Based on practical use and recommendations.
2025 Picks#
1. CleanShot X#
Use: Screenshots, screen recording, annotation, pinned captures, and sharing.
Overview: A screenshot workspace for tutorials, product feedback, and visual client communication.
Sharp comment: It is not the cheapest screenshot app, but it quietly handles the messy work that happens after the capture.
2. TextSniper#
Use: OCR text extraction.
Overview: Pull text from images, videos, PDFs, or any screen area where normal copying is blocked.
Sharp comment: Uncopyable text is a tiny daily insult. TextSniper turns what you can see back into something you can edit.
3. Parallels Desktop#
Use: Run Windows, Linux, and virtual development environments on Mac.
Overview: Useful for Mac users who still need Windows apps, test systems, or cross-platform workflows.
Sharp comment: It is expensive, but it saves fuss. If you jump between Mac and Windows often, the time cost argues on its behalf.
4. IINA#
Use: Video playback.
Overview: A modern Mac video player based on mpv, with a clean interface and strong format support.
Sharp comment: A good player should not demand attention. IINA feels like what a Mac video player should have been.
5. Manico#
Use: Keyboard-based app switching and launching.
Overview: Assign number shortcuts to frequent apps and spend less time hunting through Dock, Mission Control, and windows.
Sharp comment: Mousing around for windows feels like rummaging through drawers. Manico makes common apps muscle memory.
2024 Picks#
1. QuickRecorder#
Use: Lightweight screen recording.
Overview: An open-source recorder for windows, regions, audio, demos, and quick feedback clips.
Sharp comment: Many recorders feel like broadcast control rooms. QuickRecorder opens, records, stops, and stays out of it.
2. BuhoCleaner#
Use: System cleanup, uninstalling, startup management, and disk space review.
Overview: A Mac cleanup utility for finding large files, clearing caches, removing apps, and reducing system clutter.
Sharp comment: Cleanup apps often sell fear. BuhoCleaner is better when it simply shows where the space went.
3. Scherlokk#
Use: Local file search.
Overview: Searches by name, content, size, date, and other conditions without relying on Spotlight indexing.
Sharp comment: Spotlight occasionally acts like it forgot what you own. Scherlokk brings search back to conditions and results.
4. PDF Expert#
Use: PDF reading, annotation, editing, and signing.
Overview: Good for contracts, papers, textbooks, forms, and everyday PDF work.
Sharp comment: PDF tools are often either weak or painfully corporate. PDF Expert is capable without trapping you in a dashboard.
5. Perplexity#
Use: AI search and question answering.
Overview: The Mac app brings search, follow-up questions, and research organization into the desktop workflow.
Sharp comment: It is not a magic answer machine, but it is cleaner than opening ten tabs and getting lost.
2023 Picks#
1. Swish#
Use: Trackpad window management.
Overview: Move, split, minimize, and manage windows with gestures, especially useful for heavy trackpad users.
Sharp comment: If you live on the trackpad, Swish turns window management from hand labor into gesture reflex.
2. Sound Control#
Use: Per-app volume and audio output control.
Overview: Adjust each app’s volume separately and route different apps to different audio devices.
Sharp comment: One system volume slider is too blunt. Sound Control tells you exactly which app is making noise.
3. Latest#
Use: Check Mac app updates.
Overview: Collects App Store and Sparkle updates in one place, so you do not have to open apps one by one.
Sharp comment: Update notices scattered everywhere get old fast. Latest is a plain, diligent software housekeeper.
4. Downie#
Use: Video downloads.
Overview: Downloads videos from many sites for offline courses, references, and personal backups.
Sharp comment: It handles the old “I can watch this online, but I need to save it” problem. Use it only where you have the right to save.
5. BetterZip#
Use: Archive preview, extraction, editing, and encryption.
Overview: Preview and modify archives without fully extracting them, useful for ZIP, RAR, 7z, and similar files.
Sharp comment: Archive tools sound boring until you open twenty archives a day. BetterZip is built for that person.
Note#
This site has no affiliation with Apple Inc. Soter is a Greek word meaning “deliverer.”