Get a new Mac and wonder which apps should you install? See this list of 2021 best Mac apps and you will find the top app for video, shopping, security, and more.
So you've got a new Mac and you're looking to install the best Mac apps 2021 for your daily computing life? Well, we've got you covered. There are a wealth content of apps arriving and updating on Mac App Store every single day, which makes it nearly impossible to keep track on the latest and greatest. We've compiled the best of the best Mac apps 2021 that remember your passwords, organize your notes or to-dos, make data backup, edit the media files, and connect your friends etc.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the best software available for Apple’s Mac, from email and shortcut apps to window organizers and multimedia players. Airmail 3, Alfred, Bear, LastPass. The 15 Best Mac Apps to Make Everyday Life Easier Apple's macOS is a good operating system, but it's missing some key ingredients. Try these programs to get the most out of your Mac.
Entertainment
Mac is one of the safest operating systems in the entire world the reason being no viruses can penetrate in Mac systems. If all the best free apps for mac os x are updated regularly then you don’t have to worry about viruses or malwares but if you want to keep your system 100% secure you can install MalwareByte. LibreOffice is a good freeware that is a good free replacement to MS office for MAC.It performs about all the basic features of a basic MS Office application. It contains LibreOffice Writer to create and open Word documents on MAC, LibreOffice Calc to open Spreadsheet on MAC, LibreOffice Impress to open Presentation on MAC, LibreOffice Draw for Drawing, LibreOffice Math for Formula,.
At the mention of what your Macbook is used to do, entertainment accounts for a large proportion, no matter on watching videos/movies, listening to music, editing photograph etc. If there is an absence of the best Mac apps 2021 in entertainment, you will suffer from a obscure and upsetting journey even on your brand new Macbook.
MacX DVD Ripper
If you are ready to turn your DVD collection s into a digital library in iTunes, MacX DVD Ripper is no doubt the best Mac app in 2021 (macOS Big Sur also supported), as Handbrake has issues now that libdvdcss doesn't work with Sierra. It has dozens of great features, like 1:1 copying with original video quality, excellent protection bypass tools (including for region codes and Disney DRM), output DVD to iOS/Android, and batch conversion.
iMovie
With a streamlined design and intuitive editing features, iMovie lets you enjoy your videos and tell stories like never before. Browse your video library, share favorite moments, and create beautiful movies for iMovie 4K editing. Still, it can be treated as the best free app for iPhone iPad, allowing you to start editing movies on an iPhone or iPad, and finish them on a Mac. And when your movie is ready for its big premiere, you can enjoy it on all your devices in iMovie Theater.
MacX Video Converter
Video formats compatibility is always the top issue for video watching on Macbook Pro/Air, iMac etc. MacX Video Converter definitely keeps you away from this by converting 4K HD/SD videos to MP4, AVI, MPEG, FLV, MOV, WMV, MKV, MP3, etc for playback on QuickTime, iPhone, iPad, Android flawlessly and editing with iMovie and Final Cut Pro. Plus, as an essential Mac app (macOS Big Sur supported), it also stands out on downloading video from 1000+ online video sites, recording screen, editing video, etc.
Handbrake
If you're a video connoisseur, or if you're always finding that you have to convert your videos to make them playable (or streamable) to all of your devices, then you're going to want Handbrake on your macOS Sierra, pronto. This is one of the best OS X apps for video conversion and DVD ripping. It's detailed enough to give power users plenty of options to play with, but it's also simple enough in its core functionality that even newbies will be able to figure out how to convert a video with Handbrake. Best of all, it's free.
5KPlayer
5KPlayer is the rising media player app for Macbook in 2021, which plays videos/DVDs in high definition, downloads videos online, and even sends them to your TV or big screen through AirPlay. It's much easier than other media players yet still quick and reliable in everything it does. In short, the best free app for macOS is perfect for those who just want to play videos without complications.
VLC
VLC media player is better than Quicktime in nearly every facet that matters, most notably speed and file compatibility. It 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. Here stating as the best free application on macOS, it's also widely regarded as the first DVD player on Macbook Pro/Air, supporting playback of encrypted DVDs (region code, CSS) by using the libdvdcss DVD decryption library.
Spotify
Apple Music isn't for everyone. With Spotify, it's easy to find the right music for every moment on your phone, your computer, your tablet and more. There are millions of tracks on Spotify. So whether you're working out, partying or relaxing, the right music is always at your fingertips. Choose what you want to listen to, or let the free music download app surprise you. You can also browse through the music collections of friends, artists and celebrities, or create a radio station and just sit back.
