Free Macintosh Software

The Very Best FREE Macintosh Software !

By Randy B. Singer

Note: Any discrepancies between the prices listed on this Web site and the price on the developer’s site are irrelevant. The price you should expect to pay is the price asked by the developer.

306 completely free products now listed!

The Very Best FREE Macintosh Software !

By Randy B. Singer

Note: Any discrepancies between the prices listed on this Web site and the price on the developer’s site are irrelevant. The price you should expect to pay is the price asked by the developer.

306 completely free products now listed!

One of the things that makes the Macintosh a great value is the wide array of excellent software applications that come with it. Apple’s included applications are surprisingly competent. But they don’t always provide everything, or exactly what one could want. And there are certain types of applications that simply don’t come with a new Mac. There are, of course, a huge number of commercial applications to do whatever you want with your Macintosh, but sometimes folks want something that is either free, or which is extremely reasonably priced. Fortunately, there are a large assortment of free applications for the Macintosh that are very much worth having, or which are at least worth checking out. I’ve tried to list as many such programs here as I know about, emphasizing software that I feel is either invaluable or highly desirable. Hopefully even long-time Mac users will find something new and useful in this list.

Note: This is not meant to be a comprehensive listing of all of the free software for the Macintosh. The applications listed here are limited to those that are easy to install, which work really well, and which are either easy to use or which are easy to learn to use.

Note: This site does not include crippled free demos. In some cases there is both a free version of a particular program, and a commercial version with more features. The free version is not listed on this page unless it stands alone as being valuable without the user being forced to buy the commercial version.

Important: If you are running a recent version of the Macintosh operating system, and you download software from somewhere other than Apple’s Mac App Store, when you go to launch that software you will get a dialog that says that you can’t open the application because it’s “from an unidentified developer.” This is simply Apple’s security measure telling you to be careful where you get your software from. This alert does not mean that the application is dangerous or that it won’t run on your Macintosh. Software that you get directly from a legitimate developer is just about always perfectly safe. You can open the application by:

Choose Apple menu –> System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) 1.

Go to Security, then click Open. 1.

Click Open Anyway. 1.

Enter your login password, then click OK.

See: https://www.lifewire.com/fix-developer-cannot-be-verified-error-5183898 Why is this software free?********** **

ActivePresenter free edition (free) https://atomisystems.com/activepresenter/free-edition (Screen recorder and video editor. Designed primarily to create training courses.)

Adguard for Safari (free) https://adguard.com/en/adguard-safari/overview.html (Ad blocking extension for Safari.)

Adobe Express (free; commercial version adds more features) https://www.adobe.com/express/?msockid=3a77bcdb92846eb222f7a83993fd6f35 (AI content creation app for making stunning social posts, images, videos, flyers, and more.)

AetherSX2 (free) New! https://github.com/AetherSX2-backup/AetherSX2-builds?tab=readme-ov-file (PS2 emulator specifically optimized for Apple Silicon Macs.) See here for review and installation instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilYcHk8_QDc

AltTab (free) https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ (Really cool window switcher using the keyboard.)

Amazing AI (free) https://sindresorhus.com/amazing-ai (Describe an image using text, and your computer will create the image you describe!!) (NOTE: Requires a recent Macintosh with an “Apple Silicon” processor.)

Amethyst (free) https://ianyh.com/amethyst/ (Simple window manager.)

AmorphousDiskMark (free) New! https://www.katsurashareware.com/amorphousdiskmark/ (Measures hard disk/SSD read/write performance.)

Anatomy Model Puzzle (free) https://digital-gene.com/app_anatomymodelpuzzle.php?lang=en https://apps.apple.com/us/app/enjoy-learning-anatomy-puzzle/id563130137 (An educational puzzle game to learn human anatomy.)

**Anki **(free) New! https://apps.ankiweb.net (Flashcard/study app.)

**AppCleaner **(free) https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/ (Macs don’t really need uninstallers, but for those who really want one, AppCleaner allows you to quickly, easily and thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps.)

