Clothing Design Apps For Macbook

Best Mac apps 2021: the best macOS apps for your Apple computer

Introduction

The vast library of the best Mac apps rivals that of the best Windows apps. And, now macOS Big Sur brings even greater integration with iOS apps for iPad and iPhone, that library has just gotten even bigger. You can do just about anything your heart desires on your Mac, whether it's creative work, productivity, entertainment or gaming.

The best Mac apps of 2021 cover so much ground, whether you're considering something utilitarian like Evernote, the best note-taking app out there, the Stocks and News apps, to ones that make your life and workflow on your Mac that much easier and you didn't know you needed.

We created this list to round up the best Mac apps for you, the majority of which we make use of every day. Though you won't find every one of these on the Mac App Store, you should still consider them. Whether you're considering music recording programs to free apps and utilities, these will take even the best Mac to the next level. And, if you're new to macOS, here's how to use the Mac App Store.

Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article

Check out our Linux vs Windows vs Mac - OS comparison video below.

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1. Amphetamine

Get it from: App Store
Price: Free

A computer free of annoyances simply doesn't exist – and Macs are no exception. For the longest time, it's been impossible to use our MacBooks – unbound by the chains of a power adapter – while video outputs to an external monitor. As we all know here at TechRadar, Apple's laptops will automatically enter sleep mode when the lid is closed. This can be a huge inconvenience should you prefer the sheer magnitude of one of the best monitors as opposed to a 12, 13 or 15-inch screen.

Fortunately, Amphetamine allows you to continue using your MacBook while closed. Before, you could do this by using a similar app called Caffeine, but we prefer the UI features you get with this freebie. Not only does it fit in naturally with the rest of your Menu Bar items, but Amphetamine also supports hotkey commands as well as deactivation reminders – not to mention there are no annoying ads in sight.

2. HyperDock

Get it from: App Store
Price: $9.99 (£7.99 or around AUS$14)

While you've been able to snap programs to the edge of the screen in Windows since Windows 7, Apple didn't have a solution until OS X El Capitan. What's more, even then it lacked some of the comprehensiveness of Microsoft's alternative. Luckily, HyperDock gives us that full-fledged functionality we so desperately crave, allowing anyone with a Mac to apply it to both the app Dock and windows.

With Windows, you can just drag a window to the right or left edge of the display, and it'll automatically snap to fill that portion of the screen. This can save an extraordinary amount of time over dragging windows from the corners. For the Dock, hovering over apps activates something close to Windows 7 thumbnail previews, giving an overview of a window that can be accessed by a click or closed directly from there. It's extremely useful.

3. Parallels Desktop 13

Get it from: Parallels
Price: $79.99/year (Home & Student) Around £60 or AUS$100)

If you have recently picked up a Mac and miss some of your old Windows applications, don't fret – Parallels Desktop 13 can bring them back. Instead of having to dual-boot your Mac into a Windows partition, Parallels Desktop 13 allows Windows and macOS Catalina to co-exist side by side, and you can even run Microsoft-only programs such as Visual Studio 2015, or the Windows versions of the company's Office 365 apps, alongside your native macOS ones.

All you need is a Windows 10 license – so prepare to buy one if you haven't already. Or, alternatively, you can use Parallels to try a handful of free operating systems including Chromium (a free distribution of Chrome OS) or Linux Debian. The latest version of Parallels in particular has seen improvements such as Touch Bar support, better resolution scaling for Retina displays and picture-in-picture for using other operating systems in conjunction with macOS.

4. Duet

Get it from: App Store
Price: £14.99 (around $20 or AUS$25)

If you're anything like us, working on just one monitor or screen is just painful. Portable monitors are still fairly expensive (and bulky), luckily, though, you can use an iPad instead using a nifty app called Duet. Developed by ex-Apple engineers, it works by tethering your iPad to your Mac using one of Apple's Lightning cables and firing up the app on both devices.

You can then drag apps and windows onto your iPad's screen just like you would with a second monitor, and if you have a more recent iPad with a Retina display, you'll get the full benefit of all those beautiful pixels. Just realize that the bandwidth isn't quite what you would get with one of the best monitors, so it can be a bit laggy when you bump the quality up. But it's still better for watching videos, reading websites and typing up documents.

5. Atom

Get it from: Atom
Price: Free

If you're a coder and looking for a text editor primarily designed for you, Atom is right up your alley. Its flexibility and customization options make it a viable option for many different types of users. That's because of two reasons: first, you can download a number of different Packages – basically plug-ins – to make it bend to your will. It can morph into a simple editor for blog posts for example, or you can hook it up to Evernote for storing notes in the cloud.

There's at least 10 different word counters out there, and you can even add typewriter sound effects as you hammer out your delicious prose. Atom is also infinitely customizable on the visual side thanks to an editable back-end, allowing you to do anything from changing the font size, line height and colors to giving the caret Word 2016-like elasticity.