Photoshop
Photoshop is one of the most comprehensive photo editing apps on Mac now brings you even more creative possibilities. It has professional-quality tools, like advanced color manipulation and 32-bit/64-bit channel editing. It also has dozens of useful features, like multiple editable layers, vector graphics tools, advanced image processing, and retouching and correction masking tools for MacBook Pro, Air, iMac users to explore and use.
Data Backup
Have you ever lost your photos, videos, data, apps, memories by accident? There must be! But if you have make a copy of your significant data, you will free from the troublesome matter. To solve how to backup data on Mac OS X, some must-have Mac apps are to be downloaded.
MacX MediaTrans
Mac data backup becomes simple and fast with the help of MacX MediaTrans. It's a feature-rich file backup software for Mac with data transfer, backup and management function combined. It can turn iPhone iPad etc. mobile devices to an external hard disk drive to save all your Mac data, including music, video, photo, ebook, ringtone, apps, documents files folders etc. Meanwhile, this data backup application on macOS (macOS Big Sur incl.) also empowers you to sync and transfer all your music, video, photo, ebook, voice between Mac and iDevices as well.
Dropbox
We'd be surprised if you hadn't heard of this super-popular cloud storage service. Here's the gist: Install Dropbox, and you'll get 2GB of cloud storage free. The best free app for OS X dumps a simple Dropbox folder onto your Mac, and anything you drag into there will be synchronized with the cloud. If you have multiple computers, anything in your Dropbox folder will be synchronized across all the other systems the app runs on.
Productivity
Whenever I set up a new Mac, these are the first apps I install. While I can use a Mac without them, I am not nearly as productive. A good productivity app should reduce friction and amplify good habits, and all of these meet those criteria.
Alfred
Alfred is an award-winning app for macOS which boosts your efficiency with hotkeys, keywords, text expansion and more. With the essential app for Mac, you can quickly perform calculations, execute web searches, and quickly find word definitions, among many other functions. It fills the gap between Siri and your Spotlight search, by allowing you to automate tasks and perform advanced functions that, frankly, Siri should be able to handle without voice input.
Evernote
Evernote is the undisputed king of Mac apps on note taking, and for good reason. It's simple, organized in a highly intuitive way, and syncs with just about any Web service you can imagine. It's a free app for Mac with a paid upgrade for additional features and more storage space, and allows you to quickly store information using the web clipper and access your information when you need it on any device.
Wunderlist
Wunderlist is a simple todo list and task manager app that helps you get stuff done. Whether you're sharing a grocery list with a loved one, working on a project, or planning a vacation, Wunderlist makes it easy to capture, share, and complete your todos. The essential Mac app for to-do list also instantly syncs between your phone, tablet and computer, so you can access all your tasks from anywhere.
1Password for Mac
Yes, we lived in a life filled with all kinds of passwords and there comes a time we forgot our password. Whereas with 1Password for Mac you only ever need to remember...one password. All your other passwords and important information are protected behind your Master Password, which only you know. Still, you can also sync between devices with the best app for Macbook Pro/Air, iMac etc.
flu.x
f.lux is a tiny little utility that makes the color of your display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day or more accurately mimic outside light. It's even possible that you're staying up too late because of your computer. You could use the best free app for Mac because it makes you sleep better, or you could just use it just because it makes your computer look better.
Caffeine
Caffeine is a tiny program that's always a favorite for Mac users. It keeps your Mac computer from going into sleep mode, dimming the screen or starting screen savers. It's ideal for reading long documents, or any other activity in which you don't touch the keyboard or mouse for extended periods of time. Just give it a click.
Safe & Security
You do need an antivirus program on your Mac. That statement may cause some Apple users to stop listening and walk away, but with the amount of Mac malware on the internet today, this issue is no longer up for debate. So once you get your new Mac, make it to be defended in all round with the best antivirus App for macOS. Here are some suggestions.
Malware Bytes
Is your Mac running slow? Annoying adware, like pop-ups, or malware could be the problem. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac scans for and removes code that degrades system performance or attacks your system. Making your Mac, once again, your Mac. By the way, it removes all kinds of malware from your Mac, including Trojans.
Cloak
Most people don't think twice about using public wi-fi (but you should). Cloak is the easiest way to automatically secure your connection on public networks and keep your sensitive data safe from prying eyes. It turns on automatically the moment you connect to an untrusted network.
