Note: I know all the customisations could be translated to dotfiles, something I should do at some point I guess 😅
The first ones I download are at the top (Flycut ❤️, caffeine, 1password BetterSnapTool and Dropbox).
- Flycut - https://apps.apple.com/app/id442160987
- Caffeine - http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/
- 1Password - https://apps.apple.com/app/id1333542190
- BetterSnapTool - https://apps.apple.com/app/id417375580
- Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com/install
- RescueTime - https://www.rescuetime.com/download-rescuetime
- Itsycal - https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/
- Tripmode - https://www.tripmode.ch
- Firefox - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
- VLC - https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
- Spotify - https://www.spotify.com/download/mac
- Pocket - https://apps.apple.com/app/id568494494
- Slack - https://apps.apple.com/app/id618783545
- Zeplin - https://zeplin.io
- Sketch - https://www.sketch.com
- Sip - https://sipapp.io
- Monodraw - https://monodraw.helftone.com
- iTerm2 - https://iterm2.com
- Trailer.app - https://ptsochantaris.github.io/trailer/
- Xcode - https://apps.apple.com/app/id497799835
- Sourcetree - https://www.sourcetreeapp.com
- Visual Studio Code - https://code.visualstudio.com
- Kaleidoscope - https://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com
- Dash - https://kapeli.com/dash
- Paw - https://paw.cloud
- Charles Proxy - https://www.charlesproxy.com
- SnippetsLab - https://apps.apple.com/app/id1006087419
- Hopper - https://www.hopperapp.com
- DaisyDisk - https://daisydiskapp.com
- The Unarchiver - https://macpaw.com/the-unarchiver
- Tunnelblick - https://tunnelblick.net
- AirBuddy - https://gumroad.com/l/airbuddy
- Lightpaper - https://getlightpaper.com | Typora - https://www.typora.io
- Deckset - https://www.deckset.com
- Pages, Number & Keynote
- Tweetbot - https://www.tapbots.com/tweetbot/mac/ | Twitter - https://apps.apple.com/app/id1482454543
I'm currently using a MacBook Pro 16" (2019), an external 27" monitor (LG 27UD88-W), trackpad and mechanical keyboard.
This is how my status bar looks like:
(Clock must be 24h. Show date, no day of week. Show BlueTooth icon. Show Audio icon. Show battery percentage)
HIDE the dock, and enter a new world of endless space on your screen. Go to Dock preferences:
I use separated spaces on the left screen (laptop), and the right screen (external monitor). This is how the screen arrangement looks like:
I only use 1 space on the right monitor, while I have 4 spaces on the left screen, plus the terminal on another space for its own.
This is how I use them:
- Space 1: For VS Code or documentation.
- Space 2: Sourcetree
- Space 3: Slack (and other messaging apps like Telegram or Messages occasionally)
- Space 4: Spotify and miscellanea
It looks something like this:
I use shortcuts to navigate through them. On the keyboard preferences:
So noooope, I don't want my spaces to rearrange, thanks. On the mission control preferences:
Not everyone likes them but I have these hot corners defined, for me they're pretty useful, specially when I want to grab something from the desktop real quick. On Mission Control preferences, go to Hot Corners...:
I started using trackpads around 6 years ago, I really prefer it over the mouse for work and normal day to day, specially for text selection and its gestures. For gaming mouse is still king.
First thing is: let's make this faster! Go to Trackpad preferences and change it what feels good for you:
Now we need the best feature ever for trackpads: drag with 3 fingers. Which you can find in Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options...
Again, too slow, let's make this fast! Go to keyboard preferences and change it, I go for as fast as it can on "Key Repeat" and as short as possible on "Delay Until Repeat". This will make your cursor move like a lighting when using the keyboard arrows for example.
Note: I was using Karabiner for this before, but Apple added this config on some previous macOS version which is good enough for me, so I don't install Karabiner anymore.
Now, let's remap a few keys. The most common one is Caps lock to Escape. I use a mechanical keyboard which detects Option and Command the other way around so I have to switch them. From the keyboard preferences, go to Modifier Keys... and make as you wish:
Although I use a "English USA" keyboard layout, I change quite often between English and Spanish layouts. I have a defined shortcut to switch between them. On the keyboard preferences:
- WOT - https://www.mywot.com - Pretty useful when you're not sure about entrusting a website
- 1Password - My password manager of choice
- AdBlock - You just cannot surf without one
Blocking hostnames (aka rerouting on /etc/hosts) is a must nowadays. It avoids from advertising to malware, gambling or fakenews. Here's the most famoust list I know: https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts
Note: Depending on what you do, like if you work on advertising (sorry about that) this may affect your workflow, like not properly showing ads on the browser or the iOS simulator. On the other hand, if your app/website has ads, it's a great way to test how it behaves on an environment where ads cannot reach the outside.
TODO: explain a bit each app, and potential configs
My clipboard manager of choice, I love how you can go through the last 40 entries you copied hitting shift+cmd+V. It's the first tool I install, for me, inmensely useful.
I edit it to "Display in menu" 40 entries, and switch the icon to "White scissors".
No need to say much, just keeps my mac from going to sleep when turned on.
My password manager of choice. With Safari and Firefox extensions.
A great tool to manage all the windows. One thing I really like of this tool is how it maximizes the window if you drag them to the top-center of the screen, like in Windows. It was a feature I really missed from Microsoft.
I have customized the overlay view, I don't like the default one, and deactivated animations:
I have a few shortcuts set up, like maximize window (ctrl+option+cmd+f), center (ctrl+option+cmd+c) or move to next monitor (shift+ctrl+option+cmd+arrow):
I use my own color scheme, which you can find here: preferences/iTerm_colors.itermcolors
You can set it up on iTerm2 going to the app preferences. Then go to Profiles, add a new one. Go to the Colors tab, then Color Presets..., Import... and select the .itermcolors file. Don't forget to set this profile as default before restarting iTerm from Other Actions...
On the text tab, change the font to your preferred one (I use Source Code Pro) and preferred size (I'm using 18).
I use zsh as m shell, and I use oh-my-zsh to configure it.
I like the theme refined, it's clean when it has to, or it shows info when it can, like the path or git branch.
Plugins I use:
- git: Adds useful git shortcuts.
- wd: Let's you add shortcuts to specific folders, like
DerivedData,Libraryor your projects/dev folder. - zsh-autosuggestions: Autocompletes you commands on the go, really nice. Something I loved in Fish and wanted with zsh. You have to take further steps to install it since it doesn't come with
oh-my-zsh. - zsh-syntax-highlighting: Highlights your commands on the go. You have to take further steps to install it since it doesn't come with
oh-my-zsh.
All the configuration go are set on the .zshrc file. I also have a handy env.sh file with a few aliases and stuff. I specially like the openx() func which I totally copied from @orta.
Handy app to get notified and quickly jump into your Github issues and PRs.
I have the configuration file at preferences/TrailerSettings_2019_01.trailerSettings. It's missing an entry for the Github credentials which I deleted, so don't use that file replacing yours directly.
Xcode, you probably know what it is, if not, it's the main IDE to develop on the Apple ecosystem. I don't want to talk much about it since there're great resources like plugins and shortcuts all around.
I use my own color scheme, which you can find here: https://github.com/Lascorbe/omgthemes
My font of choice is Source Code Pro: https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-code-pro