AppAddict Newsletter

With the existence of Live Text recognition as a built-in feature of macOS, folks may wonder if there is still functionality to be gained through the use of TextSniper an OCR app for YouTube videos, PDFs, images, online courses, screencasts, presentations, webpages, video tutorials, photos, etc. The answer is unequivocally, yes.  If you don’t want to make screen captures and open them in Preview to grab text, TextSniper will do the trick. 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. There is a setting to remove line breaks and you can use built-in text to speech if that is your use case. Text Sniper has an additive clipboard feature if the text you are trying to capture can’t obtained on one go. Another thing that Text Sniper offers that Live Text does not is removing hyphens from words divided across a line.

TextSniper will also decode standard bar and QR codes. Enabling a keyboard shortcut lets you turn those into numbers.

On the developer’s website you can purchase a single license for $7.99, three Macs for $9.99 or unlimited macs for $11.99.  On the App Store, Text Sniper is $11.99 and family sharing is available. It is also available as part of SetApp.

Pay attention around the holidays because the developers occasionally give it away for free. That’s how I got my copy.

Comments

When I started a new job a couple of years ago doing end user IT support at a small, private university, I was assigned a Dell all-in-one PC with Windows 10 after being primarily a Mac user at home and work for over two decades. There are a few Macs on campus but overwhelmingly our users are PC based. When I started, I intuited that Edge had good integration with Microsoft 365, so I chose to use it despite having been primarily a Safari and Chrome user in the past. I can use any browser I want. My coworkers in the IT department use Brave, Firefox and Chrome but after my initial choice I decided to stick with Edge and in fact made it my default browser on my iPhone and my personal M2 MacBook Air. I recently started using an M3 iMac at work, but I’m sticking with Edge.

Why, you ask? Because despite what the world seems to believe, Edge really doesn’t suck. In fact, it’s variety of features make it one of my favorite pieces of software to use. Is it perfect? No. Like most Chromium based browsers it could use less memory, although it is much better than Chrome. As a heavy user of Apple’s Shortcuts app on my phone and Mac, I find that most browser related workflows are written for Safari and don’t work as well in Edge. Still, the good overwhelmingly outweighs the bad. Edge has quite a few features that are cutting edge, if not unique.

Profiles

I have separate profiles for home and work. At work Edge, when signed into Microsoft 365 is managed, meaning I can install no extensions and save no passwords, but I do have ready access to all my documents in OneDrive, my Outlook email accounts our campus Intranet and more. I have a set of work-related bookmarks I use with this profile. I simultaneously open another browser window signed into a different Microsoft account and voila, I then have access to all my extensions, a different set of bookmarks and my bookmark manager of choice, which also holds my credit card info in case I need to buy anything through the browser. I use the same personal profile at home so I can save things I want to reference at work in my extra browser window.

Workspaces

Within a profile, users can create collections, browser setups for unique use cases. I have one for general browsing with my go to collection of bookmarks in the bookmark (or favorites as Edge calls them) bar. I have another setup for blogging with a different set of bookmarks available in the bookmarks bar. Both workspaces share the same general set of bookmarks from the menu bar or toolbar button, so I don't have to worry about syncing two collections. Tabs can be set to be remembered between sessions, so when I'm ready to work on a blog entry, I have tabs for Micro.blog, omg.lol, and my Mastodon account. It's all really handy and allows me to just open up the browser and go to work.

Extensions

Edge can use the same extensions available to Google Chrome and there's a vast selection to choose from. I don't find that running all the extensions I need slows Edge down appreciably, so I install what I need. Extensions are specific to the profile you are using, but workspaces within the same profile share the same extensions. You can create a different Mac and PC profile is you find yourself using extensions that are platform specific. Here's what I use:

• Omnivore - It's the best read it later service around these days, featuring a mobile app with read aloud capability, newsletter subscription service, RSS feeds and a browser extension.
• Obsidian Web Clipper - I primarily use a bookmarklet for saving web content into Drafts on my Mac, but I use a different vault at work on my PC where Drafts isn't available.
• Raindrop.io - I have a subscription and heartily endorse Raindrop.io for its cross-platform support
• Aboard - This is the extension for the app my wife and I use to share links with each other. When I find an app, a TV show, a news story or whatever, I put it into Aboard and she gets a notification and can check it out when she has time. It's free and useful.
• Chrome Remote Desktop - This allows me to access my home computer from other locations. It's free, easy to set up and use and reliable. I don't know what people pay for Screens or TeamViewer subscriptions.
• UBlock Origin- The best ad blocker on the planet. 31,000,000 downloads can't be wrong.
• Toby - My new tab extension. It makes it easy to save and open windows full of tabs on the go. I use the free version and even though I maintain my start.me page, I stick with Toby for new tabs.
• Velja- Works in conjunction with the Mac app of the same name to open URLs in other bowsers and apps (e.g., Slack, Teams, Zoom, Freetube etc)

