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The Best Unknown Mac Apps – 1

February 5th, 2006 | Posted in: Mac | Save to del.icio.us

As a small mac developer, I can relate to a lot of the small, indie developers out there. I thought that it would be great to give a list of some truly great mac software that gets left out of the typical mac software lists. No, on this list you won’t see your Adium, VLC, Photoshop, etc. Little-known, yet still great software. Get ready for Part 1.

Boink (formerly myTunes)

A great freeware iTunes companion. Displays current track in the menubar, as well as in a floating window. Global hotkeys, plus integration with the SonicSwap web community.
Link

Backdrop

Perfect for any developer. An easy way to take OS X screenshots. Quickly changes the background of your desktop to white, and can either display desktop icons above or below. Always use it when taking screenshots for Apple.com’s download site.
Link

WikiNotes

Like Wikis? Well this allows you to have a simple Wiki for yourself. Great for project planning or journals or note taking. Extremely simiple and great UI.
Link

Dashboard KickStart

I hate it when it takes for ever for Dashboard to load. This free app automatically starts Dashboard on startup so all your widgets are loaded and ready to go.
Link

DesktopCalendar

This great app will display a nice calendar on your desktop. It’s simple. Elegant. And very customizable.
Link

FreeDMG

Whenever you need to make a quick DMG file this app is a great companion. Used to take me 5 minutes to make a DMG, and then if I screwed up on one part, I had to start all over. Not with this great utility. Extremely fast.
Link

CocoaMySQL

If you have to maintain any MySQL server, CocoaMySQL is a great tool to have. It provides a great interface for management of databases. It fits right into OS X.
Link

NightShift

This app will auto-download the latest build of Webkit from http://webkit.opendarwin.org/ and let you run Safari with the newest and greatest features.
Link

iTunes XHTML Playlist

A great app that will transform your iTunes library into a great looking website. I blogged about this awhile back. Here is what the app creates: Example.
Link | (Local Mirror)

Service Scrubber

A truly great idea. This app helps clear out your services menu. This really makes the Services menu a useful tool. Thanks.
Link

AsyncKeys

A simple tool that lets you find the ASCII and other formats of the characters you press on your keyboard. Indispensable if you are doing Global Hotkey Programming for OS X. This app will help you find all those key-code numbers for your hotkeys. Check it out.
Link

These are some really great unknown apps for OS X. Enjoy. I will be bringing new lists later on [see this blog post and this one]. Check back for more.

-Dustin

  • niceee :)

    @angelceballos
  • hi, i am a kid who is really into computers, and i have elopard and want an application that runs "classic programs" on 0SX do you know of such a thing???
  • Wow great site! Some really helpful information there.
    I’m sorry for little off-topic, but I want to ask you about design of this site.
    Did you make this template yourself or got from any templates website?
    Looks pretty cool for me. Wonderful well this reading.
  • cocoamysql looks pretty sweet. thanks for posting this.
  • Anonymous
    these apps are almost all useless.
  • Cameron
    Indispensable is misspelled.
  • I have a PC version of the iTunes XHTML Playlist script for those that come here looking for it.
  • Litz
    Darn, this is for Mac. I have a PC. Darn!
  • Litz
    I've been looking for the iTunes XHTML program. You seem to be the ONLY person on the Web that has it available for download. Thanks.
  • Thanks. I'm going to check out FreeDMG.
  • I like Compress and MAMP.
  • myTunes is now BOINK!

    Get it here: http://www.sonicswap.com/boink/boinkdownload.jsp
  • ruindpzzle
    what happened to myTunes? i tried to visit the link, but couldn't find the application.
  • turntablerocker
    djay by algoriddim should be on the list! It's the most inovative app of 2006 ... watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze9cI4n7Es8
    or download at www.algoriddim.net
  • came here from digg ...
    u r right, i've never heard of any of the above ...
    will check it out ...
    thanks ...
  • Hey,

    For all the Intel Macs, there is a Universal version of CocoaMYSQL, titled "CocoaMYSQL-SBG" built off the source.

    It's available here: http://www.theonline.org/cocoamysql/

    ( Plus it's much better than the original )
  • LEE
    Hey don't forget "Filechute".

    Best file transfer app there is = }

    www.yellowmug.com
  • cw
    We've had great success with ButtonGadget for Mac:
    www.buttongadget.com.
  • daniil
    CocoaMySQL is nice app. In fact, thats the only good one I've found so far. But coming from the world of windows I have to say this, nothing equals to the power and simplicity of SQLYog - man oh man do I wish someone would do that for OSX!
  • Thank you very much for the link to Service Scrubber. I've been looking for something like it for ages.
  • levi
    Great list! I'm a mac-head and I haven't heard of most of these apps.

    May I humbly submit audiozue for consideration. It's a simple little menu-bar app that sends real-time iTunes statistics to an online profile. It gives you cool little blog/myspace widgets and RSS feeds, etc. I use it.
  • Dimitri
    I like these: Recorder.xhead a voice recorder and audio player/converter and DJAY A DJ application to mix tracks.
  • VoodooPad is great and so is VoodooPad Lite. It is definitely worth checking out http://flyingmeat.com/voodoopad/.
  • Joe
    I prefer VoodooPad to WikiNotes
  • I personally don't know of any widget that does To-Do but I'm sure a search on macupdate.com would turn plenty of hits.
  • Macgeek
    Is there a widget to keep todo lists that you know of?
  • that iTunes XHTML would be so much nicer if it could either break it up into multiple pages, or just something to prevent such an outrageously long page for larger libraries.
  • that iTunes XHTML would be so much nicer if it could either break it up into multiple pages, or just something to prevent such an outrageously long pages for larger libraries.
  • Better Than You
    Nothing is unkown if someone knows about it. I know all these apps.
  • Xkeys is pretty nice. No Quicksilver, but I use it to launch just about everything.
  • Actually you know what, lucked out; Found the PC version.. Thanks for the OSX one though!
  • Do you by any chance, have the PC version of the xHTML playlist available? *crosses fingers*
  • Hi Melisssa, I added a local mirror to that program. It's in the list or you can just grab it here. Hope that works.
  • melissa
    do you still have the downloaded file for the itunes xhtml playlist software? the site from which it's linked is no longer functional. I've tried several ways of getting it, but am now getting desperate! any ideas?
  • Thanks for the WikiNotes heads up. There's a widget that I like, but this one seems much more functional!
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About Me

Dustin Bachrach is a 20 year old Rice student and developer for both OS X and the web. He also deals a lot with design work and Photoshop. He blogs technology, Apple, programming, and life.
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