20 Must-Install Tools for your new Mac!
I’m not going to lie, every time I see a post like this, I get mad. It’s purely engagement bait across various social media channels.
Otherwise, how would everyone have the same picture of the same pack.
Well, after coming across the two-thousand five-hundred and sixty-fourth post like this, something clicked in my mind…
Why don’t I write a detailed, actually helpful article on how I would set up my Mac, my dev environment and productivity tools if I were to reset my Mac from scratch?
So, that’s what I did! Here are the coolest and most helpful apps, software and services in 2025 that I would set up!
Zsh (Z Shell)
What it does: Imagine your terminal got a speed boost! zsh makes it smarter with a plethora of tools like auto-completion, tab-completion and tons of customization.
Why you need it: Saves your fingers from typing the same long commands over and over.
How it helped me: Way before AI and autocomplete became a thing, we had ZSH. With ZSH, you’ve got stuff like OMZ (OhMyZsh), which allowed you to really dive deep into customizing your terminal and ensuring things like autocomplete, tab complete, using plugins for bash completion, shell completion, etc. So it boosted my productivity by a huge margin and allowed me to add my own character to the terminal.
Homebrew
What it does: It’s like an app store, but for your terminal. Install apps with one simple command.
Why you need it: Makes installing and updating software feel effortless.
How it helped me: If you are a developer and you’ve never used Homebrew, then my question is, what are you even doing? Homebrew is almost the first thing that I install once my Mac is set up because it’s a package manager through which you I can literally install almost all of the other software that I need on my Mac.
Warp
What it does: Imagine your terminal was bitten by a radioactive spider and became a superhero overnight. This is literally what Warp is. It takes your terminal and makes it a super powerful, agentic development environment.
Why you need it: It’s like going from a flip phone to a smartphone for coding and productivity. Whether you code or not, if you’re a vibe coder, or even if you’re using one of the many other tools like Claude Code or Factory, you can do all of this and more from inside Warp. So, it’s a no-brainer. Even if you’re not technical, if you want to write stuff, if you want to copy files from one place to another and do basic stuff by just typing in natural language, you can do all of this inside Warp.
How it helped me: I started using Warp primarily for a lot of productivity tasks as a game developer. Just stuff like being able to add multiple commands in separate lines before I submit the input to the terminal, being able to copy-paste stuff in the terminal which would otherwise require complex commands, and you know, very simple stuff. But now it’s kind of evolved into an all-in-one tool for me where everything I do is probably inside Warp. It made my workflows feel like driving a sports car instead of a clunky old van.
NVM (Node Version Manager)
What it does: Lets you switch between different versions of Node.js with ease.
Why you need it: Perfect if you work on projects that need different Node versions (which happens more often than you’d think).
How it helped me: I’ve been using NVM for ages. I remember even now, we used to manually have to install a node with commands, and then if you have to switch node versions, it would be a super pain. I came across NVM. In fact, my first YouTube video that I made was based on how to use NVM, and it’s been so useful for me because whether I’m using custom Node installations or even if I’m just starting off installing node on a new system, I always use nvm to install node because it’s a complete package manager. It’s got an environment and everything is set up automatically. I can switch between LTS versions or specific versions with simple commands like nvm use --lts or nvm install 22
Wispr Flow
What it does: Converts your voice into text. Just talk, and it types for you.
Why you need it: Great when you’re too lazy to type or multitasking like a boss.
How it helped me: Now, this is a tool I came across recently, and I’ve been using this for maybe a month or so. It’s absolutely a must for me now. I do most of the detailed prompting for LLMs or even just writing articles by talking and getting Wispr Flow to convert that and write it out for me. It’s a great tool. It’s good with structuring grammar and correcting my mistakes as I speak and removes the ums and ahs. It’s just been a huge blessing for me.
Time Machine
What it does: The ultimate backup tool for your Mac.
Why you need it: Because losing your files feels like losing a part of your soul.
How it helped me: My Mac once refused to boot after an update (thanks, technology). But guess what? Time Machine had my back. Restored everything like nothing happened. Crisis averted. If you don’t use this, you are in danger of losing your stuff. I’ve used Time Machine since I got my first M1 Mac, and have a separate drive just backing up to Time Machine. It’s always been an automatic default for me.
iCloud Drive
What it does: Syncs your files across all your Apple devices.