Collections

One of the features in Edge I find really useful is available on the desktop and mobile version of the browser. You can create collections of bookmarks on the fly for things you want to investigate later but don't necessarily want to save forever. I have five collections:

• Shopping - this is mostly a collection of Amazon pages I can keep separate from my Amazon wish list so my wife can't see what I was thinking of getting her for her birthday
• Software - I'm an unembarrassed software nerd, always looking for the latest cool program to try out. I keep a running collection of pages of programs I want to look at.
• Windows - Most of my leisure browsing happens on my mac, but when I find something that might be useful on my day job, I save it to my Windows collection to investigate at work
• TV - When I come across a review of an upcoming television show, I add it to this collection. Once a week I read all the emails from streaming services and the web pages I've collected and i cultivate the viewing list for my wife and I
• Reading List - I use a read it later app (Omnivore) but sometimes I just add a news article or How-to guide to my reading list collection if it's something I know I'll just read in my browser.

Other features I like

As I mentioned earlier, one of the best kept secrets of using a computer in 2024 is the free access to Chat-GPT4 built into Bing/CoPilot. There are people out there paying $20 a month to do what they can do for free with CoPilot and it's built right into Edge. I personally have an API subscription to Open.AI, which runs me about a dollar a month so I can use the API key in other apps like Raycast and Obsidian.

The mobile version of Edge is good enough to be my default browser in iOS 17. Edge has a feature to send tabs to other devices and I use it all the time between my work computer, phone and MacBook at home. I have full access to my browser bookmarks on my phone as well as my history. Since I use a separate app for passwords, I don’t worry about browser saved passwords.

I know that Safari introduced profiles last year with the release of Sonoma and I know Chrome has access to the same browser extensions, but I just find that in my environment - supporting Windows at work, Mac at home and consistent iPhone use, Edge has a set of features that work reliably for me. The browser receives constant updates and allows users to download separate beta and canary versions if they want. Hopefully you’ve found something in this review that might give you a reason to give Edge a tryout.

Pie Menu by indy developer Marius Hauken has a unique take on access to useful application menu bar commands. When you invoke Pie Menu with the hotkey combo you choose during setup, a radial menu pops up around your cursor which allows you to choose any of a variety of menu commands to quickly perform a task. You are saved from having to remember intricate commands that are hard to retain between different apps. Pie Menu has a library of apps with preprogrammed commands, but you can add any app on your computer. If the command you want doesn’t have a keyboard shortcut, you can create one with System Preferences >Keyboard >Application Shortcuts. You can use Apple’s SF symbols to label your chosen commands and the developer’s roadmap includes plans to let you choose your own symbol set.

You can get a free week’s trial of Pie Menu before you are asked to decide on making a purchase. If you don’t purchase it, you can use it for free up to 10 times a day. The app is priced on a subscription model, at $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year. A lifetime purchase price is coming says the developer. Pie Menu is also available as part of Setapp.

There is a free and open-source application, Kando, with a similar approach to keyboard+mouse driven navigation that you might want to investigate before investing in Pie Menu.

Pie Menu Website

Pie Menu on the App Store.

SetApp is a monthly subscription service that offers access to 240 different Mac apps starting at $9.99 a month. I currently have 40 different applications from Setapp installed on my MacBook Air (see the screenshot at the bottom of this post). Some of them are startup items that run all the time when my Mac is on. Others I use on a regular basis for maintenance and routine tasks. They have quite a few apps that I’ve purchased in the past but no longer have to pay for upgrades because they are now included in my plan. I’ve listed a dozen of my favorite programs from Setapp, along with their cost if purchased or subscribed to separately to give you an idea of what you can save with a subscription. If you use my affiliate link, you can get 30-days free after a seven-day trial and signing up.

