As a power Mac user, I can’t live without these apps

The best Macs have a reputation for being easy to use, and as someone who switches between Windows and macOS daily, I can attest that this reputation is well-deserved. But macOS isn’t just a simple, easy system with a puddle of depth — it’s also a brilliant platform for power users.

Much of this comes down to the burgeoning ecosystem of apps available on macOS. Load up your Apple computer with a few choices and you’ll be able to get a lot more out of it than you ever thought possible, from automating tedious processes to cleverly using AI and everything in between.

In this article, we’ve gathered eight of the best Mac apps for power users. Each one is designed specifically for Mac fans and enthusiasts who want to get more out of their computers.

BetterTouch Tool

BetterTouchTool is one of my favorite Mac apps because of the sheer amount of things it can do. Want to add custom gestures to your mouse or trackpad? Need a great way to automate repetitive tasks? Want to create keyboard shortcuts that save you time? That’s just the beginning of what BetterTouchTool can do.

One of my favorite uses for BetterTouchTool is one of its simplest features: it lets me manage window tiling and assign custom shortcuts to each window position. It can be as simple or as deep as you want, but either way, it’s a huge step up from Apple’s window management system.

Beyond that, the app lets you design your own “drop zones” that interact with your MacBook’s notch, create new layouts and features for the Elgato Stream Deck, use MIDI devices as triggers for actions and shortcuts, and more. It’s so packed with power-user tools that the easiest way to understand it is to try it out for yourself—trust me, you won’t regret it.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT has completely turned the world upside down, giving you the power to help you research new ideas, improve your writing skills, generate images and videos, and more. But you don’t have to open a web browser every time you want to use it, because ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI, has launched a dedicated Mac app that you can use conveniently on your desktop.

OpenAI has made a few additions to encourage you to use the desktop app instead of the ChatGPT website. For example, you can let it pull images from your photo library, your webcam, or directly from a screenshot, making it faster and easier to upload images, which ChatGPT can help with. You can also chat directly with ChatGPT, something you can’t do on the web.

Even the way ChatGPT is launched is cool: just press Option-Space to open the chat window. It is similar to the well-known Command-Space control that launches the Spotlight search bar on macOS. Not only is it easy to remember, but it’s also much faster than having to load a web browser.

If you enjoy using the powerful tools of ChatGPT in your daily life, this macOS app can become an essential part of your routine. With all its capabilities, it will be a great addition to your Mac.

Alfred

Alfred is designed to be a complete overhaul of the macOS experience, with the goal of saving you time while still giving you access to powerful tools. Its extensive capabilities include searching for files, searching the web, managing clipboard history, using the Terminal, sending email and attachments, and more.

The key aspect of Alfred is the Powerpack. It lets you create in-depth workflows that automate almost any task you can think of. It also lets you combine keyboard shortcuts, keywords, and actions into detailed automations without having to write any code.

Alfred also has a text expansion feature that can save you a ton of unnecessary typing. Once set up, simply type in a custom trigger word or key combination and Alfred will type out the entire phrase you typed. If you find yourself typing the same thing over and over, this can be a huge time saver.

This is just a snippet of what Alfred can do, but it’s worth checking out the full list of features on the app’s website. It may be the best way to make your life easier on the Mac.

Hazel

The more you use your Mac, the faster files start to pile up in its nooks and crannies. If sorting through all of them has become an overwhelming burden—or you just want to make sure you never find yourself in that state—Hazel is a must-have app.

Hazel is essentially a batch processor. You set up a few rules, like how you want to rename files, where you want to move them, and where you want the app to look for them, and then Hazel automatically gets to work, going through your files and sorting them in a matter of seconds — potentially saving you hours in the process.

The best part is that you don’t even have to tell Hazel to get started. Because it monitors the folders you define, it knows when you’ve added files that your rules should apply to. So just drop a file into the folder and watch it move, change, and do whatever else you need it to. It’s one of those rare apps that’s both incredibly powerful and a real time saver.

Keyboard Master

Keyboard Maestro is all about one thing: automation. And we’re not just talking about a small selection of tasks here. As its creator says, “If you can do something by hand, Keyboard Maestro can almost certainly automate it for you.”

This includes a diverse selection, from launching an application or visiting a website to creating full reports and managing multiple items in the clipboard history. Keyboard Maestro can chain actions into long and complex flows, with conditions, loops, and more, making it very versatile and capable of almost any task you assign it.

Its versatility makes it a Mac user’s best friend, capable of handling any advanced task you have in mind. It does require a bit of a learning curve when you’re first starting out, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll never want to be without it.

Abbreviations

Apple is no stranger to power-user apps — in fact, its own Shortcuts app (preloaded on your Mac) can provide incredibly detailed actions that are suited to hardcore Mac users. Fire it up, and you’ll be able to create shortcuts that perform repetitive or difficult tasks. You can also set automations that trigger at specific times of day — when you arrive at a specific location, when you connect to CarPlay, and more. All of your shortcuts sync across your other Apple devices, so they’re within reach of any Apple product you use.

Despite its name, the Shortcuts app isn’t just about saving time by automating tasks. It can also be used to enable things that would not only be tedious or time-consuming to do yourself, but downright difficult. For example, one of my favorite shortcuts was created by the site MacStories to automatically frame screenshots on your device, such as placing an iPhone screenshot inside an image of one of Apple’s phones. It’s something I don’t have the skills to do myself, but thanks to a handy shortcut, I can do it in a matter of seconds.

It’s a fitting illustration of the power packed into the Shortcuts app. While I wish it were a little easier to get started, there’s no denying the power that lies beneath the hood of Apple’s app. If you consider yourself a power user, you’ll love learning what it can do.

Little snitch

It’s important to understand which of your apps are connecting to the internet and where they’re sending your private data. If you’re not careful, you could end up sharing a lot more personal information than you ever intended.

To put an end to this risk, use Little Snitch. This handy app shows you exactly what is connecting to the network, when it is happening, and how much data is being sent and received. Armed with this knowledge, you can put an end to leaky apps that give you more than you want.

And it’s not just about blocking apps – you can decide which connections to websites are allowed, giving you granular control over what data is going to and from your Mac. And with a host of analytics tools at your disposal, you won’t have to guess what data Little Snitch is presenting you for analysis.

Sound Source

Managing audio on a Mac can be a pain, especially if you’re dealing with multiple sources, inputs, and outputs. What if you want to send Spotify tracks to Bluetooth speakers, but want system sounds to play outside of your Mac, for example? By default, you can’t do that, but with SoundSource, it’s a piece of cake.

This handy app lives in your Mac’s menu bar and provides a simple menu for managing your audio in detail. You can have your output (such as music or movie audio) go to your headphones, but mute the macOS sound effects to prevent distractions. You can also change the microphone you’re using on the fly without having to delve into the settings menu.

What’s more, SoundSource lets you control things on an app-by-app basis. Want the Apple TV app to play through your headphones, but Safari audio to come out of your Mac speakers? You can do that in a snap with SoundSource. If you’ve ever been frustrated by the limited audio controls on macOS, this app is worth your time.