What to Install on a Mac: Input Methods, Productivity Tools, and Browser Setup

This is a roundup of the tools I use daily on my Mac — input methods, productivity utilities, system maintenance, and more. These tools often work in combination: Raycast acts as a central hub that ties everything else together, Ice and BetterDisplay handle display management in tandem, and so on.

Typing and Input

Typeless

A voice input tool — but it goes well beyond simple speech-to-text.

Smart Cleanup

After transcribing your speech, Typeless automatically removes filler words and verbal tics, turning rough spoken language into clean, readable written text. You don’t have to go back and delete all the “uh,” “like,” and “so yeah” parts.

Content Organization

Even more useful: it can take a long, rambling stream of thoughts and reorganize them into structured, readable content. The output doesn’t read like a verbatim transcript — it comes out as something with clear structure that you can actually use.

Cross-Platform Support

Typeless works on nearly every major platform — Android, iPhone, and Mac. Wherever you are, you can use voice input to quickly produce text.

SayIt

Also a voice input tool. I mainly use it as a backup when I’ve used up my Typeless free quota.

API-Based Pricing

Unlike Typeless, which requires a subscription, SayIt charges based on API usage — pay for what you use. More flexible for people with lower usage or who want tighter cost control.

How It Compares to Typeless

SayIt covers about 70–80% of the Typeless experience and works fine for everyday use. The more noticeable gaps: it handles very long transcriptions less well, and it’s less likely to read what’s currently on your screen to assist with context — so accuracy can be slightly lower in certain situations.

CapsLockNoDelay

A tiny tool that fixes the delay you get when pressing CapsLock to switch input languages on a Mac. Once installed, the switch is instant — your typing rhythm never gets broken. If that native delay has ever annoyed you, this is the fix.

vChewing (唯音輸入法)

An open-source Bopomofo (Zhuyin) input method. The overall typing experience and character selection logic are solid — it flows well. Occasionally there are minor bugs; stability could be better in some edge cases.

Highly Customizable

Supports on-the-fly phrase addition, deletion, and frequency adjustment, plus importing and exporting preferences via JSON. You have full control over your own lexicon and input behavior.

Typing Behavior Learning

Includes a phrase occurrence module (POM) that learns from your typing habits and adjusts character selection suggestions over time. The longer you use it, the more it reflects your preferences.

Multiple Keyboard Layouts

Supports standard Bopomofo as well as Hanyu Pinyin and other layouts, and can be combined with other input schemes.

McBopomofo (小麥輸入法) — occasional use

Another open-source Bopomofo input method, with a focus on being lightweight and straightforward. Easy to install, intuitive to use.

Smart Character Selection

Uses its own Gramambular2 segmentation engine with an n-gram language model for character selection, and achieves solid accuracy.

Cross-Platform Support

Besides macOS, there are Linux (fcitx5) and Chrome OS versions — seamless continuity if you also use a Chromebook or Linux machine.

Multiple Keyboard Layouts

Supports six layouts: Standard Bopomofo, Eten, Hsu, Eten-26, IBM, and Hanyu Pinyin.

Productivity Tools

Raycast

My replacement for Mac’s built-in Spotlight. Almost any routine task can be concentrated here.

Clipboard History

Built-in clipboard history lets you scroll back through everything you’ve previously copied — no more panic when you accidentally overwrite something on the clipboard.

Snippets for Quick Text Insertion

Set up custom text snippets with trigger keywords and expand them instantly. Useful for things like email addresses you type constantly or fixed response templates — type a few characters and the full text expands.

Store Plugin Ecosystem

Raycast has its own Store with a wide range of plugins. The ones I use most:

• Window Management: Raycast’s native window manager for quickly snapping windows to positions and sizes
• Homebrew: Install and manage services without opening Terminal
• Bitwarden: Quick password lookup
• Ente Auth: Search and copy 2FA codes directly from Raycast
• Calendar: Integrated calendar search, quick view of upcoming events
• Easy New File: Quickly create new files in any format
• Google Translate: Quick translations
• Amphetamine: Toggle sleep prevention on and off
• TinyPNG: Quick image compression
• Visual Studio Code: Quickly open recent projects or files
• Tabby: Quick SSH terminal session management
• Ghostty: Quick terminal access

Rectangle

A free window manager. Keyboard shortcuts to snap windows to any position — left half, right half, quarters, and more. I always have a lot of windows open, and Rectangle makes organizing them much faster.

Shottr

My main screenshot and annotation tool. Built with native Swift, it launches almost instantly and uses minimal memory.

Scrolling Screenshots

Captures content that extends beyond the visible screen area and stitches it into one long screenshot automatically. macOS’s built-in screenshot tool can’t do this, and it’s incredibly useful when you need to capture an entire page.

Pixel-Level Measurement and Color Sampling

Precise measurement and color picker right on the screenshot. I use this when working on front-end development or reviewing design specs.