6. Logic Pro X

Get it from: App Store
Price: $199.99 (£199.99 or AUS$319.99)

Whether you're a big-time producer or you just like making some jams in your downtime, Macs are kind of known for being among the best laptops for music production – and Logic Pro X is a big part of that. Developed by Apple itself, its accessible interface hides a ton of advanced functionality. The latest version also comes with a svelte design, 64-bit architecture and a new session drummer that will save you from having to drop more cash on a drum machine (or a real drummer).

It also works in natural harmony with iPads, providing a touch-based alternative method of creating song structures to dragging and dropping blocks in the main visual editor. Whether you're a seasoned producer already (Sia used the app to record her hit song 'Chandelier') or are looking to upgrade from Garageband, Logic Pro X likely has what you need.

7. Microsoft To Do

Get it from: App Store
Price: Free

Task management apps are a lifesaver, and the Microsoft To Do app might just be the best of them. Whether it's shopping lists, to-do lists, notes, or reminders you need, this has you covered. It even syncs reminders and tasks with Microsoft 365, so you can stay on top of your day wherever you are, making this the only planner you'll ever use or need.

And, with extra features like themes, color-coding and emojis, your day planning doesn't have to be as boring as other similar apps.

8. Evernote

Get it from: App Store
Price: Free

Evernote has morphed into a mighty note-taking app over the years. While some people will say that it's too bloated, the sheer number of things that you can do with it still makes it best-in-class. You can type up notes, obviously, organizing them using a combination of folders and tags. You can even embed Google Drive documents, which are accessible in a click.

There's also the ability to set reminders, share notes with friends, find information related to notes using Evernote's 'Context' feature, create lists, and favorite notes that you frequently return to. Better yet, all of your notes are synchronized using the company's servers, making them accessible on nearly any PC (through a browser or the native Evernote app) or mobile device in the world. The paid version lets you use Evernote with more than two devices while upping the amount of data you can sync each month.

9. GIMP

Get it from: Website
Price: Free

GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation, is one of the best free image editing apps out there. It's a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop and comes with a wide array of pro-level functions that let you tweak existing images in a range of formats or create fresh ones from scratch. Features include layers, highly customizable brushes, automatic image enhancing tools and filters. You can do even more with plugins, which are available to download from the GIMP Plugin Registry.

10. Ulysses

Get it from: App Store
Price: £34.99 (around $45/AUS$60)

These days, balancing features with simplicity and good design in the best Mac apps is critically important. However, unlike Word 2016, or even Apple's own Pages, Ulysses has an extremely minimalistic interface. This allows you to get on with writing without being distracted by so many buttons and menus. The app uses its own version of Markdown – a type of text formatting engine – that allows users to focus on their writing in a way that not only makes organization easier but also makes exporting easier – Ulysses will format it in an attractive way, using one of many export styles, when you're done writing.

There's a handy attachments bar on the right-hand side that features an attractive word counter and lets you write notes to assist you in your writing. Notes can be accessed anywhere thanks to iCloud support, so you can pick up your iPad and carry on where you left off using macOS's Handoff feature.

11. OneCast

Get it from: Website
Price: $20

Sometimes you want to play your Xbox One, but you can't because your roommate has decided to use the living room TV for watching the whole run of Ugly Delicious in one sitting. Now, you could technically stream Halo 5 or Sea of Thieves if you had a Windows PC. However, you just have a Mac.

This is thanks to a third party work of reverse engineering called OneCast. This awesome app brings Xbox One game streaming to macOS. It works as easily as connecting both your Mac and Xbox One to the same network and subsequently logging into Xbox Live. In our experience, OneCast works like a charm, though you should have both systems connected to your modem via ethernet if possible.

12. Microsoft Remote Desktop 10

Get it from: App Store
Price: Free

Nobody can deny that the best Macs are great for network admin uses, and if you need to manage a bunch of Windows devices, being able to remote into a PC to diagnose problems is critically important. Luckily, Microsoft has provided an app just for that.

With Microsoft Remote Desktop 10, you get an officially-supported app that gives you remote access to any PCs on your network – as long as you're a network admin or an authorized user. It can be a bit of a pain to set up, and the PC you're trying to access will need to be running Windows 10 Pro. But once you get going, you can access files, copy/paste across desktops and even run games – though, we don't recommend that last bit.

Microsoft Remote Desktop 10 is a godsend for network admins and IT professionals, and is easily one of the best Mac apps you can download right now.

13. Microsoft Office 365

Get it from: App Store
Price: Free

Microsoft Office has been available on Mac for years now, but you always had to go through a couple hoops to download it. We've been asking for a release on the Mac App Store for a while, and, well, it's finally here.

