Don't you just love the joy of opening a new MacBook box and setting up your favorite tools? The tools you choose to install really add to the expe...
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Nice post John. Thanks!
What do you think about using Webstorm instead of VS Code? Why i would choose VS Code over Webstorm? (forget the price)
Note: I prefer Magnet (only $ 2,99) instead of Divvy.
I use Spectacle (spectacleapp.com/) although I just read on their site that it is no longer actively maintained. Anyhow, does the job π€·ββοΈ and it is free
Rectangle is the new Spectacle
Same. Maybe there are better ones, but I am so used to it now and it does pretty much all I need for window management.
There are many good window tool options.
Personally I use Hammerspoon. It's a great scripting/automating tool. I has many more uses than window management but that's my prime usage
I discovered that the other week, found the spiritual successor is rectangle app - uses same shortcuts as spectacle (and is also free.)
freemacsoft.net/tiles/
This one
Totally agree
This is sad news!
Thanks.
Webstorm is great. I used to use it. But VS Code is my go-to the past few years. Love it and it gets better every day (literally with the insiders build). But choose what you like - it's a personal choice we all make
I've tried Hyperdock, Magnet, Spectacle, Divvy, and a few others. They are all okay. I liked how Divvy let me customize several areas with keystrokes. Others do too, but this is where I ended up.
I am using IntelliJ IDEA now for over a decade for all of my Java-Projects and while starting with Angular/IONIC, I felt in love with VS Code.
I tried a couple of times some projects in IDEA (which is the ulitmate Edition and contains the features of all other JetBrain IDEs). I love IDEA for it's productivity, but for me, VS Code beats it when it comes to the JavaScript/Node/NPM eco system.
(Running Magnet, but don't use it that often)
My prefered Rest Client is PAW, btw. I use it for almost every web project when I design the service and API layer and then add the web views.
I am really missing all this "extrract method/constant/variable" on VSCode, which is amazing for refactoring on all JetBrain IDE's.
Absolutely, the refactoring tools are outstanding!
Webstorm is still a lot better than VS Code. What I like more about Code is a lot more different extensions, though.
It's a personal choice. How we define "better" defines what is important to us.
I think Webstorm is great. But I choose Code every morning.
We each use the tools we enjoy. I'm glad you enjoy Webstorm
This has got to be the most adult & mature way to handle differing opinions & preferences.
Takes notes
Love magnet
I second the vote on magnet. Amazing tool and a fait price.
We used both - and Divvy had many more benefits.
Consider switching Chrome for Brave browser (brave.com/).
I'm using it on my work machine for Β±2 years now. All Chrome extensions works smoothly.
Two main added benefits:
a) trackers, 3rd party cookies, fingerprinting blocked automatically ;-)
b) help support Web3 to disrupt the monopoly of Facebook and Google Ads
Brave is growing exponentially. From 4 million monthly active last year, to 8 million this year :-)
Iβve been using Brave for a few years on mobile now and on Desktop since it became Chromium based.
Having said that, Since Edge moved to Chromium, I gave it a test drive for the past month. It worked pretty much as I expected it would on Desktop. Iβm still using it on Desktop for the moment, but back on Brave on mobile.
I wrote up a review for those interested.
Evaluating the new Microsoft Edge
Nick Taylor (he/him) γ» Nov 23 γ» 3 min read
A few months ago I swapped to firefox after using chrome for so long. I've looked at brave, but from what I can surmise is it's just a chromium browser with built-in security. I tend to stay away from chromium browesers after having tried a fair few of them (chrome, torch, comodo dragon to name a few) I prefer the customization of firefox, its speed and dev tools.
Brave is cool, indeed
Great list, two tips from me:
Don't use Chrome, it uses double the amount of Firefox memory and doesn't respect your privacy. BTW, Firefox has now faster CSS renderer.
Use a Firewall to permit all the incoming and outgoing connections to your mac. I use Little Snitch for it and you will be surprised how many times random apps are making HTTP calls from your mac (half of them is from Apple)
I use Chrome because of the excellent and easy-to-use Chrome Dev Tools, so are there options that are as good (or better) in other browsers?
Yes Firefox Developer is a new nightly version of Firefox with really competitive dev tools. I recommend you to check it out.
The single thing I miss in FF's devtools is Chrome's "emulate focused page". Makes debugging dropdowns (and other focus-related stuff) WAY easier.
On the other hand, Firefox's CSS tools are unmatched.