Why you need it: Forgot a file? No big deal just grab it from the cloud, or in this instance, the iCloud.
How it helped me: I can’t even begin to recount the number of times iCloud Drive has literally saved my behind. I had to pull up important work documents or personal documents or eveb something urgent. I realize I didn’t have my laptop but I’ve stored my stuff on iCloud Drive. I open it up on my phone and bam! It's just there, ready for me! I use the family plan as well so it makes it super easy to share stuff across the family!
OBS (Open Broadcaster Software)
What it does: Lets you record your screen or go live like a pro.
Why you need it: Perfect for online classes, live streaming, or making slick tutorials.
How it helped me: You know OBS has been the standard recording tool for me for ages. A lot of people have used different tools, but as someone who is a gamer who wanted to get into streaming games, OBS was a natural fit for me. It’s evolved so much over the years and another automatic install for me. I have it ready in case I need to make tutorials, if I need to stream or do any kind of quick demo for work even. It’s open source so that works perfectly for me as well.
Dipper
What it does: Manages your audio like a champ, routing sounds between apps.
Why you need it: Great for podcasts, live streams, or recording.
How it helped me: I’m actually surprised by how little people know about this nifty and really cool tool. It is a paid tool, but for me, it was a no-brainer. I think it cost me $5. I once needed to record or stream on Discord and on a Mac, it was really hard to provide permissions for Discord to capture desktop audio. That’s when I found Dipper and the really cool thing about it is that I was able to route different channels from applications like Discord, Chrome and even even source devices like my Mic and then route it into a virtual mic, which I can then add as a source in OBS to record stuff! It’s a brilliant tool. Lifetime single license purchase, and absolutely love this tool. It’s another default for me.
JetBrains Toolbox
What it does: Manages all your JetBrains IDEs in one neat little box.
Why you need it: No more downloading updates manually! Toolbox does it all.
How it helped me: If you’ve ever worked with game development, you’d understand what a pain it is to manage different versions of Android Studio because Unreal Engine requires a particular Android Studio, and so on. This tool has been so helpful for me, and the cool thing about the JetBrains toolbox is you can really choose where the installations happen. I’m able to configure it how I want, and I’ve always used this to install Rider, especially because I use Rider in Unity. Managing the versions of Rider, updating it, and whenever needed, installing Android Studio, removing it, and clearing up cache files, etc. — this has been a no-brainer toolbox for me.
Rider
What it does: An IDE that’s perfect Unity & Unreal game development!
Why you need it: Removes your headache caused by Visual Studio. Makes coding for games feel effortless.
How it helped me: As a game developer, I struggled for years using Visual Studio. To this day, I do not understand how someone could make such unintuitive software. Having said that, once I discovered Rider, it was an automatic switch. Rider is actually one of the most underrated and efficient, powerful and integrated IDEs out there. The jump from using Unity with Visual Studio to then going to Unity with Rider is like a world of difference. The integration is almost perfect. I am able to see various methods, inspector references, and so many other things with Rider that I wasn’t able to do before. It’s been a daily driver for my game development work. I now use it even with Unreal Engine, and it works beautifully, especially with hot reload and other such really cool features.
Zed
What it does: A super-fast, minimal code editor built with Rust.
Why you need it: It’s sleek, fast, and just feels good to use. Removes another headache, Visual Studio Code.
How it helped me: Tried Zed out of curiosity. Within a week, it became my daily driver. It’s like that one pair of jeans you didn’t expect to love but now wear all the time. If you’re still stuck with Visual Studio Code for some reason, or any other editor, I don’t know why. If you like the visual flow of working with an IDE, then you should choose Zed. It’s exponentially faster than any other IDE out there, and I’ve been using it for a while now. It’s efficient, intuitive, and has the best auto-complete that I have seen apart from Rider.
Dropzone 4
What it does: Moves files around your Mac quickly and efficiently.
Why you need it: Drag, drop, done. Perfect for organising files.
How it helped me: Drop Zone has been a really useful tool for me for ages. I always enjoy just dragging stuff around when I’m not using my terminal to move files around. If I’m just taking screenshots, organizing stuff, I have a few drop folders, and everything’s organized, so I can just quickly move files around.
I can stage it in Drop Zone by dragging it up to the toolbar and just holding it there, and then when I need to move that file eventually to a different destination, I can just open up that folder and copy the file over.