• BetterTouchTool
• CleanMyMacX
• MindNode
• WidgetWall
• 24 Hour Wallpaper
• CloudMounter
• AlDente Pro
• HoudahSpot
• PathFinder
• Default Folder X
• Dropzone
• CleanShot X

BetterTouchTool

BetterTouchTool allows you to customize various input devices like trackpads, mice, and keyboards. It offers a wide range of gesture definitions for the Magic Mouse, Macbook Trackpad and Magic Trackpad, and allows users to trigger keyboard shortcuts, system actions or custom scripts. Additionally, the app also features window management and a clipboard manager. My favorite actions include one click trackpad action to launch a Google search and launching the Raycast emoji picker and clipboard manager. ($22 for a lifetime license when purchased without SetApp)

CleanMyMacX

CleanMyMac X is a versatile maintenance utility designed to keep your Mac running smoothly. It includes features for junk file deletion, system optimization, application updating and uninstalling, plus malware protection. I have a reminder to run the optimizer once a week. (Yearly subscription price is $34.95 when purchased without SetApp)

MindNode

MindNode is a powerful tool designed for creating mind maps and visualizing ideas on your Mac. It has customizable layouts, themes, and easy-to-use drawing tools. I’ve been using it for over 10 years and took advantage of the SetApp version to avoid having to pay an upgrade fee. (Yearly subscription $19.99 when purchased without SetApp)

24 Hour Wallpaper

The 24 Hour Wallpaper app for Mac provides high-quality, time-synchronized wallpapers that adapt to match local daylight conditions. The wallpapers change throughout the day, mirroring natural or city scenes suited to the time. I like it more than the Bing wallpaper app I previously used. (One-time purchase price is $9.99 without Setapp)

CloudMounter

CloudMounter connects your Mac to cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. It mounts these services as local drives, allowing you to manage your online files directly from Finder. I like it because it let’s me avoid having to run the native app for each application. (annual license is $39.99 when purchased without SetApp)

AlDente Pro

AlDente Pro protects your MacBook battery by intelligently managing its charging behavior. It lets you set a maximum charge percentage to prolong battery lifespan and offers various customizable settings for optimal battery health. I keep my maximum charge set to 70% on my MacBook Air, although I can easily top it off to 100% if I need to be on battery for a prolonged time. (One time purchase of $25 without SetApp)

HoudahSpot

HoudahSpot transforms your Mac’s search capabilities. It builds upon Spotlight, offering complex search criteria including file attributes, content, and metadata. I use the saved search functions to find all the Markdown files created in the last seven days (run as a weekly task) to import my Obsidian files into EagleFiler. (One-time purchase price of $39.00 without SetApp)

PathFinder

PathFinder is a powerful file management alternative to macOS Finder. It offers advanced features like dual-pane browsing, batch renaming, deep folder comparisons, and customizable interface modules. This is another app I’ve used for more than a decade. (Annual subscription $29.99 without SetApp)

Default Folder X

Default Folder X enhances your Mac’s Open and Save dialog boxes. It offers quick access to recent folders, favorites, powerful keyboard shortcuts, and default folder management. I’m a long-time user and no longer have to pay any upgrade fees. (One-time license costs $34,95 without Setapp)

Dropzone

Dropzone supercharges your Mac’s productivity with its drag-and-drop interface. It lets you send files to apps, shorten URLs, execute custom scripts, and much more – all by simply dragging files or text snippets onto its icon. I use a script to automatically install apps from DMG files and a shortcut that uploads media files to Micro.blog (License is $35 without Setapp)

CleanShot X

CleanShot X elevates screen capturing on your Mac. It offers far more than basic screenshots with tools for annotations, blurring, screen recording, and a scrolling capture mode. CleanShot X delivers professional-looking visuals and clear communication effortlessly. I’ve used other apps like Shottr and SnagIt) and I find that CleanShot X offers more. (License is $29 without SetApp)

The media database space, for TV and movies is a tough space to compete in. With longtime favorites like Sofa Time, ReelGood, IMDB and JustWatch as well as the recently released Trakt app there are some real quality competitors out there. Sequel, by indy developer  Romain Lefebvre, is a worthy edition to the mix and it shines in a way none of the rest do. It adds tracking for books, audiobooks and video games to the mix.

From Sequel’s main interface, you can search all categories at once. If you type “Fallout” into the search, you’ll get info on the recent Amazon Prime series as well as the Xbox game. If you select any item, it is automatically added to the correct category in your personal lists. You can also create collections meeting your own criteria, five in the free version and unlimited in the paid app.

Besides searching, you can also browse trending and upcoming items.

