Best Mac apps for security and productivity in 2020: Parallels, Backblaze, and more. A selection of the best performance, security, and productivity apps and utilities to help you get the most.
Although you may try your very best to blitz your way through tasks and get things done at a speed that Usain Bolt couldn’t beat, being productive (and staying productive) can be difficult. An Inc.com report reveals that during an 8 hour working day, the average worker only manages to be productive for around three hours.
You’re a busy person and you have things to do and that means you would prefer not to waste time scrolling through Twitter half a dozen times or getting distracted by what’s going on outside your window. There are tips, tricks and pieces of software that can help you with that and if you’re running an Apple MacBook, there are many freebies that can be downloaded from the Mac App Store.
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How to Become More Productive With a MacBook
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The MacBook isn’t just a good looking laptop, it’s also designed to work for professionals. It’s why many of the best productivity apps are compatible with MacBooks (many of them aren’t compatible with Windows laptops). Many professionals are already using the Apple laptops because they’re easy to use, they’re reliable and dependable, and they have brilliant free software built in.
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The MacBook Pro is also great for multi tasking which can help you stay productive. The 13.3 inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display has as much as 16GB of RAM and an Intel 3.5GHz quad core processor. This means that it will perform well across a multitude of functions and can run multiple apps at once without slowing down, which is good if you run a lot of demanding apps in your work. If you don’t have a huge budget for a MacBook, then you can buy a refurbished MacBook Pro from somewhere like RefurbMe. RefurbMe compares refurbished MacBook deals and prices based on (refurbished grades, specs, and the age of the model) to help you save money.
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Todoist
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For many busy people, the biggest issue that they face is that they can’t keep track of everything that they have to do. If a project is moving quickly and is being updated on a daily basis, your tasks with that project may change as well. To track these changes and stay on top of your tasks for the day you may have to search through your emails and messages or try to decipher notes scrawled on pieces of paper.
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Todo list app Todoist aims to solve that, by giving you an easy way to keep track of and categorize your daily tasks. The Verge has reviewed the iOS version of Todoist and calls it the best todo list app for iPhones. It allows you to categorize your tasks by project or client, say when the tasks have to be in by, add notes and files to a task and, as Todoist has Mac, iOS, and Android apps as well as an Internet browser version, you can look at your list from whatever device you’re using.
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Otter
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A major time consuming task that busy people do most days is typing. To open your word processor, type out your thoughts and ideas and then save them (or send them in an email) can distract you from doing other tasks. If you aren’t a quick typer then you may spend hours of your day typing notes just so that you can remember things.
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However, Fast Company says that transcription app Otter could help with this. Otter aims to be the “Dropbox of voice recording,” as it uses voice recognition software to transcribe your voice notes into text from your recorded audio. While Otter doesn’t provide 100% accurate transcriptions, it should save you a huge amount of time in transcribing your notes, typing notes, or listening to your voice notes so that you can figure out what you said.
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Duet Display
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As well as your MacBook Pro, you may also have an iPad or an iPhone. These allow you to work during the commute and take phone calls during the workday. While these are great devices to have, software like Duet Display can turn them into second screens, helping to make you more productive.
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Developed by ex Apple engineers, with Duet Display you can connect your iPad or iPhone to your Mac with a Lightning cable (or 30 pin cable) to use it as a second screen. You’ll be able to interact with OS X apps with a touchscreen on your iPad, for ease of use. Duet Display also says that adding an additional display can increase your productivity by up to 48%.
Your MacBook can be a productivity machine. You just need to get the right MacBook apps to help you get more things done and quicker.
Best productivity apps guarantee best working environment! Have you ever thought how much time do you waste on typing and clicking, organizing files, and trying to find the date? It’s time to put your laptop to work with this list of 15 best productivity apps for Mac.
Best Mac Productivity Apps
Sometimes you don’t need full-screen apps with lots of features to improve your productivity. Instead, have a look at these small tools that do one-two things and make your life easier.
1. Krisp
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Krisp is an easy-to-use but powerful app that recognizes your voice and separates it from extraneous noise next to you, leaving only your clean voice. It’s one of the best productivity apps for Mac that can help you to have better conference calls. You can work from any place that’s convenient for you and don’t worry about the crying baby or airport announcement in the background. Krisp also launched on Appsumo Deals.
2. Magnet
To be productive means having an organized workplace. Magnet app does exactly that – organizes the space on your desktop. This small app allows you to drag windows to show two, three, or four apps side-by-side.
Having multiple windows side by side eliminates the neebad for app switching and enhances your multitasking. Organize your workspace and seamlessly copy the text from one window and paste it into the second one. You can also customize the shortcuts for the app for maximum efficiency.
Price: $1.19
3. Itsycal
Have you ever wondered why your Mac doesn’t show full date on menubar? We have. While we don’t know the exact reason why Mac doesn’t support this function natively, we’ve found a good solution with this nice productivity app.
Itsycal adds a small calendar on your menubar. With it you can always have a brief glance at the whole month, week, your day and even appointments. It integrates with your macOS calendar and reminders, and you can modify the appearance if you wish too.
