHunt for $3.50. It’s also available through Setapp, although some users report bugs in the Setapp version that don’t appear in the standalone release.
The Mac text expansion space is crowded: TextExpander, Espanso, aText, PhraseExpress, and even Raycast Snippets all compete here. Rocket Typist positions itself as a middle ground: more capable than lightweight snippet tools; less complex and less enterprise-heavy than the big subscription platforms.
What Rocket Typist Actually Does
I’ve used text expanders for years, and the real value shows up in boring, repetitive work:
Standardized responses to common questions, including troubleshooting steps.
Email templates for replies I send every week.
Frequently used URLs, addresses, and signatures.
Blog post scaffolding, AI prompt templates, and structured note headers.
Custom autocorrect for words I still can’t seem to type correctly.
Rocket Typist treats snippets less like a warehouse of static text and more like reusable building blocks. That distinction matters once your library grows past a couple dozen entries.
Macro Library
Macros Are the Real Feature
Rocket Typist’s dynamic elements are called macros. These let snippets adapt at insertion time instead of being fixed text.
From the developer:
“Use macros to add dynamic elements to your snippets… The Labeled Macros Hub provides you a central location to edit and apply macros consistently across multiple snippets… preview your snippets, complete with all macros applied, before inserting them.”
Marketing language aside, three things matter in practice:
Multiple macro types: date, time, text input fields, clipboard content, cursor placement, key functions, and more.
A centralized Macro Hub for managing and reusing them.
Live preview before insertion, so you see exactly what will be generated.
That preview feature is underrated. When you’re inserting variable content into a live email or ticketing system, being able to confirm the output before it hits the page prevents sloppy mistakes.
How It Works in Real Workflows
Static snippets are useful. Macros turn snippets into a lightweight automation layer.
Concrete examples:
Consistent date formatting across tickets and reports.
Templates that prompt you for name, ticket number, location, or device type.
Standardized headers for blog posts or Obsidian notes.
Support responses that insert today’s date, your signature, and a preformatted checklist.
Rocket Typist’s macro library also supports batch editing. If you need to update a common element across multiple snippets, you don’t have to touch each one manually.
Compared to Espanso or PhraseExpress, Rocket Typist feels less like you’re configuring a YAML-driven mini-programming environment and more like you’re using a Mac app. For many users, that’s a feature, not a limitation.
Who It’s Built For
Rocket Typist makes the most sense for solo Mac users. It’s not trying to be an enterprise collaboration platform.
1) Writers and Bloggers
You can create consistent document layouts with dynamic fields for titles, dates, categories, or boilerplate disclosures. It’s especially useful if you publish frequently and want structural consistency without copying old files.
2) Support Specialists and Repetition-Heavy Roles
In my tech support days, snippets handled:
Self-service password change instructions.
Campus Wi-Fi connection steps.
Clarifying which ticket type users should submit.
Equipment loan and purchase procedures.
Macros let you personalize these without rewriting them from scratch.
3) Users Who’ve Outgrown Lightweight Tools
Raycast Snippets are convenient but intentionally minimal. Rocket Typist offers:
Rich text and formatted snippets.
A dedicated snippet management interface.
More robust macro support.
Better scaling as your library grows.
If you’ve hit the ceiling with basic snippet tools but don’t want a subscription platform, this is where Rocket Typist fits.
If it already works for you, there’s no urgent reason to switch. Rocket Typist offers a more modern interface and stronger macro tooling at a low one-time cost.
Excellent for lightweight expansions inside an already great launcher. Limited dynamic logic and no centralized macro h
Pricing and Versions
Rocket Typist’s pricing could be clearer. The website describes the upgrade in vague terms:
“Rocket Typist is free to use with a basic feature set. Upgrade to Rocket Typist Pro for the full experience.”
You shouldn’t have to install an app to understand the feature split.
Rocket Typist Pro (as described in-app)
Upgrading unlocks:
Unlimited snippets
All snippet types:
Formatted text
Images
Smart snippets
Code snippets
All macro types:
Date and time
Text
Clipboard content
Cursor placement
Special key macros
Access to future Pro features.
Unlimited snippets plus full macro support is the real value here.
Tiers in Practice
Free: Basic feature set with limits.
Basic purchase ($9.99): App Store version that adds iOS and iPad compatibility.
Rocket Typist Pro for Mac ($19.99; currentlyon sale for $3.50): Full Mac feature set with unlimited snippets and all macros.
If you’re considering it, the BundleHunt price significantly lowers the barrier to trying it seriously.
Final Thoughts
Rocket Typist isn’t trying to dominate the enterprise. It’s not trying to turn snippet management into a side hobby. It’s a practical tool for people who type the same structured content over and over and want dynamic flexibility without a subscription.
If you live in email, ticketing systems, documentation tools, or Markdown editors, and you care about consistency and speed, Rocket Typist earns a serious look
Typora is a
long-established Mac Markdown editor that renders as you type; no
dual-pane preview, no “toggle to see what it really looks like” mode.
It’s especially strong with tables and code blocks. If you write with
math, it’s one of the cleanest LaTeX experiences on macOS. Mermaid
diagrams are also straightforward.
It doesn’t try to be everything. It’s not a platform. It’s not a note
system It’s not an IDE. It’s a text editor for creating production ready
documents.
What It Does
Typora is a Markdown editor built around a single-pane, live-rendered
approach. You write Markdown You see the formatted document as you go.
In practice, it feels closer to a word processor than most Markdown
editors, but your files stay portable. Typora also exports to a wide
range of formats (including HTML, DOCX, PDF, and ePub); if your workflow
ends in a CMS, a PDF, or an ebook, that matters.