Free Features

• Wishlist with granular status (watched, reading, read, playing, completed, abandoned etc.)
• Search all categories at once
• Media Details (trailers, cast, crew and more)
• Actor filmography
• Quick access widget
• Rate items
• iCloud sync

Paid Features

• Where to watch (add your streaming services)
• Release reminders at user defined times
• Additional widgets
• Time to beat info for games
• Alternative icons
• Trakt integration (including historical data)
• Built in notepad

Sequel is a universal app for Silicon macs, iPhones and iPads. It is available in the App Store. The paid version is $19.99 a year or $99.99 for a lifetime purchase. It has a solid privacy policy and the developer collects no data linked to the users identities.

The Mac utility Unclutter has been around for over a decade and is still going strong. Unclutter is three utilities built into one app: a universal clipboard manager, a convenient file shelf and a floating notes manager. I used it for years with rock solid performance. If you are on an underpowered Mac or one with limited RAM, you can use Unclutter to reduce the number of utilities running in the background without sacrificing functionality. Of course, if you don’t need advanced features, Unclutter provides plenty on all on its own.

Clipboard

• Save frequently used snippets for reuse
• Hides sensitive data from password managers
• Three different view options

File Shelf

• View as list or icons
• Search for files on the shelf they begin to accumulate
• Make copies or aliases with keyboard shortcuts

Floating Notes

• View a single note or a list of notes
• Full text search your notes
• Handier than a sticky

The Unclutter interface stays hidden at the top of your screen until you move your mouse there, causing it to drop down and become available. It's possible to sync your files and notes between computers if you configure Unclutter to use iCloud or another cloud service.

Unclutter is a one-time purchase of $19.99 in the App Store. A free demo is available on the developer’s website. It is also available on Setapp.

If you have low resolution images that you’d like to enhance and enlarge, maybe in your Photos library from an older iPhone or older digital camera, you can use Upscayl to enhance and enlarge them up to 4x. The resulting image had added realism and is absent blurriness and jpg compression artifacts. It works on jpg, png, tiff and other common image formats using AI technology that is based on the program files on your computer. No Internet connection is required.

The program is simple to use and works quite well with the default settings. It can enlarge images to 2x, 3x or 4x. Even complex full color images process quickly. You can use it to enlarge and enhance old family photos. Batch processing is also on option. It will make conventionally sized images large and sharp enough to use for prints and posters. Anyone from the casual smart phone user to archivists and historians can find a use case for this application.

Although there is a paid version of Upscayl on the Mac App Store, you can download and use the identical program from Upscayl.org by choosing the DMG download option. Versions are also available for Windows and Linux. The source code is on GitHub. You can file tech support requests there. The developer, Nayam Amarshe, is also available on Twitter and has a listed email address.

Spaces for Mac, a native Apple silicon app, is helpful for setting up your device in a custom manner depending on the task at hand. You can use it it to specify what apps, web sites (in the browser of your choice) and system apps you need to accomplish a certain type of goal. As an example, when I get ready to update my applications, a task I do regularly, I use a space that contains the following:

• MacUpdater 
• Latest 
• App Store
• iTerm2 
• AppCleaner 
• Qspace 

Using a predefined setting in Spaces (there are 16 to choose from), I tile MacUpdater, Latest and iTerm2 and hid the other apps. After I run the programs and update my app portfolio, I close the Space and that quits everything but Qspace and returns my computer to the state it was in before I started.

As a Raycast user, I appreciate the free extension that lets me open or create a new Space right from the keyboard. Using deep links, I can also create macOS shortcuts to turn spaces on and off. (See it on YouTube)

Spaces is $6.99 for students and residents of low-income countries and $10.99 for everyone else. Both licenses include lifetime updates. You get:

• Unlimited Workspaces
• 16+ Custom Layouts
• Layout Switcher 🔗
• Manual Controls
• Siri Shortcuts
• Deeplinks support
• Raycast Integration
• macOS Monterey(M1) or later
• 1 License per device

Other similar apps include Bunch by Brett Terpstra (high learning curve) and Workspaces2, $19.99 in the Mac App Store.

I do love a good single purpose app. Like most sentient human beings in the 21st century, I need to express myself on social media every few hours. Often these expressions take the form of quotes from one of the many blogs I read. Text Shot by developer Chris Hannah lets you take snippets of texts from a web page (or any source you choose) and create attractive and shareable images suitable for social media, blogs or email. You can add title, source, author, and the quote, or any combination of elements. The app allows you to choose a theme font or size to control how your text shot looks. You can style text using bold or italics using Markdown. It even has shortcut support so that you can craft your own automations to make sharing easier.