Internet & Communications
Of course, internet surfing and connecting with friends also take much of your time on Mac computers daily. Internet users are able to communicate with each other from all around the world instantaneously. With the essential Mac apps, you can share photos, send virtual birthday and Christmas cards and develop better relationships with family and friends.
Chrome
Google Chrome is arguably the fastest browser available for desktop platforms, one that also features the ability to automatically sync all your information, bookmarks, open tabs, recent searches, etc. - across multiple computers and mobile devices. That, combined with its robust customization and instant search capabilities, make it worthwhile.
Airmail
Airmail treats your email like a to-do list. You can triage your inbox by scheduling when you are going to take care of an email. If you can't get to it right now, snooze it for later. If it's an email that requires an action, send it to your to-do folder. If it's something important that you'll want quick access to, mark it as a memo. And, when you've finished dealing with your email, send it to the 'Done' folder to get that sweet satisfaction of having completed something on your task list.
Skype
Skype, the instant chatting app for free on Mac has a fresh new look and feel. Here are just a few of the great things you can do: Chat every day with free instant messages; share files and photos for free in an instant; see your family come together over a free group video call; switch between calling and messages with one click, or do both together; low-cost calls and text messages to mobiles and landlines.
Tweetbot for Twitter
The power user's Twitter client started out on iOS, and its desktop counterpart is one of the best ways to use the social network on a Mac. Tweetbot provides all of the mute filter options you'll need to tune out hashtags, users and even keywords, and it syncs with its mobile sibling, so your streams are up to date on all platforms. It also provides a multiple-tab view, so you can keep track of all of your lists at the same time.
Hot Search: Free Download Videos from Twitter on Mac
Shopping
It's an era that people go shopping at home from Amazon, Apple, eBey and various shopping webpages. But online shopping is not as simple as you think, there are also something to worry about, for example, payment method, courier tracking etc. So if you download and install the best free Mac apps related to shopping, you can buy your beloved things easier.
Deliveries
If you are a big online shopper, ordering a lot of things online, you'll definitely want an easy way to keep track of your packages. Deliveries does this, and will even detect a tracking number on your clipboard and add it to the application for you. You can even get notifications when your packages are delivered from a number of different services (Amazon, Apple, UPS, the USPS incl.) if you're so inclined.
After you buy a new Mac computer, or update your macOS to the latest 11 Big Sur, you may need to install new apps. What are the best apps to install on Mac ? Check the must-have Mac apps here.
Any best free apps for Mac (macOS Big Sur) to install on the new Mac? Beside those built-in default apps, you may need some more for specific purposes. If you're struggling to figure out the best free Mac apps for MacBook Pro/mini/Air/laptop from the thousands of software programs, check this article. Here we list 2021 top best Mac apps free for photo editing, music & video download, game, design, productivity and more.
1.0 Video
It's a common choice to watch movies or videos on Mac when we're free. Therefore, watching movies on a Mac shouldn't be quaint or inconvenient. If you have QuickTime failure opening certain movies, there we share you the best free Mac apps to play videos on Mac computer.
* Best Mac app free for video conversion - MacX Video Converter Free
If you're a big movie fan and use mobiles to watch movies a lot, you will need a movie converter that will convert videos/movies among different formats. Here the must-have free app to convert videos on Mac OS X is MacX Video Converter Free, a free DVD converter app for macOS Big Sur and earlier. It will free convert among MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, 3GP all formats in 4K, HD 1080P/720P, SD to fit iPhone, iPad, Samsung, Android mobiles fast with excellent quality.
* Best free Mac app for video playing - 5KPlayer
Video player is an essential app to install on Mac and when it comes to Mac video player apps, there are many good choices like VLC player, QuickTime player, Cisdem VideoPlayer and many more. 5KPlayer, a fast-rising video player free app for Mac OS X (macOS Big Sur incl.), is simple, light and clean. It professionally handles video and audio in any formats, from SD resolution to HD, 4K UHD and 5K. It also features a video downloader, AirPlay receiver/sender and radio player. If you're tired of those common free Mac player apps, try it.
2.0 Entertainment
When it comes to entertainment with Mac, movies are one of the major topics. To this end, two popular free apps working on Mac OS X that help you to get free movies, videos as well as songs are provided.