Where it Fits
Most Markdown apps push people toward two extremes:
Heavy systems: great for linking, research, and long-term knowledge management; sometimes overkill for drafting. Think Obsidian.
Minimal editors: great for flow; often too limited once you want real structure. Think MarkEdit.
Typora sits between those two. It gives you a calm writing surface, but
it also handles publishing-oriented Markdown without drama: headings,
lists, code blocks, tables, images, and exports.
If you bounced off “note system” complexity but still want more than
plain-text minimalism, Typora is the middle ground.
Feature List (What Writers Actually Care About)
Live rendering in a single pane; structure stays visible while you draft
Clean themes and readable typography; long posts are less fatiguing
Document outline; useful for checking structure before you hit publish
Solid support for code blocks, tables, and math (when you need it)
Practical image handling for posts that involve screenshots
Typora isn’t trying to compete with a PKM ecosystem or a full writing
suite. It’s trying to be the editor you open when you want to write.
What I Like
A Mature Editor that Stays out of Your Way Typora feels
like software that knows what it is. The interface stays quiet; the
feature set stays focused. You can move from outline to draft to polish
without living in sidebars, plugin browsers, or “workspace” metaphors.
Live Rendering Reduces Formatting Mistakes For review
writing, quality comes from structure. Typora makes it obvious while
you’re still drafting whether the post will scan:
Headings are consistent
Lists read cleanly
Emphasis stays under control
Code blocks look like code blocks
It Works Well with Markdown as a Source Format If you
care about plain files, Typora fits the “future-proof drafts” mindset.
You keep Markdown portability without forcing yourself into a spartan
writing experience.
It Is Not a Note System If you expect backlinks, daily
notes, tasks, or a full “second brain,” Typora isn’t built for that.
It’s a document editor.
Export Quality
The real question isn’t “can Typora export?”. It's whether it works with
the tools in your workflow.
Typora can export HTML, but paste behavior varies by web editor. Some
preserve semantic HTML. Some strip styles; some mangle lists and code
blocks. If export matters, test it like you actually publish:
Write a short post with headings, a table, a code block, and an image
Export to HTML
Paste into your CMS/editor
Check what breaks (lists, spacing, code formatting); decide based on that
Details
Latest update highlights — The last major update
(September 2025) brought macOS 26 Tahoe compliance and enabled the Share
Sheet on all supported systems.
Privacy — Typora is primarily local; your content stays
on disk unless you put it in a synced folder. Privacy is mostly
determined by your sync choice; not the editor.
System Requirements — Optimized for Apple Silicon and
supports macOS v11 and up.
Price — 14.99 for a three seat license. (No
subscriptions)
iA Writer - focused drafting; different philosophy
Bear - excellent notes app; different model than plain Markdown files
Obsidian - outstanding system; heavier for pure drafting
VS Code - capable; feels like the IDE it is unless tailored
Conclusion
Typora is worth revisiting because it stays focused. It’s stable, writes
clean Markdown, and helps you ship well-structured posts without turning
writing into an app-management hobby.
Veteran Mac developer Amy Worrall of Double and Thrice Ltd.
recently released Octavo, a focused macOS app for
booklet printing and imposition.
If you’ve never dealt with imposition, here’s the short version: it’s
the process of arranging individual pages on a larger sheet so that,
once printed, folded, cut, and bound, everything lands in the correct
order. When you see a press sheet with page 1 next to page 16 and page 2
upside down on the reverse, that’s not chaos. That’s math doing its job.
Historically, tools that handle this well have been aimed at print
professionals and priced accordingly, often in the
several-hundred-dollar range. Octavo does the same core job for $25.
It’s available on the Mac App
Store.
You can test it for free. The trial version watermarks output with
Octavo branding, so it’s fine for evaluation but not for production
runs.
How It Compares
Octavo occupies similar territory to Create
Booklet 2, but the experience feels more modern and hands-on.
The multi-pane, task-based interface keeps the workflow linear and
visible. You can visually drag margins instead of typing numeric values
and guessing. There’s also a source cleanup step before layout, which is
especially useful if you’re working from imperfect scans or PDFs that
need minor correction before printing.
Compared to something like InDesign, Octavo is refreshingly direct.
You’re not jumping to a separate properties panel filled with abstract
numeric fields that feel disconnected from the page. You’re also not
importing content into a full layout suite just to produce a folded
booklet.
This is not a layout engine for designing the book. It’s a tool for
correctly imposing a finished PDF so you can print and bind it without
gymnastics.
Printer Compatibility
If you’re wondering whether this will work with a consumer-grade
printer, the answer is yes.
Octavo doesn’t require a PostScript device or specialty hardware. If
macOS can print to it, Octavo can use it. The app relies on standard
macOS printing APIs; it reads available paper sizes, margins, and
printer capabilities from the system. It can also control relevant print
settings such as duplex edge binding where appropriate.
It does not talk directly to the printer firmware. That’s a good thing.
It means you’re working within Apple’s printing stack rather than some
proprietary workaround.
In practice, that includes:
AirPrint printers
Basic home inkjets
Office laser printers
PostScript-enabled devices
If it shows up in your macOS print dialog, it’s fair game.
Design and Fit
Octavo feels like a traditional Mac app in the best sense. It’s focused,
single-purpose, and built for desktop workflows rather than a
cross-platform abstraction layer. There’s no subscription pitch and no
unnecessary feature creep.
Even the icon shows care. Worrall built it in Fusion 360, textured and
rendered it in Blender, then finished it in Photoshop. That attention to
detail tracks with the rest of the app.