Quick Blur and Mosaic

One-click blur or mosaic for sensitive content in screenshots — personal information, passwords, whatever you need to hide. Fast and easy.

OCR Text Recognition

Built-in optical character recognition. Extract text from a screenshot directly, without needing a separate tool.

Pin Screenshots

Pin a screenshot to float on top of everything else for reference — no constant window switching needed.

Ice

Manages icons in the Mac menu bar. As you install more software, the menu bar gets cluttered. Ice lets you hide infrequently used icons so the bar stays clean.

AltTab

Brings Mac’s window switching behavior closer to the Windows Alt+Tab experience, with thumbnail previews for each window. Switching becomes much more intuitive.

Bob

My translation and OCR tool on Mac. Works in almost any context without leaving the current window.

Select-to-Translate

Select any text and translate instantly. Works in virtually every Mac app — no window switching, no opening a browser, just select and go.

Screenshot Translation

Capture any area of the screen, recognize the text, and translate it. Great for images, video subtitles, and any text you can’t directly copy.

Multiple Translation Engines

Supports Google, DeepL, OpenAI, and more — and can show results from multiple engines side by side so you can pick the best one.

OCR Text Recognition

Offline OCR built in. Extract text from images and translate directly — very handy for content you can’t select.

Input Translation

Also works as a standalone translation window where you type text manually — for when you want to look something up proactively.

File Management and Transfer

Dropover

A drag-and-drop staging tool. When dragging a file, you can park it on a floating shelf and then drag it to its final destination from there. Especially useful when moving files between different windows or desktops.

Blip

A cross-platform file transfer tool.

Transfer Across Networks

Unlike LocalSend, which only works on the same local network, Blip routes transfers through its own network infrastructure — so you can send files between devices in different locations without being on the same Wi-Fi.

All-Platform Support

Supports Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS — basically whatever device you’re holding.

LocalSend

An open-source local network file transfer tool. As long as both devices are on the same network, you can transfer files directly.

Direct Local Transfer

No third-party servers involved — files go device to device. Compared to Blip, which routes through the cloud, LocalSend is faster when you’re on the same network.

Cross-Platform Support

Supports Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS. Open source and free — no subscription concerns.

rclone

A command-line cloud storage management tool that supports a huge number of cloud services — Google Drive, OneDrive, S3, and more.

Sync and Backup

Sync, back up, and move files between local storage and the cloud with a single command. Invaluable if you need to run scheduled backups or migrate data between cloud services.

Mount Cloud Storage as a Local Drive

My most-used feature: mount a cloud drive directly into the local file system and edit cloud files as if they were local. No download-edit-upload cycle — the workflow just flows.

Security and Privacy

Bitwarden

An open-source password manager for all passwords and passkeys.

Password and Passkey Management

Stores credentials for websites and services, with support for the newer passkey standard. The browser extension makes autofill seamless — no need to remember anything.

Folder Organization

Organize accounts into folders — work, personal, finance, etc. Much easier to navigate when you have a lot of accounts.

Nearly Free

Bitwarden is one of the few password managers you can use at very low cost. The free plan covers the vast majority of everyday needs — a stark contrast to other managers that charge hundreds in annual fees.

Why I Keep 2FA Separate

Bitwarden does have a 2FA code feature, but I don’t use it. Putting both your password and your two-factor code in the same place means if Bitwarden is compromised, both lines of defense fall at once. So I manage 2FA codes separately in Ente Auth.

Ente Auth

An open-source, free two-factor authentication (2FA) tool for managing verification codes across services.

Open Source and Free

Ente Auth is fully open source and all features — including end-to-end encryption and cloud backup — are free. You won’t lose your codes when switching devices, and you don’t have to pay for basic functionality.

Tag-Based Organization

Organize 2FA codes with tags — work, personal, social, etc. With a lot of accounts, filtering by tag is much faster than scrolling.

Raycast Integration

Works with the Raycast plugin system. Search and retrieve a verification code directly from Raycast, copy it, and paste — no need to open the Ente Auth window separately.

Setup steps:

• Install the Ente CLI tool and sign in.
• In Raycast’s Script Commands, add a new script with the ente export command.
• Use the Raycast plugin’s import function to read the exported data and enable code search from within Raycast.

Tailscale

A WireGuard-based private network tool that connects devices in different locations into a single secure virtual LAN.

Access Internal Services

I don’t have a public IP, so I use Tailscale to reach services on my home network. Once set up, I can securely connect to home or office machines from anywhere — as if I were on the same local network.

Windows Remote Desktop

Combined with Windows Remote Desktop (RDP), Tailscale’s virtual network makes it easy to connect to a remote Windows machine even without a public IP. Stable connection, simple setup.

All-Platform Support with a Generous Free Tier

Tailscale is available on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. The free tier is generous — personal use almost never hits the limit. Easy to get all your devices connected.

System Maintenance

Homebrew

The most widely used package manager on Mac. Install, update, and remove software from the command line quickly. Most of my developer tools and everyday apps are installed through Homebrew — one command and it’s done.

