Text editor apps are an important part of any writer's workflow. These are currently the top candidates for Mac owners. Photo: Alejandro Escamilla/Unsplash
One thing I do on my Mac more than anything else is write. On average I write about 10,000 words a week, and some weeks, I double that. And that isn’t even counting email and other kinds of communication. That’s why a great text editor app is imperative to my every day workflow. Without it, I couldn’t do my job.
Fluid Browser comes in handy for graphic design. And workplace distraction. Photo: George Tinari/Cult of Mac
With iOS 9, Apple introduced a whole slew of multitasking features including picture-in-picture, so I can watch a video while using another app. Even though this was technically already possible on the Mac, there hasn’t been an easy way to get a video to overlay another window so I can focus on both at the same time. Well the new Fluid Browser solves that problem, quite magnificently I might add.
Fluid is its own web browser, but it’s not meant to replace Safari or Chrome for my main usage. Instead, I open up Fluid and go to a website where I want to play video, like YouTube or Netflix. The video itself will enlarge to fit the width of the browser window. Then magically, if I click somewhere else on my desktop, Fluid will float above the other windows and even has adjustable opacity so I can make the video as prominent on screen as I want.
Ever forget a file on your Mac? With Screens you'll never have that problem again. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
Ever left the house or office only to realize later that you forgot a file on your Mac? We’ve all done it. This is why I always have Screens VNC running on all my devices. With the help of a single app, you can access and control your Mac from iPad or iPhone, and even other Macs. Here’s how:
Podcasting doesn't have to break the bank. Here are some high quality rigs and Mac apps to get you started. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
Podcasting has been experiencing a renaissance lately, and for good reason. Podcasts can be about a wide variety of topics, from Apple to sports, comedy, storytelling and so much more. It’s a great time to get into podcasting because the barrier to entry is so low and you don’t have to break the bank to buy a totally workable setup.
Some of the greatest podcasts in the iTunes Top Charts are regularly recorded using sub-$100 to $300 mics. Whether you want to gain influence in a community or nerd out about the latest iPhone, a podcast is a great place to do it.
When it comes to your Mac apps, there’s reason to fear a so-called man in the middle.
A security engineer is reporting several apps vulnerable to malicious coding through Sparkle, the third-party software framework apps use to receive updates. Some of the apps identified include versions of Camtasia, VLC, uTorrent, Sketch and DuetDisplay.
Name your price to get five great apps for working with audio and video. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Nowadays we’re awash in audio and video, but working with either format can be a hassle. This bundle of five apps from Leawo Software makes it easy to capture, transfer, and edit almost any form of audio and video you’re likely to encounter, whether it’s from the web or a DVD. The best part though is that you can get the whole thing for whatever you’re willing to pay, and a portion of each dollar you spend will go to support the important work of Save the Children.
Need to add that special musical magic to your short film or home video, but know next to nothing about film scoring or playing an instrument?
Filmstro’s got your back with a super easy-to-use Mac app that will let you create powerful, custom soundtracks simply and easily without needing to know how to compose or write music.
Don't Just delete an app, get rid of all its digital baggage too to free up valuable space on your Mac. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Another day, another batch of new ways to trick out your Mac. From fully removing deleted apps and all their digital detritus, to creating timelapses, recording screen activity and more, we’ve found some of the coolest enhancements for your Mac. And all of them are under $25.
ReiBoot is free software that makes it possible to rescue your phone's OS no matter what kind of trouble it runs into. Photo: Tenorshare
This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of ReiBoot and iPhone Care Pro.
Too many of us know the sense of powerlessness that comes with staring at a red Apple logo on an iPhone screen for minutes on end, or seeing the device stuck in an endless restart loop. When the time comes to restore a corrupted or compromised iPhone, the simplicity of an iOS device can turn into an imposing, tangled mess as you use iTunes to wake it up from its digital coma.
Pay what you want to get 8 productiviy-boosting apps for your Mac. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
You love your Mac, but you can always make it even more lovely. These eight apps will boost your favorite computer’s safety and your productivity across a wide swath of uses, from data recovery to Android management to unlocking PDFs and beyond. The best part, you can pay whatever you want for the whole thing, and a portion of every dollar you drop will go towards the important work of Save the Children.
Your Mac was born to perform, but for the rest of its life it’s up to you to make sure it stays in shape. This bundle of a dozen — count em — apps are like taking your computer to a full service health spa. Give your Mac’s hard drive a deep clean, enhance its audio performance, keep track of its activity and eliminate distractions, among a bunch of other uber useful enhancements.
PDFelement makes wrangling PDFs simple. Image: Wondershare
This post is brought to you by Wondershare, maker of PDFelement.
If you work with a computer (which, since you’re here, is likely), you have to deal with PDFs. And while PDFs are a great and reliable way to send forms, presentations and contracts — basically anything that can be read or written on — they’re not exactly flexible. In order to edit, add to, remove from, or otherwise alter them, you might think your options are limited to pricey software from Adobe.
iPhone Care Pro does what iTunes does for our iOS devices, only better and easier. Photo: Tenorshare
This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of iPhone Care Pro.
