Favorite small Mac apps & utilities: post away

[Tetrachloride]

My top favorite is: Keyboard Maestro.

Keys , time of day, login and more are "triggers" to "events" (macros). Design a macro and assign a trigger.

One macro of mine is to put the screen to black at night, in case I forget to do so myself before sleep.

The user interface is reasonably good. For such a wide variety of utilities, our imagination is the key. Imagine what you want your computer to do more automatically and see if Keyboard Maestro can do it.

Or ask here or mail me.

Post more utilities please.

[alfredo]

1. Folding@Home

https://foldingathome.org/

"Folding@home is a project focused on disease research. The problems we’re solving require so many computer calcul­ations – and we need your help to find the cures!

The Folding@home software allows you to share your unused computer power with us – so that we can research even more potential cures."



Democratic Underground is team 48157

[HuskyOffset]

2. Subler

One of my hobbies is moving my DVD, Blu-ray, and Over The Air DVR'd video collection onto my NAS (Network Attached Storage), which, in addition to serving files to my two computers, iPhone, and iPad, runs Plex server, which organizes and streams my tv shows, movies, etc. to any of my devices. A central part of the process of preparing the various files before they're uploaded to the NAS is adding metadata and optimizing the file for streaming. These two processes are handle very easily & painlessly by Subler. Unfortunately, Subler is macOS only, so apologies to Windows & linux users.

I'm happy to answer questions about Plex, Subler, and Handbrake, if anyone out there is looking to move their video collection onto a Plex server.

[Tetrachloride]

5. I have a few DVDs (LOTR directors edition)

I believe Handbrake gave me an error the last time I tried to import these.

Comments and suggestions ?

[HuskyOffset]

6. What was the error?

Was Apple's DVD Player able to play the DVD?

[Tetrachloride]

9. DVD Player was able to play all 4 of the Directors cut of LOTR

Handbrake ripped the 2 movie DVD's but the graphics was garbled. The documentary DVD's were even worse.

I got Handbrake new version from Macupdate.com

I have VLC 3.0.4.

My iMac is Intel 2017, running 10.13

[HuskyOffset]

10. OK, let's try this:

I don't actually use Handbrake to do the ripping, just the encoding. I use a cross-platform program named MakeMKV to rip DVDs and blu-rays, then feed those ripped files to Handbrake.

So we'll break this down into two steps: 1) rip; 2) encode. We'll be able to check at each step to see where the problem is.

You'll need to download & install MakeMKV from makemkv.com
MakeMKV is "free while in beta", and it's been in beta for years. I myself have purchased a license because I use it often. For those wanting to test it, the MakeMKV devs publish an unlock code here that unlocks the software for a month or so. When the current code expires they post a new one, although you may find that you have a few days where the old key expired and they haven't posted the new one yet.

Once you've installed MakeMKV, choose "Register" from the Help menu and paste the unlock code in. You'll be asked to quit & restart the application.

With MakeMKV running, load your DVD. There should be a graphic of an optical drive with a DVD in it, click the image and MakeMKV should scan the disc and present you with a list of titles on the disc. Select the titles you want to copy from the disc to your hard disk, then click the "save selected titles" button (looks like a green arrow pointing at a hard disk). You'll be asked to select a save location.

Once that has finished, play the file with VLC. If everything is OK, try encoding that file with Handbrake.

Ripping & video encoding are both complicated topics, so if you would like more help I'm happy to do so. Since we're both using macOS, we could even do a screenshare+audio where I can see what's on your screen and talk to you in real time.

Good luck & let me know how it goes!

[Tetrachloride]

11. Bingo. This works.

A bit odd. it works perfectly. Just needs a touch up of user interface. I'm surprised its not simplified even more.

[HuskyOffset]

12. I think the reason why

is because Handbrake doesn't decrypt the stuff it rips, where MakeMKV does (it can decrypt both DVDs and blu-ray discs).

[Tetrachloride]

13. The LOTR documentaries have been tremendously influential in my writing.

So its a big relief to have these now ripped for easy re-watching.

and MakeMKV got all the sections ripped nicely into separate files.

[HuskyOffset]

14. If you've got a lot of storage space

you don't even need to run the files through Handbrake. DVDs aren't bad, they're 9GB or less, whereas blu-rays can approach 50GB, which is why we use Handbrake to re-encode them.

If you're looking for a way to stream your video files from your macOS computer to your iOS devices, you should be able to do that with iTunes Home Sharing (it's a bit different for macOS 10.15 "Catalina" and macOS 11 "Big Sur" ). I myself use Plex, a cross platform media server which let's me stream my media (music, videos, pictures) to macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android clients. Clients also available for Roku, AppleTV, and many smart TVs.

