Don't you just love the joy of opening a new MacBook box and setting up your favorite tools? The tools you choose to install really add to the experience. They can be very personal and show a lot about the type of person, and in my case, developer that I am.
Here is a short post about the first 10 tools I installed on my MacBook Pro 16" on Day 1.
I'll be recording a podcast on Real Talk JavaScript this coming week with some guests to share our first look experiences as developers on the new MacBook Pro 16". Be sure to check it out when it releases (by the end of Nov 2019)!
Ten Apps in Day 1
Here are the first things I installed on my new MacBook Pro 16". Your mileage may vary, of course.
0 - Code
VS Code is an essential tool for me. I use it for coding, writing, and as a scratch pad. I'm using it to write this!
I also installed a bunch of extensions (using a single extension called Settings Sync). But that's for another article.
1 - Alfred
Alfred is an extremely powerful spotlight-like app. You can do so much with this ... really. Check it out and explore the workflows. I use it to open apps, search my computer, kill processes, calculate, and more.
- Alfred App v4
- Free without the PowerPack
2 - Bartender
I hate clutter. When i record my screen I don't like seeing all of the icons in my top bar either. Bartender hides whatever I don't want to see, and makes it easily accessible when I do need them.
- Bartender
- $15
3 - Divvy
Divvy is an essential tool for me. I use it to program keyboard shortcuts to move my windows to predefined areas on the screen. I have 10 shortcuts currently that I use every single day.
- Divvy
- $13.99
4 - WiFi Signal
Nice app that shows the WiFi signal and a lot of details that the baked in wifi app doesn't show.
- WiFi Signal
- $4.99
5 - SnagIt
I've been using this tool for a decade and haven't found a reason to stop using it. Well worth the money.
- SnagIt
- $49.95
6 - Insomnia
I used to use PostMan, and it is indeed excellent. But I like Insomnia these days. Maybe because it has a cool name.
Free tier is all I need
7 - Amphetamine
I use this to keep my laptop screen visible so it does not timeout when I am presenting.
- Amphetamine
- Free
8 - Dropbox
I store many files here that I either need to share across machines or just want off my local machine.
- Dropbox
- Cost varies for your usage
9 - Chrome
The Chrome browser by Google.
- Chrome
- Free
Bonuses
- brew
- Azure Functions Core Tools
- node.js
- xcode
- oh my zsh
- 1 Password - $2.99/month
- Brave
- Office
- Docker
- Azure CLI
Top comments (104)
Nice post John. Thanks!
What do you think about using Webstorm instead of VS Code? Why i would choose VS Code over Webstorm? (forget the price)
Note: I prefer Magnet (only $ 2,99) instead of Divvy.
I use Spectacle (spectacleapp.com/) although I just read on their site that it is no longer actively maintained. Anyhow, does the job π€·ββοΈ and it is free
Rectangle is the new Spectacle
Same. Maybe there are better ones, but I am so used to it now and it does pretty much all I need for window management.
There are many good window tool options.
Personally I use Hammerspoon. It's a great scripting/automating tool. I has many more uses than window management but that's my prime usage
I discovered that the other week, found the spiritual successor is rectangle app - uses same shortcuts as spectacle (and is also free.)
freemacsoft.net/tiles/
This one
Totally agree
This is sad news!
Thanks.
Webstorm is great. I used to use it. But VS Code is my go-to the past few years. Love it and it gets better every day (literally with the insiders build). But choose what you like - it's a personal choice we all make
I've tried Hyperdock, Magnet, Spectacle, Divvy, and a few others. They are all okay. I liked how Divvy let me customize several areas with keystrokes. Others do too, but this is where I ended up.
I am using IntelliJ IDEA now for over a decade for all of my Java-Projects and while starting with Angular/IONIC, I felt in love with VS Code.
I tried a couple of times some projects in IDEA (which is the ulitmate Edition and contains the features of all other JetBrain IDEs). I love IDEA for it's productivity, but for me, VS Code beats it when it comes to the JavaScript/Node/NPM eco system.
(Running Magnet, but don't use it that often)
My prefered Rest Client is PAW, btw. I use it for almost every web project when I design the service and API layer and then add the web views.
I am really missing all this "extrract method/constant/variable" on VSCode, which is amazing for refactoring on all JetBrain IDE's.
Absolutely, the refactoring tools are outstanding!
Webstorm is still a lot better than VS Code. What I like more about Code is a lot more different extensions, though.
It's a personal choice. How we define "better" defines what is important to us.
I think Webstorm is great. But I choose Code every morning.
We each use the tools we enjoy. I'm glad you enjoy Webstorm
This has got to be the most adult & mature way to handle differing opinions & preferences.
Takes notes
Love magnet
I second the vote on magnet. Amazing tool and a fait price.
We used both - and Divvy had many more benefits.
Consider switching Chrome for Brave browser (brave.com/).
I'm using it on my work machine for Β±2 years now. All Chrome extensions works smoothly.
Two main added benefits:
a) trackers, 3rd party cookies, fingerprinting blocked automatically ;-)
b) help support Web3 to disrupt the monopoly of Facebook and Google Ads
Brave is growing exponentially. From 4 million monthly active last year, to 8 million this year :-)
Iβve been using Brave for a few years on mobile now and on Desktop since it became Chromium based.
Having said that, Since Edge moved to Chromium, I gave it a test drive for the past month. It worked pretty much as I expected it would on Desktop. Iβm still using it on Desktop for the moment, but back on Brave on mobile.
