Useful Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - August 2021

[MacRumors]

Apps created for the Mac don't often receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, so we have a video series that highlights useful Mac apps worth checking out. Our August picks feature apps for drawing with the trackpad, managing music, keeping track of passwords, and more.

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• SigmaOS ($10/Month) - SigmaOS is a browser that's aimed at those who do a lot of their work on the web. It allows websites and web apps to be organized into different workspaces or projects, and it supports multitasking with two active pages at one time. Workspaces that you don't need can be snoozed temporarily, and for those who often collaborate, you can send pages directly to another user's browser. SigmaOS is free to try, but it costs $10 per month for unlimited workspaces, pages, actions, and cross-device syncing.
• MiniKey ($1.99) - MiniKey is a lightweight one-time password app for the Mac that's designed as an alternative to apps like Authy or Google Authenticator. It lives in the Mac's menu bar and can be used to store all of your two-factor authentication codes. You can click to copy or drag and drop from the drop down menu where your authentication codes are stored.
• Magic Drawing App (Free) - Magic is designed to let you create drawings with your Mac's trackpad. It has pressure sensitivity when used with a MacBook's Force Touch trackpad, and there are customizable brushes to choose from.
• Sleeve ($5) - Sleeve is a desktop music player that works with Apple Music, Spotify, and Doppler. It's deeply customizable and lets you create a little desktop music widget that lets you know what's playing, provides album art, and offers up playback controls. You can decide just how much information you want to see and where you want it.
• Slapdash (Free) - Slapdash aggregates the capabilities from all of your apps into one easy access spot that can be reached with a single keyboard command (command + J). You just open up Slapdash and search for what you want if it's not already in the quick access list. Slapdash is customizable and there are team features for companies. Slapdash is free for limited use, but unlocking all of the features requires a $12/month subscription.

Know of a must-have Mac app or game that we haven't highlighted yet? Let us know in the comments below and we might feature it in a future video. Many of our Mac apps that we share are recommended by MacRumors readers. For more of our Mac app picks, check out our Mac apps archive.

Article Link: Useful Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - August 2021

 

[dylanthomas]

$10/Month for a web browser...

 

[EmotionalSnow]

Apps created for the Mac don't often receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads

That's unfortunately true and why I appreciate this series. I didn't know any of these apps before. Thanks to the MacRumors team.

 

[seanmills1020]

In the 1990s Netscape actually charged for its browser, but $120/yr is astronomical.

Netscape pricing.

 

[EmotionalSnow]

In the 1990s Netscape actually charged for its browser, but $120/yr is astronomical.

Netscape pricing.

Agreed. The browser seems nice but considering that it misses a few features and the price I am definitely not interested. I am willing to pay for good software but having to pay a subscription more expensive than Apple Music or Disney+ is just ridiculous.

And Slapdash is charging $12/m for their Pro tier. I generally am somewhat understanding when it comes to developers and subscriptions but this is really getting out of hand.

 

[Apple_Robert]

No way I would pay a monthly fee to use a web browser.

Minikey does not live in the Menu Bar. It resides there. Apps can't live.

 

[Dimwhit]

Sigma looked interesting. I'd maybe pay $10 one-time for it, but monthly? No way.

 

[baryon]

$10/Month for a web browser...

I thought the same thing, it sounds ridiculous. I guess everything comes as a subscription nowadays, just in case someone wants to give a percentage of their salary to some company every single month.

 

[Balty]

Unless you specifically need Doppler support with Sleeve, there’s a free and open-source alternative (that even does LastFM scrobbling) called NepTunes. https://micropixels.software/neptunes

 

[internetExplorer]

$10 a month is insane. Plus they have a spelling mistake on their landing page, lame.

 

[Roadcrew]

Who is even making these recommendations? I'm not afraid of paying for good apps, but the monthly pricing on SigmaOS and Slapdash is just ridiculous.

 

[Shirasaki]

Subscribe a web browser…… it better have some insanely amazing killing features that is difficult to replicate or too niche to be considered by big players (safari, edge, chrome, Firefox) to do the same.

Other apps doesn’t sound amazing either. Drawing using trackpad? Not my cup of tea.

 

[Wouter van Dam]

How is Slapdash a must-have app that is better than Alfred? Alfred has a solid track record, endless possibilities, a one time fee of £49 for the pro features, and can also be used for free.

 

[ApeBot]

$10 a month is insane. Plus they have a spelling mistake on their landing page, lame.

I would consider it if it improved my workflow.. I often have 5+ active tabs at a time (and I mean active) and over 30 opened. But the landing page provides so little info eg how does licensing work? Can I install it on multiple machines? What engine does it use.. the landing page is terrible

 

[EmotionalSnow]

I just found out that the original pricing plan for SigmaOS was $20, they changed it to $15 and then to $10 after they got feedback from Redditors who were obviously not fans of the price either.

 

[fhall1]

I enjoy this series, but these suggestions are all pretty lame.

 

[dcinema]

Sigma looked interesting. I'd maybe pay $10 one-time for it, but monthly? No way.

What id the value proposition? What does it do that I need? And, given the monthly fee, that I cannot achieve some other way? If a group of people need to share web pages, pin a shared doc or note somewhere and add relevant URLs to it.

 

[4jasontv]

The issue with Mac Apps is that when you find a good one they rarely have a Windows version.

I would consider it if it improved my workflow.. I often have 5+ active tabs at a time (and I mean active) and over 30 opened. But the landing page provides so little info eg how does licensing work? Can I install it on multiple machines? What engine does it use.. the landing page is terrible

I wouldn't. $10 total I might consider, but that should be MSRP with bimonthly sales.

 

[dlopan]

10.00 a month? no. They are dreaming. Charge 50 to 100 one time.
Alfred is really good but still pricey.
Get Little Snitch. Had it forever, works. Sometimes you can get it cheaper through a combo sale.
I still use Firefox since the 1st age of man. Free.
I used to recommend CCC but not any more, can't do a bootable copy. Back to SuperDuper.

 

[FightTheFuture]

Get Little Snitch. Had it forever, works. Sometimes you can get it cheaper through a combo sale.

Had Little Snitch forever too. Then tried LuLu when upgrading to Big Sur. I’m never going back.

 

[drumcat]

Any time I see "/month", I skip it immediately.

 

[drumcat]

Had Little Snitch forever too. Then tried LuLu when upgrading to Big Sur. I’m never going back.

100%. LuLu is gold.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

$10/Month for a web browser...

Especially since the most attractive functionality is more or less already built into the new macOS.

 

[ghanwani]

Are there any useless mac apps that are worth checking out?

 

[Westside guy]

I have a hard time seeing what exactly SigmaOS is offering for that $10/month, and their website doesn't help one whit. On the face of it, the subscription cost seems ludicrous... so why not put forward some specific use cases as examples?