[Tetrachloride]

15. Ty. I will keep it in mind. I'm deep in balancing antagonists big enough

for my talented antagonists in my screenplay. I'm not a natural writer, so it takes a while. I didn't even know what the 3 act structure was a few years ago.

[klook]

3. Playground for masochists (updated with links)

Last edited Sun Feb 7, 2021, 08:07 PM - Edit history (3)

Just kidding! (Sort of...)

TL;DR -- Thanks for the Keyboard Maestro recommendation! I've been trying it out for a week or so, with mixed results. There are several other utilities and tools I use or have tried, listed below.

Now, for the gritty details...

Some macros I've created with KM work great when I'm testing them and then bomb when I trigger them in the course of my normal activities. Some of this, of course, is due to the tool's steep learning curve, and some is the result of my struggle to think like a developer.

To really get the most out of Keyboard Maestro, it appears you need a lot of time and patience, and the ability to approach things very methodically. The app, like the computer itself, is dumb and knows only what you tell it. That's what I mean by "thinking like a developer."

But I have managed to create some triggers and workflows that I think will be useful:

• Change audio settings for Zoom (and back). This one still needs work, but I think with some more tweaking it will work as intended. It involves switching from the audio interface I use regularly to using the Macbook's built-in microphone and speakers, and then going back to my usual settings when the call is over.


• Open a group of related URLs in the default browser. I envision being able to bring up different groups of related websites, opened in adjacent tabs. One set can be for sites for paying bills online, another might be favorite news sites, or learning/training sites, etc. This is pretty straightforward. I think I'll beef it up by checking to be sure my VPN is running before launching any money-related sites. Some also work better in Safari than in Firefox or Brave, so I can get them to open appropriately.


• Create a new forwarding email address. This one is a work in progress, but the intent is to have it bring up Spamex and/or my domain host's site, where I can then continue the steps to create a new address that forwards to my real email address. I use (and delete) these constantly so I can keep a lid on spam.

I've reviewed a few Keyboard Maestro tutorials and spent some time looking through the user forum, and it looks like I've only scratched the surface of what this powerful app can do. The jury is still out on whether I'll really make it a part of my daily routine. For simple keyboard shortcuts, most apps have a few (or a lot), and of course you can create your own via Apple Menu > System Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts.

But for anything requiring multiple steps or variables, Keyboard Maestro is certainly more robust and easier to use than Automator. And I'm never going to spend a lot of time writing Applescripts or doing anything else that technical. So there's a good chance I'll find KM worth the effort, and potentially worth the cost of a license.

I'm also trying Alfred, which doesn't do everything Keyboard Maestro does, but is easier in some respects and pretty strong in its own right. The ability to quickly access 1Password entries was enough to make me spring for a license. I'm also enjoying the enhanced file search capabilities, and options for storing reusable text snippets, viewing clipboard history, etc. Alfred workflows seem promising, but I know nothing about those yet.

Other indispensable utilities I use include:

1. Default Folder X. I use this multiple times a day, although as I get more accustomed to Alfred I may change my habits. I use Default Folder X to quickly search in a list of Favorite folders (a customizable list), quickly see lists of recent folders and files, see all drives at a glance, see open Finder windows, and more. You can do a lot more with Default Folder X, but I’m just using it at a basic level.

2. BBEdit. I was a Text Wrangler user for a long time until BareBones phased it out. BBEdit, from the same developer, is among my most frequently used apps. For me, a plain text editor is essential. I use it to quickly strip formatting from text before pasting it into emails or online posts, save text snippets for temporary use, count characters or words in a paragraph (for sites with a limit on a form field), change the case of a text string, compose emails and posts without worrying about losing the drafts, paste the URLs of links to review them before clicking, do search & replace operations, etc. I don’t write code, so I don’t need the automatic color coding and formatting features, but for those who do, BBEdit would be even more useful.

3. BlackHole virtual audio driver. This replaces Soundflower, which was great up until MacOS 10.10 rendered it useless. It comes in handy for routing audio between apps without latency.

4. Cookie. This is another must-have, as far as I’m concerned. Cookie lets you manage web cookies and databases. Until I started using it, I had no idea the alarming amount of tracking websites were doing (even after “removing all cookies” in my browsers). You can keep ('whitelist') the cookies and databases that are benign and/or necessary and delete the ones that spy on you.