Text Shot is a universal app, working on the iPhone, iPad or Mac. It is a $2.99 one-time purchase in the App Store. Its privacy policy states that it collects no information. It is part of Apple’s Family Sharing program. The developer is reachable on Mastodon at @chrishannah@fosstodon.org.

Have you ever had the suspicion that someone was connected to your Wi-Fi network? Do you ever need the IP address of another device in your home for screen sharing or establishing another type of remote connection? Do you need the address of your router to log in and make some changes. You can do all of that and more with Angry IP Scanner, a free and open source utility available on GitHub. It’s easy to use and provides comprehensive info on 

• Hostname
• MAC address  
• Ports
• Ping
• TTL
• Filtered ports
• Version 

If you have any Windows machines on your network, Angry IP Scanner provides computer name, workgroup name, and Windows user currently logged in from NETBIOS. The scanner works by simply pinging each address within a given range and reporting back on the response. Different pinging methods are available:

• ICMP echo – the standard pinging method used by the ping program
• UDP – sends UDP packets to a port that is likely to be closed
• TCP – makes a connection attempt to port 80 on the host

Angry IP scanning saves results in several formats, including CSV, TXT, XML, or IP-Port list files. There are plugins available for enterprise apps like Lansweeper, or if your Java skills are up to it, you can write your own.

I cross post most of the app reviews I write here to r/macapps on Reddit. I just noticed tonight that the mods over there have listed AppAddict in the sidebar as a “Great Resource”. This is just a hobby blog, not monetized in any way. I try to bring an honest and unbiased opinion to my reviews to help Mac users discover great software. It’s very rewarding to get more reach and I really appreciate being listed. I’ve been a Mac user for 25 years, most of that spent providing technical services to others in the education field. I’ve invested thousands of dollars in software over the years and regret none of it. I’d rather have a full hard drive than a new car. Thanks for reading and feel free to suggest any apps you think I should take a look at.

I bought the disk cloning software, SuperDuper! in 2004 and have been receiving updates for the past 20 years without ever being charged an additional dime. I use it alongside Time Machine to create a bootable backup of my MacBook’s hard drive. It has a clearly understandable user interface where it explains everything in plain language so there is never any ambiguity about what operation you are choosing to do. 

Features

Scheduled backups - set it and forget it
Incremental Smart Backups - No need to clone your entire disk again, just backup what has changed since you last ran SuperDuper!

Snapshots - You can choose to make a copy of your hard drive as it existed at a point in the past based on snapshots created by macOS. This is deal for returning your drive to the state it was in prior to an aborted update or file deletion event.
SmartWake - ensures your backups happen whether your Mac is awake or asleep

You can download and use SuperDuper! to make unlimited disk clones for free. To unlock its advanced features you can purchase it for $27.95 and receive updates forever.

(EDIT: The Rosetta version works on Apple Silicon, but to get a native version if you have a pre-2109 license, there is a charge. If you buy the current version, you can download older versions)

iA writer a markdown/plain text editor designed especially for writing and document creation. It isn’t a text editor in the fashion of VS Code or BBEdit. If you aren’t a markdown wiz, all of the commands are accessible from the menu bar. The simplified interface is its hallmark, but it has a variety of powerful tools behind the curtains.

Differentiating Authors  

iA Writer can tint the text you paste into a document (i.e,. from an AI source) differently than the text you type in so that you can distinguish your writing from that of another author or AI.

Syntax Highlighting  

iA Writer uses color codes to showcase different parts of speech (adjectives, nouns adverbs) and its built-in editor helps you identify and get rid of filler words, cliches and redundancies.

Focus Mode

In focus mode, iA Writer highlights just the line or paragraph you are working on to mimic the experience of using a typewriter. This allows you a distraction free writing experience where you can concentrate on your current idea.

Linking

iA Writer supports wikilinks to connect your documents. You can easily move between documents by following links or using arrow buttons on the toolbar.

Publishing and Export

iA Writer supports direct publishing to Ghost, Medium. Micro.blog, Micropub and WordPress. You can export documents as Markdown, HTML, PDF or Microsoft Word formatted documents. You can insert images into documents via Markdown and as content blocks that can be seen in the built in preview mode.

iA writer is developed by a well established Japan based team. It’s been around for awhile and continues to evolve. A desktop license is $49 and separate license is required for use on an iPhone or iPad. Minor upgrades are free. Major upgrades incur a cost. A free 15-day trial is offered. Their website says subscription pricing for mac and iOS is coming.

