macOS-Setup

The purpose of this file is to have a backup of my ideal macOS setup so that if/when I upgrade my mac, i’ll know exactly what to do.

If it makes sense, i’ll eventually create a website to properly showcase everything.

⚡️ must haves | 💰 paid | 🔄 subscription | ✅ free

Software

Browsers

• Brave: A chromium based browser - https://brave.com/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Firefox (setup): The king of browsers - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ ⚡️ | ✅

Communication

• Colloquy: IRC Client - https://github.com/colloquy/colloquy ✅


• Discord: Feature packed VoIP client with endless interesting serves - https://discord.com/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Microsoft Outlook: E-mail client of choice - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/outlook/email-and-calendar-software-microsoft-outlook ⚡️ | 💰


• Signal: End-to-end encrypted messaging service - https://signal.org/#signal ⚡️ | ✅


• Whatsapp Desktop: macOS Whatsapp wrapper - https://www.whatsapp.com/download ⚡️ | ✅

Creative

• Adobe Illustrator: Vector graphics - https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html ⚡️ | 💰


• Adobe InDesign: Layout design & desktop publishing - https://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html ⚡️ | 💰


• Adobe Photoshop: Photo, image & design editing - https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html ⚡️ | 💰

Media

• Apple Books: Ebook reader ⚡️


• Calibre: Ebook management: https://calibre-ebook.com/ ⚡️ | ✅


• IINA: Open source media player - https://iina.io/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Spotify: Music streaming - https://www.spotify.com/ ⚡️ | 💰

Productivity

• Alfred (setup): A superior Spotlight replacement - https://www.alfredapp.com/ ⚡️ | 💰


• AltTab: An open source, windows style tab switcher - https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ ⚡️ | ✅


• BetterTouchTool: An indispensable input modifier allowing you to take advantage of gestures+hotkeys - https://folivora.ai/ ⚡️ | 💰


• Dropzone 4: A menubar drag and drop enhancer - https://aptonic.com/ 💰


• Grid: A window manager with gesture support - https://macgrid.app/ 💰

Security

• Bitwarden: Open source password manager - https://bitwarden.com/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Hosts File Adblock List: I use this list to block ads system wide - https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Micro Snitch: A microphone & camera activity monitor - https://www.obdev.at/products/microsnitch/index.html 💰


• NordVPN: A VPN service - https://nordvpn.com 💰 | 🔁


• Windscribe: VPN service with free 10gb/month - https://windscribe.com 💰 | 🔁

Utilities

• A Better Finder Rename 11: A batch file renamer - https://www.publicspace.net/ABetterFinderRename/index.html 💰


• Amphetamine: A keep-wake app for macOS - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12 ✅


• AppCleaner: A deep cleaning app uninstaller - https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Bartender 4: Hide menubar items - https://www.macbartender.com/ 💰


• BetterDiscord: Customize Discord & install plugins: https://betterdiscord.net ✅


• cDock: A dock customizer - https://www.macenhance.com/cdock ⚡️ | 💰


• Dropbox: Cloud storage - https://dropbox.com ⚡️ | ✅


• Google Drive: Cloud Storage - https://www.google.com/intl/en_in/drive/ ⚡️ | ✅


• Keka: Data decompression utility - https://www.keka.io/en/ 💰


• MacForge (setup): macOS plugin manager - https://www.macenhance.com/macforge ✅


• Monosnap: A supercharged screenshot tool - https://monosnap.com/ 💰


• Numi: An all-in-one calculator & converter that understands text based questions - https://numi.app/ ✅


• OwnOCR: Capture text from anything - https://owlocr.com/ ✅


• OpenInTerminalLite: Open source finder menu shortcut to open current directory in Teminal - https://github.com/Ji4n1ng/OpenInTerminal ✅


• PopClip: An iOS style copy/paste and more shortcut that appears when text is selected - https://pilotmoon.com/popclip/ ⚡️ | 💰


