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Best Mac Apps to start with for a New Mac Mini ?

M

marcusalwayswins

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 23, 2021
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Hi Guys,

Just got the Shiny New M2 Mac Mini. There is a plethora of app that I feel like downloading but I would like to ask you guys what is the basic minimum apps that you would suggest me to have on the new Mac Mini ?

I had two in my mind, Three actually one is bartender. Second is Windows management App like Magnet and third is a good screen recording and screen sharing and screenshot app.

What do you suggest which are the basic minimum apps that I should begin with when I start using my new Mac mini

Please suggest.
 
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marcusalwayswins said:
Hi Guys,

Just got the Shiny New M2 Mac Mini. There is a plethora of app that I feel like downloading but I would like to ask you guys what is the basic minimum apps that you would suggest me to have on the new Mac Mini ?

I had two in my mind, Three actually one is bartender. Second is Windows management App like Magnet and third is a good screen recording and screen sharing and screenshot app.

What do you suggest which are the basic minimum apps that I should begin with when I start using my new Mac mini

Please suggest.
Click to expand...
Handbrake is good for covering videos to iPad format
obviously, Ad Guard, the green one
and of course pages and numbers.

which one did you purchase, an the os is Ventura or sonoma?
im on the fence weather to get one this weekend or wait until a refurbished m1 is released.
I love Monterey!
 
MBAir2010 said:
Handbrake is good for covering videos to iPad format
obviously, Ad Guard, the green one
and of course pages and numbers.

which one did you purchase, an the os is Ventura or sonoma?
im on the fence weather to get one this weekend or wait until a refurbished m1 is released.
I love Monterey!
Click to expand...

I got M2 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM 512 GB SSD under Student Education Discount.
 
marcusalwayswins said:
Hi Guys,

Just got the Shiny New M2 Mac Mini. There is a plethora of app that I feel like downloading but I would like to ask you guys what is the basic minimum apps that you would suggest me to have on the new Mac Mini ?

I had two in my mind, Three actually one is bartender. Second is Windows management App like Magnet and third is a good screen recording and screen sharing and screenshot app.

What do you suggest which are the basic minimum apps that I should begin with when I start using my new Mac mini

Please suggest.
Click to expand...
The basic minimum is already on your new mini... anything else you should install when and if you need it. Don't install software because someone else uses it or thinks you need it.

Your needs are probably different from anyone else's... Things I install is photoshop, lightroom, illustrator, acrobat, word/excel, opera, Appcleaner, DriveDx, Blackmagic, VLC, OnyX, Malwarebytes, a VPN, BetterDisplay, EasyFind, Geekbench, MediaInfo, Mx Power Gadget, TestFlight, The Unarchiver, whatsapp and zoom..... but these might all be useless to you?!
 
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I think you're going about this backwards. Figure out what it is you want to actually do and then get the software that does that thing. I could recommend apps all day long for specific purposes (as could everyone else here) but it's meaningless until you state a use case.

I will say this: the apps the Mac ships with are largely quite capable to get started on a lot of uses. Dig around in there maybe before you start shopping for new software.
 
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marcusalwayswins said:
Hi Guys,

Just got the Shiny New M2 Mac Mini. There is a plethora of app that I feel like downloading but I would like to ask you guys what is the basic minimum apps that you would suggest me to have on the new Mac Mini ?

I had two in my mind, Three actually one is bartender. Second is Windows management App like Magnet and third is a good screen recording and screen sharing and screenshot app.

What do you suggest which are the basic minimum apps that I should begin with when I start using my new Mac mini

Please suggest.
Click to expand...

For starters: VLC Media Player. That's the evergreen download. Plays any audio and video file you throw at it.

Official download of VLC media player, the best Open Source player - VideoLAN

www.videolan.org www.videolan.org

Next, you like games? Of course you do, who doesn't? So you're gonna need Steam

store.steampowered.com

Steam, The Ultimate Online Game Platform

Steam is the ultimate destination for playing, discussing, and creating games.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

Do you wanna edit images but don't wanna give Adobe money to screw you over? Well you're in luck because the open source image manipulator GIMP is native to Apple Silicon

www.gimp.org

GIMP

GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program: The Free and Open Source Image Editor
www.gimp.org www.gimp.org

Next, go to the Mac App Store and download Shazam, and set it to always be in the menu bar

Oh can't forget Spotify https://www.spotify.com/uk/download/other/

And lastly you'll need Unarchiver to be able to open .7z, .rar. and other kinds of zip files, and to be able to easily create them. (Also available in the Mac App Store)

WAIT I FORGOT you need a PDF reader. (Mac App Store has that)
 
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curnalpanic said:
Surprised nobody has suggested a clipboard manager yet. For most, there is a time before you start using one, and a time after, and there is no going back. I use Flycut, but there are others. Hopefully there will be a first-party one someday soon.
Click to expand...

