THE USEFUL TECH
📘 THE DEEP DIVE · WEDNESDAY · ISSUE #011
👋 HEY, IT'S RAJA
Most Mac app lists recommend the same ten apps. This week I went through Setapp's catalog looking for the ones nobody writes about, the small apps that fix one annoying thing and fix it well.
Five made the cut. They've been around for years and have loyal users, but you'll rarely see them in a roundup. All five come with one Setapp membership, and I got you 30 days free instead of the usual 7.
📘 Five Mac apps almost nobody has heard of
What each one fixes, who it's for, and how to try all five without paying.
#1 HazeOver shows you which window you're actually typing in
Recent versions of macOS make it hard to tell at a glance which window is active, so it's easy to start typing into the wrong one. HazeOver fixes that by dimming every background window, which makes the one you're working in stand out right away.
You choose how strong the dimming is, from a faint hint to a near blackout when you want to focus. It handles multiple monitors, keeps separate settings for Light and Dark Mode, and fades out while you hold Fn to drag files between apps. John Gruber of Daring Fireball tried it earlier this year and ended up setting it to launch every time he logs in.
#2 Workspaces opens your whole project in one click
Most workdays start with the same routine of opening the same apps, the same folders and the same handful of browser tabs. Workspaces lets you save all of that as a project, with apps, files, folders and websites together, then open everything with a single Start button.
You can keep separate workspaces for writing, client work or meetings and switch between them without hunting for anything. A Finish button cleans up when you're done, and plugins add extras like quitting every open app in one click.
#3 Batteries shows every device's battery on your Mac
Batteries puts the battery levels of your iPhone, iPad, AirPods and Bluetooth headphones in your Mac's menu bar, so you find out your phone is at 8% before you leave the house with it, not after.
It sends you a notification when any device runs low, which gives you time to charge it before it dies in the middle of a call. Your iPhone and iPad just need to be on the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac, after a quick one-time setting in Finder.
#4 Rocket Typist types the things you type every day
Rocket Typist is a text expander. You save the phrases you type often, like your address, standard email replies, links or bits of code, and give each one a short abbreviation. Type the abbreviation in any app, and it expands into the full text.
Snippets can include macros for today's date, the time or whatever is on your clipboard, so one abbreviation can fill in a dated email template. You can also pick snippets from a searchable menu when you can't remember an abbreviation, and it works on iPhone and iPad as well as your Mac.
#5 Taskheat turns your to-do list into a map
Taskheat is a to-do app that links your tasks into a flowchart. Instead of a flat list, you connect tasks that depend on each other, and Taskheat shows you which ones you can actually start right now.
It works best for bigger goals where order matters, like launching a product, moving house or planning an event. You can hand tasks to other people so they drop out of your way, add due dates and location-based reminders, and use it on Mac, iPhone and iPad.
How to try all five without paying
All five apps come with a Setapp membership, along with 250+ other Mac apps. Setapp normally gives you 7 days free. The link below gets you 30, because I asked. Install Setapp, add these five from inside it, and use them for a month. If none of them earn a place on your Mac, cancel before day 30 and you pay nothing.
The code is built into that link. If you'd rather type it in yourself, use usefultech30 at signup.
The Setapp links in this issue are affiliate links. Starting a trial through them supports this newsletter at no extra cost to you.
My Medium post this week covers seven more from the same catalog, including Pinchbar, which rewrites text right from your menu bar, and Refolder, which sorts your Downloads folder for you: https://medium.com/the-useful-tech/7-mac-apps-youve-never-heard-of-that-make-everyday-work-faster-7cb9ee96eb02
Setting up a Mac properly
The Mac Setup Guide has every app, setting, and default I run on my own Mac, in one place, so you can skip the years of trial and error.
On Friday, five iOS 27 settings worth changing now that you've lived with it for a week.
Keep it useful,
Raja · The Useful Tech
P.S. Hit reply and tell me which of these five you installed first. I read every reply.