diff --git a/content/mac-apps.md b/content/mac-apps.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df35563 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/mac-apps.md @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +title: Useful Mac OS programs +tags: macos, computers +date: 2022-03-11 00:00 +--- + +Somewhat recently I got a MacBook Pro for work. I already use other +Apple products and I figured that being a UNIX based system it is +going to be very much useable for work related things. And, of course, +I was curious about their new M1 soc. At the end, I was a bit +dissapointed with the user experience and the desktop environment, +coming from Linux/X11. + +After some rudimentary research, I found the following programs to be +very useful, and I highly recommend them for improving your +interactions with the Mac OS. All of the programs below are free +software and can be installed using Homebrew. + +For GUI/DE: +- [Hammerspoon](http://www.hammerspoon.org/) for configuring keyboard + shortcuts for maximazing windows, snapping them around, etc. It is a + general-purpose "automation" tool, and it is scripted in Lua. You + can really do a lot of things with it, and I barely scratch the + surface with my [very modest configuration file](https://git.groupoid.moe/dan/dotfiles/src/branch/master/hammerspoon/.hammerspoon/init.lua). +- [Easy Move+Resize](https://github.com/dmarcotte/easy-move-resize) + for moving and resizing windows like in Linux/X11 by using + Ctrl-Shift-right mouse and Ctrl-Shift-left mouse and dragging the + window. Super useful. +- BackgroundMusic for per-app sound + control. I was really surprised this is not implemented by default + in Mac OS. +- [Mos](https://mos.caldis.me/). A tool to fix the broken mouse + behavior on Mac OS. In Mac OS you can use two scrolling directions: + "natural scrolling" (which is great for touch pads) and the standard + scrolling (which is great for standard mices). Unfortunately, you + can only select one direction which applies to *all* of your + devices! So, you need to install Mos to implement the scrolling + properly. + + +For LaTeX workflow: +- Mitsuharu Yamamoto's [emacs-mac port](https://bitbucket.org/mituharu/emacs-mac/src/master/), + also available [via homebrew](https://github.com/railwaycat/homebrew-emacsmacport). + It beats the other Emacs ports for MacOS by integrating some + Mac-specific niceties like smooth scrolling, correctly registering + fullscreen, etc. You you install it from source, and you gcc and + libgccjit, you can enable native compilation for elsip. +- [Skim](http://skim-app.sourceforge.net/) for PDF viewing. Works + flawlessly with Emacs/SyncTeX. Backwards search with + Shift-Command-click. + +Other useful utilities: +- [Stats.app](https://github.com/exelban/stats) for monitoring + resource usage, fans, temperature, etc. +- [IINA](https://iina.io/). Basically a frontend to `mpv`. Great media + player. +- [iTerm2](https://iterm2.com/). Easy to use terminal emulator. +- For unknown reason, stock MacOS does not support per-app volume + settings. Even as a frequent hater of the audio on Linux, I have to + admit that this just puzzled me. You need to donwload a separate + app, BackgroundMusic, and route all of your audio throught it.