Yes great point. In the end of the day as a developer I also use most of the browsers. Specially since WS debugging in Firefox wasn't good until recently.
But Firefox is my choice of browser for personal use since it's faster and respect user's privacy IMHO.
Firefox is awesome. Edge is incredible. and Brave is very promising.
Agree, Brave is definitely next level engineering.
Not tried brave. I recently started using Vivaldi and so far love it. Chromium based. Very customisable, I love that hibernating tabs to save memory is built in.
I use Vanilla to hide things. I wasn't aware of Bartender. Vanilla is a little more minimal from what I can tell. Maybe I'll check out Bartender.
Thanks. I hadn't seen this one ... I've been using bartender but will take a look at this.
I also use Vanilla. It's simple and gets the job done for around four bucks, I believe.
try dozer it is free
Today I learned ... Vanilla won't start if you automatically hide the menubar. This makes me sad.
Nice list! I began documenting my selection of apps into a public repository with Bash scripts a while ago. It's handy and compatible across different environments.
New Computer, Who Dis? β Setup new development box with a single script
New Computer, Who Dis?
This repository contains a set of scripts to bootstrap a new computer for development. Supported platforms are:
Standard Linux support will be added when I bother to start coding with one.
As usual with scripts like these, this probably won't work for you but feel free to adapt it to your needs. There's no license nor warranty at all.
Usage
Entrypoint is
./setup.sh. Execute it and let it roll!Other Apps
Not all applications are bundled here for cross-compatibility reasons. I install the following apps by hand.
This is amazing! I LOVE the name of it, "New Computer, Who Dis?" π€£π
thanks for sharing
It sounds like a lot of people's problems would be solved with a tiling window manager.
I used to use Caffeine where you suggest Amphetamine. Caffeine doesn't seem to work on Catalina, so I use the He Man Protocol (open the YouTube video of HeMan singing What's Up for 10 hours an leave it in a tab somewhere). That's tragically inefficient, but, you know, it works.
I think Amphetamine replaced Caffeine
Indeed it did. Same developer, but Amphetamine has many more features than Caffeine...as the naming suggests. π
I switched to self-hosted BitWarden a few weeks ago. The basic functionality is good, but itβs not as polished as 1Password. macOS and Windows browser plugins all seem to work okay. The one thing on desktop that I donβt like about BitWarden vs 1Password is when you have more than 1 login for a site, it doesnβt give you a pop up to select which login to use when using the keyboard shortcut.
On mobile (iOS for me), itβs not as integrated into the OS as 1Password and doesnβt use biometric unlock. That I really miss.
Other than a few things like that, I love not being beholden to a company and their subscription model to store my passwords. Iβve been using it myself for a few weeks before introducing it to the rest of the family. I am keen to try out the password sharing capabilities.
Nice! There's a few things on here I haven't even heard of and will definitely have to check out.
However, I'm definitely more interested in knowing about Mac use at Microsoft. Obviously, some people have to have them because they're working on cross-platform apps, but is it common to see people just walking around on the MS campus carrying around a Mac? :P
AI see a lot of variety at Microsoft. Azure supports everything
Do you have any recommendations for learning more about using Azure for web development for Mac users? I've been interested in learning more about it, but now that I "officially" graduated from my full stack bootcamp, I have the time to invest in learning it. Thanks, in advance.
Hi Sherri. That is a great question. Let me think about this specifically from a mac user perspective and I'll write up a post about it after Thanksgiving. Sound good?
Thanks for reaching out!
Pastebot! (or jumpcut
for pre-catalina OS)$12.99
tapbots.com/pastebot/
(jumpcut is free
but I don't think it works on Catalina)Wrong! jumpcut was just updated!
snark.github.io/jumpcut/
Keep your clipboard history (copy / cut multiple items at once and then paste them, stop jumping back and forth between apps just to copy things)
I configured mine to use Shift+CMD+V as the hotkey, that made it super easy to add to my workflow.
Those are great and I can't imagine working without a clipboard manager! Personally I prefer (Paste)[pasteapp.me/]'s navigation and previews over Pastebot.
This is handy to setup automatically a new MacBook
github.com/atomantic/dotfiles
yes, indeed.
Glad to see Alfred in there! I only use a fraction of its functionality. WONDERFUL app, well worth the little money the ask for it.
Hazel is an essential for me. Itβs like Folder Actions on steroids, and it actually works (my Folder Actions use to stop working for no reason and after any OS update... thatβs how I found Hazel).
I canβt stand Finder (Iβm literally unable to use that thing), so I use Path Finder.