5. 1Password. One of my most important apps. A good password manager is probably the first thing I would recommend to anybody. and this one has done the job for me for years. Not only does it generate and store thousands of unique passwords for different sites and purposes, it also stores secure notes, router & network information, software licenses and invoice numbers, credit card details, and much much more. 1Password also shows me at a glance which passwords need to be updated either because they’re old, because they’re not strong enough, I’ve used them on multiple websites, or because they’ve been potentially compromised in a data breach. I’m sure other password managers do a great job, but I haven’t found one that makes me want to abandon 1Password.

6. SpamSieve. Helpful adjunct to MacMail (or other IMAP clients such as Outlook, et al.) for identifying and eliminating spam.

7. Mountain. Makes it easy to mount and unmount volumes and drives, which is nice if you have a bunch of them like I do. And there are shortcuts to unmount all drives and sleep (a sort of “Goodnight” switch), remount volumes, and quickly bring up a volume in the Finder.

8. Carbon Copy Cloner. I use Time Machine to do frequent backups of key volumes/drives/folders, but CCC goes a lot deeper and helps me make scheduled backups of every directory and file on my system and all attached drives, either to network-attached storage or to removable drives. And the backups are in their original format and state (unencrypted and uncompressed), so it’s easy to restore one or more items from backup and get back up and running right away.

9. Drive Genius. Important addition to the maintenance arsenal that provides tools beyond those found in MacOS’s built-in Disk Utility app.

10. TunnelBear. A VPN is an essential part of my online life, and TunnelBear is reasonably priced and effective.

11. Cheat Sheet. Simple, free utility that displays all shortcut keys in the active app when you hold down the Command key for longer than a couple of seconds. I start this app only as needed rather than launching it at login, because I so frequently page through open apps using Command-Tab that it gets annoying to get an unneeded list of shortcuts when I sit on the Command key. Most apps have a few custom keyboard shortcuts (or a lot), and of course you can create your own via Apple Menu > System Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts. But when I want to use it, it’s very handy -- especially in apps with a lot of weird shortcut keys that I can never remember.

12. Magnet. I’ve just started using this, but it’s convenient for organizing and positioning windows, including making them “stick” to one of the four sides of the display.

13. Mosaic. Similar to Magnet, but I find it easier to use. I can quickly arrange windows in any of several schemes, and easily do static screen captures (with an option to copy or save the screen cap image).

14. Unclutter. This is one of those simple, high-impact apps that could become an integral part of my daily habits once I get used to it. With Files, Clipboard, and Notes panes that are accessed with a keyboard shortcut when I scroll to the top of the screen, this lets me move miscellaneous files off my desktop, take and save quick notes, and see recently copied or cut items in my clipboard. You can save anything in each section as a Favorite.

15. CleanMyMac. I don’t use this on a regular basis, but once in a while it’s helpful to do some basic disk cleanup. Maybe it’s crazy, but I feel a little paranoid about giving free reign to an app developed in Ukraine. I’m sure the developers are great folks, but I can’t help having a nagging worry about their proximity to Putin. So I use this one on a limited basis.

I’m sure there are more apps I’m forgetting -- I tend to install a lot of them! In the past I’ve tried other utilities and productivity tools, such as Quicksilver, DragThing, Yojimbo, EverNote, etc. but I ended up abandoning them for various reasons. Either I found them cumbersome, not worth the cost of a license, a potential security risk, or just not my cup of tea.

And of course, going down the rabbit-hole of helper apps can start as a productivity booster but become a huge time suck if you let it. So, despite my app-hoarding tendencies, I’ve tried to focus more on what I actually want to accomplish with the computer than on tinkering around under the hood. Still, for what it’s worth, these are a few of the add-ons I’ve found useful, to one degree or another.

[Tetrachloride]

4. Outstanding List. Once upon a time, I had

a nice list. I can re-join the modern Mac era.

[SmartVoter22]

7. Onyx

This is similar, but far more extensive to Disk First Aid.
It will put the basic required items back into place, for system files, basic preferences for admins and clear out tons of cache space.

But it does far more, and can be a great tool, if you have recurring glitches. I'm running, Big Sur, High Sierra and Tiger on three iMacs, each with it's own Onyx versions.
Onyx has older versions for each specific MacOS, so you can keep your older macs running well.

https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

[romana]

8. Magnet

I use Magnet every day to manage windows on my iMac 27". I love it.

Thanks for this thread--I'm checking out Alfred, and was reminded of Onyx since I recently updated to Big Sur (which so far is a Big No), and will look into 1Password, Mosaic, and Keyboard Maestro.