The Absolute Must-Have App Thread!

SooTyLaD

SooTyLaD

SooTyLaD

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How Do :)

Thought i'd start a thread dedicated to the best small apps (as opposed to the big boys like cs3 etc...) and compile everyones thoughts into one place...

rules are: no more than 5 apps, a small explanation of each would be great, and if you have tried (actually tried yourself on a trial or whatever) other apps but settled on a specific one, list those apps so people know you've tried them and still put your chosen one on top ;) - if one of your big-favorites has already been listed, don't bump up your list with items that you aren't so big on that way we keep the list to the best of the best :)

i'll start:

VisualHub (http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/)

Generally considered to be the best video converting app, lovely interface and excellent quality recodes make this a must have! converts specifically for AppleTV, iPods, PSPs, DVDs and loads more!

chose this over: ImToo Video Converter (VisualHub is cheaper, nicer to use, and imo, better at what it does)

Skitch (http://www.skitch.com/)

Incredibly innovative and useful app for any forum user! - screengrab images, edit them, upload to your skitch account in seconds... beautiful interface and the kind of program which once you get used to, to could never go back to the old way of doing things ;)

Forklift (http://www.binarynights.com/)

In my opinion the best FTP software, doubles up as an excellent Finder replacement (that list folders before files! :D) and also includes a very good app uninstaller feature.

chose this over: Transmit, Cyberduck, Fetch & Speed Download (Forklift is faster, better looking, has a nicer interface and a few more discreet reasons like if you drop something onto a forklift droplet, the main app doesn't open you just get a small progress bar then its done...)

1password (http://1passwd.com/)

Stores all your usernames, passwords, profiles & credit card details in one place which can then be inserted into online forms... for example i go to the facebook login page and press CMD+\ and it fills in the username, password, then logs me in all in one go...

CoverSutra (http://coversutra.com/)

Lovely interface for iTunes, excellent spotlight-style interface just for your music and provides a very nice skinable album cover (with optional info) on your desktop :)

Well, thats me... who's next?
 
My favorite app's (They are all free ware as well :p;))

1. Quick Sliver A MUST have application, can do pretty much anything anywhere with a single shortcut press, such as search contact lists and then send emails to them to changing songs in itunes and compressing large amounts of files quickly.

Its also fully customizable, you can find plug ins to do just about anything with it

Guide to Quicksilver - http://lifehacker.com/software/quicksilver/hack-attack-a-beginners-guide-to-quicksilver-247129.php

2. Hand Brake Brilliant application for converting dvd's and video_ts files to mp4 and the like- and includes presets for ipod, apple tv etc as well as allowing you to customize the rip yourself

3. SmcFanControl Useful application for laptops, allows you to change the fan's speed and monitor the temperature of the cpu. You can also set presets for battery, ac power, charging etc

4. VLC Media player thats capable of nearly any format

5. ClamXav although I haven't a virus on my mac in years, I still use ClamXav though- its free and open source and is regularly updated
 
Ender said:
1. Quick Sliver A MUST have application, can do pretty much anything anywhere with a single shortcut press, such as search contact lists and then send emails to them to changing songs in itunes and compressing large amounts of files quickly.

Its also fully customizable, you can find plug ins to do just about anything with it

Guide to Quicksilver - http://lifehacker.com/software/quicksilver/hack-attack-a-beginners-guide-to-quicksilver-247129.php

4. VLC Media player thats capable of nearly any format
Click to expand...

Agreed on these 2 and they are also one of my top recommended.
VLC also looks the part on OS X, unlike on Windows.
 
Quicksilver - unified keyboard shortcuts and productivity app
Textmate - all-in-one customisable text editor with awesome syntax highlighting power
Transmit - FTP/Remote File manager client
Itunes - music player/library
Navicat - mysql administration tool
Anxiety - to-do lists
Firefox - web browser
Camino - web browser
Adium - IM client
Colloquy - IRC client
MAMP - Mac/Apache/PHP/MySQL

I'm so sorry you had to do a little bit of work with the information I gave you, I'm sure it took valuable seconds out of your day
 
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Sic said:
Quicksilver
Textmate
Transmit
Itunes
Navicat
Anxiety
Firefox
Camino
Adium
Colloquy
Click to expand...
c'mon guys mini write-up if its not obvious i'm having to google stuff like "Anxiety" and "Colloguy" just to find out if i'd be even interested in the app never mind consider buying/downloading it ;)

info for others who dont know some of these:

Navicat is a mysql admin app (i'll be looking into this)
Anxiety is a to-do-list app (this too... aint too sure about the taskpaper app that came with macheist)
and Colloguy is an IRC client ;)
 
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Sic said:
If you're a Linux user too, there's a Linux version :)
Click to expand...

Yup, noticed that too, ta. :)

Only ever really use Ubuntu when updating my mums computer though. :)

Mmm.. Getting ze below error when tunneling to databases on my new domain, but all the databases on my old one worked fine. :/

Picture%2075.png


Doesn't seem to be saving the passwords either. :(
 
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Firefox - Best browser for me IMO, prefer it to Safari.
iTunes - just the greatest app to use, runs so well on my Mac.
iPhoto - don't use it much, but a great way to store my photos and make any edits if need be.
Adium - Seems much more stable and bug free then Messenger for Mac.
VLC - Plays everything, use it to play videos 90% of the time.
Handbrake - Awesome app, converts any DVDs or VOB files I may have.
Audio Hijack - Great for recording audio streams, had to pay for it but have used it a lot.
Steermouse - Lets me edit the buttons on my mouse like you wouldn't believe superior to whatever Logitech/Apple software in existence.
Text Edit - great for jotting down things and opens instantly.
Mactheripper - Can't believe I forgot this :O, pretty good prog useful if I want to rip stuff without having the DVD drive humming in the background.
Monolingual/Delocalizer - Great for removing useless languages, processor architectures
 
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WotDa said:
Yup, noticed that too, ta. :)

Only ever really use Ubuntu when updating my mums computer though. :)

Mmm.. Getting ze below error when tunneling to databases on my new domain, but all the databases on my old one worked fine. :/

Picture%2075.png


Doesn't seem to be saving the passwords either. :(
Click to expand...

weird - have you checked that your ports match? the default is 3306, but your host could be using anything in a pretty big range.

I know it might seem patronising, but have you checked the save password box in the connection properties dialogue?
 
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