So it’s been super useful and it’s a must-have for enhancing your productivity.
App Cleaner
What it does: Uninstalls apps completely! No leftover junk.
Why you need it: Keeps your Mac clean and fast.
How it helped me: You know, with a Mac, installing/uninstalling apps are super simple. You just drag the app to the Applications folder or drag it out into the trash bin. However, there are a few apps that leave over cruft, and so if you really want to do a clean uninstall, App Cleaner is the best tool out there. I always use it to completely remove old apps I no longer use. I just drag the apps into App Cleaner, it gives me a list of all the library files and database files that might be left behind. I can choose which associated files to remove them, and it just goes ahead and deletes those for me! Very useful tool!
Audacity
What it does: Records and edits audio. Simple and free.
Why you need it: Great for podcasts, voice-overs, or cleaning up audio.
How it helped me: I’ve worked with a few audio editing tools like Audition, Logic, etc. in my previous filmmaking career. However, Audacity still remains the easiest and most accessible tool for small and quick edits. Sure, it is very powerful and can be used for more complicated workflows, but I find it to be a nifty little tool for quick conversions, removing some noise quickly and creating simple loops. It’s always been on my default installation list and I don’t see it going away anytime soon!
DaisyDisk
What it does: Shows a visual map of your disk space.
Why you need it: Helps you find and delete large, unnecessary files.
How it helped me: This is probably one of the first and only apps I actually paid and bought a lifetime license for. Partly because of how beautiful the visuals are, but mostly because how easy it is to just visualize your space hogs on a Mac. The simple UX of just drilling into your graph and dragging unnecessary files and folders into the collector and just hitting that delete button on all of them is the most satisfying experience of cleaning your Mac.
HandBrake
What it does: Converts videos to different formats.
Why you need it: Compresses videos without losing quality.
How it helped me: I can’t even begin to recount the number of times I’ve had to convert a video. Especially as a filmmaker, I still remember coming across this tool to convert some product footage from MPEG to mp4 and finding Handbrake in the process. Since then, all my video conversions, whether it be a podcast, or a screen recording to compress footage to save space, has been on Handbrake. It’s an absolute must have in your kitty!
Raycast
What it does: Like Spotlight, but faster and smarter.
Why you need it: Quickly launch apps, search files, and run commands.
How it helped me: Thought I’d hate it. Tried it. Now I use it 10 times a day. It’s like having superpowers for your Mac. I’m not kidding. I don’t know why I delayed using it for so long. I dislike replacing Apple’s in-built systems and I wanted to just stick to Spotlight. But once that started giving issues with search, I said “Okay, let me just try it” and I did. I am SO glad I did. I can’t not use Raycast anymore. It’s the swiss-army knife of the Mac. You can do everything from clearing trash to ejecting disks. Try it. It’s an absolute default.
Trae
What it does: An IDE designed for AI projects with real-time previews.
Why you need it: Makes AI development more visual and interactive.
How it helped me: I came Trae very recently after following some LLM leaderboards and seeing it score insane numbers on them. I was pleasantly surprised. This IDE is a super integrated environment for vibe coding. It has an inbuilt preview and a great agentic system that I found very intuitive. Creating sub agents for the project is a breeze and I created my entire portfolio site (work-in-progress) using just Trae and Warp. If you need the IDE feel, you have to ditch your tools like Cursor, Code, etc and just use Trae!
XMind
What it does: Helps you organise your thoughts visually.
Why you need it: Great for brainstorming, planning, and mind-mapping.
How it helped me: I came across Xmind a while ago working on a complex project and realized that just taking notes and brainstorming weren’t cutting it for me. Googled a mind-mapping tool and came across Xmind. I tried it once and I was blown away by how intuitive it is. Now it is my go to tool to plan out projects and just expand my ideas. From workflows to brainstorming projects, this is the perfect tool to visualize your thoughts!
Well, if you’re still reading, kudos to you. Please do follow me for more such in-depth articles on useful stuff (mostly) 😜
So, that wraps up my personal 20 best tools to install on your Mac. Hopefully you won’t have to keep tweeting on X asking for suggestions and can refer your friends to this article the next time you see a post anywhere asking for suggestions! 😉 Let me know your favorite tools and what I might have missed out on!
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