I wrote up a review for those interested.
Evaluating the new Microsoft Edge
Nick Taylor (he/him) γ» Nov 23 γ» 3 min read
A few months ago I swapped to firefox after using chrome for so long. I've looked at brave, but from what I can surmise is it's just a chromium browser with built-in security. I tend to stay away from chromium browesers after having tried a fair few of them (chrome, torch, comodo dragon to name a few) I prefer the customization of firefox, its speed and dev tools.
Brave is cool, indeed
Great list, two tips from me:
Don't use Chrome, it uses double the amount of Firefox memory and doesn't respect your privacy. BTW, Firefox has now faster CSS renderer.
Use a Firewall to permit all the incoming and outgoing connections to your mac. I use Little Snitch for it and you will be surprised how many times random apps are making HTTP calls from your mac (half of them is from Apple)
I use Chrome because of the excellent and easy-to-use Chrome Dev Tools, so are there options that are as good (or better) in other browsers?
Yes Firefox Developer is a new nightly version of Firefox with really competitive dev tools. I recommend you to check it out.
The single thing I miss in FF's devtools is Chrome's "emulate focused page". Makes debugging dropdowns (and other focus-related stuff) WAY easier.
On the other hand, Firefox's CSS tools are unmatched.
Yes great point. In the end of the day as a developer I also use most of the browsers. Specially since WS debugging in Firefox wasn't good until recently.
But Firefox is my choice of browser for personal use since it's faster and respect user's privacy IMHO.
Firefox is awesome. Edge is incredible. and Brave is very promising.
Agree, Brave is definitely next level engineering.
Not tried brave. I recently started using Vivaldi and so far love it. Chromium based. Very customisable, I love that hibernating tabs to save memory is built in.
I use Vanilla to hide things. I wasn't aware of Bartender. Vanilla is a little more minimal from what I can tell. Maybe I'll check out Bartender.
Thanks. I hadn't seen this one ... I've been using bartender but will take a look at this.
I also use Vanilla. It's simple and gets the job done for around four bucks, I believe.
try dozer it is free
Today I learned ... Vanilla won't start if you automatically hide the menubar. This makes me sad.
Nice list! I began documenting my selection of apps into a public repository with Bash scripts a while ago. It's handy and compatible across different environments.
New Computer, Who Dis? β Setup new development box with a single script
New Computer, Who Dis?
This repository contains a set of scripts to bootstrap a new computer for development. Supported platforms are:
Standard Linux support will be added when I bother to start coding with one.
As usual with scripts like these, this probably won't work for you but feel free to adapt it to your needs. There's no license nor warranty at all.
Usage
Entrypoint is
./setup.sh. Execute it and let it roll!Other Apps
Not all applications are bundled here for cross-compatibility reasons. I install the following apps by hand.
This is amazing! I LOVE the name of it, "New Computer, Who Dis?" π€£π
thanks for sharing
It sounds like a lot of people's problems would be solved with a tiling window manager.
I used to use Caffeine where you suggest Amphetamine. Caffeine doesn't seem to work on Catalina, so I use the He Man Protocol (open the YouTube video of HeMan singing What's Up for 10 hours an leave it in a tab somewhere). That's tragically inefficient, but, you know, it works.
I think Amphetamine replaced Caffeine
Indeed it did. Same developer, but Amphetamine has many more features than Caffeine...as the naming suggests. π
I switched to self-hosted BitWarden a few weeks ago. The basic functionality is good, but itβs not as polished as 1Password. macOS and Windows browser plugins all seem to work okay. The one thing on desktop that I donβt like about BitWarden vs 1Password is when you have more than 1 login for a site, it doesnβt give you a pop up to select which login to use when using the keyboard shortcut.
On mobile (iOS for me), itβs not as integrated into the OS as 1Password and doesnβt use biometric unlock. That I really miss.
Other than a few things like that, I love not being beholden to a company and their subscription model to store my passwords. Iβve been using it myself for a few weeks before introducing it to the rest of the family. I am keen to try out the password sharing capabilities.
Nice! There's a few things on here I haven't even heard of and will definitely have to check out.
However, I'm definitely more interested in knowing about Mac use at Microsoft. Obviously, some people have to have them because they're working on cross-platform apps, but is it common to see people just walking around on the MS campus carrying around a Mac? :P
AI see a lot of variety at Microsoft. Azure supports everything
Do you have any recommendations for learning more about using Azure for web development for Mac users? I've been interested in learning more about it, but now that I "officially" graduated from my full stack bootcamp, I have the time to invest in learning it. Thanks, in advance.
Hi Sherri. That is a great question. Let me think about this specifically from a mac user perspective and I'll write up a post about it after Thanksgiving. Sound good?
Thanks for reaching out!
Pastebot! (or jumpcut
for pre-catalina OS)$12.99
tapbots.com/pastebot/
(jumpcut is free
but I don't think it works on Catalina)Wrong! jumpcut was just updated!
snark.github.io/jumpcut/
Keep your clipboard history (copy / cut multiple items at once and then paste them, stop jumping back and forth between apps just to copy things)
I configured mine to use Shift+CMD+V as the hotkey, that made it super easy to add to my workflow.
Those are great and I can't imagine working without a clipboard manager! Personally I prefer (Paste)[pasteapp.me/]'s navigation and previews over Pastebot.
This is handy to setup automatically a new MacBook
github.com/atomantic/dotfiles
yes, indeed.