* Top free app to download YouTube videos for Mac - MacX YouTube Downloader
When you want to watch YouTube or online videos when there is no internet connection, the best free YouTube downloader app for Mac OS X (macOS Big Sur) will help. MacX YouTube Downloader is a totally free and safe app to download videos on MacBook Air/Pro, iMac etc from YouTube, Dailymotion, Vevo, FaceBook, Vimeo and 1000 more online sites. Any MP4, WebM, FLV in 4K UHD, HD, SD, 3D, 360 vr videos are all supported. It's fast and easy to download YouTube videos to iPhone, iPad, iPod with this app.
* Best free app for Mac to rip DVD movies - Handbrake
Almost all users who have the need to rip DVDs will have Handbrake installed on computer. Handbrake is one of the best free app on Mac to convert DVD or Blu-ray discs into MP4, M4V or MKV. The app is simply, fast and will generate excellent quality. However, if you want to rip protected DVDs on Mac computers running on macOS Big Sur, you will have to switch to other best free Mac apps for DVD ripping like MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free.
If your footage calls for editing or you want to embellish it with interesting effects before ripping files to DVDs, you should use reliable video editing software for Mac.
3.0 Music
If you are a big music lover, music apps will be the must-have software to install on Mac computer. To get free music with good quality, try the free apps on Mac OS X below.
* Top free apps for Mac audio editing - Audacity
Audacity is an open source free audio editing and recording app for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and others. With this free app on 2017 MacBook Pro/Air, mini, you can listen to music, record audio from various sources in high quality, edit and mix it, import and export music into WAV, MP3, AIFF and OGG files. Besides that, various of audio editing features are available to edit sounds, add audio effects, mix tracks, cut and paste recording etc.
Other best free Mac apps for audio editing include Gtuner, Mixxx, Hydrogen, Reaktor 5 Player etc.
* Best free apps for Mac music - Spotify
If you are looking for the best Mac apps free for music playback, you can try Spotify if you're not using Apple Music. Spotify is a streaming music service that offers you a new way to enjoy millions of songs. Once you sign up a Spotify account, you can listen to music freely on the Spotify app installed on Mac. Spotify offers massive music collection with excellent high quality, as well as a slew of useful features.
Similar top free music apps for Mac are Google Play Music, Vox, Tomahawk and also 5KPlayer.
4.0 Photos & Graphics
With sharing selies on social sites getting popular, how to take the best photos as well as further editing gets more important. Which free photo editing apps for Mac are easy to use while generating the best effects? Check below.
* Best free photo editing app for Mac OS X - GIMP
When it comes to the best free photo apps for MacBook Pro/Air, mini, iMac, the first thoughts may be Photoshop or iPhoto. Besides them, there are many other top free Mac apps for photo editing, just like GIMP. Similar to Photoshop, GIMP offers wide range of photo editing tools with which you can make subtle adjustments and colorize, remove barrel distortion, create impressive monochrome conversions, and do everything like Adobe photo app.
The best free Mac apps for photo editing also have Affinity Photo, Lightroom, Pixlr, Preview.
* Best free Mac OS X apps to manage photos - JetPhoto Studio
After we learn the best free photo editing for Mac OS X, the programs to mange photos are also among the sought-after best free photo apps for Mac. JetPhoto Studio is one of the best free apps to mange photos on Mac. It allows users to create flash or web galleries from the photos, send photos to mobile phones, share photos on websites and more. It also features soome image management and editing features.
Similar best free Mac photo apps include MacX MediaTrans, Phototheca, XnView MP, IrfanView etc.
5.0 Games
Do you often play Mac games? Besides those famous games on Mac, you may have missed out some truly greate yet totally free games. We have the best free game apps listed under each category below.
When you want a free game app on Mac, there are countless choices. Actually, there are so many categories that it may be hard to choose the best. No worry, below we list some top-rated free Mac game apps for you.
Best strategy game for Mac: League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Hearthstone, Starcraft II, Heroes of Newerth.
Best free car racing game on Mac: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Grid 2, Dirt 3, TOCA Race Driver 3.
Free first person shooter game apps for Mac: Marathon Trilogy, Team Fortress 2, Assault Cube, Red Eclipse, Warsow, OpenArena, Cube 2 Sauerbraten, UberStrike.
6.0 Data Backup
Are you sure you have made a safe copy of your favorite photos, videos, data, apps, memories? Accidents happen all to often. The best free Mac apps below will make sure all your important files are safely kept.
* Best free apps for Mac to backup Mac data - Time Machine
Time Machine is among the top choice for the best free Mac app to backup the computer data. As an inbuilt free Mac data backup app, Time Machine will save hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for data older than a month. Note that Time Machine will delete the oldest backup to make space for new data. So you're suggested to use other free Mac backup apps together.
