28 Best Mac Apps You Should Download Now (2023): Free and Paid
Not every Apple is without blemish. The macOS operating system is a sweet piece of software, but every Mac ships with a few worms in it. Namely, a suite of stock, lackluster apps. We love macOS itself for its out-of-the-box stability that requires less tinkering than Windows and Linux, so don’t ditch the machine. Just take a look instead at these third-party applications to upgrade your macOS experience.
Some are for niche uses, but others fix gaps in vanilla macOS. Many of these apps aren’t free, but most have free trials you can check out while you decide whether to buy. It’s also common for them to sync with companion apps on your iPhone. They might just make your life a little easier.
Also, be sure to check out our many other guides, including the Best MacBooks, Best iPads, Best iPhones, and How to Back Up Your iPhone.
Updated September 2023: We’ve added a new top video player, IINA, as well as a new photo viewer, EdgeView 3. We’ve removed Tweetbot, which was discontinued, and Deliveries, which is losing functionality because of UPS and FedEx changes to their API terms. We’ve also updated pricing and availability.
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For a Better User Experience
Yes, you can use Split View on macOS to view two applications side by side, but it’s nowhere near as intuitive as it is on Microsoft’s Windows, where you can simply drag a window to a corner and have it snap into place. This app is worth the $3 if you don’t want to mess with resizing window borders constantly. Magnet for $8 is another good option, although now that they’ve raised the price from $3, BetterSnapTool is a better deal.
If you’ve ever had to keep wiggling a finger on the trackpad during a movie or YouTube video to stop the screen from going to sleep over and over (or maybe during a particularly long download), you’ll appreciate an app that lets you keep the screen on for certain tasks. It even works with external displays. Sure, you can keep going into your system preferences to change the screensaver and hard disk shutdown settings, but that can get tiresome quickly.
The default search tool on macOS isn’t bad, but there’s room for it to go deeper. Alfred is a supercharged alternative that lets you create custom shortcuts to programs and file folders, activate system commands by typing, create automated custom workflows that begin with the push of a button or a typed phrase, and, well, a lot more. It’s free, but you can purchase a version called Powerpack that has more features, such as contacts and app integrations. It costs 29 British pounds (around $37) for a single user license, or £49 (around $62) for a lifetime of free upgrades to subsequent versions of Alfred.
Even though I said some nice things about Apple Music in my guide to the best music streaming apps, I still prefer Spotify as an all-around music streamer. Its interface is arguably the cleanest and most user-friendly in the field, and it has the strongest music discovery algorithms and social components for swapping music with your friends. I take my music too much to heart to put up with advertisements and limited song skips, so I recommend you drop the $10 per month for the Premium tier. Spotify HiFi, with lossless audio quality, has no release date in sight, but unless you’re a die-hard audiophile with the ears and listening equipment to detect it, you probably don’t need lossless anyway.
AdGuard’s stand-alone macOS app lets you choose from and custom-toggle a huge array of filters to block social media extensions, pop-up ads, URL redirects, and a whole lot more. It works not only on your browser but also on other apps you have installed. There’s a free two-week trial, but you’ll need to pay for a license to use it after the trial expires. For $2.49 a month, you get access to the service on three devices simultaneously.
For a Better Writing Experience
Tired of paying for Microsoft Office, unimpressed with Apple’s default office suite, and unable or unwilling to switch entirely over to Google’s G Suite on the cloud for everything? Download LibreOffice, a full-featured suite that includes the usual applications, such as a word processor and spreadsheet editor. It’s completely compatible with all the usual Microsoft file types, including legacy formats such as .doc. It’s open source and costs nothing to use, even commercially. For goodwill, donate a few bucks if you end up liking it and using it a lot.
OK, OK, I know I just presented a very worthy, free alternative to Microsoft Office, but there are two features that make paying $7 a month for a Microsoft 365 subscription worth it, if you use them….
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