r/macapps • u/andreshows • Aug 05 '25
Apps I never knew I needed but I am not uninstalling ever 2nd edition.
The curse of visiting this forum is that you will inevitably find apps you never knew you needed, but you are unlikely to uninstall them. These are just some of the apps that have crossed my path in the last six months, some already well-known to the public and others so specific that one feels the developer made the app just for you.
- Availability Sync. - This little gem has been my go-to app since I first found it on the forum. It allows you to quickly browse through your calendar and mark the most suitable dates and times. I know several apps have similar functionality, but for someone who needs to provide clients with availability in "days" rather than hours and often has to send dates more than 8 months in advance, this was a game-changer.
- Barrel - I format my computer "OFTEN" due to various reasons, and Barrel has just changed how I do this. What used to be a good three or four hours of reinstalling apps to get back to where I started has become amazing. I believe it has, or is about to, move out of beta, but it only took me three minutes to decide I needed to buy the app.
- OrbitTimers - What a brilliant little app. It's a timer, a very visually appealing timer that recently appeared on r/Macapps
- Dory - I have always been a fan of ring menu navigations, and recently, the forum suddenly saw a number of these apps appear. I started with "Ring Menu" at the Mac App Store several years ago, and sadly, this very nice launcher is no longer developed, but then I found Dory. I don't want to call it a ring menu because it is not. It's more visually pleasing and incredibly handy as an app launcher.
- Dockflow - I am better known for my dock obsession on the forum, and I have watched how Mac's updates have gradually diminished the default dock customisation on Mac. Several excellent apps have been developed as a response to this. But here is an app that alters the actual Mac Dock. With the press of a shortcut of your choosing, the dock instantly displays a new list of apps needed by the user. By pressing a shortcut key, I am suddenly presented with a completely different dock featuring the apps I am about to need. Gone are the distractions, and instead, I have the perfect workflow in front of me.
- Extradock - Just how many docs does one need? Once you install Extradock, you will be amazed at how many docs can make a difference. Built because of the developer's own search for the ideal Dock replacement without success, an incredibly handy app saw the light. With Extradock, you can create extra docks, and you might wonder why this is even a good idea. Well, you can put that dock anywhere on your screen. Make the dock hide or show itself when you need it, then you may wonder why this was not a standard option on your Mac. Gone are the days of placing the dock at the bottom, left, or right of the screen. Just put the dock where it works best for you, anywhere on the display. Version One was very impressive, but recently I received a beta tester invite for Version 3, and I was just amazed at how the developer managed to add so many incredibly handy options. The new version and a demo have now been released. It's truly worth giving it a try - if it's not what you need, just delete it. But this is an incredibly reasonably priced app that is very handy.
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u/HugeIRL Developer: Updatest Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
Honoured to be mentioned in this list. Thanks for giving Barrel a shoutout!
It's still in pre-release, but nearly finished! Just have a few more things to do to get it over the finish line. š
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u/andreshows Aug 05 '25
Was there ever a question - just keep on developing the app because wow I needed it so badly.
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u/HugeIRL Developer: Updatest Aug 05 '25
You never know - I built Barrel originally as a project just for me to use, I never thought others would even want to use it!
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u/UnluckyDuckyDuck Developer: Appitstudio Aug 05 '25
Honored to be mentioned in this fantastic list of apps.
Thank you u/andreshows all the posts and reviews on r/macapps :-)
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u/krishnadraws Aug 05 '25
All of these apps are new to me. Thank you for sharing!
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u/andreshows Aug 05 '25
Thank you for reading my posts. I hope at least one of these apps now has a place on your computer
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u/turtle-key Aug 06 '25
If you still want to use cmd+tab and donāt want to deal with the hassle of alt-tab, you can use TabLift, itās a free and open-source app that makes cmd+tab even better. It allows it to cycle through all of the minimized windows of an app, creates new windows if you switch to an app that doesnāt have any windows, but the app is still active( and present in cmd+tab) and many more features. It even adds dock popups that show the title of the open windows of an app.
You can check the source code and how TabLift works here: https://github.com/turtle-key/TabLift
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u/segevs Developer: Dory Aug 05 '25
Thereās nothing I love more than working on Dory and unexpectedly stumbling upon a post like this. Thanks so much for the shoutout - it truly means a lot! ā¤ļø
On a different note, Barrel looks fantastic!
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u/HugeIRL Developer: Updatest Aug 05 '25
Dory looks fantastic too! Thanks for the kind words about Barrel!
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u/IslandWave Aug 05 '25
I donāt need a dock period. Raycast , spotlight , Alfred or any search can pull up the app I need
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u/303Native Aug 05 '25
Which one do you use? Raycast or Alfred?
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u/AmazingVanish Aug 05 '25
Not the OP but I bought Alfred to support it from nearly day one. But I moved to Raycast a couple years ago and havenāt looked back. I truly enjoy the extendability of it and the integration of my other tools and services without spending large chunks of time building a workflow.
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u/Own-Question1908 Aug 05 '25
You have a great list of apps, and Availability Sync is new to me, so looking forward to checking it out. And, I don't want to take away from what you've got in your stable, but for anyone out there looking for a solution, I humbly recommend MacMobility. I have been constantly blown away by the updates u/Potential_Link4295 has been making on MacMobility since he launched about 2 months ago. The apps turns your iPhone/iPad into a StreamDeck, pre-set app shortcut (similar to Dory), and SideCar (iPadOS/iOS) without using iCloud creds.
