The Most Popular Free Mac Apps You Should Install in 2018

• Dec 18, 2018
• By Celia Swift

What’s application that you like most on macOS? What kind of software you would use every day? Well, among the most common Mac Apps we talked about in last story, this page is mainly about the most popular Mac apps which are free on Mac OS X. if you have interest to learn more popular free applications which you should install in 2018, then keep on reading.

Most Popular Free Mac Apps You Should Have

VLC Media Player

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

It will play almost any kind of video file you throw at it – handy when iTunes or Quicktime Player give you issues!

Caffeine

An (older) alternative to Amphetamine (see above). Caffeine is a tiny program that puts an icon in the right side of your menu bar. Click it to prevent your Mac from automatically going to sleep, dimming the screen or starting screen savers. Click it again to go back. Right-click (or ⌘-click) the icon to show the menu.

You might not need it right now, but it can be super handy when you do realise you need it! Another alternative.

Evernote

Evernote is the undisputed king of note-taking apps, and for good reason. It’s simple, organized in an intuitive way, and syncs with just about any web-based service you can imagine. And since it’s one of the most popular apps in existence, there’s a veritable boatload of browser extensions and add-ons available for it as well. Evernote offers a free version that provides a slew of basic functionality, up to 60MB of uploads a month, and syncing for two machines, but if you’re a heavy user, you’ll still want to opt for the premium version ($35 a year).

From short lists to lengthy research, no matter what form your writing takes, Evernote keeps you focused on moving those ideas from inspiration to completion.

Dropbox

Get to all your files from anywhere, on any device, and share them with anyone. Dropbox lets you sync your files between all your computers and devices, which is highly recommended.

Alfred

Alfred is an award-winning app for Mac OS X which boosts your efficiency with hotkeys and keywords. Search your Mac and the web effortlessly, and control your Mac using customised actions with the Powerpack.

Little Snitch

As soon as you’re connected to the Internet, applications can potentially send whatever information they want to wherever they want. Sometimes they do this for good reason, on your explicit request. But often they don’t. Little Snitch intercepts these unwanted connection attempts and lets you decide how to proceed.

The Unarchiver

This is one of the first apps that I download whenever I move on to a new Mac. The app is basically the best unarchiving app you can get for your Mac, free or otherwise. The Unarchiver cannot only unarchive common formats such as Zip, RAR (including v5), 7-zip, Tar, Gzip, and Bzip2, but it can also open formats such as StuffIt, DiskDoubler, LZH, ARJ, ARC, ISO and BIN disc images, Windows.EXE installers and more. Basically, it’s a one-stop solution for all your unarchiving needs.

1Password for Mac

Have you ever forgotten a password? 1Password creates strong, unique passwords for all of your sites and logs you in with a single tap. It’s simple, convenient security. You can also sync between devices

uTorrent

A (very) tiny BitTorrent client – µTorrent is a little over 1 MB (smaller than a digital photo!). It installs ultra-fast and will never hog your valuable system resources. Download your files as quickly and efficiently as possible without slowing down your other online activities.

GoogleDrive

GoogleDrive (and the accompanying Google Docs suite) have changed how people collaborate on documents and share files. You absolutely need an online file syncing site, and GoogleDrive is one of the best. Plus, you can start using it for free when you set up a Google account.

Skype

While FaceTime is incredibly popular with Mac and iOS users, it’s not much use if you want to call someone on a Windows PC—plus, there’s a reason we use “Skype” as a verb, absolutely everyone has it. All this is more than enough for Skype to make our must-have list of the best Mac software. And there’s a free version of this Mac app.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is the gold standard when it comes to keeping your photos organised and simple image edits. If you’ve got to do any work that involves a large number of images, or even just take a lot of photos, this Mac software is an absolute must-have.