Arc browser (free) https://arc.net Review: https://tidbits.com/2023/05/01/arc-will-change-the-way-you-work-on-the-web/ (New paradigm Web browser using AI.)

Audacity (free) https://www.audacityteam.org (Multi-track audio editor and recorder.)

Aural (free) https://www.mactools.pro/Aural (Audio player. Supports a wide range of audio formats, including FLAC, MP3, and AAC, ensuring compatibility with most music libraries.)

AutoQuill (free) New! https://www.getautoquill.com (Voice-to-text using AI.)

Battery Toolkit (free) New! https://github.com/mhaeuser/Battery-Toolkit?tab=readme-ov-file (Grants you manual control over laptop battery charging, to increase life of battery.)

BBEdit (free/$50) https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/ List of differences between free and commercial version: https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/comparison.html (The premier text editor for the Macintosh. )

**BeeBeep **(free) https://www.beebeep.net (Peer to peer instant encrypted office messaging. )

Betterbird (free) New! https://www.betterbird.eu/ (Email client. Fork of Thunderbird with more features and bug fixes.)

BetterDisplay/Pro (free/$15) (was: BetterDummy) https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDummy (Allows custom resolutions with external monitors. Some monitors don’t look quite right using Apple’s default resolutions. This utility gives you more resolution choices so that hopefully you can find the perfect one.)

BGBlitz (free version) https://www.bgblitz.com/ (A supremely wonderful backgammon game. Addictive.)

**Big Red Clock **(free) http://www.bigredclock.com (Big red numbers desktop clock with countdown timer and stopwatch features.

Blender (free) https://www.blender.org/download/ (Very powerful 3D graphics program.)

BLEUnlock (free) https://github.com/ts1/BLEUnlock (A small menu bar utility that locks and unlocks your Mac by proximity of your iPhone, Apple Watch, or any other Bluetooth Low Energy device.)

Blip (free for personal use) New! https://blip.net/ (Fast file transfer directly between any two of your devices using the Internet. Requires a minimum of macOS 12.1 Monterey, iOS/iPadOS 15, or Android 9. The Windows version is still in development.) Review: https://tidbits.com/2024/09/06/appbits-use-blip-to-send-large-files-directly/

BlueStacks (free) https://www.bluestacks.com/features.html (Lets you run Android apps on your Mac!)

Brave web browser (free) https://www.brave.com/ (Apple provides it’s own Web browser with every Macintosh; Safari. Why would you want a different Web browser? Because Brave offers the highest level of security of any Web browser for the Macintosh using standard settings. It’s FAST, it blocks ads without the need for add-ons, it blocks trackers, and it has excellent compatibility with just about every Web site. Brave simply provides a safer, much more enjoyable browsing experience than other browsers.) More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(web_browser) https://cyberinsider.com/browser/secure/

Calibre (free) https://calibre-ebook.com/ (E-book collection manager and converter. Read e-books from other Platforms on your Macintosh. Substitute for Apple’s iBooks.)

CaseViewer (Donation Requested.) https://www.caseviewer.app/ (Legal case law finder. You can retrieve cases from a variety of publicly available sources, and have them formatted for easy study.)

CleanMyJunk (free) New! https://cutt.ly/frEJqIhK https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cleanmyjunk-ai-disk-cleaner/id6738380105 (Easily delete all junk and System data to free up space on your Mac.)

Clipboard Manager (free) https://github.com/nardellil/clipboard-manager (Allows multiple items to be copy and pasted.)

Cling (free) New! https://lowtechguys.com/cling (File finder that uses its own index and fuzzy searches to search for things that Spotlight can’t. It can even do searches using partial names or misspelled names. Also works on external volumes.)

ClipGrab (free) https://clipgrab.org (ClipGrab is a free downloader and converter for YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and many other Web-based audio and video sites. It converts downloaded files to MPEG4, MP3 or other common formats in one easy step.)

ClipTools (free) https://macmost.com/cliptools https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cliptools/id1619348240?mt=12 (Clipboard manager. Access things that you have previously cut and pasted. You can save clips, use powerful Smart Clips, paste the date or time in any format you wish, and/or paste boilerplate that you create.)

