Vlad Filippov

Vlad Filippov

full-stack software developer / open source hacker

OS X Utility Apps for Efficiency and Productivity

I wanted to share my list of OS X utilities that I use everyday to speed up my workflow. So here it goes:

BetterTouchTool

Absolutely amazing! BetterTouchTool gives you Windows 7-like window snapping. It also allows you to set keyboard shortcuts for window snapping and other things. I created shortcuts to lock the screen, show desktop and more.

There are a ton of features for different inputs, such as Apple TV remotes and so on. In my opinion this utility is a lot better than the alternatives, it’s also free! If you try this app it will make your window management a lot easier.

Image Sharing

Gyazo

Gyazo allows you to quickly share a screenshot of your screen. You highlight an area of your desktop and in several seconds the image is uploaded to a server, then it’s ready to be shared.

Gyazo allows you to reconfigure it and send images to your own server. It is also open-source and available for multiple operating systems

Cloud App

If you don’t mind storing your images or files on a server that is outside of your control, then CloudApp is another great sharing solution.

Others

If you know any other image sharing tools, let me know. I’m currently looking for mobile image sharing utilities that will get the image into my browser faster than Google+ or DropBox.

Alfred

Using a keyboard shortcut chosen by the user, Alfred provides a very quick way to find and launch applications and files on the Mac or to search the web both with predefined keywords for the most used sites such as Amazon.com, IMDB, Wikipedia and many others but also with the ability to add users’ custom searches for the sites most applicable to them. In its free version it also serves as a calculator, spell-checker and a convenient interface for controlling the Mac with system commands.

gfx Card Status

If your machine uses two different GPUs, gfx Card Status is a great utility to have. This tool shows you which graphics card you are using. For example, if you are running low on battery, you can force an integrated-only mode to prolong your battery life.

smc Fan Control

Helps you control your fan speed and switch between different speed profiles. Useful to keep your laptop cool.

Bonus: Switch Res X

This utility allows you to specify custom resolution profiles and have more control over your display settings.

If you feel like you have applications to share, just tweet me @vladikoff and maybe your favourite app will be added to this list.

© Vlad Filippov