12 Mac Apps You Actually Want to Run When macOS Boots

Preventing apps from loading connected login is simply a large mode to velocity up your Mac’s startup clip and prevention connected strategy resources. That said, immoderate apps are worthy the sacrifice.

These are apps that you ever privation acceptable and waiting successful the background. They marque beingness easier, adhd features, and marque thoughtful modifications to the mode your Mac behaves.

1 Maccy

Maccy is simply a clipboard manager for macOS. Once the app has been installed and granted the close permissions, it volition softly marque a grounds of thing you transcript to your clipboard (up to a bounds that you tin acceptable yourself). You tin past entree these items from the paper bar, oregon utilizing Maccy’s system-wide shortcut.

As idiosyncratic who works with substance each time each day, learning to usage Maccy was a game-changer. Using keyboard shortcuts to rapidly callback items I copied 3 paragraphs agone saves maine from having to dive into a browser and hunt down links. It adjacent allows maine to callback files, pin items for speedy retrieval, delete past erstwhile necessary, and customize each mode of different settings.

Maccy costs $4.99 oregon much utilizing a name-your-price exemplary (or you tin wage $9.99 for the Mac App Store version).

2 Rectangle (or Magnet)

As of macOS 15, Apple has finally added Windows-like model snapping and tiling to the Mac. Though the diagnostic is agelong overdue and a immense measurement up from simply moving windows astir and resizing them yourself, it’s inactive acold from perfect. Fortunately, Rectangle is a model absorption app that goes adjacent further.

Rectangle improves connected Apple’s model absorption by adding adjacent much model sizes, incremental fine-tuning, and by acold the astir utile feature: customizable keyboard shortcuts. Rectangle is escaped but besides comes successful a Pro mentation (for $9.99) that adds much shortcuts, customized model sizes, app-specific layouts, and more.

Alternatively, Magnet ($4.99) is simply a premium alternate that works conscionable arsenic well. I picked it up years agone and inactive usage it to this time (I’ve besides installed Rectangle connected my partner’s MacBook Air since it’s free).

3 TripMode

TripMode is an app that tin assistance prevention you information if you trust connected your iPhone arsenic a idiosyncratic hotspot. It works by keeping an allow-list of apps that are capable to scope the wider internet, efficaciously blocking different apps whenever TripMode detects that you are utilizing cellular data.

It’s a spot of a atomic option, but it’s 1 that works well. TripMode stops apps from updating successful the background, prevents iCloud syncing, and tin adjacent artifact web-dependent apps similar media players and browsers (if you want). When you assistance an app oregon work support to usage cellular data, TripMode volition besides show however overmuch information is being transferred.

TripMode is escaped to try, with a azygous licence costing $17.

4 Ice

I utilized to usage Bartender to tidy up my Mac’s paper bar, but the app was acquired successful 2024 which raised red flags among immoderate users (especially considering the app requires surface signaling entree to work). Since then, I’ve switched to Ice.

Ice allows you to tidy up your Mac’s paper barroom by hiding unwanted items for a clutter-free Mac. You tin click (or hover) the paper barroom to uncover these should you request them portion opting to support lone mission-critical apps disposable astatine each times.

The app is escaped (though you tin opt to enactment the developer by buying a copy) and unfastened source. This means that the app’s root codification is disposable to anyone, truthful determination are nary hidden surprises astir what happens to your idiosyncratic data.

5 Hyperkey

I chiefly usage Hyperkey arsenic a mode to repurpose my Caps Lock cardinal into thing much useful, but it tin enactment for conscionable astir immoderate cardinal connected your keyboard. The app allows you to easy invoke the Command+Option+Shift+Control keyboard shortcut prefix, a operation of keys that are not utilized by macOS owed to however fiddly it is to property them each astatine once.

By remapping Caps Lock to this cardinal combination, you tin usage it successful conjunction with different cardinal (e.g. Caps Lock+1) to trigger shortcuts successful different apps. This gives you galore much keyboard shortcuts to enactment with that are truly casual to remember. You tin usage the app to bash things similar invoke a launcher, trigger a macOS Shortcut, oregon thing other you want.

Hyperkey is wholly escaped to download and use.

6 Command X

If you’re a Windows exile looking to reconstruct immoderate normalcy to your Mac, you mightiness beryllium funny successful Command X. By default, macOS uses “Copy” and “Move” to determination files. On Windows, you tin “Cut” and “Paste” instead. Command X adds a “Cut” cognition to its namesake keyboard shortcut, which prevents you from having to Command+Option+V connected the different end.

It’s a elemental change, but 1 that Windows users (or anyone who interacts with Windows connected the regular) volition appreciate. The lone drawback is that you don’t get the semi-transparent icon behaviour connected files erstwhile you chopped them, arsenic you bash connected Windows.

Command X is free.

7 SideNotes

Despite being a die-hard Apple Notes user, I started utilizing SideNotes due to the fact that I needed immoderate integer scrap insubstantial that I could pin to the broadside of my desktop. After trying a fewer solutions, I settled connected this 1 for its easiness of use, immense customization options, and heavy organizational structure. The app tin beryllium triggered by clicking the tiny floating icon that appears connected the broadside of your screen, utilizing a “hot side,” with a keyboard shortcut, oregon via the paper bar.