Who This Is For
If you:
Print short-run booklets at home or in a small office
Produce documentation that needs to be folded and stapled
Make zines or event programs
Regularly wrestle with page order and duplex settings
Octavo is a practical tool that removes friction from a very specific
workflow.
If you’re laying out a 200-page art book with complex typography and
bleed control, you’re still living in InDesign or Affinity Publisher.
Octavo is for the step after layout, when you need the pages imposed
correctly and printed cleanly.
For $25, that’s a niche tool that earns its keep quickly if you actually
print booklets.
When you're faced with text that you can't select in the conventional
way on your Mac (meaning with the cursor), there are several options.
They all work in slightly different ways, and I use the one most
appropriate for the task.
Live Text Recognition
The operating system has a feature called Live Text
Recognition , an on-device computer vision feature that detects
and extracts text from images and video so you can interact with it like
normal text.
It uses Apple’s Neural Engine to perform optical character recognition;
OCR, directly on your Mac. That means you can:
Select and copy text from photos in Finder, Preview, Photos, or screenshots
Click phone numbers to call via iPhone integration
Translate detected text instantly
Look up addresses, track packages, or search highlighted words
The key idea is this: pixels become selectable characters without
sending your data to the cloud. It quietly turns static images into
searchable, actionable information.
Cleanshot X
My go to choice is Cleanshot X, mainly
because it's always running on my Mac anyway. Live Text Recognition
requires you to open an image in an app like Preview first. Cleanshot X
let's you select any region and get text immediately. The downside is
that Cleanshot X is a paid app.
Raycast
There is a Raycast
extension called Easy OCR that combines the features of
Live Text Recognition and Cleanshot X. After you invoke it, Easy OCR can
be used on an image you've already captured, the clipboard or an area
you select on screen. Just search for it in the Raycast Store.
(Free)
Text Sniper
TextSniper Prefs
Even if you have the tools previously mentioned, there should still be
room in your toolbox for TextSniper, an OCR app for YouTube
videos, PDFs, images, online courses, screencasts, presentations,
webpages, video tutorials, photos, etc. Like Cleanshot X, you don't
have to make screen captures and open them in Preview to grab text. In
my experience it works better than alternatives like PDF Pen, Adobe
products, Google Docs etc. As long as you can draw a rectangle around
the text, it doesn't matter if it's rotating, angled or shadowed.
Unique Features
Removes line breaks
Built-in text to speech
Additive clipboard feature if the text you are trying to capture can't obtained on one go
Removes hyphens from words divided across a line.
Decodes standard bar and QR codes. Enabling a keyboard shortcut lets you turn those into numbers.
Text Sniper is currently on
sale for $2. That should be a no brainer. It is also available as
part of SetApp.
OCRmyPDF
OCRmyPDF is an open-source command-line tool that adds a text
layer to scanned PDFs while keeping the image intact. It
creates searchable PDF/A output. You can use it via this
Apple Shortcut..
I have tried a variety of notch apps, and I haven't been truly happy
with any of them. I am not sure whether the novelty of the interface is
the problem, or if it's the design of the apps I've used that bothers
me. I recently installed Droppy, an app built entirely with
Swift for speed and stability, and I like it more than the other notch
apps I've used. I don't say this lightly, but it could be the best $7
you ever spend on software.
It isn't overloaded with superfluous features, and the features it does have can be toggled on and off easily. It also seems very
stable--I haven't encountered any bugs so far.
Utility Replacements
Depending on which features you enable, Droppy can replace several
categories of single-purpose apps:
Clipboard Manager -- Toggled off by default, you can enable a clipboard manager that's accessible from the notch interface. If you cut and paste a wide variety of elements all day long, you'll want something more powerful, but for casual use it gets the job done. It has keyboard controls, lets you choose how many items to keep in your history, and includes privacy protections like disabling password storage or excluding entire apps. If you copy an image containing text--whether it's a photo or a screenshot--Droppy can use OCR to extract that text.
Mini Music Player -- The mini music player displays the current track and album art in the notch, with the usual controls for previous and next tracks, play, and pause.It works with Apple Music and Spotify.
File Shelf -- Droppy lets you drag files in and out of the notch or into a floating window, much like apps such as Dropover, Yoink, and Gladys.
Quick Share - Upload files to the cloud and share the link with anyone
Mini-terminal - Run Shell commands right from the notch
Transcription - Use Droppy to transcribe text that you dictate.
Extensions
Just Some of the Exrensions
Droppy's architecture allows you to add or remove features through
extensions. This keeps the bloat down. You won't be faced with menu
options for Spotify or Alfred if, like me, you don't use either of those
products. The currently available extensions include:
AI background removal
Alfred integration
Adding the Services menu
Spotify integration
Screen capture of UI elements
Window snapping
Voice transcription
Other Features
A heads-up display appears when you use the keyboard controls for brightness and volume. You can also enable an HUD for AirPods if you use them with your Mac.
On my M2 MacBook Air, Droppy uses about as much memory as Apple Notes or Messages--that is to say, not much. It does consume some CPU cycles and power, but it's not going to hog your system resources.
You can choose to have Droppy appear as a notch even on Macs that don't actually have one. Alternatively, you can have it appear as a Dynamic Island to mimic the behavior on the iPhone. The functionality is the same either way.
Other Notch Apps
I tried Notchnook shortly after it came out, and it felt more like a
minimally viable product than a finished app--despite its $25 price tag.
It left a bad taste in my mouth.
My second choice in this category is Dynamic
Lake Pro, which sells for $15.90 on Gumroad. It has a couple of
features Droppy doesn't, such as a weather and calendar HUD and
notification support. It's updated frequently, and the developer is very
responsive to bug reports and user questions.