Clipy (free) https://clipy-app.com (An advanced clipboard manager that will allow you to copy and store as many things as you like, and then export them in any order that you like. Invaluable for doing research and writing.) (NOTE: Don’t let the Japanese on this product’s Web page scare you. This app is entirely in English.)

Clocker (free) https://abhishekbanthia.com/clocker/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clocker-menubar-world-clock/id1056643111?ls=1&mt=12 (World clock integrated right into your menu bar, allowing you to quickly check up on your colleagues/friends/family in different time zones. Includes reminders feature.)

CloudClip Manager (free) https://thinkbitz.com/cloudclip/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cloudclip-manager/id563362017?mt=12 (Sync your clipboard between your Macintosh and your iPad or iPhone. It’s the easiest way to transfer phone numbers, websites, addresses, and more.)

Clyde (free, commercial version has more features) https://theclyde.app Direct download of free version: https://theclyde.app/s/Clyde10.dmg (MacBook security app. Sets off an alarm on your MacBook if somebody attempts to steal it.)

CMap Tools (free) http://cmap.ihmc.us http://cmap.ihmc.us/download/ (Mind map app. Empowers users to construct, navigate, share and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps.)

**Coconut Battery ** (free) https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/ (Tells you about the health of your Macbook’s battery. When your laptop’s battery gets down to about 80% of its original capacity, it’s time to think about getting a new battery.)

Copyber (free. Donation requested) New! https://copyber.com (Clipboard manager that allows you to visually keep track of your clips.)

CopyClip (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/copyclip-clipboard-history/id595191960?mt=12 (Simple and efficient clipboard manager.)

CopyLess (free, additional features available for a fee) https://copyless.net/ (Clipboard manager. Can store up to 1000 recent clippings.)

CoreBreach (free) https://www.corecode.io/corebreach/CoreBreach/CoreBreach.html (Futuristic anti-gravity racing game.)

Cot Editor (free) New! https://coteditor.com/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/coteditor/id1024640650?mt=12&ls=1 (Powerful text editor. Will colorize syntax; great for hand coding, including HTML.)

Countdown Timer Pro (free) New! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/countdown-timer-pro/id6744842468 (Create highly customizable countdown timers.)

CustomShortcuts (free) https://www.houdah.com/customShortcuts/ (Customize Mac menu keyboard shortcuts.)

Cyberduck (free) https://cyberduck.io/download/ (FTP browser. “File Transfer Protocol” is how you move files to a server. More importantly, it’s how you upload HTML files to your ISP’s server to put them on the Web. Easy to use, and fairly full featured.)

Czkawka (free) New! https://github.com/qarmin/czkawka?tab=readme-ov-file (Find duplicates, empty folders, similar images, etc. and delete them.)

DarkModeBuddy (name your price) https://insidegui.gumroad.com/l/darkmodebuddy (Automatically switch your Mac between light and dark modes based on your Mac’s ambient light sensor.)

Darktable (free) https://www.darktable.org/ (A clone of Adobe Lightroom. A virtual light-table and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them.)

Davinci Resolve (free; commercial “Studio” version has more features) https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/davinci-resolve/id571213070?mt=12 (Professional video editing, color correction, audio post and visual effects!)

Desktop Icon Manager - “DIM” (free) http://www.parker9.com/desktopIconManager2.0.html (Remembers and restores on command the placement of your desktop’s icons. It’s way too easy to accidentally set the “View” for your desktop to something that re-arranges everything with no way to get back the organization you painstakingly set up manually. With one click, DIM puts your desktop icons right back where they were when you last saved their arrangement. Program can also instantly hide all of your desktop icons.)

DetectX (free) https://sqwarq.com/detectx/ (Looks for and eliminates all known adware. Will also remove some malware, but this isn’t a comprehensive solution for dealing with malware....fortunately you don’t need a product to look for the latter because the Mac has built-in anti-malware software.)

