5 Mac Programs Worth Buying

I’ve been a Mac user since May of 2006. That’s when I bought my very first Mac, the MacBook Pro laptop. Since then, I have come across a handful of programs that I simply love and, to this point, not found a better alternative elsewhere.

Here, I’ve compiled a list of 5 shareware Mac applications that are well worth the asking price. These are in no particular order, so I don’t intend to imply that one app is better than the other. Each of these apps do their designated tasks, do them well, and do them in style. And since they are all shareware apps, you’re free to download the demo to see what you think about them.

1. Text Expander
Price: $29.95
Website: SmileOnMyMac.com

SmileOnMyMac.com brings us TextExpander. Basically, you can setup custom keystroke abbreviations for text strings and images. This is perfect for anyone who is a blogger or works with code or images. For example, as I was inserting the link for TextExpander above, I simply went to the SmileOnMyMac page, copied the URL, came back to this window and typed my pre-defined “snippet”: <A

I instantly heard a little *blip* sound and the following text was automatically inserted:

<a href="http://www.smileonmymac.com/TextExpander/"></a>

My cursor was positioned in between the tags so all I had to do was type out “TextExpander” and I was all done. The Preferences pane even keeps track of my snippet usages. I’ve been using TextExpander for 2 months and already I’ve logged 855 snippet usages, been saved from typing 18,623 characters, and saved .78 hours of my life. If that’s not worth the $30 asking price, then I don’t know what is.

2. Transmit
Price: $29.95
Website: Panic.com

Panic.com gives us the killer FTP client, Transmit. Now, I know there are very good free FTP clients for both Mac and Windows, but I just can’t get away from Transmit’s sleek design and interface, easy workflow, and extensive feature set. There’s a list of features on the page linked above, but the most useful to me is the droplets feature. I can create a droplet for my web server, stick it on my dock, and simply drag a file to that droplet. BOOM, the file is uploaded! Awesome!

3. Audio Hijack Pro
Price: $32
Website: RogueAmoeba.com

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Rogue Amoeba? What kind of name is that? Even the company calls attention to it’s odd name by donning the tagline, “Strange name. Great software.” And I have to agree. Their software really is great. With Audio Hijack Pro, I can record any audio from any program on my Mac. I can even setup schedules. The morning radio show I like starts at 5:00am. I don’t get up until 7:00am, but I have Audio Hijack setup to open Firefox at 5:00am, go to the specified URL link, and start recording.

Another nice feature is that if the program detects a few seconds of silence (totally customizable), it creates a new audio file. So, if you’re listening to Internet radio, you can just leave Audio Hijack Pro running and it will create new audio files for each new song.

4. Evocam
Price: $30
Website: Evological.com

I firmly believe that Evocam goes hand in hand with any Mac laptop that has a built-in webcam. You can use this program to broadcast a webcam feed (that updates a specified number of seconds), stream or record audio and video, create timelapse movies, or use the built-in motion sensor to capture a visual when motion is detected.

These guys are also very quick to correct problems with the software. After I purchased a copy, I realized I was having a compatibility problem with one of the built-in filters. I emailed the tech support and got a reply back the same day with a link to download a pre-release version of the software that had not been released to the public yet. That fixed the problem and I’ve been happy ever since.

Evocam also supports multiple webcams and network cameras, but I have not had any experience with these features so I cannot comment on them. But, for $30, this is a stellar webcam app.

5. ScreenFlow
Price: $99
Website: VaraSoftware.com

As you may have noticed, ScreenFlow is the most expensive app mentioned in this article. Topping out at $99, this is a sleek and full-featured screencast software that puts all the others I’ve used to shame.

Camtasia, which is currently a Windows-only application, is ScreenFlow’s strongest contender. In fact, I like to think that ScreenFlow is Camtasia for Mac. But ScreenFlow’s feature set is pretty strong, and its ease of use and built-in tutorial vids make editing a breeze. Just check out one of the video tutorials on this site, such as Brightening Your Subject’s Eyes, for an example of a video produced by ScreenFlow.

Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments section, as I’m always interested in sampling new Mac apps.