No Drama
The developer of Droppy was recently subjected to a concerted campaign
of disparagement by a competitor that involved brigading and a lot of
Reddit style drama. That's unfortunate but he handled it with grace and
class. If you have questions, here
is a good explainer.
MacPilot, a
customization and utility app from Koingo Software, normally sells for
$29.95 but it is currently $3.99 on Bundlehunt. There are
similar apps like Onyx and Tinker
Tool out there that are free, but for the price I thought I'd take a
look.
Applications
Apps
Mac Pilot contains settings for several system apps. Here are just of
the few things it can control.
Calendar - change event duration
Disk Utility - modify core storage
Dock - single app mode, enable window previews
Finder - enable "Quit Finder"
Help Viewer - user normal instead of floating windows
Music - enable half-star ratings
Quick Time - Remember open movies on quit
Safari - Backspace goes to previous page
Screen Capture - change file type
Spotlight - Reset index
System - Disable notification center
Terminal - Window focus follows mouse
Time Machine - Do not prompt to use connected drives and allow backup to unsupported device types
Disk
Gives info and lets you perform maintenance on individual partitions
Disks info
Files Info
Maintenance
File Browser
Detailed file information and settings
General - Includes last backup date
Details - Over 30 Unix characteristics on each file
Access - Adjust traditional permissions and ACLs
Advanced - Allows you to lock files
Login
Login
Change many features of your login screen - including the displayed image, which is totally worth the whole purchase price to me!
Show or hide any users of the computer on the login screen
Enable and disable login items and launch agents
Set defaults for window states on login
Logs
Built in log viewer
Complete list of system receipts for installed software titles that issue them
Maintenance
Maintenance
Automated - Enable or disable system cron jobs
Update or rebuild launch services database
Force empty trash and clear print queue - Very Helpful!
Network
Network
Detailed info for every network interface
Custom sharing settings including enabling airdrop on legacy machines
Shortcuts to hidden utilities: Airport Utility, Wireless Diagnostics
Complete Port List
Network Optimization for selected broadband connections
Power
Power
Hidden settings for system, AC and battery
Sleep settings for disks, display, and system. Plus auto-power off settings
Hibernation settings
Scheduling for wake and sleep
Reference
Error Codes
Fonts
HotKey Combos
Manuals
System Profile
In addition there is a section for getting more information and doing
some optimization but it requires disabling System Integrity Protection
and I did not explore that.
The final potentially helpful tool is one that strips out the files from
binaries for either Intel or ARM processors if you are running low in
disk space and want to eliminate things you don't need. I'd make damn
sure I had a good backup before using that.
I would also stay away from disabling SIP (System Integrity Protection)
to use any of the features if you are working on your daily driver or a
Mac with access to sensitive features.
Unless you’re seeing severely degraded performance during large
writes, or macOS is actively warning you that you’re out of space, you
can usually let the system manage storage. It does a solid job.
If you do need to step in and make selective deletions, a newer app from
Switzerland—Trace—offers
genuinely informed assistance.
When it was introduced on Reddit, some commenters dismissed it as yet
another vibe-coded “optimizer.” That assumption doesn’t hold up. Trace
has thorough documentation and a deep feature set. It’s not a one-click
wrecking ball, a “system optimizer,” or a fake RAM cleaner. It’s a disk
analysis tool built for people who want to understand what’s actually
taking up space—usually user-created files—and make deliberate
decisions.
Every removal option is clearly classified as Safe,
Questionable, or Not Safe. That
framing alone separates it from most consumer cleanup tools.
One of the most practical features is its quarantine
system. Instead of deleting immediately, you can move files into
quarantine and run your Mac normally to confirm nothing breaks. If
everything checks out, send them to the Trash. If not, restore them to
their original location with a click. That’s how deletion workflows
should work.
Categories Evaluated
Trace organizes findings into categories:
Apps
Shows the app’s bundle size plus associated support files in ~/Library.
The built-in App Inspector identifies removable caches and estimates
reclaimable space if you reset them. There’s also an uninstaller that
goes beyond simply dragging to Trash.
Files
Lists user home directory files by size. On my system, the biggest
offenders were local LLM models, iPhone videos, and illustrated books in
my Calibre library. The directory inspector lets you drill down into any
folder and its subfolders for precise analysis.
Media
Reports the size of Apple media libraries (Music, Photos, TV, etc.).
Useful for spotting duplicate libraries or old “Previous iTunes
Libraries” folders that quietly accumulate over the years.
Communication
Breaks down Mail and Messages storage.
Games
Separates games from standard apps and exposes associated mods, caches,
and saved games.
Developer Tools
Analyzes Xcode data, Homebrew, Rust, Git, Python environments, and more.
If you’ve been experimenting with toolchains, this view is illuminating.
System Data
Breaks down space used inside ~/Library and other system folders,
including removable caches. On my M2 MacBook Air, Apple Intelligence
alone accounted for 11GB.
Other
If you’ve been experimenting with local AI tools (Open Claw, Ollama,
Parakeet, Osaurus, etc.), this category helps identify where those model
files actually live and how much space they’re consuming.
Trace Agent
Trace includes an optional background process called
TraceAgent. When you trash an app, TraceAgent monitors
the event and later suggests related files that may also be removable.
Important details:
No auto-delete: TraceAgent never deletes anything on its own.
Transparent suggestions: Recommendations are based on documented attributions and vendor profiles.
Optional: You can enable or disable TraceAgent at any time.
Demo-friendly: It’s fully usable in the free demo.
This strikes a reasonable balance between helpful automation and user
control.
