List of recommended OS X software

For a more complete collection of terminal applications, be sure to check the GNU/Linux applications page.

Package Managers

• HomeBrew - Free
• MacPorts - Free
• Portage - Free

Terminal Applications

• iTerm 2 - Free
• TotalTerminal - Free

File Management

• TotalFinder - $18

FTP Clients

Transmit for OS X.

• Transmit - $34
• Cyberduck - $24

Online Storage

• Dropbox

Network Monitoring

• Little Snitch - $35
• Wireshark - Free

System Monitoring

• MenuMeters - Free
• iStat Menus - $16

Productivity

nvALT has a customizable interface.

• Dropzone - $10
• CloudApp - Free
• imguru and imgurBar - Free
• nvALT - Modified version of the lightweight note taking app Notational Velocity. Has the option to save notes as plain text files.

Audio Players

While expensive, Fidelia offers a lot of extra options and features for audiophiles.

• iTunes - The default audio player. While not very customizable, it features good sorting options and integration. Can't play FLAC files.
• Fidelia - At $20, it's a pretty harsh price for a music player. Unless you really need those advanced features, stick to a cheaper player.
• Swinsian - Also $20, but made by a /g/ user.
• Sonora - Original devs have abandoned it. Seemingly no github activity.
• Ecoute
• Enqueue - $10
• Vox - Minimalistic alternative to iTunes that also has the ability to play FLAC.

Command line players

• moc
• cmus
• ncmpcpp + mpd

Audio Tools

• last.fm - Find new music based on what you're listening to.
• XLD

Video Players

• MPlayerX
• VLC
• mpv

Browsers

See Browsers

• Webkit Nightly
• Firefox
• Firefox Beta
• Firefox Aurora
• Firefox Nightly
• Chromium
• Google Chrome
• Google Chrome Canary
• Opera
• Opera Next

Chat clients

• Adium - Customizable chat client with loads of themes, soundpacks and other plugins.
• Skype

Mail

Airmail for OS X.

• Thunderbird
• Airmail - $2
• Opera Mail

Utilities

Application Launchers

• Alfred - Simple but efficient application launcher. Best in combination with the Powerpack.
• Launchbar - A little more complicated than Alfred, has a few convenient features that Alfred lacks.
• Quicksilver

Ricing

• Obsidian Menu Bar - Changes the color of the menu bar to black.
• Bartender - Utility to clean up and manage your menu bar.
• Geektool - Add shell scripts and images to your desktop.
• Bowtie - Customizable display for the music you're listening to.

Other

Growl allows for many different types of notifications.

• BetterTouchTool
• BetterSnapTool - Adds window snapping to OS X.
• PCKeyboardHack - Change the functionality of the "Caps Lock" key.
• KeyRemap4MacBook - Remap the keys on your keyboard and change the key repeat settings.
• jitouch 2
• Moom
• Handbrake - Utility for ripping movies.
• 1Password - Safely store all your passwords.
• Growl - Alternative notification system with good customization features. Best in combination with HardwareGrowler. $4 or build from source.
• f.lux - Utility for changing the color tone of your display.
• Automator

System Maintenance

Misc.

• coconutBattery - Utility for checking battery health.
• Appcleaner - A free and good way to uninstall software.
• Onyx

Disk tools

DaisyDisk gives you a graphical overview over used disk space.

• DaisyDisk - Gives you a graphical overview over your file system.
• Disk Inventory X - Free alternative to DaisyDisk.
• Gemini - Intelligent duplicate remover.

Torrent Clients

• Transmission - Simple and lightweight open source torrent client.
• rtorrent - Terminal torrent client.

Archiving Tools

• The Unarchiver or the CLI version
• The Archive Browser - $4

Coding

• BBEdit
• TextWrangler
• TextMate
• MacVim
• Coda
• Sublime Text

Images & Graphics

Compression

• ImageAlpha - Program for reducing the file size of PNG files.
• ImageOptim - Software for reducing the size of JPG and PNG files.

Editing

Pixelmator in action.

• Preview - The default image viewing and editing app. Lightweight and functional alternative for simple edits.
• Skitch - Simple editing program for adding anotations to images.
• Pixelmator - A good and affordable ($30) alternative to photoshop.
• Acorn - Similar to Pixelmator.
• Sketch - Another alternative to Pixelmator.
• GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program. Free open source image editing program.

Viewing

• Preview
• PhotoStickies - Stick photos to your desktop.

Gaming

• OpenEmu - Free video game emulation program.
• Steam

Other Platforms

• List of recommended Windows software
• List of recommended GNU/Linux software
• List of recommended Android software
• List of recommended cross-platform software