• SMCFanControler: An open source fan speed controller - https://github.com/hholtmann/smcFanControl ⚡️ | ✅

Writing

• Apple Notes: My note taking app of choice ⚡️ | ✅


• Atom: Open Source text & code editor - https://atom.io/ ✅


• Microsoft Word: My word processor of choice - https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-365/word ⚡️ | 💰


• Typora: Markdown editor - https://typora.io/ ✅

Alfred 4 Setup

Here is my Alfred theme: https://github.com/marmmaz/Alfred/blob/master/Dark%20V2.alfredappearance ✅

Here are the workflows (plugins) I use:

• Amphetamine Switch: Toggle Amphetamine on/off. ✅


• Bluetooth Connect: Quick connect to preconfigured bluetooth devices. ✅


• Bluetooth Control: Toggle bluetooth on/off. ✅


• Convert: All-in-one converter (units, currency, etc.). ⚡️ | ✅


• Directions: Pull up directions to x from current location. ✅


• Display Brightness: Display brightness control % control. ✅


• Faker: Generate fake data (email, names, address, text, etc.). ✅


• Fixum: Fixes broken workflows. ✅


• Kill Process: Quickly kill process’. ⚡️ | ✅


• Last Changed Files: View last changed files. ⚡️ | ✅


• Lorem Lpsum: Text generator. ✅


• Movie and TV Show Search: Search Movies & TV Shows. ✅


• Search Notes: Search within Apple Notes. ✅


• TemporaryEmail: Open up a temporary email address. ✅


• TimeZones: View different timezones. ✅


• Uninstall with AppCleaner: Quickly uninstall apps with AppCleaner. ⚡️ | ✅


• Wi-Fi: Toggle Wi-Fi on/off. ✅

Firefox Setup

I run a custom theme

• Theme: https://github.com/marmmaz/FirefoxCSS ⚡️ | ✅


• Startpage setup: https://github.com/marmmaz/Group-Speed-Dial ⚡️ | ✅


• Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/CY2Dhkn.png

Here are the Firefox addons I use:

• Bitwarden: Open source password manager. ⚡️ | ✅


• ClearURLs: Remove tracking elements from URLs. ✅


• Dark Reader: Dark mode for every website. ✅


• Decentraleyes: Protection against trackers. ✅


• Firefox Color: Firefox Theming. ✅


• Grammarly: Enhance your writing. ✅


• Group Speed Dial: Custom speed dial/tab page. ⚡️ | ✅


• HTTPS Everywhere: Automatically use HTTPS. ✅


• I don’t care about cookies: Remove EU cookies warning. ✅


• Nano Defender: Adblocking. ✅


• Privacy Badger: Block trackers. ✅


• Reddit Enhancement Suite: Enhance the Reddit experience. ✅


• SponsorBlock for Youtube: Skip sponsorships and more. ✅


• Tampermonkey: Userscropt manager. ⚡️ | ✅


• Translate Web Pages: Real time page translation. ✅


• Tree Style Tab: Show tabs like a tree. ✅


• uBlock Origin: Efficient adblocker. ⚡️ | ✅


• View Image: Adds Google’s “View Image” & “Search by Image”. ✅


• Youtube Watchmarker: Automatically mark watched Youtube videos. ✅

Here are the Tampermonkey Scripts I use:

• Absolute Enable Right Clich & Copy: Enables right click and copy everywhere. ✅


• Newspaper Paywall Bypasser: Bypass paywalls. ✅


• Resize YT to Window Size: Video will take up entire Window. ⚡️ | ✅

Macforge Plugins

• Afloat: Customize and add functionality to windows ✅


• MEMiniMe: Make macOS Big Sur menu bars more compact ⚡️ | ✅


• noTitleBar-Terminal: Remove title bar from Terminal ✅


• spotifyPlus: Add functionality to Spotify dock icon ✅