Default App Selector
An unexpected bonus feature is a consolidated default app selector. It
centralizes system defaults for:
Browser
Mail
PDF
Documents
Spreadsheets
Presentations
Developer files
Images
Video
Audio
Archives
It’s a small thing, but having this in one interface is practical.
If you download the trial (which I recommend), read through the documentation
and the FAQ. This is not a
“click and hope” utility. It’s built for users who want context.
Trace requires Full Disk Access. It contains no telemetry and has no
cloud dependencies. The developer has stated that if development ever
stops, the code will be released as open source.
It’s not available in the Mac App Store due to sandboxing limitations.
Licenses are transferable and not locked to a single machine. Pricing is
straightforward:
Lifetime license: $29 (includes email support)
Three-seat license: $69
14-day money-back guarantee
This isn’t a magic broom. It’s a diagnostic instrument. Used
thoughtfully, it can help you reclaim space without breaking your
system—or your workflow.
When it comes to disk management, old myths die hard.
Many of us remember when hard drives were tiny and expensive. My first
PC had a 140 MB drive. I was furious that the WordPerfect executable
alone was 12 MB. One app. Twelve megabytes. That felt criminal.
Those early experiences left a mark. Even today, people worry about
“memory” when they really mean disk space. Years ago, I jokingly told a
user she should stop using large fonts because they were filling up her
drive. She believed me.
That’s the level of mythology we’re still dealing with.
The reality: macOS 26 manages disk space remarkably
well. Most users don’t need to think about disk usage until
they’re around 90% full or seeing real warning signs. Yes, bugs happen.
Eventually you’ll encounter a runaway process that eats tens of
gigabytes and refuses to let go. But that’s the exception, not the rule.
Unfortunately, some developers—usually large, marketing-driven ones—sell
fear. For forty years, the internet’s most persistent question has been:
“What program can I run to make my computer faster?” That
question fuels an entire ecosystem of apps that range from mildly
helpful to actively harmful.
Let’s break this down clearly.
Maintenance Apps
macOS automatically runs daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts.
These mainly:
Rotate and trim log files
Rebuild man page indexes
Perform minor housekeeping checks
They do not:
Purge user caches
Clean browser caches
Delete Application Support folders
Fix “System Data”
If you want to manually run those built-in scripts (not required), you
can use tools like:
These apps also include developer-written routines that clear caches and
other temporary files. Remember: caches exist for
speed. Delete them and macOS will immediately rebuild
them—using CPU cycles to do it. You usually gain nothing.
In my experience, the “maintenance” features are useful in narrow cases:
Clearing runaway logs
Machines that have been powered off for months
Systems hovering below 10% free space
Beyond that, it’s mostly cosmetic.
The tweak panels in OnyX, Cocktail, Mac
Pilot Pro, and 1Piece are a
different category. Those are customization tools, not maintenance
necessities.
Disk Space Analyzers
This is where real utility lives.
Even careful users forget about a 5 GB Linux ISO, a duplicated Calibre
library, or a long-abandoned Docker image. A good disk analyzer shows
you what’s actually consuming space.
I use DaisyDisk
occasionally to hunt anomalies. It’s excellent at surfacing:
…then you’re already covering those bases—and usually with better depth.
CleanMyMac trades specialization for convenience.
Another strong suite is MacCleaner Pro by
Nektony. Their apps are consistently high quality, well supported,
and reasonably priced. Their confusingly named App Cleaner &
Uninstaller has one of the better app-update workflows I’ve seen.
The key question isn’t “Is this app good?” It’s “Do I need all these
functions in one place?”
Uninstallers
Dragging an app to the Trash is no longer sufficient for many modern
apps.
Browsers, note apps, and tools like Day One can leave large support
folders in ~/Library. That space doesn’t magically disappear.
Both are excellent at identifying associated files. Still, always review
what’s being deleted before confirming.
What You Can Safely Ignore
In most cases, you can ignore:
Fluctuations in “System Data”
Reported purgeable space (it really is purgeable)
Spotlight index size
Caches under 2 GB
Swap files
APFS snapshots (until you’re near the 10% threshold)
macOS is designed to manage these dynamically.
When Disk Pressure Actually Matters
Below ~10% free space, you may see:
“Out of Space” errors
Noticeably degraded performance during large writes
That’s when you target the real offenders:
Old iOS backups
GarageBand sound libraries
Xcode build data
Docker images
Video renders (Final Cut, etc.)
Downloads folder
Duplicate photo/music libraries
Notice the pattern: you created them.
The biggest disk consumers are almost always user-generated content, not
some mysterious macOS subsystem.
Common Myths
Cleaning caches makes your Mac faster
System Data is all bloat
You need a monthly maintenance routine
Third-party cleaners are mandatory
More free space automatically equals more speed
Speed comes from CPU, RAM, storage performance, and workload—not ritual
cleaning.
Bottom Line
Your best protection is understanding, not software.
The largest space hogs are almost always files you intentionally created
or forgot about. Use visualization tools when needed. Avoid magical
thinking. Don’t let marketing prey on fear.
Plan ahead, keep an eye on the big stuff, and there’s a good chance
you’ll replace your Mac with plenty of free space still sitting on the
drive.
I'm a big fan of BundleHunt,
the quarterly software sale website. Lingon Pro, app app I've covered
several times went on sale today for $4.00. It is also the last day to
get Fluent at the sale price of $4.99.
Fluent
Fluent
Fluent, by presents a smart panel you interact with
directly. That panel can stay persistent or disappear depending on your
preference. The experience feels less like firing off commands and more
like working alongside an assistant. Fluent is context-aware, supports
back-and-forth conversation, and allows chaining actions together into
something closer to a workflow than a single command.
