Episode #170
I’ve always been obsessed with finding the fastest, easiest, or most elegant way of doing something, so many of my favorite Mac (and iOS) apps are simple, inexpensive utilities that help me do one thing better, faster, or more elegantly. I added a dynamic duo of such utilities to my Mac productivity arsenal a few weeks ago; today I wouldn’t want to use my Mac without them.
Moom
ManyTricks' Moom is a $10 app that manages windows on your Mac. I mostly use it to memorize the on-screen placement of windows from multiple apps so I can instantly restore my favorite screen layouts with a single keystroke. I used to spend time every day rearranging the windows on my screen until they were just so. Today, after I get them to be “just so” I ask Moom to remember the layout so I can recall it whenever necessary with a keystroke.
I have two displays, so another feature I use all the time relocates the active window from one display to the other with a keystroke (Control + Keypad 5 in my case).
The active window moves from one display to the other when I press Control + Keypad 5.
I also love being able to move and resize windows without touching the mouse, which is yet another of Moom’s many excellent tricks.
After invoking Moom with a hot key, I can do any of these things to the active window using only the keyboard.
One satisfied user calls Moom the, “Best. App. Ever.” I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but for ten bucks, I consider it a bargain, and one that saves me time and effort all day, every day.
One more thing: It’s called Moom ‘cause it moves and zooms your windows. Cute.
MenuMate
MenuMate is a $4.99 Mac app that puts the menu bar for the current app right under your cursor, wherever it may be on the screen. I believe keyboard shortcuts are far faster than reaching for the mouse and moving the cursor up to a menu. And, since many menu items don’t come with keyboard shortcuts, and there are many apps I don’t use often enough to know their keyboard, I find MenuMate indispensable in both situations. Once installed, it hangs out in the background waiting for you to summon it. When you do, via either a keyboard shortcut or programmable mouse button, the menu bar appears wherever you click:
MenuMate puts the entire menu bar right under your cursor whenever you need it.
I mostly use mouse button #3 on my Logitech MX Master mouse —the one under the scroll wheel—to invoke MenuMate, and so far I’ve found it incredibly handy. Having every item in every menu available where I click is awesome.
My only problem is that I forget to use it until my cursor is halfway to the real menu bar. But I’ve only been using it a week or two, so I expect it to become etched in muscle memory RealSoonNow™.
And that’s all he wrote…