Other best free Mac apps for data backup: FileFort, Backuplist+, CrashPlan, iBackup, SilverKeeper.
* Best free app to backup iDevices on Mac - MacX MediaTrans
MacX MediaTrans is a rising data backup app that helps to backup data from iDevices to MacBook Air/Pro, iMac, Mac mini on macOS Big Sur and earlier. It excels iTunes or iCloud for its superfast speed and simplicity. By only a drag and drop, data on iPhone, iPad and iPod will be backed up to Macs, including videos, music, photos, ringtone, iBook, Podcast and more. It also features strong iOS (10) file management ability. It offers free version for unlimited time.
Similar best Mac apps free for iDevices data backup: iFunBox, CopyTrans Manager, AirMore, Apowersoft Phone Manager, iPhone Explorer.
7.0 Productivity
In fact, there are some good free apps that will make your task on Mac faster and more efficient. Nowadays, it's important to stay productive and get your tasks done in less time. You will be amazed at the features of those samll, free but useful apps.
* Best free app for Mac OS X app launching - Alfred
Alfred is a free application launcher app for Mac. It maximizes users' efficiency on Mac by facilitating the access to various programs. This simple and free app makes it fast and easy to launch apps, find files, search web, solve calculations, and do many more with keyboard shortcuts. It will track the app your often use to make you more efficient.
Other top free launcher apps for Mac include: Quicksilver, LaunchBar, Spotlight, Butler.
* Top free app on Mac to manage tasks - Wunderlist
Wunderlist is among the best task manager apps for MacBook Pro/Air, iMac that it allows you to make lists. With this free app on Mac, you can create lists of different tasks with deadlines, share them with friends and access from different devices. You won't miss any task, to-dos, due dates or additional information.
Other excellent free Mac task manager apps are Any.do, Evernote, Todoist, TickTick.
* Best free Mac apps to manage Mac screen - f.lux
f.lux is a small, free and extremely helpful app that will adjust the color of the monitor based on the time, sunlight and temperature of the day. By adjusting the brightness and color temperature of Mac's display, it helps eyes relax and reduces strain on our retinas.
Other best free apps for Mac to protect our eyes include Redshift, RedshiftGUI, Twilight.
8.0 Storage
It's really frustrating to have Mac out of storage space. Getting the right tool will help you clean up more space, check the storage being used, delete unnecessary files and eventually speed up the Mac performance.
Dr. Cleaner is the only and also best free app for Mac OS X to optimize memory and clean disk to speed up Mac computers. It will help you to scan the large files to delete, clean whole system, automatically optimize memory, scan junk files, clean disk, delete cache and unnecessary files, empty temporary files, cache files, system files, log files and do more. You will see a significant performance boost with this free app.
9.0 Social Network
Everyone is online nowadays. Famous networking apps like YouTube needs no introduction. But you may have missed some tiny and interesting free networking apps for Mac that make it easier to get contact with friends.
* Best free social networking app for Mac - Twitter for Mac
No doubt that Twitter for Mac is one of the most popular and also top best free Mac apps for social networking. As the official client for Twitter, it allows you to do everything you can on Twitter, for example, you can sign in multiple accounts, read notifications, send messages, check trending topics and hot spots, search contents and more.
Similar good free apps for Mac networking: Face Tab, Echofon, Social Lite, FlipToast.
* Best free apps Mac for chatting - Skype
If you want to contact friends around the world via video or voice chat, Skype will be your first choice. Skype is a simple and free app for Mac OS X that makes it easy to text messages and make free calls to anyone else on Skype. It's quite stable with excellent video and audio quality.
Other free apps for macOS Big Sur chatting: Google+ Hangouts, Facetime, VOXOX, Viber, Line, Jitsi.
10 Mail
Mac computer has a free email app built-in, but that's not always the best solution for daily mail use. There are third-party free apps for Mac OS X (macOS Big Sur) that offers better solution to manage emails.
Speaking of the best free mail app for Mac OS X, Airmail will a be must-have app for MacBook Pro/Air, iMac or mini. As the recommended mail app for Mac, Airmail delivers Mac users a quick, modern and easy-to-use experience to read and manage emails. It supports iCloud, MS Exchange, Gmail, Google Apps, IMAP, POP3, Yahoo!, AOL, Outlook.com, Live.com. It has advanced features for single and multiple accounts.
Best Free Application For Mac
Good free mail apps for Mac computer: Apple Mail, Polymail, Thunderbird, Inky, CloudMagic.