My 2 favourite features are the quality to constitute successful Markdown and pin aggregate notes to the broadside of the screen. There’s a full import, export, and backup facet that I person nary request for, and the app tin sync implicit iCloud if you wish. You tin afloat customize the app’s appearance, close down to colors, fonts, and enactment spacing.

SideNotes isn’t inexpensive astatine $19.99, but it could easy wage for itself respective times implicit if it turbocharges your productivity.

8 Amphetamine

There are times erstwhile your Mac entering slumber mode volition interrupt immoderate it is you’re doing, which is wherever Amphetamine comes in. The app prevents your Mac from entering a restful state, with a full heap of criteria to take from. Keep your Mac awake indefinitely, for a acceptable period, until a circumstantial time, portion an app is running, oregon until a download completes.

You tin support your Mac awake but fto the surface sleep, support some your Mac and the surface alive, oregon adjacent unit your MacBook to enactment awake portion the lid is closed. Some of these necessitate the usage of the escaped optional add-on Amphetamine Enhancer, which breaks the app retired of its sandboxed Mac App Store constraints.

Amphetamine is wholly escaped and roseate to prominence pursuing the diminution of an app called Caffeine. Caffeine is present backmost nether progressive improvement and offers akin yet simplified functionality.

9 NotchNook (And Others)

Modern MacBook models person a “notch” on the apical borderline of the display, which houses a webcam, ambient airy sensor, and a tiny LED. I’ve ever maintained that the MacBook notch isn’t a large deal, but what if you could crook it into thing much useful? Good news! With the close app, you tin turn your MacBook notch into an iPhone-style Dynamic Island.

I personally usage NotchNook for this, a premium notch enhancement app that adds a now-playing widget, record driblet tray, tiny notepad, calendar, and shortcut triggers (you tin alteration oregon disable these arsenic you like). Boring.Notch is different bully option, portion MediaMate accomplishes a akin task (and besides integrates measurement and brightness UI indicators).

Pretty overmuch each of these apps committedness caller features to travel successful the aboriginal (NotchNook’s developers are adjacent talking astir customized pipelines for performing actions similar compressing files). NotchNook costs $25 oregon $3/month, Boring.Notch is wholly free, portion MediaMate is disposable for €6.99.

10 Raycast

Spotlight is Apple’s built-in hunt instrumentality and launcher, accessible by pressing Command+Spacebar. Raycast takes this conception and turbo-charges it, allowing you to trigger a akin launcher interface for doing truthful overmuch more. In summation to hunt you get clipboard history, model management, and speedy entree to AI tools each from the aforesaid interface.

However, the existent prima of the amusement is the quality to grow Raycast’s abilities with extensions. Raycast has an extended extensions database with virtually thousands to take from. You tin usage these to power different apps similar Spotify oregon Slack, power macOS to bash things similar termination processes, oregon entree online services similar looking up GIFs oregon uncovering and applying wallpapers from Unsplash.

Raycast is escaped to download, and basal functionality includes entree to the extensions database. For $8/month you tin entree AI features and turbocharge existing features similar model absorption and clipboard history.

BetterTouchTool is an app that supercharges your Mac’s interactions by allowing astir infinite customization erstwhile it comes to trackpad, mouse, keyboard, and different peripheral inputs. In includes the aforesaid window-management tools arsenic an app similar Rectangle, but goes overmuch further by allowing you to trigger a immense scope of actions via user-defined gestures.

This lets you bash things similar starting an app by tapping the precise top-right country of your Mac’s trackpad. You tin spell adjacent further, similar stipulating that the “Fn” relation cardinal indispensable beryllium held down to trigger your action. These actions tin beryllium each mode of things, from putting a model successful a circumstantial determination connected your desktop to triggering a shortcut, and overmuch more.

Some see BetterTouchTool to beryllium an indispensable Mac purchase. You get 45 days to measure this inferior earlier you person to cough up $12/year oregon $24 for a beingness license.

12 Itsycal

I chiefly usage Apple’s Calendar app to negociate my reasonably tame schedule, and I emotion the mode it incorporates Reminders and “just works” with my different devices. But it’s a spot of a slow, hulking beast, and galore situations telephone for thing a spot lighter, similar Itsycal.

Itsycal lives successful your Mac paper barroom and is lone a click away. I’ve go utterly reliant connected the app to amusement maine a speedy month-view calendar astatine a glance. It’s thing that macOS should do, but doesn’t. The app besides shows immoderate upcoming events from calendars of your choosing and adjacent provides an interface from which to adhd events if you want.

This is 1 of the fewer apps that is ever disposable successful my paper bar, and it besides happens to beryllium wholly free.

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These are slayer apps that go portion of your workflow, truthful it’s ever bully to cognize that they’re there. You tin alteration commencement astatine login successful astir app settings, different caput to System Preferences > General > Login Items and usage the “+” positive icon to adhd an app to your database of startup items.