When you purchase your Mac, it comes pre-installed with a myriad of native Apple apps including Messages, Notes, Find My, Mail, and more. While Apple’s native apps are great, third-party apps are often much better than them. Not only are they usually equipped with much more features than native apps, they also tend to be easier to navigate.
However, the App Store is filled with apps, and deciding which one to download can be challenging. To help you out, here are five apps that I believe can take your productivity to the next level, but are yet to get the attention they deserve.
Best Underrated Yet Useful Apps To Download on You Mac
1. AppCleaner
Uninstalling an application is no difficult task on a Mac. After all, you just need to drag and drop an app from the Applications folder into the Bin on your Mac’s Dock. While this method does remove an app from your Mac successfully, the app may leave behind leftover files. You can find those in the Library folder often. One option you have to get rid of them is to hunt down the files that were left behind, and manually delete them. An easier, and simpler option is to use a third-party app like AppCleaner.
AppCleaner is a free third-party app you can use to delete leftover files, and get rid of native apps that come pre-installed on your Mac like Podcasts, GarageBand, and more. You can also use AppCleaner to delete apps that won’t delete.The app is extremely easy to navigate. All you need to do is drag and drop an app into the app’s blank area once you launch it. The app will then show you a list of all the files associated with the app you’re trying to delete. One of the best parts of using AppCleaner is that you can also set it to automatically delete leftover files when you drag an app to the bin.
2. Rectangle
Whether you’re writing an essay for your economics class or are working on a project for work, you probably tend to have tons of windows open on your Mac. While you can use Split View and Stage Manager to multitask, both features have their limitations. Fortunately, there are a ton of third-party window management tools like Rectangle available for macOS.
Once you install and authorize Rectangle, you’ll be shown a list of keyboard shortcuts you can use to arrange your windows. Alternatively, you can also use your Mac’s menu bar to arrange your windows instead. With Rectangle, you can resize your windows, snap them into any position, and take your productivity to the next level. While there’s a premium version available called Rectangle Pro, I believe the free version would suffice for most.
3. Snip My
Taking screenshots of the screen is a common practice among many Mac users. On macOS, you can use keyboard commands like Shift + Command + 3 to capture your screen. Similarly, you can use the Screenshot tools you get after pressing Shift + Command + 5. However, your final screenshot is delivered after a journey of multiple clicks. You can use an app like Snip My to save time.
With Snip My, you can take a screenshot of a full screen or a specific part with a single click You can also add text, stickers and notes, flip and rotate the screenshot and design it the way you want. You can then save the snip, share it, or directly print it.
Another Snip My feature that makes it a useful app is its delayed screenshot option. So, if you want to take a screenshot of something that is not displayed on the screen, you can select the delay tool, choose a time, and then open the screen you’d like to capture.
As soon as the window appears, Snip My works its magic and takes a screenshot automatically. You can avail many features of the app using the free version. However, certain features like the undo option and the circular screenshot feature are limited to the pro version only.
4. BeFocused
Opened your Mac to work on an urgent task, but ended up spending hours on a task that should’ve only taken a couple of minutes? Well, focusing on a task without getting distracted is a challenge we all face. Fortunately, there are numerous third-party focus apps out there, and BeFocused is among the best.
BeFocused is an underrated third-party app for setting a focus timer on your Mac. It also allows you to manage your to-do list, ensuring you take sufficient breaks for your mental well-being. You can create a list of tasks with their required time for completion.
The best part is that you can set your own timer schedule. You can pause the timer as per your needs, and can skip any break time. If needed, you can alter the work time interval as well. The app makes you break each task into short intervals, so you conveniently get your job done while taking effective time breaks.
An alarm rings as soon as it’s time for a break or work, even if the app is working in the background. An overview of the number of tasks completed, the interval of a certain task, and the start and end date for that is displayed as well. Luckily, the free version accounts for most of the features. So, I personally think getting a pro version is not a need.
5. Todoist
Managing tasks, and maintaining a proper to-do list is quite a hassle for many. The most common way of setting up a list of tasks is in the Notes or Reminders app on your Mac. However, this isn’t effective at times and does not help you manage your chores productively. In such cases, you need a good task manager app like Todoist.
With Todoist, you can make a list of the tasks you’d like to do in a day, and set due dates. On the dashboard, you can add a task by writing its name, due date, assignee, and priority. You can then set the tasks according to their priority levels. Once completed, you can mark it as done. It’ll be removed from the list. IIf a task is not done, you can edit and change its due date to tomorrow, or next week.
The app is not only for individual tasks. You also have the option to set a list of jobs for your team members. With its easy-to-use interface and simple approach to organizing tasks, it is the best way to teleport the tasks piled up in your mind onto your Mac and avoid procrastinating!