DiffusionBee (free) https://diffusionbee.com (A set of amazing AI tools for graphic artists!)

DiskInventory X (free) New! http://www.derlien.com/ (Lets you see what’s using all the space on your drive.)

DropClock (free) New! https://github.com/WrkX/Dropclock (Drag and drop from your menu bar icon to set timers exactly when you need them.)

DockDoor (free) https://dockdoor.net (Preview all your windows directly from the dock.)

DockProfile (free) New! https://rjnk.gumroad.com/l/dockprofiles (Lets you save and switch between different macOS Dock layouts instantly.)

draw.io Desktop (free) https://www.diagrams.net https://github.com/jgraph/drawio-desktop/releases/tag/v21.2.1 (Diagramming tool. For creating floor-plans, organization charts, process flows, mind-maps, circuit diagrams, story maps and timelines.)

DupeGuru (free) https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/ (Finds duplicate files by either name or content. Also works with music and photos.)

EasyFind (free) https://www.devontechnologies.com/apps/freeware (File search app. Spotlight doesn’t look everywhere on your hard drive for things. Spotlight is designed for speed and to keep you away from things that Apple thinks that you don’t need to see. EasyFind looks everywhere on your Mac. It can even look for invisible files.)

**Easy Record and Trim **(free) https://ithinkapps.com/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mp3trueedit/id731468939 (Allows you to record MP3 files and AAC audio files directly and then trim the recordings without any quality loss.)

Easy Streaming (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/easy-streaming/id6449092750?mt=12 (Easy Streaming helps you to conveniently browse multiple streaming and video sites in one application, separate from your web browser.)

EconomixX (free) http://y.callaud.free.fr/economix.html (Finance manager. Personal accounting. )

EdenMath (free) http://www.edenwaith.com/products/edenmath/ (Scientific calculator which does standard arithmetic, probability, and trigonometric functions.)

eM Client (free/$50) https://www.emclient.com/ (Extremely full featured e-mail client. Includes calendars, tasks, contacts, notes, and chat features. Commercial Pro version adds features that the free version lacks.)

Encrypto (free) https://macpaw.com/encrypto (Instantly encrypt and password protect your files or folders. Decrypt them with a double-click and enter the password. Not even the FBI can break this encryption. There is also a free version of this product for Windows, so encrypted files can be shared across platforms!)

EnvelopeMagic (free) https://www.envelopemagic.com https://apps.apple.com/us/app/envelopemagic/id1516167860?mt=12 (App for printing envelopes. Requires macOS 11.5 or later.)

eqMac (free. Commercial Pro version has more features.) https://eqmac.app/ (System Audio Equalizer. Make your music sound better by adjusting it for your speakers and environment.)

Espanso (free) https://espanso.org/ (Text expander. Create snippets that when typed expand into often-used terms and boilerplate.)

EtreCheckPro (free; additional features available for a fee) https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html (Helps you track down the cause of serious problems on your Mac. Can also remove annoying adware.)

eul (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/eul/id1537133867 (System status monitoring app.)

Exporter (free) New! http://falcon.star-lord.me/exporter/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exporter/id1099120373?mt=12 (Apple’s free program Notes doesn’t provide a way to export all of your data as editable text files. It holds your data hostage. This app remedies that.)

FaceTime (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facetime/id1110145091 (Make audio and video calls for free.)

FancyFolders (free) New! https://github.com/kfreitag1/FancyFolders (Create custom folder icons from symbols, text, or images.)

FFWorks (free) https://www.ffworks.net/ (Video file translator and editor. Provides a graphical user interface for FFMPEG.)

Filezilla (free) https://filezilla-project.org (Cross-platform FTP and SFTP client.)

Flow Vision (free) New! https://github.com/netdcy/FlowVision (Waterfall-style image viewer for macOS, designed to facilitate reviewing a large number of photos.)

Fluster (free) New! https://www.flusterapp.com/ (Notetaking app specifically for students and researchers. Handles equations, snippets, bibliography management, task lists, whiteboards, and much more!)