Fluent also includes RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). In
plain terms, that means the model doesn’t rely only on its training data
— it can reference files you provide to generate responses. You can
organize these files into areas like projects, emails, or a catch-all
bucket for your writing style. In practice, that means it can use past
examples as context rather than guessing blindly. If you’re writing a
billing summary, for example, it can reference previous invoices to
match tone and structure.
Everything you add to Fluent stays on your Mac. Nothing is stored
in the cloud. The output quality largely depends on the quality of the
material you feed it — garbage in, garbage out still applies.
It’s worth clarifying what Fluent is not. This isn’t a
local, continually learning replacement for ChatGPT. It isn’t training a
model on your data or improving itself over time. It simply retrieves
relevant information from your files and uses it as context for each
request.
There’s a broader pattern worth noticing here: AI writing tools
are starting to split into two camps. One camp gives you fast, one-shot
utilities that stay invisible until needed. The other tries to become a
persistent collaborator that remembers context and rides along with your
workflow. Which one fits depends less on features and more on how you
actually write — quick surgical edits versus ongoing conversation with
your tools.
Lingon Pro
Lingon Pro
Lingon Pro has been around for more than two decades, which is
practically geological time in Mac utility years. It remains one of the
best GUI front-ends for launchd - the scheduling and background-task
system built into macOS.
You can create jobs that run:
whether your Mac is awake or asleep
whether you're logged in or not
with elevated privileges when needed
using keep-alive rules to restart failed tasks automatically
If you run scripts, backups, or maintenance tasks behind the
scenes and don't want to babysit cron files or plist syntax, this is one
of the cleanest ways to do it.
There are a number of apps that can help you incorporate your Desktop
into your workflow in useful ways. You can adapt your desktop to be an
information dashboard, a centralized launcher for applications,
shortcuts, folder access, and bookmarks, and a space for multiple
project-based setups with access to relevant folders, files, and
applications.
Here’s how it works.
Accessing the Desktop
Almost everything I do can be triggered with a hotkey. I use so many
hotkeys that I have trouble remembering them all, so I use ExtraBar
to keep a handy menu of them that I can access from anywhere if I can't
bring a particular combo to mind immediately.
Supercharge
is a multi-purpose tool from uber-developer, Sindre
Sorhus. It has dozens of tweaks, shortcuts, and utilities. One of
these hides all open applications, revealing your desktop. Another
toggles the visibility of your desktop widgets, allowing you to hide or
show them with a hotkey. (Also available on
SetApp)
I also have a Keyboard
Maestro macro that runs two AppleScripts: one shows (unhides) any
hidden applications, and the other shows (unminimizes) any minimized
windows. macOS treats these as two different states, so one command
won't cover both.
Information Dashboard
Using the right combination of widgets, you can quickly access
information about the current state of your workday without having to
toggle between applications. I use widgets for:
Batteries — to track my keyboard, mouse, watch, laptop, and AirPods (on sale at BundleHunt and on Setapp)
System info for RAM, CPU, disk space, and network throughput with Menu Bar Stats from the App Store
Multiple Desktops for Spaces Users
Image credit: Justin Pot
Infinidesk is an app that lets you
create multiple desktop layouts that you can switch between. When I use
my desktop as a workspace, I just toggle off the desktop widgets to give
myself a blank slate. Each desktop can have its own set of shortcuts,
files, and wallpaper. I use Spaces extensively with multiple displays.
Other elements of my workflow require the System Setting that assigns a
separate Space for each display. When combined with Infinidesk, this
limits the toggling of desktop layouts to a single space, which is
perfect for me. When I need to use a specific desktop layout, I just
switch to that space with a simple hotkey. (Usually $12.99. On sale at BundleHunt
for $3.00)
Building a Control Center
Infinidesk
Dock Star is an app that creates
desktop menus that function as independent docks. It's a visually
pleasing app with a variety of formatting options to make each dock
stand out. You can easily access your docks from the keyboard and move
between them without ever using the mouse. I created four docks with
distinct purposes, but you can combine different elements into the same
dock if you want:
Application launcher
Shortcut launcher
Folder access
Bookmarks
You can also make docks for specific projects or checklists. I have one
I use first thing in the morning to quickly access things I need to
check:
Dock Star docks appear on all the spaces on your primary display. I just
open and close it when needed. It's normally $20 but it's on sale now at BundleHunt
for $4.50.
I'm currently covering apps on sale at BundleHunt. A lot of
these are new to me, and the steep discounts make it a good time to fill
gaps in your Applications folder without paying full retail.
I've never understood why, given its resources, Apple still leaves
obvious friction points in macOS.
Take battery levels. Most of us are running Bluetooth
keyboards, mice, trackpads, and of course battery-powered laptops. Yet
macOS still makes you dig around System Settings to see what's about to
die. That feels like a solved problem.
Or window management in Mission Control. I use it
dozens of times a day to move windows between Spaces and displays. It's
powerful--but incomplete. There's no way to close a window directly from
that view. That omission is hard to justify when third-party developers
solved it years ago.
Then there's local music management. With subscription
fatigue and algorithmic sludge everywhere, more people are curating and
managing their own libraries again. Apple Music works fine for
streaming, but as an ID3 tag editor and metadata tool, it's clumsy at
best. Keeping album art and tags clean shouldn't feel like archaeology.
And finally, Font Book. It looks capable at first
glance. Spend five minutes using it seriously and you'll notice what's
missing: meaningful comparisons, smart organization, and
workflow-friendly tools.
The good news: each of these problems has a small, inexpensive fix
available right now on BundleHunt.