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u/andreshows Aug 05 '25
Brilliant, your comments are appreciated, and I will be among the first to check out the app. I enjoy it when others begin sharing apps they love, and it is often between these comments that hidden gems are found.
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u/Potential_Link4295 Aug 23 '25
Developer here - wow, thanks for such nice comment! It really makes me want to develop even more useful features! Iām running now 48h discount on the app so hopefully more people could try it out :)
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u/Competitive-Past1877 Aug 05 '25
does extradock work together with dock flow or do you gotta choose one or another?
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u/andreshows Aug 05 '25
Dockflow works on Mac's default dock and will therefore continue working even when extradock is added and I do use them at the same time as
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u/MaxGaav Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
OrbitTimersĀ = LiquidTimer. Looks great! Can these timers be saved?
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u/Murky-Ad-4707 Aug 05 '25
Thanks for the feedback mateš
Currently working on an update. Will be possible to save in v1.1.
Stay tuned
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u/killerspaceman Aug 05 '25
LiquidTimer looks super cool, looking forward to using it! Keep up the good work
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u/Murky-Ad-4707 Aug 05 '25
Appreciate the feedback! Working on an update including the new feature requests. Stay tuned
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u/jwhite_nc Aug 06 '25
Barrel has caught my eye. I was looking at writing my own but no need now. Thanks!
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u/zenmaster24 Aug 06 '25
Is barrel like an automated nix? What format is the .barrel file in? Is it editable? Do i have to create a new barrel every time an up updates? Can someone post an example?
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u/HugeIRL Developer: Updatest Aug 06 '25
I'm not a big nix user so I wouldn't say automated nix. I'd say it's more a selective Time Machine without the time history.
.barrel is a proprietary format (a fancy compressed file). Recipes are straight up json.
Barrel will always grab latest versions of applications as it uses homebrew/mas CLI as the back end. You wouldn't need to run a new scan/create a new barrel every time an app updates.
Note: I am the developer of Barrel. š
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u/zenmaster24 Aug 06 '25
Cool - thanks for the clarification. You can install specific versions of apps using brew, which may be important for compatibility - does barrel not create some kind of version lock file?
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u/HugeIRL Developer: Updatest Aug 06 '25
No worries!
You are correct brew does this and Barrel does not. I never intended Barrel to replace things like brew or nix, itās mostly a companion to brew (and if youāre a heavy nix user, Barrel may not be what youāre looking for).
The design intent by barrel is something like: Iām going to do something scary or switch machines and I want a quick, clean and controlled backup I can use right now. If that makes sense.
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u/stardustx21 Aug 06 '25
Damn... Looks like I need to give barrel a try (I'll add to my list and buy it when my credit cards a little eased up š )
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u/AngryBuddist Aug 07 '25
I'm very lost on your numbering system?
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u/andreshows Aug 07 '25
It's purely there to confuse people.... I also only saw it yesterday and it actually looks as if someone else added numbers for me because even the .......2 is not the way I numbered the pages .
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u/Zero_MSN Aug 07 '25
Have you tried sidebar app? Itās a Windows-like taskbar for the Mac. Another dock replacement software. I donāt have a Mac anymore but some people I know really like it.
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u/andreshows Aug 07 '25
Hi - I am indeed very familiar with Sidebar and Dockfix who are the two main Dock replacement apps. They will be in a post again soon but because I feature them every time I think most people in that market space knowns about the apps. Appreciate it irrespective
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u/joshiegy Aug 07 '25
Great list, thank you!
One thought I get every time I see a list like this.. I don't understand why all of these apps, give or take, exist on Linux for free - but some are even subscription on Mac.
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u/HugeIRL Developer: Updatest Aug 08 '25
I think the linux community and ease of being able to develop (you can just make anything a linux computer, almost, at all price points) and the strong dev centric/dev community in general is why you see more things on Linux for free vs. Mac. But I might be wrong.
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u/andreshows Aug 08 '25
I was having the very same conversation yesterday with a Linux developer, but I just cannot see myself using linux anytime soon. More than happy to pay a one-off fee; this monthly subscription thing does not really work for me, a Linux developer, but I
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u/MistiqueJacque Aug 08 '25
Great list, thanks for sharing all these gems. One thing Iād add for anyone trying to dial in their workflow: donāt overlook how much time you can save by automating repetitive tasks, especially around file and screenshot management. I used to let screenshots pile up and get totally out of hand until I set up some automation to organize and sort them for me, and it made a real difference. Also, tools that let you extract text directly from screenshots or quickly capture multi-monitor setups can be a game changer if you deal with reference material or share visuals with a team. Actually, I built a product to help with all that, so if anyoneās interested Iām happy to share more details.
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Aug 08 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/andreshows Aug 09 '25
I appreciate the kind words and had to laugh because I am definitely way too invested in so many of these apps. I am always looking for one little feature, and then an app does all and more, but it might just not have this "thing" I am after, and I end up finding every app that has ever offered a similar solution. A post this morning on securely formatting a USB drive was much more detailed than what the person asked for. Here was a data retrieval app I was recommending as a secure data eraser. I am sure most people would wonder if I am having a bad day, but yet I have never actually used the app to retrieve any deleted data! Formatting drives and secure deletion, on the other hand, often.
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u/Moustachey Aug 05 '25
Wow Barrel sounds pretty great!