I donβt know some of the stuff in your list, so Iβll definitely be checking them out.
ImageOptim, Spectacle, Vanilla, Docker, Notion, Numi, RunJS. :)
good list
Curious if you have an automation pipeline setup? I'm using dotfiles, but always curious to see how other people do it!
sorry - to automate what?
I think he means to automate your setup on a new Mac (scripts, dotfiles, etc.)
I do indeed
Ah - no, I don't automate it. I have a list of dotfiles I hang onto but really the list of things I need is pretty short, so I just install them as I need them. And I really don't need to do this that often :)
Fair enough. I don't either, which makes me wonder if spending like 10 hours fiddling with my dotfiles was worth it, but oh well haha
In terms of category, always:
1) browsers
2) enhanced terminal
3) easily toggled sleep blocker
4) IDE or enhanced editor
5) brew (no alternatives here)
6) xcode tools (or here)
Most other tasks that don't require specific software (email, messaging, project planning, file sharing) I just use the browser for.
Do you know you can hold the option key while clicking on the WiFi Symbol and itβll give some more options. For sure not as much as WiFi Signal but itβs something
yeah, cool. thanks
The first app I install is caffeine. β
Ah nvm that's what amphetamine is for. I guess is stronger lol.
I think it replaced it on most recent macOS
Yep, Amphetamine is most definitely stronger than Caffeine. π
Really, no package manager?
Chrome for development or as your main browser?
homebrew is what I use, are there any others?
I listed homebrew in the bonus section. Just didn't get installed in the first ten
at least I am aware of fink finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
But yeah, brew is what I use, either
Chrome primarily, though I also use Safari and Brave a little. Experimenting
If you have the Alfred Powerpack, then Dash (for documentation) is amazing and highly recommended.
I see that Amphetamine is the new Caffeine.app
They give the option to use the old Caffeine icon!
Great list! Will try Bartender right away!
I'm curious, what does Alfred do that Spotlight can't?
I find that Quicktime capture and the cmd+shift+F3/F4 options are pretty great for screen capturing.
Magnet is also great for organising windows. It's the one thing that Mac OS just won't implement...
Other app importante for devs kapeli.com/dash documentation for programming languages and others
should 0 be homebrew? :-)
Great post, picked up lots of useful bits.
Ah yes! I had somehow missed the settings on the mobile app. FaceID and Autofill passwords were 2 of the things that I really missed after switching from 1Password. Thanks for the tip!
Haha, I also choose insomnia because it has cool names π
:)
Amphetamine
I use this to keep my laptop screen visible so it does not timeout when I am presenting
Not a mac user, wondering is there no built in settings for this on mac os?
There are built-in settings in Mac OS, but when using a MacBook, the battery life is usually an issue, so the display settings are set to very short "display off" times. The Amphetamine app gives you more options.
Thank you for posting this. I enjoy a good discussion of apps/software and what they are being used for.
I've got some scripts on GitHub that install homebrew first, then everything else via homebrew. I'd share, but it's woefully out of date and I'd be embarrassed. Need to update it.
Free alternatives
2 - Dozer
3- Spectacle
Love it! Thanks!
Thanks for the list!
Instead of Snagit I've been using github.com/wulkano/kap
I have not tried that one. 1Password is excellent tho
Rectangle (free) over Divvy
My favorite app is Displaperture (free)which gives your Mac rounded corners like your iPhone. Idk why but something about that border radius is soo aesthetically pleasing.
cool
Nice post!
Thank you very much for your explanations!
you're welcome
Chrome is a pretty bad recommendation unless you enjoy seeing your search results and browsing habits come back to life as zombie ads on your instagram and facebook. I stick to Firefox and Opera.
For calendar weeks, days, holidays I use Itsycal π
If you want, it will display your events as a companion to the Mac Calendar app.
A free alternative to Divvy: github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt
Insomnia looks really cool, I will give it a try!
Some of my suggestions :
β’ ScreenFlow is much better than SnagIt
β’ Magnet and Rectangle are good alternatives to Divvy
β’ Paw is much better than Insomnia
I'm getting more worried about Chrome these days... with every update it adds some hidden feature that keeps you logged in when you're not aware of it.
Why dropbox over Drive? Are there any pros?
You missed linux. Many of these functionalities come out of the box there. Then you don't have to even buy the mbp!
Have you tried Keyboard Maestro? You can do a lot with it and even replace Divvy :)
I have, but I didnt use it much. maybe I should look again.