My favorite and recommended software and tech.
Sometimes I get asked about the things I use to build, stay productive, or buy to pretend I’m being productive when I’m really just procrastinating (master procrastinator here). Here’s a list of all of my favorite stuff.
Productivity
Obsidian
The best note-taking app that leverages non-linear note styles. Community-built plugins also got you covered for anything you could ever want in a note-taking app.
Anki
Struggling to remember facts? Anki-fy it! Anki utilizes the power of spaced repetition in flashcards to help you retain information. Warning: you may become part of the Anki cult (or quit within a week).
Visual Studio Code
A community staple IDE for anything code and programming related. My favorite feature is the ability to use plugins... such as ChatGPT for debugging your code.
TickTick
A great task-manager app with a powerful calendar baked in. It might soon be replaced on the list, as I’ve been using it less in favor of Obsidian Tasks + Reclaim.ai calendar.
Raindrop
Drop all your bookmarks, references, and cool websites here, and you can view them anywhere. It’s free, comes with great tagging organization, and has a cool logo.
Useful MacOS Apps
Bitwarden (FREE)
Bring the power of Google passwords to any application you use. Saves the hassle of remembering 100+ different passwords.
Shottr (FREE)
Versatile screenshot tool with extremely powerful features, including scrolling capture, OCR, and screenshot editing. And it’s all for free!
Rectangle (FREE)
Snap that window left, right, and across monitors! Feel the power of Windows’ window management in MacOS.
DeepL (FREE)
I should really study my Chinese, but DeepL is the only reason why I don’t. Translate screenshots, documents, and text more accurately than Google can.
Raycast (FREE)
A feature-rich application launcher that has dethroned Alfred as the king of application launchers. Though that might spark some arguments.
Maccy (FREE)
View your entire clipboard history and paste them rapidly. Great if you copy a lot of information, which is literally everyone.
Expanso (FREE)
Can’t be bothered to type your long email address out or your address? Setup keyboard shortcuts to expand anything you want.
Keka (FREE)
If you understand the pain of downloading a .zip file and then manually unzipping it, just get Keka. Auto unzips files, and can also compress files too.
AltTab (FREE)
I love how Windows handles AltTabing, so let’s move that feature to MacOS as well! Works wonders if you have 20 applications open at the same time.
Arc (FREE)
"Arc is the Chrome replacement you've been waiting for." Great tab management and many small UX enhancements (mini browser, CTRL F with GPT...) that make it even better.
BatFi (FREE)
Extend your MacOS battery life. Charging your MacBook battery to 100% is bad for the battery - BatFi will limit the maximum battery percentage to 80%. Good enough for most people.
Warp (FREE)
A modern, AI-powered terminal. Much better than the default terminal or iTerm2. Use my referral code to download it for free with an exclusive theme!
Draw.io (FREE)
Free collaborative diagramming software. Great for creating flowcharts, diagrams, and more for your blogs or projects. The best diagramming app I’ve ever used.
PDFGear (FREE)
Anything you need to do with PDFs, PDFGear has you covered. No longer do I need to open a webpage to compress, merge, or OCR my PDFs!
Latest (FREE)
A simple app that keeps all your other apps updated. No more manually updating apps, and no more annoying update notifications.
SoulSeekQT (FREE)
A criminally underrated music downloading app. P2P connections to download high-quality music. Especially great for audiophiles who want hi-res FLAC files.
DaisyDisk (PAID)
Find big files on your Mac so you can clean them up. It’s a great way to free up space on your Mac.
Bartender (PAID)
If you downloaded all my recommended apps, your Mac menu bar is probably a mess. Bartender lets you organize your menu bar so it’s not a mess. I find it much better than HiddenBar (a free alternative).
Screen Studio (PAID)
Ever want to create stunning recordings of your screen? This one uses AI to track and zoom in on your cursor, add backgrounds, and add animations.
Parallels (PAID)
So I can actually access engineering apps like Altium or Solidworks on my Mac. Having native Apple Silicon optimized engineering software would be awesome though.