There are hundreds of needs and best solution to that need that could fill in the same sentences...

curnalpanic said:
Surprised nobody has suggested a ________________ yet. For most, there is a time before you start using one, and a time after, and there is no going back. I use ________. but there are others.
Click to expand...

As others are saying, OP needs to spell out specific things they want this Mac to do. As is, it is so ambiguous and open, we could recommend almost every app- except apparently coding tools- and it might be very useful to not useful at all to OP.

OP: if you want good input, finish these sentences:
  • The top 10+ things I will be using this Mac for are...
  • A less general or mainstream thing(s) I want to do on this Mac is...
  • A special interest(s) I have is... What are some good apps to help me with that?
  • Apps I often use on Windows are... What's the best alternative on Mac?
I believe there is some 2XK unique apps for Mac. If we assume as much as 10% are coding apps, 2XK times 90% could end up as answers to your original question. Maybe 30% (I'm wild guessing on percentages) might be branded "productivity" so that would be 2XK times 30% potential answers. I would guess there is probably 10%-15% of apps that could be branded "utility."

Help those trying to help you narrow it down. Else, hop into the Mac App Store for starters and just start reading about the many apps in there. Then do searches for apps similar to favorites you find there because there will be MANY others NOT available in the Mac App Store, sold direct by developers to Mac users.
 
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marcusalwayswins said:
I had two in my mind, Three actually one is bartender. Second is Windows management App like Magnet and third is a good screen recording and screen sharing and screenshot app.
Click to expand...
I would (and did) opt for Hidden Bar over Bartender. I like Magnet. I like CleanShot for screen capture and screenshot. What are you looking for with screen sharing specifically? Your Mac includes Screen Sharing.app natively. You can also start a screen share session from Messages.app or FaceTime.app

Other apps I advise for Mac are Itsycal and SoundSource.
 
marcusalwayswins said:
Hi Guys,

Just got the Shiny New M2 Mac Mini. There is a plethora of app that I feel like downloading but I would like to ask you guys what is the basic minimum apps that you would suggest me to have on the new Mac Mini ?

I had two in my mind, Three actually one is bartender. Second is Windows management App like Magnet and third is a good screen recording and screen sharing and screenshot app.

What do you suggest which are the basic minimum apps that I should begin with when I start using my new Mac mini

Please suggest.
Click to expand...

I've been using Bartender for years... rock solid and reasonably priced... one of the "must-haves". IMO.

For window management, I've been using Moom for years, too... it just works.

Some of my other "must-haves" include:
  • Downie (video downloader)
  • ProMouse (adds "halo" around mouse pointer, allows you to zoom in to view screen enlarged, draw annotations on screen and more)
  • MacUpdater to keep your apps up to date
  • Copy 'Em (clipboard manager that syncs content for use across multiple Macs)
  • TextExpander
  • Dropbox
  • Ariel Screensaver
  • App Cleaner (software uninstaller)
  • QSpace (multi pane/multi column file manager and Finder replacement/enhancement)
  • BBEdit - free version (text editor)
 
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I know it's subscription based but I pay yearly for the utilities I use all the time like Bartender, Downie, Pull tube, Element player and some others like iStats. Also many other apps I don't remember one is a Wifi signal app on my menu bar that's better than the one that's included. Also a Bluetooth app that makes it easier to connect and disconnect to my external speaker. I use Setapp.com. Too me it's worth it because I get free upgrades like when Bartender was just updated.
 
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If you have any desires to do image edits and don’t want photoshop I would pick up Pixelmator next time it goes on sale for $30. It gets marked down enough that I definitely would not pay $60. Probably my favorite Mac-only app.

curnalpanic said:
Surprised nobody has suggested a clipboard manager yet. For most, there is a time before you start using one, and a time after, and there is no going back. I use Flycut, but there are others. Hopefully there will be a first-party one someday soon.
Click to expand...
Literally the only thing I miss from windows is clipboard history and the ability to easily paste without keeping text formatting. (Seriously! I can count on one hand the amount of times I have EVER wanted to keep text formatting, and the shortcut to paste without it is ridiculous!) I’ve never used a manager like this but I should really try it out.
 
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zach-coleman said:
If you have any desires to do image edits and don’t want photoshop I would pick up Pixelmator next time it goes on sale for $30. It gets marked down enough that I definitely would not pay $60. Probably my favorite Mac-only app.


Literally the only thing I miss from windows is clipboard history and the ability to easily paste without keeping text formatting. (Seriously! I can count on one hand the amount of times I have EVER wanted to keep text formatting, and the shortcut to paste without it is ridiculous!) I’ve never used a manager like this but I should really try it out.
Click to expand...

I definitely plan to buy Pixelmator as I use two apps from them on my iPad Pro.
 
tonyr6 said:
I know it's subscription based but I pay yearly for the utilities I use all the time like [...] Downie
Click to expand...