FontDoc (free) New! https://allenmonroesmith.bitbucket.io/FontDoc/ (Creates a file showing all of your fonts and how they look. File can be printed to show how all of your fonts look printed.)

FormulatePro (free) http://code.google.com/p/formulatepro/ (Allows you to fill in PDF forms on-screen and print them. Even locked ones. The latest version of Preview can do most of what Formulate can do, and more, but Formulate is really good at what it does, and makes it easier. ) Note: This application is not 64-bit and can’t be run under Mac OS 10.15 Catalina and later.

Fotor (free/subscription. Commercial version adds more features.) https://www.fotor.com/mac/index.html (Easy to use, but powerful photo editing app.)

FoxIt PDF Reader (free) https://www.foxit.com/pdf-reader/ (View, print, annotate, fill-in forms, and sign PDF documents. Alternative to Preview, but not an Adobe Acrobat Pro replacement.)

FreeCAD (free, donation requested.) New! https://www.freecad.org/downloads.php (Computer aided design. Produce, export and edit solid, full-precision models.)

FreeFileSync (free) New! https://freefilesync.org (Graphical file synchronization and folder comparison tool.)

FreeOffice (free) https://www.freeoffice.com/en/ (Very similar to Microsoft Office; with a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation application included. Excellent compatibility with Microsoft format files! Softmaker makes two commercial versions of this office suite, called Softmaker Office, but the free version is all that many people might need. Not a crippled or demo product. On a par with LibreOffice; each has their strong points and weak points.)

Freescaler (free) https://www.murusfirewall.com/freescaler/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/freescaler/id6443796196?mt=12 (Upscale low-res images using AI!)

Freeter (free) New! https://freeter.io/ (Multi-function app concentrating on workflow/project assistance and time and to-do management.)

FreeTube (free) https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube?tab=readme-ov-file (Download the “freetube-0.xx-x-mac-x64.dmg” file.) (YouTube player that blocks advertisements, tracking, and which allows downloading!)

FSNotes (free) New! https://fsnot.es/ (Notes manager that syncs with your other devices.)

Fugit (free) https://www.gorgeousity.com/fugit (Beautiful digital desktop clock.)

Full Deck Solitaire (free) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/full-deck-solitaire/id412980789?mt=12 (An awesome Solitaire game, offering a bunch of variations and nice game play.)

FunctionFlip (free) https://kevingessner.com/software/functionflip/ (Controls your MacBook’s function keys, turning special keys back to regular F-keys, or vice-versa.)

Garage Band (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/garageband/id682658836?ls=1&mt=12 https://www.apple.com/mac/garageband/ (“A fully equipped music creation studio right inside your Mac”.)

Get Plain Text (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/get-plain-text/id508368068?mt=12 (Will convert any bit of text you copy into plain text, no matter where you copied it from [a website, PDF document or elsewhere]. You can activate the feature manually, or check “Automatically remove formatting” to make the app take care of it every time you copy something.)

Gimp (free) http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ http://www.gimp.org/ (A very advanced photo retouching, image composition and image authoring program, similar to Photoshop.) Free tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8C0LJPpr64 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPIUyFJ4ag

Gladys (free, “tips” encouraged) New! http://www.bru.build/gladys-for-macos (A drag-and-drop shelf that holds things you want to set aside, such as links, text snippets, map locations, contacts, images, photos, emails, messages, etc. without having to switch apps.)

Go64 (free) https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/ (Scans your internal drive for 32-bit applications that won’t be compatible after upgrading to macOS Catalina or later.)

Grab2Text (free) New! https://www.softwarehow.com/grab2text/ (Extract non-selectable text from photos, PDFs, screenshots, presentations, online videos, app windows, etc., using OCR.)

Gramps (free) https://gramps-project.org/blog/ https://gramps-project.org/blog/download/ (Genealogy program developed by genealogists.)

Grand Perspective (free) New! https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ $3 on the App Store, but free on SourceForge. Both versions are exactly the same. (Lets you see what’s using all the space on your drive.)