We're sure we don't really need to go into too great of detail what Microsoft Office is, but it's essentially Microsoft's suite of office apps, from Word to PowerPoint to Excel. It's absolutely an essential app to have, but you should keep in mind that you'll have to get a subscription to Office 365 to use it.

It's one of those Mac Apps that should be essential for any professional, and the fact that it's finally on the Mac App Store means that you don't have to worry about keeping it updated.

14. CleanMyMac X

Get it from: App Store
Price: from $34.95

The market for disk optimization apps is neither desolate nor particularly interesting, particularly on the Mac – where Apple usually does a good job of cleaning up its drives on its own. However, your startup disk is eventually going to get full and your computer is going to end up like a jumbled mess of files, especially if you're not on top of your file organization as you should.

Luckily, apps like CleanMyMac X are there to save the day. This macOS cleaner not just purges your Mac of clutter (like unnecessary files stashed in random folders you've forgotten about). It's also a performance monitor as well as a malware remover. So that next time you're faced with that dreaded error message while editing your photos on Photoshop… actually, you'll never have to again.

15. SoftMaker Office 2018

Get it from: Website
Price: $79.95 (£69.99 or about AU$120)

It might be kind of like three apps than just one, but SoftMaker Office 2018 takes all the key features of Microsoft Office and puts them into an interface that tailors to your needs. It comes with a group of programs called TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations 2018 that are similar enough to Office 365 without the rolling subscription.

Regardless of whether you need an easy-to-use word processor or a spreadsheet or slideshow creator of equal accessibility, SoftMaker Office has what you're looking for. And, because it's still in beta, you can get a complimentary, albeit temporary, license over email if you want to give it a spin. Otherwise, there's a permanent free version called SoftMaker FreeOffice, but it's only available on Windows, Android and Linux.

16. Unclutter

Get it from: App Store
Price: $19.99 (£19.19, AU$30.99)

Since you're obviously going to install all of the other apps we've mentioned, you're going to need at least a utility that, well, declutters your desktop. And, while macOS Mojave brought Stacks to your Mac, making everything less cluttered, Unclutter goes even further. So, whether you're a frivolous notetaker or a temporary file hoarder like we are, Unclutter will help keep everything in one place, rather than scattered across several folders.

It's a brilliant idea made even better by the fact that it can be configured for use with gesture controls. At any given point, you can swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers on the trackpad (or one on the mouse) to reveal a trio of windows that can be concealed and re-summoned whenever you please.

17. Franz

Get it from: Website
Price: Free

When you're out there hustling every day, it's easy to lose track of messages. With so many social media companies, SMS platforms and instant messaging services to choose from, most of us also have a number of different accounts used to administer to all of those messages. But what if you only had to log into one?

That's the central idea in Franz, a messaging app that allows you to view and send messages in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, HipChat and more. It lets you seamlessly switch between any of these apps as easily as you can toggle between Slack workspaces. Best of all, there's no limit to the amount of services you can use at once. That way, even if you have 10 Facebook accounts for whatever reason, all of your messages will be visible in the same place.

18. Deliveries

Get it from: App Store
Price: $4.99 (£4.99, AU$7.99)

If you're anything like us, you have tons of packages coming in all the time – and it can get hard to keep track of everything. Luckily, there's an app for that. With Deliveries, you can keep track of all your incoming deliveries in one place in an easy-to-read interface.

It will notify you whenever there's a change in your delivery, syncing the information between macOS and iOS so you are on top of things, even on the go. All you have to do to track a package is hit Command + New and paste in the tracking number – that's it. It really is one of the best Mac apps for anyone with a busy mailbox.

19. Paprika Recipe Manager 3

Get it from: App Store
Price: $39.99 (£38.99, AU$65.99)

If you do a lot of cooking, and you have a hard time keeping your recipes organized – especially on a digital platform – you're going to love Paprika. With this app, you can download any recipe you find online, and it will automatically format it in a way that's extremely easy to read.

What's more, if you download the iOS app, you'll be able to sync your recipes between all of your devices, so that you can keep tabs on the ingredients you need when you run to the store in a panic.

20. Fantastical 3.0

Get it from: App Store
Price: from $3.33

Sometimes, life gets hectic, and you need some help getting everything organized. Luckily, there's an app for that. Fantastical 3 is the most fully-featured calendar and reminder suite we've ever seen.

You're able to set events and reminders using natural language, and it's fully compatible with your iCloud reminders. There's also an iOS app for iPhone and iPad that will effortlessly sync with the Mac app. It even offers weather forecasting, subscriptions to interesting calendars like moon phases, and time zone adjustments, so that you can stay on top of your busy life no matter where you are.

Senior Computing editor

Matt (Twitter) is TechRadar's Senior Computing editor. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. If you're encountering a problem or need some advice with your PC or Mac, drop him a line on Twitter.