I am a long-time user of Downie. I bought it directly from the developer. I haven't ever been required or asked to sign up for a subscription; every major version has been sold with a permanent license for as long as I've had it.


marcusalwayswins said:
Please suggest.
Click to expand...

Here are some suggestions for managing privacy and security on your computer:

Level 1 (foundation)
  • Anti-virus (I use the anti-virus and Web Protection modules of Sophos Home)
  • Anti-malware (I use Malwarebytes)
  • Firefox browser with ad blocking and Javascript blocking add-ons (I use AdBlock Plus and NoScript) for general web browsing. I keep Safari relatively stock and only use it with a very small number of trusted websites.

Level 2 (good to have if you don't mind the convenience vs. security tradeoffs)
  • Little Snitch (monitor outgoing Internet connections, essentially a reverse firewall)
  • RansomWhere (anti-ransomware monitor)
  • SilentKnight (utility for easily checking Apple's own security measures in macOS for updates)
----------
Another action you can take is to set up a non-Admin user account for daily use. Then you only need to log-in as an Administrator when you are actively doing troubleshooting, installations, or maintenance tasks (see: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...n-administrator-account.2327558/post-30700893).

----------

Have a look at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/security-protection-on-mac-how.2308465/post-30660294 and https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...curity-suite-for-macosx.2310577/post-30375113 for more info on X-Protect and MRT, Apple's built-n macOS security software.
 
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KaliYoni said:
I am a long-time user of Downie. I bought it directly from the developer. I haven't ever been required or asked to sign up for a subscription; every major version has been sold with a permanent license for as long as I've had it.




Here are some suggestions for managing privacy and security on your computer:

Level 1 (foundation)
  • Anti-virus (I use the anti-virus and Web Protection modules of Sophos Home)
  • Anti-malware (I use Malwarebytes)
  • Firefox browser with ad blocking and Javascript blocking add-ons (I use AdBlock Plus and NoScript) for general web browsing. I keep Safari relatively stock and only use it with a very small number of trusted websites.

Level 2 (good to have if you don't mind the convenience vs. security tradeoffs)
  • Little Snitch (monitor outgoing Internet connections, essentially a reverse firewall)
  • RansomWhere (anti-ransomware monitor)
  • SilentKnight (utility for easily checking Apple's own security measures in macOS for updates)
----------
Another action you can take is to set up a non-Admin user account for daily use. Then you only need to log-in as an Administrator when you are actively doing troubleshooting, installations, or maintenance tasks (see: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...n-administrator-account.2327558/post-30700893).

----------

Have a look at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/security-protection-on-mac-how.2308465/post-30660294 and https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...curity-suite-for-macosx.2310577/post-30375113 for more info on X-Protect and MRT, Apple's built-n macOS security software.
Click to expand...

But I was always under the impression Mac by default is safe It does not require any kind Anti-Virus or Malware ?
 
marcusalwayswins said:
But I was always under the impression Mac by default is safe It does not require any kind Anti-Virus or Malware ?
Click to expand...

It's possible... in the early days of Mac0S the market penetration was low enough that the creators of such malware didn't bother with Macs - lower ROI... but with the popularity of the Mac platform it's become more common place... still not a major concern, but it can happen... for the average user who practices "safe computing", an on-demand tool like Malwarebytes is sufficient... most of the anti-virus software is bloated crap that bogs down your system, and IMO, is pretty worthless.
 
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marcusalwayswins said:
But I was always under the impression Mac by default is safe It does not require any kind Anti-Virus or Malware ?
Click to expand...

My personal view is that only you can accurately determine your risk tolerance and need for additional layers of privacy and security protection.

My own Mac security strategy is centered around risk management, not predictions of bad actors' behavior. I prefer spending some time up front–and money if justified–to minimize the possibility of having to deal with the fallout of an attacker putting viruses or malware on my computer. I view anti-virus and anti-malware software as a form of insurance. Yes, it sucks that I need it but I feel that having it lets me sleep better than not having it.

Also, we are all human and we make mistakes, especially when we are in a rush, distracted, or tired. Relying on constant vigilance as protection requires perfection. I don't think any of us can reach that standard very often, especially with something that is constantly changing and morphing.

Finally, keep in mind that nobody on an Internet message board will be available to answer to you if you follow bad advice or take an action that turns out it be ill-suited to your personal situation. The same goes for bloggers, websites, and social media. Only one person can decide what is truly best for you: YOU.
 
CopyClip is an excellent clipboard manager. It's one of the big features that macOS is still lacking.
VLC or MK Player for playing all video and audio files.
Ad Guard for blocking ads and tracking.
PiPiFier to force any HMTL5 video on the web into picture-in-picture in mode (particularly handy for streaming service which don't have it built-in)

In general I advise you as well to check out the built-in apps. Preview is an excellent PDF viewer and editor, and notes is quite fleshed out. Finally, Mail is a good email client, though you may prefer Outlook if you need to create a lot of Teams meetings.
 
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