GreenOrbmax (donation requested) http://www.carsten-mielke.com/greenorbmax.html (Makes the green button in the upper left of a window maximize the window rather than throw you in to full screen mode.)

Growly Checkbook (free) https://growlybird.com/checkbook/index.html (Personal finance software.)

Growly Draw (free) https://www.growlybird.com/draw/ (Does both vector graphics and bitmapped. A drawing program with a bit of painting ability.)

Growly Notes (free) http://growlybird.com/notes/index.html (Notebook program. A really nice program for keeping notes, snippets from Web sites, etc. It has a garish default interface, but in Prefs there is an option to change to a very Mac-like interface. An alternative to Apple’s Notes.

GrowlyWrite (free) http://growlybird.com/write/index.html (If you want a word processor that is easy to use, and which is definitely easier to use than Microsoft Word, this one might be what you are looking for. The one big downside is that it doesn’t do footnotes.)

GNUCash (free) http://www.gnucash.org/ (Quicken substitute. GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software. Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports. ) How to install: http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/MacOSXInstallation

Handbrake (free) https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php (HandBrake takes videos you already have and makes new ones that work on your mobile phone, tablet, TV media player, game console, computer, or web browser.

HandyWords (free) New! https://apps.apple.com/it/app/handywords-vocabulary-builder/id6748362446?l=en-GB&mt=12 (English dictionary and vocabulary builder.)

HiddenBar (free) New! https://superbits.co/hidden/ https://github.com/dwarvesf/hidden https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hidden-bar/id1452453066?mt=12 (Lets you hide menu bar items to give your Mac a less cluttered look.

HideIcons (free) New! https://github.com/com-entonos/Hide-Icons https://github.com/com-entonos/Hide-Icons/releases/tag/2.2.1 (Lets you hide/show your desktop icons.

Highlight AI (free) New! https://highlightai.com (AI assistant that works across apps.)

Hyper Cursor (Free) New! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1634220679 https://kaihatsubu.com/projects/ (Display a customizable circle around your mouse cursor. Useful if you have poor eyesight or a huge or multiple monitors.)

HitFilm Express (free) https://fxhome.com/express Review: https://www.techradar.com/reviews/hitfilm-express (Very powerful video editing and video effects software.)

Home & Lock Screen Widgets (free) https://www.imagetasks.com/lockera/ (Useful desktop widgets. Keep track of essential information, do simple calculations, create sticky notes and to-do lists.)

HopToDesk (free) https://www.hoptodesk.com (Remote desktop sharing from your Mac to multiple other platforms. Includes true end-to-end encrypted traffic, peer-peer file transfer, and live chat. Allows users to share their screen and allows remote control access to their computers and devices.)

Hyperkey (free) https://hyperkey.app (Re-map Caps Lock key and/or create an additional modifier key that you can use in any app with keyboard shortcuts.)

ICE (free) (Requires macOS 14 and later.) New! https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice (Very comprehensively manages items in your menu bar.)

iFan (free) etter365.cn/h-col-195.html (Allows manual control of MacBook fans. Works with Apple Silicon Macs.)

IINA (free) https://iina.io/ (Video file player that works with many different formats. While VLC is very popular, IINA may be better.)

ImageOptim (free) https://imageoptim.com/mac (Saves disk space and bandwidth by compressing images without losing quality. Combines several different compression techniques. Allows choice of lossless or lossy compression.)

iMovie (free) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/imovie/id408981434 (Apple’s own movie editing and organizing software.)

InfoMenu (free) New! https://www.elonovo.com/app_freeware/infomenu (See the main info of your Mac from the menu bar, including processor use, memory use, space available on the main hard drive.)

Inkscape (free) https://inkscape.org (A professional-level vector graphics application with layers and many other useful features.)

IsThereNet (free) New! https://lowtechguys.com/istherenet/ (Watches for internet connection status changes and draws a colored line at the top of the screen to indicate the status.)

Itsycal (free) https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/ (A superb little menubar calendar.)

Ivinci Express (free) http://phyar.cn (Vector drawing program reminiscent of the long-departed MacDraw.