Price: Free
4. Flux
Sometimes you have to work during night or in place with bad lighting. For these situations use Flux – productivity app for Mac that changes the brightness and color temperature of your display. It matches them with the time of the day, so you call work better and feel less tired.
Price: Free
5. SelfControl
If you can’t resist the urge to check your Facebook, Twitter or any other website you stick for hours – this tool is for you. SelfControl app helps us to save us from meaningless waste of time of these websites.
Simply add the websites which distract you from your work, set the timer and turn it on. The app will block the mentioned sites for the specified time.
The best part is that even if you reboot your Mac, you can’t turn off the application until the timer’s up. So if your “selfcontrol” is not enough, use this small tool to be more productive with your time.
Price: Free
Best Mac Productivity Apps – Useful Tools
1. OmniFocus 3
This productivity app is all about managing your tasks. OmniFocus has a clean interface and every feature you need to get stuff done. And its sleek design is simply a perfect match for your Mac.
Add all your projects, to-do lists into OmniFocus and track all details like dates, notes, files attachments. Also you can easily synchronize between your iPhone or iPad. Free up your mind from storing all your tasks and enemies of every good conference call.
2. Bear
One of mac productivity apps in this list is called Bear. It’s a beautiful and flexible note-taking app. It has all functions that you’ve wished the pre-installed Notes on Mac would had.
With Bear it’s super easy to jot down your notes on the go. Write prose and outlines, create to-do lists and reminders for yourself, and many more. The best part is that many functions of Bear are free and you can enjoy all the perks without spending much.
Price: Free ($1.49 monthly)
3. CleanMyMac X
CleanMyMac is a lifesaver for your Mac. It combines many optimization tools in single app. Monitor the performance, remove malware and clean up your macOS.
This is a must-have app for any Mac user if you want your device to be healthy. And you want it, right?
Price: One year subscription costs $49.95
4. Alfred
Alfred brings productivity to your fingerprints! This app for macOS boosts your efficiency by helping you search your computer and web with great speed.
You can use Alfred for multiple things. It allows you to open things, search for things, define and time them, easily calculate things and expand tests, contact people and manage clipboard and so much more. Definitely give Alfred a try and experience its possibilities.
Price: Free
5. 1Password
Have you ever forgotten your password? Now you really forget your passwords as 1Password will remember all of them for you. Using 1Password is super simple: just save your passwords and login to websites with a single click.
Besides, if you often have a hard time thinking of new and unique passwords – worry no more. 1Passwords has your back and it will create a strong password instead of you and sync between your devices.
Price: $2.99 monthly
Best Mac productivity apps – Utilities
1. Bartender 3
Have you ever wanted to organize the apps on menu bar? Now you can!
With Bartender 2 you can easily rearrange apps on your menu bar, hide them and even move to separate Bartender Bar. Give it a try and find out multiple variations of your menu bar.
Price: $15
2. AppCleaner
This small productivity app allows you to safely uninstall unwanted apps from your computer. As you know any time you install an application dozens of files are distributed throughout your System. Besides taking up much space, they leave traces which are hard to find with custom tools.
That’s why you need AppCleaner to clean up the mess and delete all traces of unwanted apps from your device.
Price: Free
3. Things
You definitely have a lot of things, right? Add one more “thing” to your list – Things app. This is a small and easy-to-use task manager which makes you truly productive.
If you’re tired of all big apps with dozens of features (most of which you don’t need), then Things is your choice. Give it a try!
Price: $49.99
4. MalwareBytes
Don’t believe people who say that you don’t need a anti-malware program on your Mac. While, there might not be a need for heavy-weight and cumbersome applications, Malware Bytes is all you need.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scans your computer, finds and removes code that lowers system performance or destroys your system. If your Mac is running slow and annoying adware and pop-ups keep coming, definitely install this app and revive your Mac.
Price: Free
5. Gemini 2
Sometimes you can’t find the exact file you need, but often times it turns out you have multiples of the same file. Finding and removing every duplicate file seems like a redundant task. That’s what Gemini is for!
Forget about the problem of duplicate files with Gemini. It spots duplicates and similar files, sees how they’re different and deletes the ones you don’t need. Gemini is smart and it learns all the time to improve the process. Sounds amazing, right? Get yourself mac productivity apps like Gemini and free up tons of space on your Mac.
Price: Free
Mac Productivity Apps Bonus: Email Analytics
Best Productivity Apps For Macbook Pro
This app is one of those mac productivity apps that will help you keep in track of and visualize your team’s email activity. It is private and secure and will let you to monitor and measure the email productivity of your team and other employees.
Email Analytics provides an opportunity to segment the teams which you need to monitor, and compare their analytics data to rule out the top performing members. You can see the analytics in real-time and the reports are updated frequently to ensure you get the most precise results.
Best Productivity Apps Macbook
This is great for boosting your and your team’s productivity in the long run, so give it a try on your Mac. There’s a 14 day trial after which you will have to pay $15 per mailbox a month.
Mac App Store Download
By now you should already have your Mac ready to took off and allow you to be your most productive self. Let us know in the comments which Mac app is your favorite!