Dan Counsell
May 30, 2026
I've always enjoyed reading lists of what apps people use on their Macs, especially the workflows they've built around them, so I thought it was about time I put together my own list. I've tried to make this a fairly comprehensive run-through of every Mac app I use daily, or at the very least weekly.
I have a bad habit of chopping and changing tools, especially to-do apps, note apps, and utilities, more often than I'm comfortable with. So this list is just a snapshot in time, and would probably look pretty different in six months, but right now I'm happy with the setup.
I'm sure plenty of these apps will be familiar to you, but I hope there's a few gems in here you haven't come across before. I'll start with the apps that have earned a spot in my Dock, working from left to right.
Safari / Messages / Mail / FaceTime
I still use Safari as my main browser, I've tried others but Safari is just better integrated with the native Password app, auto-fill, and Apple Pay. This makes it hard to move to anything else. My fallback browser is currently ChatGPT Atlas, I find this especially good for replying to long forum threads at work as it can summarise what's gone on so far, but also help me respond faster.
There's really not much to say about Messages, Mail or FaceTime. They all work and do what they're supposed to do. I will say that while Mail isn't perfect, I've still not found anything better.
Swinsian
I love music, but I got tired of Apple messing up my library. I'd add an album, then come back to it months or years later only to find it had been split across multiple albums, or that tracks were missing entirely. Over the years Apple Music has slowly de-emphasised the personal library in favour of streaming, and call me old fashioned, but I still like to listen to complete albums that I've chosen and curated myself.
Swinsian isn't the best looking app, but it's incredibly configurable, and it just works. Thankfully, I ripped all my old CDs ages ago and now keep the MP3s on Dropbox. It's a wonderful way to listen to music, no buffering, no problems when the internet goes down, and best of all I'm 100% in control of my library. These days I buy most of my new music from Bandcamp.
I do still have an Apple subscription so get Apple Music included, which I still use for discovering new music and listening on my phone.
Elements
This website was designed and built using Elements for Mac. The blog uses the Markdown-based Elements CMS to edit and publish posts online. I'm super biased, as we build Elements, but if you're looking to own your content and have full control over your website, then you really need to check it out. Over the past five years it's turned into an absolute powerhouse for users that don't want to spend their time wrangling code.
Things
I believe Things is the most Mac-like task manager still in development. I've tried all the other apps (and even shipped a rather popular todo list app back in the day), but I just keep coming back to Things. It's the most Mac-like to-do list app, and yes I've tried to use Reminders, but I don't like the UI or how it feels a bit clunky.
Obsidian
I'm terrible at sticking with a single notes app. I've tried just about all of them, but I keep coming back to Obsidian for both quick notes and long-form articles. The big draw for me is that it runs on plain Markdown files in a folder I control, so there's no hassle about lock-in or having to export my data down the line.
I've got a pretty sweet setup going right now. I use a very basic version of the Johnny.Decimal system to keep my folder structure in order. I use the web clipper extension to file interesting things I come across on the web into a "002 Clippings" folder. I also have a TypeWhisper workflow (more on that app below) mapped to a global hotkey so I can dictate notes throughout the day and have them merged into a "001 Daily Notes" folder. It's effortless, and kinda magical.
Claude
Over the past few months Claude has quietly overtaken ChatGPT as my go-to AI assistant, not least because of the potential of MCP servers. We recently added one to the Elements CMS (the system this blog runs on), which means I can now ask Claude Cowork to grab my latest Markdown article from the "005 Longform" folder on my Mac and push it up to my blog as a draft. That's exactly how this article was published!
On top of that, Claude's personality just feels more straightforward and a lot less annoying than ChatGPT's, which makes the back and forth far more pleasant.
Sketch
I mainly use Sketch for UI mockups and designing marketing graphics. It's a good Mac app, but I do worry about its sustainability in the long term, especially with the explosion in popularity of Figma.
Nova
Probably the most modern looking Mac code editor. However, as far as I can tell, Nova hasn't really kept up with the competition, especially on the AI integration front. That's okay for me, as I generally use Claude Code for AI coding tasks, and then just check the files in Nova.