Joplin (free, donations requested) New! https://joplinapp.org (Notebook app. Will save text, images, videos, PDFs, entire Web pages, and audio files. Highly secure.)

JumpCut (free) https://snark.github.io/jumpcut/ (Clipboard manager. Copy, save, and paste as many things as you like in any order that you like.)

Junkyard (free, nag screen for donations) https://zebcode.com/ (Mind mapping, outlining, and note keeping application.)

JuxtaText (free) New! https://juxtatext.app/ (Compare & Merge Text. See differences at a glance. Merge them into one.)

Karabiner-Elements (free) https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org (A powerful keyboard customizer for macOS. Change keys to other keys, or have a key-press perform a rule.)

Keka (free, donations requested) https://www.keka.io/en/ (A file archiving and unarchiving utility. Compresses files to save disk space, splits and compresses files for e-mailing, and/or encrypts files for security. Though the Mac OS has the built-in ability to create compressed Zip archives, it doesn’t include the ability to password protect or encrypt a compressed zip archive. Keka adds this ability. Easy drag and drop. Free from the developer’s website, or can be purchased via the Mac App Store if you want to support the developer. No difference in functionality.)

Keyboard Cowboy (free) New! https://github.com/zenangst/KeyboardCowboy https://github.com/zenangst/KeyboardCowboy/releases (Allows you to create macros to automate tasks.)

KeyKlu (free) https://github.com/Anze/KeyCluCask (Shows Macintosh application’s keyboard shortcuts. Easy to use: just press “?” twice and hold to see the list.)

Keynote (free) https://www.apple.com/keynote/ (Apple’s own presentation program. Previously available only with a new Mac or commercially; now totally free. A joy to use!)

KoalaCalc (free) http://www.macropodsoftware.com/koalacalc/ (A really nice calculator. Much more advanced than the one that comes with your Mac. Includes tape and lots of conversions.)

Krita (free) https://krita.org/ https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/ (A professional painting program. Photoshop replacement.)

Later (free) https://getlater.app (Clear and restore your desktop organization instantly.)

Launchie (free) New! https://www.launchie.app/ (A Launchpad replacement for macOS 26 and beyond.)

LazPaint (free) https://lazpaint.github.io/ (Cross-platform image editor with raster and vector layers.) Free tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=LazPaint

**Libre Office **(free) http://www.libreoffice.org (A Microsoft Office clone; though more like the Windows version of Office than the Macintosh version. Compatible with Office files and file formats. Also can open and edit WordPerfect files. Includes very advanced word processor, spreadsheet, database, drawing, charting, and presentation capabilities.)

Lickable Menu Bar (free) New! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lickable-menu-bar/id6444217677?mt=12 (Brings back classic menu bar styles to your Mac.)

LocalSend (free) https://localsend.org (Transfers files to local devices. Encrypted end to end. The file transfer is completely peer-to-peer.)

Logseq (free) https://github.com/logseq/logseq?tab=readme-ov-file#-why-logseq https://github.com/logseq/logseq https://logseq.com (Notebook app. Note-taking, collaboration, PDF annotation, Whiteboard and task management.)

Loop (free) https://github.com/MrKai77/Loop?tab=readme-ov-file#features (Advanced window manager.)

LULU (free) https://objective-see.com/products/lulu.html (Reverse firewall. Keeps software, including malware, from calling home. Little Snitch Alternative. macOS 10.15 and later only.)

MacMouseFix (free/$3) (Version 2.x is completely free. Version 3.x is $3.) New! https://mousefix.org/ Older versions: https://github.com/noah-nuebling/mac-mouse-fix/releases (Enables smooth scrolling, horizontal scrolling, zooming in by scrolling with Command, and other useful settings, for any third party mouse.)

Maccy (free) https://github.com/p0deje/Maccy https://github.com/p0deje/Maccy/releases/tag/0.29.3 (Some consider this to be the best of the free clipboard managers!)

