Every Mac user needs a solid video playback app, and there exists nothing better than the open source and free app VLC, now maintained by VideoLAN. Started way back in 2001, VLC supports multiple. We outlined the best calendar apps and learned a lot doing that. Now we're focusing specifically on macOS calendars. We tried all of the top calendar applications, both inside the Mac App Store and outside it, and surfaced only the best of the best. And these apps all have a few things in common. The best calendar apps for Mac do the following.

1. Best Mac Apps
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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.

Entertainment

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 from YouTube or Dailymotion, 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.

Best Mac Apps

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.

While Apple Notes checks off most of the boxes, it may not fit into everyone’s needs. This is where the best Notes app alternatives for Mac come into play. Aside from making the task of note-taking pretty straightforward, these third-party apps also double up as a super handy annotation and writing tool. Besides, they allow creating projects in many formats like text, audio, video, and whatnot. Though the App Store has several good options, only a few have walked into our list of the top note-taking apps for Mac.

1. Evernote

Despite the cut-throat competition, “Evernote” remains one of the most appreciable note-taking apps both for macOS and iOS. The highlight of this app is the wide range of tools that provide more flexibility.

The option to make notes in several formats like video, audio, web clippings, sketch ensure you are able to give your thoughts the right shape. With easy-to-format word processor at your disposal, you can write your thoughts elegantly.

You can create an agenda to be discussed in a meeting, write a quick memo and transfer your Evernote notes to Apple notes.

Often forget to do some important tasks? Make a checklist of all the things you have to do. Besides, you will also create presentations to express your thoughts with the desired impact.

Price: Free
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2. Microsoft OneNote

“OneNote” is a complete package. The app lets you capture your ideas in a variety of formats and offer you the needed freedom to keep everything in the perfect sync.

You can tag your notes to find them quickly. Make a list of to-dos and keep track of them so that you are able to do your tasks in time.

The collaboration features works immaculately, allowing you to work with your colleagues. For more security, you will also add an extra shield to your projects to keep them private.

Better still, OneNote for Mac is compatible with a ton of international languages including French, German, Greek, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish and more. So, a language should never become a roadblock to your note-taking.

Price: Free
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3. Notebook

Zoho Corporation is well-known for producing powerful apps. And Notebook does have all the qualities to be highly efficient.

While there is a lot to like in this app, I find “Smart Cards” very adorable. What it basically does is automatically format the contents into specific cards like the recipe, video, and link.

The app provides several predefined note covers to let you design your stories elegantly. If you don’t like the readymade options, you can create a custom cover. Moreover, there is also an option to make public notes using shareable links so that anyone can view them.

With the dark-themed night mode, you will enjoy working till late at night. Plus, the reminders won’t let any of your tasks go out of your notice.

Price: Free
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4. Bear

Should you want to have a top-notch writing-cum note-taking app for your Mac, give a close look to Bear. I’ve used this app for long and always found pretty neat.

The best thing about it is the simple interface coupled with the easy-to-use tools. Therefore, you can write amazing stories and give your wildest thoughts the ideal shape.

Bear has a good library of more than a dozen themes that make it a lot easier to design stories. Features like tagging, archiving and adding tasks to notes enable to take control of your stuff. Furthermore, you can export your projects in multiple formats such as HTML, PDF, DOCX, MD, JPG, and EPUB.

Lastly, after a free trial of one week, you will have to upgrade to Bear premium’s $1.49 monthly or $14.99 annually plan.

Price: Free
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5. Agenda

If you want to streamline all of your projects and get them ready before the deadline, pick out “Agenda.” One of the notable features of this app is the advanced text editor.

Depending on the specific theme, you can give a befitting look to your notes. It allows you to convert your text into multiple formats like Markdown and HTML. Segregate your files into different categories so that will access them instantly.

The app lets you connect your sticky notes to the events in your personal calendar. As a result, you can plan your meeting perfectly.

Better still, you don’t have to pay any bucks to use all the features of Agenda.

Price: Free
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6. Notion

Notion is a comprehensive notes and productivity app that can help you get things done. It boasts 200 app integrations to streamline multiple aspects of your life, whether you’re an entrepreneur, freelancer, student, etc.

I especially love it for the clean and intuitive user interface that works like a charm across multiple devices. You can also add its extensions to Chrome and Firefox to sync your work in real-time. Use it not just for notes but to organize almost anything you can think of!

Price: Free ($4.00 per month for Personal Pro plan)
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7. Simplenote

There are very few note apps for Mac that look as familiar as Simplenote. Its user interface is pretty clean, and you hardly have to spend any time to master the tools.

One of my favorite feature of this app is focus mode. Times when you want to write with maximum concentration, this feature comes into play really well.

You can use pins and tags to organize your notes. And with Markdown, you will ideally format your projects. To ensure your eyes don’t burn while working in the night, the app comes with the dark mode.

Price: Free
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8. GoodNotes

I have picked out GoodNotes for a couple of main reasons. First, it makes annotating docs really fun. And if you are fond of giving your docs a creative look, this one can be your thing.

You can highlight or strikeout the text in your PDF documents. Easily move, scale and ideally customize the object color. There is also an option to add the bookmarks to your docs.

Courtesy the fast iCloud sync, you will find your notes on all of your devices. You can share your notes with others and also print them. The compatibility with a number of languages like English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese and more make it an evergreen tool.

Price: $7.99
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9. Quip

“Quip” is a lot more than just a simple note app for macOS. To be more precise, this is what you should use to collaborate with your teammates. Thanks to the chat and messaging integration, it helps you work with your colleagues in a fun way.

You can use the app to note down your thoughts faster, create to-do lists, and edit your docs. It also lets you make comprehensive spreadsheets.

Another notable feature of this app is that it allows you to import your address book from several services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Microsoft Outlook, Google, and iCloud.

You will create insightful charts by using the data from spreadsheets and Salesforce records. The smart slides would not just make your presentation more impressive but also save your time.

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Price: Free
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10. BoostNote

If you are a developer, “BoostNote” should be your preferred option. The reason why I say it because the app has the support for code syntax highlighting in over a hundred languages such as Javascript, Python, HTML, CSS and more.

This open source markdown editor offers several tools that allow devs to take notes faster. The formatting features have semi-live previews so that you can quickly check your writing.

Besides, the text is automatically formatted as you type, which speeds up your task and also saves plenty of time. That’s not all, BoostNote works offline as well so that you can work anytime and anywhere.

Price: Free
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11. Unclutter

“Unclutter” is really smart! It’s designed to be a multitasker and lets you organize your clipboard data, files, and notes. If you aren’t able to take control of them, give it a chance to sort out the mess.

You can keep an eye on your clipboard history and manage it with ease. Store all of your files at once place and access them quickly. And yes, make sticky notes to never forget to do essential things.

The easy editing tools allow you to make changes conveniently. Due mainly to the quick search feature, you will instantly find a list. Besides, the app can be set up with Dropbox to sync data across the devices.

Price: $13.99
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That’s pretty much it! So, this sums up our roundup of the top note apps for Mac.

What’s your favorite?

Now that you have known our favorite note apps, tell us about the ones that can walk into your personal roundup. We’d really appreciate your collection and the valuable feedback.

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