11 brilliant apps that make your Mac better - and don't cost you a cent

Convinced Mac users should rarely look enviously at their friends with Windows or Linux computers. However, when it comes to window management, for example, macOS could still learn a thing or two from the competition.

But there is also room for improvement in other areas. For example, when complex key combinations are created or certain settings need to be adjusted depending on certain parameters.

There is also room for improvement when it comes to security, even though Apple has repeatedly made improvements in recent years. Even when it comes to cleaning up the hard drive, the on-board tools of macOS are sometimes not enough.

There are paid applications in the app store for all of these situations. However, it is often not even necessary to pay for them. There is a whole range of practical software tools that won't cost you a cent.

Quite a few of them are also open source. In other words, you can even view the source code if you are interested.

Get more out of your Mac with these free apps

In our picture gallery, we show you eleven practical helpers for everyday life on your Mac. They are all available free of charge.

We hope you find one or two of the apps on our list useful for your daily work on your Mac. Do you have any other tips for free macOS tools? Then please write them in the comments so that other readers can also benefit from them.

Apple's desktop operating system has the most important functions on board anyway. But there are still ways to improve them. You don't even have to pay a lot of money for this, as these free practical helpers show.

Free uninstaller for your Mac

On the Mac, you simply move programmes that you no longer need to the trash and you can delete them. Unfortunately, this does not mean that all the files installed by this programme will actually disappear from your computer. Although some programmes come with their own uninstaller, macOS does not come with a central point of contact for removing programmes - as is the case with Windows.

A whole range of third-party providers offer commercial solutions for this. You will no doubt have come across some of these online as adverts. With Pearcleaner, however, there is also a very solid open source solution to help you tidy up.

Pearcleaner lets you move all files of a programme to the recycle bin with a single click. You can also use the tool to search for orphaned data and delete it. Practical for developers: Pearcleaner also tracks down packages from various package managers for you. You can also set the tool to automatically remove all associated files as soon as you move a programme to the recycle bin.

Window management with Rectangle

If Windows is ahead of macOS in one respect, it is in the organisation of open windows. Conveniently, there are also a number of commercial and open-source solutions for macOS that help you organise open windows perfectly. One free example of this is the open source solution Rectangle.

Thanks to Rectangle, windows automatically take on a fixed height and width as soon as you move them to the edge of your desktop. Alternatively, you can also use keyboard shortcuts. You can determine which desktop corner corresponds to which window size in the settings.

You can download Rectangle free of charge from the tool's official website. If you want, you can view the source code of the open source application on GitHub.

Change keyboard layout with carabiner elements

On older Macbooks, Apple gave us function keys for the keyboard brightness. This has been a thing of the past for a few years now. Since then, you have had to use the Control Centre to make any changes. If you don't like this, you can use a keyboard shortcut for these functions again with Carabiner Elements.

In fact, the capabilities of the open source software go much further. If you want to, you can even move the mouse to a specific position on the desktop with a single keystroke or set up complex rules that are to be triggered when a specific key combination is activated.

Conveniently, you can also download templates created by other users from the web. This is useful, for example, if you want to use an alternative keyboard layout such as Dvorak or Colemak.

Amphetamine keeps your Mac awake

As soon as you're busy with things away from the keyboard, you're told: Mac is tired, Mac needs to sleep. Of course, this makes sense in terms of battery life and the environment. But sometimes you don't want to do that.

Of course, in this case you could go into the system settings and ensure that the Mac does not go into sleep mode. But it's easier with Amphetamine.

The free app is controlled via a menu bar icon and allows you to specify when and whether your Mac should switch to sleep mode. This can be done for self-selected periods of time, but can also be made dependent on individual apps or a download.

Get rid of unnecessary files: This app finds duplicates

Sometimes it's not so easy to keep track of hundreds of gigabytes. In particular, duplicate files stored in multiple locations take up unnecessary storage space. The Duplicate Finder helps you do just that.

The open source app finds all duplicates on your hard drive for you. This helps enormously when tidying up. If you wish, you can also exclude certain files from the search if you need the duplicates for a very specific reason, for example.

Open an app at the touch of a button

If you always use the same applications on your Mac, you should take a look at Thor. Thanks to the open source app, you can create keyboard shortcuts to instantly open your favourite applications.

This also works with the carabiner elements mentioned above. However, if you really only need shortcuts for certain apps, the extensive keyboard settings app is probably overkill.

This app keeps your menu bar organised

Even if you have installed all the apps on this list, you will probably have a few icons cluttering up your menu bar. This can sometimes be a little unsightly. Especially as you only want to click on many icons sporadically.

This is exactly where Hidden Bar comes into play. With the open-source app, you can specify which icons you want to hide by default. This is done simply by drag & drop. You can then show or hide the icons with a simple click.

If you like, you can also set Hidden App so that the hidden icons are automatically hidden again after a certain time. This keeps your menu bar tidy.

Customise the menu bar according to your own wishes

The open source app Ice goes one step further than Hidden Bar. It allows you to customise the top bar of your Mac in various ways. Firstly, you can also hide icons with Ice, but you can also specify whether they should be displayed again with a click, a gesture or by moving the cursor.

You can also change the appearance of the menu bar. Should it cast a shadow or not? Do you want a rounded menu bar or split it down the middle? All this is possible with the free app.

You can download Ice for free from the developer's official website. If you like, you can also make a donation there. However, this is optional. You can also view the source code of Ice on GitHub and contribute to the further development of the tool there.

Transcribing voice recordings with Aiko

In 2022, OpenAI presented Whisper, a powerful AI model for converting spoken language into text (and vice versa). The best thing about it: the model was published under an open licence. This means that anyone can use it.

As a result, there are now a whole range of Mac apps that use Whisper to convert spoken language into text. Although the AI model costs developers nothing and can be run directly on modern Macs, some of these apps cost money or contain adverts. Others are free, but not very attractive or difficult to use.

With Aiko, however, there is a smart alternative that you can use free of charge to convert your own voice memos into text, for example. Interestingly, the app is not only available for macOS, but also for the iPhone, iPad and even the Vision Pro.

Blockblock protects you from persistent malware

Most malware programmes are designed to become permanently embedded in their victims. Blockblock from Mac security expert and former NSA employee Patrick Wardle protects you against this.

Whenever software is installed that automatically becomes active again after the next start, you will receive a warning from Blockblock. You then have to decide whether you want to allow the installation. If necessary, you can compare the software with the Virus-Total database to find out whether it is known malware.

Blockblock is not directly a virus scanner, but when used correctly it provides more security without significantly affecting the performance of your Mac. The only downside is that the tool is only of limited use for computer beginners, as you have to decide for yourself which software you want to block and which you would rather run the next time you start it.

Command X: Cut in the Finder at last

You can select text in any text editor without any problems, cut it with the shortcut Command + X and then paste it elsewhere with Command + V.

However, if you want to do this with files in the Finder, you will realise that this is not possible. If you want to move a file from one folder to another, you must first copy it with Command + C and then move it to the new location with Option + Command + V. If you can't (or don't want to) get used to this, you can simply use Command + X with this free tool in future.

It should be explained at this point that the app basically only exchanges the corresponding key combinations in the background.

Also interesting: Do you remember these old programmes?

Did you still explore the web with Netscape Navigator, download music from Napster and then listen to it with Winamp? If so, the screenshots in this picture gallery should look familiar.