I switched to MacOS a couple of years ago. When I talked about that with someone who also switched to MacOS, he told me switched back because he missed some productivity tools. So, I thought I write about the ones I use to get my ultimate productivity workflow (and hope he switched back, lol)
Let’s just dive in. It’s about these tools:
- Bentobox (window management)
- ChatGPT (Gen AI)
- CleanShot X (Screenshot tool)
- DisplayLink Manager (Connecting to Docks)
- Lolgato (Elgato control center replacement)
- Obsidian (Notes)
- Raycast (spotlight replacement and ultimate search)
- Warp (enhanced terminal)
Some are paid, some are free. This is not sponsored but I will provide links to the websites.
Bentobox
This is a paid tool. It’s an early release. you can get for 9 dollar at the moment. I think it was worth it. 🙂
This a window manager. It has basically the same feature set as fancy zones on Windows. This is an example of a layout:
It remember your layout for each screen that you attach. It just works. I like that.
You can find it here
ChatGPT
Everybody knows ChatGPT but I still want to list it here because it’s integration with MacOS is simply amazing.
If you have the ChatGPT app installed on your Mac, you can use the option + spacebar key combination to directly chat with ChatGPT:
Now, with Apple Intelligence ChatGPT directly integrates in MacOS itself:
How awesome is that? It make my life a lot easier.
CleanShot X
This is also a paid tool. It costs 29 dollars and you get a year worth of updates. You can also get a subscription but I like to buy stuff only once. This tool is very much like Share X on Windows which is a very popular tool to make screenshots with.
The feature I like best is the one where you can see your screenshot history:
It can save the screenshot for up to a month. Killer feature!
The cleanshot x editor is a lovely tool also. It just simply has all I need to make screenshots easily.
Display Linkmanager
This is a free tool that helps you connect to (USB C) docks to attach multiple displays. It doesn’t work with every dock but it certainly help. This is a screenshot of the tool:
Lolgato
I wanted to get rid of my Elgato streamdeck. I only used it to turn my Elgato Lights on. So, I set out to find a replacement to automate switching the lights on. I came across Lolgato. You can find it here on Github
A killer feature is that it can turn on and off automatically whenever your camera is in use:
It works perfectly and it automates turning on the lights! I also sold my streamdeck.
Obsidian
I heard about this from a colleague. This is a notes app. It stores your notes locally and integrates perfectly with your mobile devices. Furthermore, you can create a mind map within the notes app. again a killer feature!
This also integrates with the next productivity app.
Raycast
This one is truly awesome. I use the free version of this because it’s feature rich enough for me. This replace your spotlight search function (cmd + spacebar)
Their motto is “your shortcut to everything”. And it is, truly, your shortcut to everything. Some examples:
Open VS code projects
Control Spotify
Add a note to obsidian
Use the ChatGPT integration
Remove a paywall from a link
Search clipboard history
Color picker
And so forth…
This is the swiss army knife of productivity tools, this should be the default in MacOS. I barely scratched the surface with the examples above.
This is a screenshot:
Warp
The last one is warp, this is a terminal replacement and it is awesome. This is a screenshot:
As you can see it shows your command history, what folder you are in, what repo and what branche you are in and much more! It is also fully customizable.
In addition it also integrates with perplexity AI to complete command and there are even whispers about a ChatGPT integration which I would love!
That’s it folks! Please share your productivity tools to further enhance my workflow!
Have a nice day. 🙂
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