GitHub Desktop
It hasn't changed in years and is probably one of the most straightforward and easy to use Git clients. There's really not much to say about it.
Transmit
I've used Transmit for years, probably since version 1, before this I think I was using Fetch, and that's a long long time ago.
Screen Studio
For many many years I used Screenflow, and while it's still a good app, development has stagnated. I'm now increasingly finding myself using the more modern Screen Studio. I use it pretty much every week for recording tutorials and demos of what's new in Elements. You can see plenty of examples of this on the Realmac Software YouTube channel.
Apps running in the background
These are not in my Dock, but they are running on my Mac in the background, so perhaps these are my most used apps…
Dropbox
I use a mix of Dropbox and iCloud. I mainly started using Dropbox because my accountants use it and it's an easy way to collaborate, but I actually find it to be a fairly decent and reliable service.
CleanShot
Hands-down CleanShot is the best screenshot app for Mac. I use this countless times a day for annotating and sharing screenshots with my team, helping customers with quick demos, and recording bugs for attaching to tickets on GitHub. This is one tool that I really wouldn't want to be without.
HyperKey
This is a recent addition to my app setup, but I can already feel that there's no going back. Basically, Hyperkey gives you the ability to assign a "superkey". What's that? I hear you cry, well… I've assigned mine to the fn-globe key. If I hold down the fn-globe key and then press a single letter, like W, I can trigger a global app shortcut. It makes it easier to use and remember than holding down command-option-shift-W.
I've started to map all my global shortcuts to the super-key + a letter. Here's what I currently have set up, but as this is a fairly new addition to my setup, I'm sure I'll be adding many more over time.
- CleanShot OCR = Super-R
- TypeWhisper = Super-S
- Custom Workflow to save Daily Notes to Obsidian = Super-O
- Claude = Super-D
- Gnome = Super-G
Cotypist
Another recent entry to my setup, and one that I think Apple might eventually just integrate into the system. It has the feeling of something that should just be part of the system. Cotypist predicts the next word(s) you're going to type, and you just hit tab to auto-complete. I've already found it to be a big time saver, and one that I wouldn't want to be without. Just give it a try for a day or two and you'll be hooked.
Gnome
With a global hotkey (Super-G), I can find and insert an animated gif in seconds. Gnome is an essential tool for anyone that "works on a computer". Super handy for posting Gifs to our work Basecamp.
TypeWhisper
Private speech-to-text for your Mac with system-wide dictation, and custom workflows. I use TypeWhisper for everything from writing replies, to dictating daily notes that end up in Obsidian. This happens automagically via an integration available on their community marketplace.
I'm still in the early stages of getting used to dictation, but it's already proving to be a big time saver. It's sometimes just nice to blabber on about something out loud and have AI shape it into something more coherent.
Installed on my Mac, but not in my Dock
These apps are essential to using my Mac, but they are either a distraction or are used on a more semi-regular basis, so I don't need them cluttering my Dock.
- NetNewsWire + Feedbin - This is the perfect RSS setup.
- Ivory - Probably the best Mastodon client for the Mac.
- Squash - A great way to batch compress images.
- Final Cut Pro - Pro video editor.
- Numbers - The only spreadsheet app worth using.
- Pixelmator Pro - switched from Photoshop, but it's just not the same.
- Pages - Before this I used AppleWorks!
- DevAnt - Internal tool to manage app distribution.
- LM Studio - Run LLMs locally.
- ServBay - Handy for spinning up a local web server.
- SF Symbols - A must-have app for anyone building Mac apps.
- Vellum - One day I'll write a book…
- Codex - Similar to Claude Code, but made by OpenAI.
- ChatGPT - Unsure on the future of this app, and currently prefer Claude.
- ChatGPT Atlas - Not sure this is the future of browsers, but it's handy sometimes.
- Boop - Really useful tool to format code.
- IINA - Excellent open-source media player.
What did I miss?
Phew, I think this just about covers every app I use on my Mac, and it turned into a much longer article than I was planning. I hope you've found a gem or two that you didn't know about, and if you have any app recommendations, hit me up on Mastodon.