Best Helper Apps - New MBA Owner

[Rhyalus]

Hello All,

Only owned for a day or so, but working hard to find apps that help out with regular operations.

So far I have found Bartender (overcome menu bar limitations), Lungo (to prevent sleep), Stats (iStat menu replacement).

I guess AlDente is next, to get control over max charging, etc.

Any other key tools that I should be considering? I am focusing on straight up functionality, not specific to the work I am doing in MS Office, etc.

Thanks!
R

 

[KaliYoni]

Any other key tools that I should be considering? I am focusing on straight up functionality

These are good to have if you don't mind the convenience vs. security tradeoffs of the first two:

• 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)

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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).

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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.

 

[Isamilis]

Hello All,

Only owned for a day or so, but working hard to find apps that help out with regular operations.

So far I have found Bartender (overcome menu bar limitations), Lungo (to prevent sleep), Stats (iStat menu replacement).

I guess AlDente is next, to get control over max charging, etc.

Any other key tools that I should be considering? I am focusing on straight up functionality, not specific to the work I am doing in MS Office, etc.

Thanks!
R

You can use caffeinate command from command line to prevent Mac from sleep.
I don’t think there are lot of useful admin tools for Mac (unlike in windows). Mac has already automated cleaning processes etc behind the scene. The only (optional) apps are: little snitch and “app cleaner & uninstaller”. The rest, you can focus on whatever you want to do with your Mac (productivity? music? video? etc).

If you concern on stability, try install Mac OS one version behind the latest one.