5 awesome Mac apps you’ve probably never even heard of

To enjoy the full potential of your Mac, there are tons of apps available you might have never even heard of, and they could improve your day, whether you’re working, studying, or just chilling out. Here are some awesome apps you should download right now.

SoundSource

SoundSource is one of the Mac apps that, once you start using it, you can’t live without it. Basically, it lets you decide where the sounds of your computer come from. Better than activating Do Not Disturb, you can mute or low the volume of Sound Effects and decide which apps can emit sound, how much, and from where you’ll hear it – whether from your AirPods, built-in speaker, or other.

It gives you powerful control over all the audio on your Mac. It’s available with a free trial but requires a $47 purchase to get all the features working.

Portal for Mac

The idea behind Portal for Mac is to instantly transform any space into a “beautiful haven for productive work.” The developers say that more than just finding ways to focus on several tasks, studies show that improving the environment we live and work in can help improve that in the long term.

With that in mind, Portal offers several windows that users can access to create an immersive experience to relax and focus. For example, you can enjoy the sound of the Finglke Woods in Dartmoor, UK, the Eilean Donan Rain in Scotland, or even Dawn at Black Sand in Iceland while working.

Portal for Mac is available via the Mac App Store with a free 7-day trial for all customers. It costs  £39.99 / $49.99 (annual) or £7.99 / $9.99 (Monthly). You can also buy a lifetime pass for a one-off cost of £249.99 / $249.99. 

Vivid

Vivid is a macOS app created by developers Jordi Bruin and Ben Harraway to help high-end MacBook Pro owners and Pro Display XDR users take advantage of a brighter display. While users can get around 500 nits of brightness during normal usage, this app doubles the maximum brightness you can get while performing everyday tasks. With version 2.0, it brings better performance, lower battery usage, and more.

Vivid also brings an Eclipse Mode that makes the display darker than the normal minimum. This feature is very useful for when you work late at night or when you are in a dark room. A lifetime license for Vivid for macOS costs 20 euros or equivalent.

Karabiner

Karabiner is for you if you like customing functions to different keys or have a broken key on your Mac keyboard. It lets you map them to different buttons and even map some keys to buttons on your mouse.

The app lets you turn off Mac’s default keyboard when you connect an external one, besides several other tools for advanced users. It’s free to use, but you can always support the developers behind it by tipping them.

Hyperduck

Finally, this Mac app lets you send links from iOS to your macOS device and open them. Interestingly enough, you can send a link even if one of the gadgets is offline. Then, once it’s connected to the internet, the link will appear there. Interestingly enough, you also don’t need to be on the same network.

That said, having iCloud enabled and signing into the same Apple ID account are required for Hyperduck to work properly. You can even use this app to trigger shortcuts on your Mac from your iOS device. Better than that, the app is free to use.