For the past six weeks I’ve averaged about 16-17 posts a week on three different blogs. I’ve also been sharing a photo every day on Micro.blog from a project I did a while back called 100 Strangers. I just started a links blog that I will try to post to every day. I usually write my posts a day ahead of time. I start writing in Obsidian, using Markdown if my post is going on Micro.blog, OMG.LOL or BearBlog. If it’s a post going on Scribbles, then I still use Obsidian, but I leave it as plain text.

Very occasionally I will paste the content into iA writer or use the editing function of the Text Generator plugin in Obsidian to get a grammar and content check. When I first started blogging, I used the online word processor at Lex.page a few times but that is more friction than I want to deal with. Most of the time though, I just paste the content right into the web interface on Microsoft Edge, my choice of browser and use the built in spell and punctuation checks.

A lot of times, I’ll start writing at work on my lunch hour or break and pick it back up at home, relying on Obsidian sync to make the file available in both places. After writing an app review yesterday about an app I’d already written about in April, I have now started a spreadsheet to keep track of what I’ve written about so that doesn’t happen again.

I do not have a file of ideas or prompts or drafts for any of my online endeavors. For app reviews, I literally look in my Applications folder for ideas. I have over 400 apps installed, so I have a lot to choose from. For my tech blog, where I only write long form posts a couple of times a week, I just have to pick up ideas from reading or online forums. For my personal blog, just start brainstorming in the morning until an idea occurs to me.

Every platform I use allows you to schedule posts ahead of time and I use that feature each night to schedule everything for the next morning. I get up at 4:30am and by that time the folks in Europe are already awake and online. By 8am, everything I’ve written the previous day is posted and the whole process starts over.

If you spend much time in a browser (and if you are reading this, I know that you do), the time invariably comes when you want to find an article you read last week so you dive into your browser history and you start guess at search terms. It can get frustrating pretty quickly. If you use more than one browser or a browser and an RSS reader. You have to jump from one to another hoping you can remember the title of whatever it is that you are looking for. You don’t have to live this way. 

HistoryHound, a utility from St. Clair Software, keeps a single database using your history from almost all major browsers and the RSS reader NetNewsWire. Browsers with built in support are Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Arc, Orion, Opera, Vivaldi, NetNewsWire and URL Manager Pro, but you can add history and bookmark folders from other apps manually. Not only does it do the normal thing, remembering page titles, it also keeps a full text index of each page you browse too, making keyword searches much, much easier. To top it off, it does the same thing for your bookmarks collections. You can even create an index of sites you want to remain searchable whether you visit them regularly or not. You can set the length of time you want HistoryHound to keep track of your browsing independently of your browser settings. You can summon HistoryHound with a keyboard short cut and search for any or all of your search terms, use a Boolean search, or take advantage of the include/exclude notation to quickly find what you want. If you have certain sensitive sites that you don’t want recorded or indexed, you can set filters to make that happen. The app has a webkit based browser built right into its interface so you don’t even need to go into your main browser when searching.

HistoryHound has a 30-day free trial and is a one-time purchase price of $14.95. It is compatible with Mac OS 10.13 - 15.x.

Whether you know who Sindre Sorhus is or not you still may be using one of his many popular and mostly free apps. Sindre is a full-time open-source developer currently based in Thailand who is responsible for more than 1,000 packages at npm, the world’s largest software directory. In his spare time (LOL) he creates wonderful macOS and iOS apps. According to a statement on his website, if you’re a student who can’t afford one of his paid apps, he will give it to you for free. He’s released mora apps than I can cover in one review, but I will list the ones with which I am most familiar.

Aiko (free) - High-quality on-device transcription. Easily convert speech to text from meetings, lectures, and more. You can export the transcription as subtitles too. Link
Hyperduck (free) - Quickly send a link from your iOS device to your Mac. Works even id either device is offline. Can share from any app, not just Safari. Opens the link directly in the browser on your Mac. Link
AmazingAi (free) - Local only image generation via the Stable Diffusion engine on Apple silicon. Simply describe the image you desire, and the app will generate it for you like magic! Link
Velja Browser Picker (free) - lets you to open links in specific browser or browser profile, switch between browsers effortlessly, and directly launch desktop apps for specific websites, like opening Zoom links in the Zoom app. Link
One Thing (free) - Put your most important task or goal in the menu bar. Its presence there will help remind you without being annoying. You can achieve almost anything if you focus on one thing at a time. Link
Actions (free) - Useful actions for shortcuts. It adds over 50 useful actions not built in natively to the Shortcuts app and is a must have for anyone who uses them. Link
Shareful (free) - Shareful makes the system share menu even more useful by providing some commonly needed share services:
- Copy — Copy the shared item to the clipboard and so you can quickly paste it into another app.
- Save to Downloads — Quickly save a shared item to the Downloads directory.
- Save As — Choose a directory to save the shared item to.
- Open In — Open the shared item in any app. Link