MacFanControl (free/$15. Commercial Pro version has more features.) https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control (Real-time monitoring of fan speeds and temperatures. Allows you to adjust fan speed and when they come on. Solves overheating problems like those found on older MacBook Pros.)

MachineProfile (free) https://www.micromat.com/products/machineprofile/ (Collects key, technical hardware information about your Mac that’s not easily found elsewhere. Displays the technical profile of a Mac within a single window, which can then be saved as text or PDF or emailed to others. Easily find your Mac’s serial number, processor speed, if you’re running in 64-bit or 32-bit mode, whether you can run the next version of the Mac OS, and more.)

MacJournal (free) https://danschimpf.com (Journaling app. Keeps all of your writing [e.g. blogging] organized.)

MacPass (Free) https://macpassapp.org (Password manager. Insanely more powerful than Apple’s Keychain.)

Macsyzones (free, $7 donation requested.) https://macsyzones.com (Window organizer.)

MacWhisper (free; commercial Pro version adds more features) https://goodsnooze.gumroad.com/l/macwhisper (Quickly and accurately records and transcribes your dictation into text using AI.)

Mactracker (free) https://mactracker.com/ (Awesome resource that allows you to quickly reference the specs of your Mac, or any Mac!)

MailTrackerBlocker for Mail (free) https://apparition47.github.io/MailTrackerBlocker/ (Blocks e-mail trackers, read receipts, and spy pixels. Plugin for macOS Apple Mail program.)

Maintenance (free) https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/maintenance.html (Most of the routine maintenance that you need to do on your Macintosh, all in one app. Unlike other similar utilities, this one is easy to use and it doesn’t include a bunch of confusing and possibly dangerous options that you don’t need.)

Manager (Free desktop version; commercial/subscription cloud edition) https://www.manager.io/cloud-edition (Billed as the “most comprehensive free business accounting software.” It is very actively developed, and it is cross platform; with versions for iPhone, Windows and Linux.)

Marathon (free) https://www.macsourceports.com/game/marathon (Game in the style of Doom.)

MaxMenu (free) New! https://www.elonovo.com/app_freeware/maxmenu (Can do unit conversions, and common file conversions from the menu bar.)

MediaInfo (free from developer’s Web site. Available in the App Store for $1.) New! https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo (Displays the most relevant technical and tag data for video and audio files. Invaluable when trying to track down problems with files that won’t open or behave.)

Memoria (free) New! https://github.com/vsanthanam/Memoria (Nice graphic user interface leveraging the trusted memtest engine to test the health of your Mac’s RAM.)

Meteorologist (free) https://heat-meteo.sourceforge.io (Show the weather in the menu bar, with more detail in a pop-up menu.)

Mints (free) https://eclecticlightdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/mints112.zip About: https://eclecticlight.co/mints-a-multifunction-utility/ (A collection of tools for investigating problems with the Macintosh OS. Aimed primarily at the advanced user, system administrator, support folk, and developers. Although its tools are simple to use.)

Mist (free) https://github.com/ninxsoft/Mist (Automatically downloads Macintosh OS Installer programs. Can build a bootable USB drive.)

MonitorControl (free) https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl (Controls your external display brightness and volume from your Mac.)

Mos (free) New! https://mos.caldis.me/ (If you are using a non-Apple mouse, this app smooths out scrolling with the mouse wheel.)

MuCommander (free) https://www.mucommander.com (Dual-pane file manager. Very much like Windows File Explorer. Requires Java.)

Muscles Puzzle (free) https://digital-gene.com/app_musclespuzzle.php?lang=en https://apps.apple.com/us/app/enjoy-learning-muscles-puzzle/id1570744091 (An educational puzzle game to help you learn the names of muscles in the human body.)

Musescore (free) New! https://musescore.org/en (Music notation.)

MyDock (free) New! https://www.elonovo.com/app_freeware/mydock (Custom dock that you can move to any location on the screen with many display options.)

NAPS2 - Not Another PDF Scanner (free) New! [https://www.naps2.com](ht

By Randy B. Singer

By Randy B. Singer

Similar Posts