Batteries for Mac
Batteries for Mac
Batteries for Mac is $2
during the sale (normally $8.99). It shows battery levels for iPhones,
keyboards, mice (including third-party), MacBooks, and AirPods.
You can monitor everything from the menu bar or use its desktop widget
for a heads-up display. No digging through System Settings. If you've
ever had a keyboard die mid-sentence or a mouse quit during a screen
share, you know why this matters.
TuneTag
TuneTag
Stop fighting Apple Music for metadata control. For $0.50 (normally
$4.99), TuneTag
gives you a focused ID3 editor that does one job well.
It supports:
Direct metadata editing
Incrementing track numbers
File renaming based on custom patterns
Templates for consistent tagging
If you manage a local library--especially anything ripped, imported, or
sourced outside Apple's ecosystem--this saves time and frustration.
MIssion Control Plus
Mission Control Plus
Mission Control
Plus fills in the gaps Apple left. For $2.50 (normally $8.99), it
adds:
An X button to close windows directly inside Mission Control
Keyboard shortcuts for closing, minimizing, quitting, and more
If you live in Spaces, this turns Mission Control from a viewer into a
control surface. It's one of those small upgrades that compounds over
time.
Specimen
Specimen
For $2.50 (normally $29), Specimen is a serious upgrade over
Font Book.
It lets you:
Browse and organize fonts intelligently
Compare fonts side-by-side
Run font health checks
Preview variable fonts
Export PDF specimens
Generate developer-friendly font declarations in multiple formats
If you care about typography--whether for writing, web work, or client
projects--this feels like a professional tool rather than a system
afterthought.
None of these apps are flashy. They fix specific, practical annoyances.
That's exactly the kind of software I like to support--tools that
respect your time and improve real workflows instead of selling you
abstractions.
If you've been meaning to tighten up any of these areas in macOS, this
is a cheap way to do it.
Most Mac power users recognize Ryan Hanson's apps, even if they don't
know his name. Hanson's portfolio of Mac interface enhancements has
earned him a reputation as the editor in chief of the UI improvement
cohort. His apps are a staple of how I use my Mac. His most recognizable
work is Rectangle/Rectangle Pro, regarded by many as the pinnacle in Mac
window management.
Rectangle Pro Pro
Rectangle Pro / Rectangle
Rectangle Pro is the full-featured window manager
powerhouse, and Rectangle is the free open-source
version that many Mac users still recommend as a must-install tool for
arranging windows quickly.
Basic overview: free/OSS window snapping & keyboard control
for macOS. Pro adds workspace saving, multi-window
actions, custom shortcuts, and cursor-movement positioning.
What I like:
Powerful keyboard shortcuts for tiling and resizing windows -- faster than Mission Control.
Pro adds workspace macros and custom behaviors many pro users love.
A reliable, native-feeling alternative to paid tiling managers.
Charmstone is a spatial app switcher that lets you
launch and switch apps by pressing a modifier and moving your cursor in
a direction -- a fast alternative to Cmd+Tab or the dock.
What I Like:
Intuitive spatial app access once learned
Keeps your hands on keyboard+trackpad, reducing friction switching.
Superkey blends keyboard navigation with screen text
search: type what you see and click it -- all without the mouse. It also
includes built-in Hyperkey functionality
Hyperkey - A small, free tool that turns an unused key (often Caps Lock) into a combined modifier -- Control+Option+Command+Shift -- unlocking tons of shortcut potential. Free
Scroll - A simple scrolling utility that lets you scroll with one finger on Apple trackpads or tame overly sensitive Magic Mouse horizontal scroll. - $9.99
KeyLimePie - A keystroke visualizer that shows your shortcut presses -- handy for screencasts or demos. - $4.99
Space Capsule - A spatial organizer that puts macOS Spaces into a grid layout for faster navigation. - $9.99
Filebar - A fast file-path management bar -- ideal for editing/working with file paths without opening Finder. - $4.99
HighTop - A lightweight macOS file browser with tight integration -- great for quick access to local and cloud files. - Free
Hanson’s apps aren’t flashy. They don’t try to reinvent macOS. They
focus on one thing: removing friction from everyday interactions. What I
appreciate most is that these tools don't try to be ecosystems. They're
focused utilities. Lightweight. Native-feeling. Built around speed and
control. In a Mac ecosystem that increasingly pushes services and
subscriptions, it's refreshing to see software that just makes your
machine more responsive to your desires.
I'm currently covering apps currently on sale at BundleHunt . Many of
these are new to me and taking advantage of steep discounts provides
anyone interested a chance to add missing tools to their Applications.
The Mac ecosystem is currently awash in vibe-coded throwaway apps,
especially in categories like window managers, clipboard managers, and
dictation tools. The problem isn't just volume — it's durability. Many
of these apps come from inexperienced "developers" who can't
realistically maintain or evolve the software long-term. The result is
often a quick version 1.0 followed by silence.
That said, I'm not going to stop looking. Every now and then, a real gem
shows up — something built by people who clearly intend to keep
improving it. VibeSonic
is one of those apps that, despite its unfortunate name, deserves a
serious look.
I'm not a developer, and I'm definitely not a vibe coder. Sorting
through endless new releases can be exhausting. But VibeSonic stood out
because it tries to solve real workflow problems for technical users
rather than just wrapping AI in a shiny UI.
The app normally sells for $29.95 for a two-seat license with a year of
updates, but it is included in the current BundleHunt Sale
for just $3.
Why I Gave It a Shot
Since AI-assisted dictation became practical, I've experimented with
several tools — both free and paid. After spending time with the
excellent Mac Whisper, I eventually moved to Spokenly's free plan. More
recently, I've been testing VibeSonic to see whether its deeper
integrations and workflow features justify switching again.