Amphetamine

Prevents Mac from going to sleep automatically. You can configure conditions to keep the machine awake — useful when downloading large files or running long tasks so the computer doesn’t suddenly sleep on you.

Tencent Lemon (腾讯 Lemon)

The Mac system cleaner I use. Free, clean interface, straightforward — covers most of what you’d need for routine maintenance.

Junk File Cleanup

One-click scan and removal of system junk, app caches, and leftover files to free up disk space and keep things running smoothly.

Large File Scanner

Quickly finds files taking up the most space so you can decide whether to delete them — especially useful when the disk is nearly full.

Duplicate File Detection

Scans for duplicates — photos, documents, music, etc. — and helps you remove the extras.

Complete App Uninstallation

Removes associated preferences, caches, and leftover data when uninstalling an app. Much more thorough than dragging to the trash.

Mole

An open-source Mac system cleanup tool that runs from the command line and clears caches, temp files, and system junk in one sweep. Comprehensive and deep — good for people who want a more thorough clean.

BetterDisplay

A display management tool for Mac that gives you finer control over external monitors — resolution, brightness, HDR settings, and more. macOS’s native display settings are limited; BetterDisplay fills in a lot of what the system doesn’t offer. Especially useful when working with external displays.

Network and Communication

Spark

My main email client. Clean interface, handles high mail volume efficiently.

Multi-Account Unified Management

Combines Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, and other email accounts in one interface. No switching between apps — everything is in one place.

Smart Inbox

Automatically sorts email into Personal, Notifications, and Newsletters categories, so you can prioritize real messages and avoid being buried by notification floods.

Scheduled Send and Snooze

Schedule emails to send at a future time. Snooze read messages to have them reappear at the top of your inbox at a specified time — nothing falls through the cracks.

Calendar Integration and Meeting Reminders

Spark reads calendar information from your inbox. If there’s a Google Meet or similar meeting, it sends a desktop notification five minutes before the meeting — even without opening a calendar app separately.

Cross-Platform Support

Available on macOS, iOS, Android, and Windows. Same interface across all your devices.

Notion Calendar

My calendar management tool. Clean, good-looking, and completely free.

Multi-Account Integration

Manages multiple Google Calendar accounts in one place. Sign in with your Notion account and all linked calendars appear automatically — no extra configuration, all events visible in a single view.

Notion Database Integration

I run a system I call LifeOS in Notion, and Notion Calendar connects directly to those databases — so I can manage and track related tasks and events right from the calendar.

Menu Bar Mini Calendar

Shows a small calendar in the Mac menu bar for a quick glance at today’s schedule and upcoming events — no need to open the full calendar window.

Quick Meeting Link Creation

Quickly create meeting links and schedule events, with support for multiple calendar systems. For a free calendar tool, the scheduling and meeting experience is genuinely good.

Zen Browser

An open-source browser built on Firefox, reimplementing Arc’s workflow-centered UX on a Firefox foundation.

Workspaces + Vertical Sidebar

A vertical sidebar on the left manages tabs; swipe left and right to switch workspaces. Arc’s sidebar and Spaces, brought over intact. Each workspace has its own pinned tabs — work sites and personal sites stay separate without mixing.

Split View: Native Split Pane

Display two (or more) tabs side by side within the same window — no need to open two browser windows and manually position them. Great for comparing a document and code, or watching a video while looking something up.

Glance: Preview Links in an Overlay

Hold the trigger key (default Ctrl) and click a link, and the page opens in an overlay on top of the current tab. Close it when you’re done — no new tab opened. Inherited directly from Arc’s Peek. Looking things up without polluting your tab list, fully intact.

Command Bar: Keyboard-First Entry Point

Cmd+T brings up a Spotlight-like command bar for searching, opening new tabs, jumping to open tabs, and running commands — all from the keyboard. Efficient.

Multi-Account Container Isolation

Uses Firefox’s native container mechanism for account isolation. Your work Gmail and personal Gmail can be logged in simultaneously in different workspaces, without needing incognito or separate browser profiles.

Firefox

Mozilla’s open-source browser, built around privacy. My second browser alongside Zen, and Firefox Sync also carries Zen’s history to mobile.

Enhanced Privacy Protection

Built-in Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks third-party cookies, social media trackers, and digital fingerprinting by default — solid privacy coverage without installing any extensions.

Rich Extension Ecosystem

Firefox’s add-on ecosystem is mature. From ad blockers to developer tools, there’s an extension for almost everything.

Container Tabs

Run multiple identities in isolated tabs within the same browser — work, personal, shopping, each with their own cookies and login state. No more incognito windows just to switch accounts.

Cross-Platform Sync

Sync bookmarks, history, passwords, and open tabs across devices through your Firefox account — seamless continuity between desktop and mobile.

Velja

A browser chooser. When you click a link, Velja automatically decides which browser to open it in based on rules you set. Since I use both Zen and Firefox, Velja handles automatic routing between work and personal browsing.