Getting started with a new fresh Macbook can be a bit difficult especially if you don’t have the right apps to help perform ordinary tasks. With a giant AppStore library, there’s not much your Macbook can’t do. Picking the right apps can itself be a daunting, confusing and time-consuming task.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you. We’ve put together a list of all such handy apps (both freeware and paid) that warrant your attention.
Apple Notes
We all take notes. Whether it’s a sudden thought, a forgotten task, or an idea that suddenly strikes our mind. It’s important to store them somewhere. Instead of writing your notes on a piece of paper, it’s better to digitally store them on your Mac. A note-taking app shall be extremely beneficial.
Apple Notes helps you put your thoughts, ideas into a digital notebook that can be synced with multiple devices with just an iCloud account. You can read, edit and write new notes while at home, office or even during travel. With a distraction-free interface, you can quickly take notes.
In contrast to paper notes, you can instantly search for text, record your voice, snap pictures, create checklists, attach screenshots from the Web, and do much more. As an Apple family product, it supports integration with Apple’s Siri voice assistant. This means that you can ask Siri to launch Apple Notes and start recording your notes straight away. It also has tons of text formatting features so that you can add headings, title, bullets, numbering, tables, and change the text style.
You can search through your notes for text, an image (such as a kitten), text inside an image (such as a railway ticket). It’s also possible to filter the notes to show only specific ones- notes taken today, yesterday, and so on.
You get free cloud storage of 5 GB, while the paid plans start from $0.99/ month offering 50 GB of cloud storage.
Price: Free
Type: Note-taking, digital notebook
Trial: N/A
Clone Files Checker for Mac
Clone Files Checker is a duplicate files finder that helps you find duplicate documents, photos, songs, videos, archives. Eliminating duplicates will help fix your disorganized files library and reclaim lost storage space.
It will scan your Macbook for duplicates and display a comprehensive report of all duplicates found. It groups the duplicates in a single group so that you can easily review your files and select the ones you want to delete. Alternatively, you can mark or unmark hundreds of files with one-click using the automatic selection patterns. The program also provides a trial with a limited fix.
Is Clone Files Checker safe? Absolutely. The program uses modern file hashing algorithms to identify data patterns. It ensures 100% accuracy. Also, if you’re not comfortable with deleting your files straight away, don’t worry. CFC lets you move your duplicates files to another folder of your choice.
Price: Starts from $39.97 (Annual subscription)
Type: System cleaner
Trial: Yes (Unlimited scans, fix upto 10 duplicate groups)
BetterSnapTool
Switching from Windows to Mac? No problem. Now you can enjoy the same Split View feature as you did with Windows. BetterSnapTool is a worth trying app for anyone looking to increase their productivity with multi-tasking, multiple window organizing and easy window resizing.
This small yet feature-rich app lets you position the windows in different patterns, side by side or in quarters of the screen. Furthermore, you can build your own custom snap areas for better multi-tasking and choose action when double-clicking the title bar of a window. The app is fully compatible with multiple screens and third-party apps installed on your Mac.
Price: $2.99
Type: multi-tasking, window organizing
Trial: Not available
LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a full-fledged office productivity software and a major free alternative to Microsoft Office. It includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and drawing tool. You can also import & export files from/ to other office programs such as Microsoft Office.
LibreOffice is not only free, it’s an open-source project. The developers do request for donations which are optional. If you don’t use your office programs too frequently, free LibreOffice is a much better choice than paying for an expensive Microsoft Office subscription. LibreOffice Draw lets you draw diagrams, flowcharts, arrows, boxes, lines etc. With LibreOffice Draw, you can also import Portable Document Format (PDFs) and modify them. LibreOffice Calc has all the formulas that you use in Microsoft Excel. You can open your existing Office documents, modify and export them without screwing down the contents. In short, LibreOffice has all the features that are already part of the Microsoft Office suite, and you get them all without paying a penny.
Price: Free
Type: Office & productivity suite
Trial: N/A
Apple Final Cut Pro
Whether you’re starting a Vlog series for your YouTube channel, storing your beautiful memories into a short video clip, or creating a short digital ad for your product, a video editor is a must.
Apple Final Cut Pro is a perfect video editing software for professional video editors as well as hobbyists looking to edit a few videos without much technical knowledge and skills. If you’re a hobbyist, it’ll certainly take some time to learn through the tutorials and get familiar with the interface. But once you get an overall idea about its handy features, you’ll be able to create professional-looking videos without much time and effort. You can avail of a free trial for 90 days without any charge.
Final Cut Pro contains a lot of powerful tools such as a whole range of video effects, 4K, 8K and 360-degree video support, multi-cam recording, post-production color grading system, magnetic timeline, HDR content, super-fast metal rendering engine, unorthodox audio roles, and many other powerful features. The magnetic timeline feature enables you to automatically reorder clips, move them in a sequence, eliminate empty spaces, and much more. You can also alter the video parameters using the Inspector tool.
Price: $299.99
Type: Video editing & movie production
Trial available: Yes (90-days free trial)
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Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms. If you have any question about the content, you can message me or the company's support team.