Apps that can help improve your productivity on your MacBook

The MacBook has a high number of users in spite of its $1000+ prices. While many people gravitate towards the MacBook due to its combination of durability and performance, there are certain apps that would allow you to use the operating system in a more personal and optimized manner.

Bartender 4

This app is technically paid, but those who use it will be able to attest to the fact that the free trial seems endless. The functionality is rather simple: It hides the superfluous icons on one’s menu bar. As you start running multiple background apps, most of them would prefer to be available in your menu bar. This app cleans up the space for you, allowing you to only display those icons that you need to access regularly. You can set icons to be always hidden or to reappear with a keyboard shortcut whenever need be.

Alfred

Long-time users of MacOS would tell you that you need neither the dock nor the launchpad to move around the operating system. Rather, one of the most useful inbuilt tools within the OS is Spotlight, which allows you to launch apps, search the internet, search through Finder, and do simple conversions. Alfred takes that functionality to the next level. It lets you customize endless keyboard shortcuts and other shorthand commands for launching apps, searching the web, and pretty much anything else you can imagine automating in your desktop workflow.

BetterTouchTool

This app is most useful for the TouchBar MacBook Pros, but it offers functionality across the board. BTT enables users to set custom TouchBar keys, which can be based on keyboard shortcuts or written in AppleScript. While Apple may not have made the most of an ever-changing touch interface, this app allows you to create shortcuts on an app-by-app basis to optimize your workflow within those apps. Moreover, it allows you to set custom keyboard shortcuts as well as custom Magic Mouse and Trackpad gestures. The app also includes window snap functionality, which is otherwise lacking in MacOS.