PopClip is a highly configurable app that lets your perform an amazing number of actions on any text you select on your display. I immediately miss it if I am working on a strange computer and on my 18-month exile to PC land at work, I searched in vain for a PC alternative. Due to Apple’s stringent sandboxing rules, PopClip is no longer available in the App Store, although it is still under active development. If you have an App Store version, it will be recognized and converted when you download the update from the developer’s site. New extensions are being added constantly. If you are a developer, there is a guide available to creating your own custom extensions.

My personal PopClip actions are:

• Correct Spelling
• Search in Google
• Open Link
• Bookmark Link in Raindrop.io
• Send link to Omnivore
• Send to Day One
• Send To Email
• Create TextExpander snippet
• Create Message
• Add as task to Things3
• Send to Drafts
• Copy as Markdown
• Send to ChatGPT
• Slugify Text
• Send to Obsidian

There are many, many more extensions available to download in the extensions gallery in the following categories: 

• Text editing
• Text transformation
• AI tools
• Markdown
• Text stats
• Text lists
• Text display
• Text to speech
• Language and translation
• Notes and knowledge management
• Writing apps
• To-do apps
• Calendar apps
• Contact apps
• Drag and drop
• Launcher utilities
• Native macOS apps
• Search engines
• Maps
• Social networking
• Music
• Link shorteners
• Phone numbers
• Dictionaries
• Developer tools
• Clipboard tools

For new users, a two-year license is $12, and a lifetime license is $22. PopClip is also available as part of Setapp. 

Recently Added | MacMenuBar.com

1. Keep it Shot - This menu bar app uses AI to evaluate and rename your screenshots, either in bulk or as you take them. (Freemium)
2. Easy Move+Resize - This menu bar app adds “modifier key + mouse drag” move and resize to your MacOS. (Free)
3. EasyDict - This menu bar app lets you look up words or translate text. It can automatically detect the language of the input text, supports input translate, select translate, and OCR screenshot translate. (Free)
4. MenuBar Next - This menu bar app displays the first line of a text file in your menu bar (Free)
5. DynamicLake Pro - DynamicLake transforms your dynamic island into so much more. It lets you effortlessly control essential system functions such as volume, brightness, and keyboard backlight. Take control of your music, scheduling, weather, and much more. (Paid)
6. PasteKit - PasteKit lets you record sound (system sound, microphone, etc.), video, and screenshots in one simple, all-in-one solution. And any recordings you make are automatically copied to the clipboard, allowing you to put them wherever you like. (Paid)
7. GlimpseEase - This menu bar app automatically monitors your Stripe transactions, keeping you informed without the constant need to glance at your phone during work hours. (Feemium)
8. MenuBar Weather - MenuBar Weather displays all major weather information for your current location at a glance. It updates hourly or every significant location change. (Free)
9. Text Workflow - Text Workflow lets you automate text transformations. The program has a menu bar app that allows users to choose a workflow to convert the text from their clipboard.(Paid)
10. Week Number - This menu bar app shows the week number. The prefix is customizable. (Free)
11. HueMenu - With a single click in your menu bar, you can change the color and brightness of your Philips Hue lights, as well as turn them on or off. (Paid)
12. Steecky - Steecky is the text editor located in your menu bar. It’s always accessible, whether you’re working on something important or browsing the web. Steecky stores your entries as you type, ensuring that all information is retained. (Free)
13. Hammer - Hammer is a menu bar Icon app that assist its users in converting their clipboard data from one form to another quickly. (Paid)
14. HistoryHound - This menu bar app lets you do a fast keyword search on the entire content of all web pages you’ve visited recently, plus all those that you’ve bookmarked. (Paid)
15. Pomodoro Timer - This menu bar app is a minimalistic pomodoro timer and todo tracker. Stored data never leaves your device. (Paid)
16. Battery Charge Reminder - This menu bar app lets you set an upper battery limit and a lower battery limit and even the frequency of the reminder notifications. (Free)
17. QuickFindler - With QuickFindler, you can add your frequently opened folders, files, apps, and websites to the icon, and then open them conveniently using shortcuts. (Freemium)
18. Finicky - This menu bar app allows you to set up rules that decide which browser is opened for every link or url. (Free)
19. Brew Service - This menu bar app lets you (re)start and stop homebrew services. (Free)
20. Icon Preview - Preview how your app icon will look in the menu bar. You can also drag and drop an image onto the menu bar icon to preview it there. Ideal for developers and designers to perfect the look of their app icons. (Free)
21. Glinet Wireguard - This simple menu bar app allows you to quickly switch wireguard peers. (Free)
22. Turnip - Turnip is a time tracker for freelancers and small businesses that integrates with the tools you already use. It also comes with stats and charts to visualize your time by day, week, and month. (Freemuim)
23. Pin Frame - This menu bar app is a stick-on-top file viewer. It lets you place a window on top of anything else, but also adjust the window opacity and interactive mode. (Freemium)
24. Zonerly - This menu bar app lets you find the correct time across multiple zones for traveling, planning meetings, calling abroad and so on. Offline mode is supported. (Paid)
25. NeSleep - This menu bar app prevents any Mac from entering sleep mode, providing hassle-free protection against unexpected sleep cycles. (Free)
26. AudioBuddy - If you are dissatisfied with the default Mac text-to-speech voices, this menu bar app replaces them with OpenAI. There’s a max limit of 4096 characters. (Free)
27. Folderizer - This menu bar app allows you to create custom folder icons by selecting your preferred color, icon and even your own photos to accompany it. (Paid)
28. iBlurred - This menu bar app allows you to blur out sensitive information. You can resize each blurred part of your screen to meet your preferences. (Free)
29. Hot Corners Toggler - With this small menu bar app you can quickly toggle hot corners on and off. (Free)