Like most dictation apps, it's triggered with a hotkey and displays a
HUD while recording. One useful touch: you can insert custom AI
instructions at the start of dictation, which lets the model edit your
transcription according to predefined rules without extra cleanup later.
Features That Actually Matter
Privacy-first transcription
VibeSonic runs powerful models like Whisper and Parakeet locally, so you
don't need a subscription just to get high-quality transcription. More
importantly, your dictation stays on your Mac. For anyone who regularly
dictates sensitive notes or drafts, this alone is a strong argument in
its favor.
Works Anywhere You Can type
If an app supports a cursor, VibeSonic works there. It also supports
voice-activated snippets, which means you can trigger text expansions
while dictating — a small detail that turns out to be a major
productivity win if you already rely on snippets in your workflow.
Notes And Reusable prompts
You can insert predefined notes or prompts into your transcription. This
is handy for recurring writing contexts: canned responses, project
notes, recurring disclaimers, or setup blocks you normally paste
manually.
AI-assisted Research (with limits)
Research features rely on the Perplexity model. If you choose to enable
it, you can perform lightweight web research directly during dictation —
useful for quick bug explanations or technical references without
breaking your flow. There's an optional "Include Sources" setting if you
want citations included in the output.
Agentic Assistance mid-workflow
You can invoke a voice-activated assistant while dictating to ask
questions or request explanations without stopping to switch apps. Used
sparingly, this feels less like a gimmick and more like having a
technical coworker quietly standing nearby.
Built For Technical users
This is where VibeSonic differentiates itself. It supports native file
path detection and project mapping designed for code-centric workflows.
You can dictate paths naturally and ask the assistant for coding
examples, debugging help, or explanations directly inside your
transcription.
Multi-language support
It supports dozens of languages for transcription and translation, which
broadens its usefulness beyond English-only workflows.
The Real Advantage: Context and Style Control
One of VibeSonic's more interesting ideas is persistent notes that the
AI uses as background context while editing your text. You can define
instructions like:
avoid SEO-style writing
skip clickbait phrasing
target experienced technical users
prioritize tools you already use in your workflow
That last one is quietly powerful. Instead of explaining your ecosystem
every time, you can teach the app once and let it adapt.
Most of us write in multiple modes throughout the day — business email,
personal messages, blog posts, Reddit replies, quick notes. VibeSonic
lets you define writing styles for each context so the output adapts
automatically. Done well, this reduces the friction between dictating
quickly and sounding like yourself afterward.
Where It Fits (and Where It Doesn't)
VibeSonic isn't magic. If you just want simple transcription, lighter
tools may be enough. But if your work involves technical writing,
coding, or switching contexts frequently, the app starts to make sense
because it combines dictation, editing rules, and contextual AI
assistance in one place.
The biggest compliment I can give it: it feels built around real
workflows rather than marketing copy.
I’m currently covering apps on sale at BundleHunt. Many of
these are new to me, and steep discounts are a good excuse to try tools
you might otherwise ignore — or to fill gaps in a workflow you didn’t
realize had gaps.
First up is Fluent, an
AI-powered writing assistant that handles translation, grammar,
spelling, and style suggestions. The app I’ve been using for the past
year for similar tasks is Rewrite
Bar. They aren’t clones, but they definitely live in the same
neighborhood.
Features in Common With Rewrite Bar
Both apps are aimed at people who don’t want to keep copy-pasting text
into a ChatGPT window every five minutes.
Works in any app — email, browser fields, notes, and pretty much anywhere you can type
Hotkey-driven — minimal UI interruption
BYOK — bring your own API key if you want control over costs and models
Local model support — privacy-friendly options
Custom actions and prompts — designed with power users in mind
Rewrite Bar feels exactly like what it is: a tool. You
invoke it, issue a command, review the result, and move on. The workflow
is linear and quickly becomes muscle memory. It stays out of your way.
It supports session history, versioning, and some iterative editing in
its review window. If you don’t want to manage API keys or models,
Rewrite Bar also offers a subscription that includes model access.
A lifetime license is $29 if
you bring your own model, and it includes 35K AI credits to get
started.
Fluid Palette
Translate, Magic Refine, Fix Grammar, Make Concise Summarize,
Paraphrase Text, Explain Like I'm 5, Continue Writing
Fluent, by contrast, presents a smart panel you
interact with directly. That panel can stay persistent or disappear
depending on your preference. The experience feels less like firing off
commands and more like working alongside an assistant. Fluent is
context-aware, supports back-and-forth conversation, and allows chaining
actions together into something closer to a workflow than a single
command.
Fluent also includes RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). In plain
terms, that means the model doesn’t rely only on its training data — it
can reference files you provide to generate responses. You can organize
these files into areas like projects, emails, or a catch-all bucket for
your writing style. In practice, that means it can use past examples as
context rather than guessing blindly. If you’re writing a billing
summary, for example, it can reference previous invoices to match tone
and structure.
Everything you add to Fluent stays on your Mac. Nothing is stored in the
cloud. The output quality largely depends on the quality of the material
you feed it — garbage in, garbage out still applies.
It’s worth clarifying what Fluent is not. This isn’t a local,
continually learning replacement for ChatGPT. It isn’t training a model
on your data or improving itself over time. It simply retrieves relevant
information from your files and uses it as context for each request.
There’s a broader pattern worth noticing here: AI writing tools are
starting to split into two camps. One camp gives you fast, one-shot
utilities that stay invisible until needed. The other tries to become a
persistent collaborator that remembers context and rides along with your
workflow. Which one fits depends less on features and more on how you
actually write — quick surgical edits versus ongoing conversation with
your tools.
