First post! I doubt I'll write new ones that often, but I'd been meaning to compile this for a while anyways. This is a brief overview of all the apps and tools I use on a regular basis, inspired by Brian Lovin's post here. I'll try to keep this page updated as I change my setup, but hopefully that won't be a frequent occurence. I didn't include websites, but a large part of that is because I prefer to use app clients rather than websites whenever possible.
Update 2/4/23 - Recently stopped using Fig and switched from Hyper to iTerm2. I stopped using Fig because it's closed-source and phones home, and I decided that I'd rather my terminal setup be entirely open-source. I also decided that the amount of configuration iTerm offers made it worth leaving Hyper.
Update 3/5/23 - I switched from using Texts to using the default Messages app. Texts is a cool concept, but since it isn't using official APIs it ends up having bugs frequently enough that it's not worth it for me. I also only use iMessage - if I used multiple messaging platforms daily I'd reconsider.
This is my main browser. I went through all the settings and tried to maximize privacy without compromising on day-to-day productivity. I also configured separate profiles for school and personal browsing - good for staying focused.
I use a Mac, so this is installed by default, but I only ever use it if a website is broken in Brave.
Self-explanatory: integrates Bitwarden with my browser.
Makes the Twitter website look a lot cleaner, and allows me to hide UI elements that I'm not interested in.
Changes my user-agent in Brave every 5 minutes. Good for anonymization, but requires some customization to ensure that websites serve the correct version of themselves.
FOSS ad and tracker blocker that I use along with the built-in adblockers in all my browsers.
I just use this to talk to friends. I installed BetterDiscord and the Clearvision theme so that the UI would be darker.
Mac-only email client. Definitely the best one I've tried before, and the first one that caused me to switch away from Apple Mail. Uses IMAP/SMTP for connection, and allows for extensive customization of keyboard shortcuts. Costs $50 for a lifetime key with a 30 day free trial, so not cheap, but still better value than any subscription-based app like Superhuman IMO.
Apple's default messaging app.
Using Git via the command line works well, but I find that GitHub Desktop is often quicker for simple tasks and going through multiple repos quickly.
I switched recently from Hyper to iTerm. It takes longer to configure, but once I finished it looks just as nice as Hyper but with far more powerful settings.
I use Neovim for all my day-to-day text editing (the stuff I don't use an IDE for). I put some work into my personal config (found here).
JetBrains IDEs are amazing. I use PyCharm for all my Python development, and it works perfectly. I have Copilot, Ideavim, and the Nord theme installed.
My main R IDE. I might switch to using PyCharm for R at some point to reduce the number of apps I use, but RStudio works well and I'm used to it.
I have VSCode set as my default text editor, but I almost always use Neovim instead.
Zsh is my default shell. I stuck with Fish for a while, but I ended up switching back due to the hassle of converting shell scripts and commands into Fish syntax. I was able to recreate Fish functionality with Zsh extensions anyways.
Not much to say other than that Copilot works amazing for me and vastly speeds up development, especially if I'm using a language like HTML that I'm less familiar with. It's also free for students, which is a nice bonus.
My most used Zsh plugin. Fills in old commands based on what I'm currently typing.
The other feature from Fish I missed in vanilla Zsh. Custom-configured all the color settings to what's intuitive for me.
Cron is the only calendar app I use. Nothing incredibly unique, but intuitive keyboard shortcuts, a nice UI, solid functionality, and an iOS app. The menu bar calendar is also a nice touch that makes it a lot easier to see my next appointment at a glance.
I use Obsidian for all my notes, having switched from Apple Notes a few months ago. I also use it for my to-do list - I could use Todoist or something similar, but it doesn't feel necessary at the moment and it's nice having fewer apps. Similar to Notion, but allows me to write all my notes in WYSIWYG Markdown rather than a proprietary file format.
Life-changing. The spotlight search itself works well, but by far the biggest productivity boost for me has come from its extensions. I have all the apps I use daily connected to keyboard shortcuts, for example, and it allows me to navigate between apps far faster than having to use the dock.
I use a number of shell scripts from Sun Knudsen for things such as purging my print history and automatically spoofing my MAC address. Setup is more involved than any of the below options, but they don't require any maintenance after and help with my peace of mind.
My OTP app. Easy to use and wasn't created by a company like Google that sells data.
Good password manager: FOSS with the option of self-hosting and integrates well with all my browsers and on my phone. It's going to be slightly less secure than something with no sync, like KeePassXC, but its history is spotless and the convenience makes it worthwhile for me.
This has mostly replaced VPN usage for me. It keeps my DNS queries private while avoiding the speed reduction from a VPN. Its autoconnection can be spotty, but is easily fixed by toggling it off then on again.
My FOSS PGP client of choice. It was easy to set up and configure, and there's a liberated implementation of the Mail plugin (though MailMate has native integration).
My main cloud storage provider. End-to-end encrypted and privacy-focused, with an extremely simple and reliable sync app. I use iCloud for some things, like photos and music, but all my files are stored in Mega.
The VPN I use for streaming. Wouldn't recommend for privacy purposes but has fast connection speeds and servers in every country I've needed to connect to.
I use the default Activity Monitor app fairly regularly to track RAM/CPU usage and make sure nothing is slowing down my computer. Simple UI and does its job well.
A simple menu bar app for keeping my computer awake. Supports a global keyboard shortcut for toggling on/off as well as more powerful options like having the computer stay on whenever a certain process is running.
One other menu bar app that allows me to hide less-used menu bar icons, like Cloudflare Warp, and reveal them with a keyboard shortcut.
Great replacement for QuickTime Player. Just as easy to use, but with far more features available should you need them.
App that Logitech provides for configuring their peripherals. I use it for per-app config of my MX Master 3, which makes the mouse even more powerful than it is by default. Slightly buggy sometimes, but very useful overall.
I also use the Stats app to check important figures at a glance - its battery menu bar icon is far more detailed than the default battery tracker, and the RAM menu bar icon is also useful.
Allows me to have my mouse scroll in the opposite direction as my trackpad. Annoying that Apple doesn't have that as an option by default, but this is a simple workaround.
I use Vercel to host this website. It automatically pulls changes from the website's GitHub repo and handles the backend config for me. Not as satisfying as setting it up myself, but far simpler and free for personal use - no server costs or buying https certificates.