I’ve owned Better Touch Tool  for years  and only used it for a few things but since getting an iMac and a Magic Track Pad a few months ago, I have been making more and more use of it. Along with Raycast, Keyboard Maestro, PopClip and Hazel, it is one of the core Mac automation tools in my Applications folder. You can user the supported triggers and inpiut actions to automate almost any task. Additionally, it has :

• A clipboard manager
• Screenshot tool and editor
• Customizable window snapping & resizing & moving tools
• Window switcher

The developer is so confident in the abilities of his app, his website contains a challenge; If you find something you can't do with Better Touch Tool, let me know. He offers a 45 day free trial and only charges $12 for a license with two years of updates or $24 for a lifetime of updates. The app is also available on Setapp. There is a whole library of actions you can download if you set up a free account on his website.

1. F4 = ⌘+space, which triggers Raycast
   2. fn+e = Raycast emoji picker
   3. fn+v = Raycast clipboard manager
   4. ⌘+Q = runs Apple Script asking "Are you sure" before quitting programs
   5. shift+shift = opens/closes Notification Center
   6. CTRL+CTRL = reveal desktop
   7. option+option = Mission Control
   8. esc+esc = start screen saver
   9. three-finger click = MissionControl
   10. four-finger click = lock screen
   11. one-finger click, bottom left = Google Search
   12. Microsoft Edge - three-finger swipe left = previous tab
   13. Microsoft Edge - three-finger swipe right = next tab
   14. Microsoft Edge - three-finger swipe up = new tab
   15. Microsoft Edge - three-finger swipe down = close tab
   16. Microsoft Edge - three-finger force click = ⌘+click (middle button replacement)
   17. Hyper Key+Letter to launch Edge, Drafts, Path Finder, Ivory, Obsidian, Things 3, home folder, trash

Other Automation Apps

• My Favorite Actions for Hazel
• My Top 10 Raycast Use Cases
• My Top 10 Keyboard Maestro Macros

A new program was just added to SetApp and I decided to take it for a spin. Keep It Shot is an app that uses AI in the form of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Azure API. SetApp users can opt for an AI plan with that service. Keep It Shot is a tool that can evaluate and rename your screenshots, either in bulk or as you take them. You can use plain language to describe your naming preferences if you have any (e.g., Don’t use underscores)Once scanned and renamed, you can use a fully private, local search to find screen shots containing keyword related images.

If you aren’t a Setapp user, you can use the app for free to generate 15 renamed screenshots per month. The standard plan is $8 a month and affords you 300 renamed screenshots and for $24 a month heavy users like designers and product mangers can get 2000 renames.

On the privacy front, Keep It Shot does not store your images. The app is under continuous development with an ambitious roadmap on its web site. The developer seems open to user feedback based on a previous Reddit thread from when the app was first released.