For those who are interested in how I set up my new laptop (Mac).
FREE
Appcleaner: enables me to ensure anything I download in terms of trials will also be deleted way into the file system of the OS.
Brave: a privacy based browser for when a client needs me to use Zoom or another flaky platform.
Clipy: amazing little time-saver, set up to save my last 40 ‘copy’ actions (you can set the number) ready for pasting with shortcut enabled so can bring it up via Option+Command+V.
Firefox: an alternative browser for other things.
F.lux: (in terms of colour management for eye stress) warms up your screen and cools it down depending on the time of day. UPDATE: friend told me this is already in the new OS under Displays>NightShift so now uninstalling this app.
FuzzyTime: a way to add a ‘human’ touch to telling the time, now if Apple would allow us to remove the time icon from the menu-bar…
Hidden Bar: such a clever little thing to hide away all your menu bar items (I just have time and battery showing with control center and analogue clock fixed due to OS constraints).
OBS: open source software for video recording and live streaming to impress folks when I’m teaching them how to present engagingly online.
Stream Deck: the accompanying app to control the hardware for fancy presentations and other funky app related shortcuts.
PAID
Audio Hijack: for recording audio from multiple sources.
ExpressVPN: for securing website traffic and online activities from the marketeers and advertisers.
Obsidian: go to text and notes app with the added bonus of building out my digital Zettlekasten (I’m still learning).
Reeder: RSS still rocks and I love that I choose my media menu with this one app.
Sync: a more ethical and secure version of Dropbox.
1Password: I use version 6 which I bought the license for a few years ago and don’t need the bells and whistles of the newer ones.
OTHER TWEAKS
I remove everything from the ‘dock’ and have it disappear from use unless I hover over. I open apps from activating the Spotlight search with the shortcut Command+Space.
I set up three ‘spaces‘ (essentially to mimic three screens on one laptop). I also add in the Keyboard shortcut settings utilising Apple+Cursor(right / left) to jump between them (there already is a trackpad action to move between them as standard by using three fingers and swiping left / right but I like this added keyboard functionality also).
Everything else like email, social media, blog writing etc is accessed via a browser to enable a ‘lighter’ app footprint on my Mac.
Let me know if I’m missing anything obvious, think I should be exploring alternatives or know how to get rid of those unwanted menu bar items.
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