Oh, iTunes. We gave it a good run, but I finally realized I’ve just been using you to take care of my iPhone. And that I can do better.
After finding my iPhone never quite properly synced, waiting through lengthy backups and updates, and putting up with your strange behavior because “that’s just the way you were designed,” it’s time to move on.
Stay organized and productive by visualizing your data and notes in a brand new way. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
If you spend any amount of time at the computer, there are lots of ways you can save time by making easy changes. That can be a change of habit or a solid productivity app, and we’ve found deals on three great ones for you to take advantage of. Whether visualizing your notes and data or keeping distracting websites out of the way, there’s something here to help anybody make better use of their screen time.
Twitter finally resurrected its Mac app with just about everything its users have been asking for over the past several… well, for a really long time. The update at long last looks much like the Twitter you’re familiar with on your smartphone or desktop browser. It’s complete with highly requested features like GIF support and group direct messages with up to 50 people, plus a dark theme for power users and more.
“Don’t call it a comeback!” Twitter wrote in the update description. “Twitter for Mac is getting the update you’ve been asking for.”
Sure our iPhones look sharp, but the sleek exterior hides an inner life that resembles the floor of a bachelor pad. Broken bits of uncompressed photos, unused files, app caches, cookies, backup logs and whatnot clog up the works (there’s probably a few empty pizza boxes in there, too).
Our mobile devices have to be cleaned out regularly, a time-consuming and often frustrating task. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t really provide the best tools for doing the job, often leaving bits and pieces of apps and files behind, or ignoring the storage methods of various third-party apps. That’s why this bundle is a must for anybody looking to streamline their mobile experience. Included are a pair of apps that will clean out any iOS device’s drives, and keep what’s left organized and easily accessible. You can get both for just $19.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
These three apps will boost your productivity immediately. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Your tech has a lot of hidden potential, and sometimes unlocking it is just about getting the right app. We’ve gathered three potent productivity-enhancing applications that’ll enhance the way you talk to your computer, capture what’s on its screen, and play videos of any kind on your mobile device.
TextExpander 5 helps save time and be more efficient by cutting out needless keystrokes. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
If you spend any time behind the keyboard (and let’s be honest, if you’re reading this you probably do), you’re probably wasting a lot of time. The wide menu of commonly used terms, names, phrases and information that we take time to type out add up to minutes and hours that can be saved by using TextExpander. It turns your most regularly used terms into quick keystrokes for populating documents and images, an invaluable time saver that you can get for just $22.
PDF Expert is more powerful than you'd expect for its price. Photo: Readdle
Readdle’s highly praised iOS app PDF Expert has landed on the Mac. Shortly after its debut, it shot straight to the number one spot for paid apps on the Mac App Store. Apple’s own Preview app works fine for simply reading through PDF files or making tiny edits, but people who work with PDF files more frequently and need more power can benefit from giving the $19.99 PDF Expert a chance. Cult of Mac got the opportunity to do just that.
Everybody knows that the leader in the category of PDF editors and readers is Adobe with its Reader and Acrobat apps, but the latter costs $14.99 per month for a subscription or a staggering $449 for the full desktop software. As long as you don’t need to create PDFs, PDF Expert only asks for $20 out of your pocket and it’s jam-packed with all of the necessities and then some.
Terminal never looked so post-apocalyptic. Photo: Cathode
If you’re like me, you’re playing Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG Fallout 4 a lot lately. And that probably means you’ve stumbled across a lot of retro CRT monitors that have quasi-Unix systems running on them.
OS X? It’s also a quasi-Unix system. It runs off of a Unix base, which is accessible through the Terminal app.
And if you want Terminal to look like Fallout 4? Just download this app.
This massive bundle of deals can organize anyone's digital life in time for the holidays. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Instead of standing in line after Thanksgiving, get your productivity in line with these massively discounted apps for organizing any Mac. Everything from tuning your hard drive to editing PDFs and creating mixtapes and animations, if you work on a computer there’s something you can use, all for just $39.99.
Hopefully email will start to suck less on more devices. Photo: Readdle
Readdle’s beloved Spark email app for iPhone and Apple Watch is also coming to the iPad and Mac. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that development is underway for the apps in an email to Cult of Mac. The iPad version will likely make its debut next month in December, while a Mac version is a little further down in the pipeline since it’s only currently in the planning stages.
How do you say "Payback's a bitch" in Klingon? Photo: Edward Brawer
When a Klingon says bortaS bir jablu’DI’reH QaQqu’ nay,’ it’s not good. It means “Revenge is a dish best served cold” and what is likely to follow is some sort of death blow.
So when Edward Brawer, the developer of the dock replacement software uBar, had pirates of his Mac app in sight, he set his phaser to amusement. Users who ripped him off soon saw the titles on apps and folders switched to the Klingon language.