Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
These apps demonstrate that cost‑effective, cross‑platform solutions can dramatically improve productivity and broaden device capabilities, reducing reliance on expensive ecosystems. For businesses, adopting such tools can lower software spend while enhancing employee efficiency.
Key Takeaways
- •Niche apps boost productivity across platforms
- •Free alternatives challenge paid software dominance
- •Cross‑platform tools simplify workflow migration
- •Gaming compatibility solutions extend Mac/Linux usage
- •Open‑source utilities enhance device control without bloat
Pulse Analysis
Productivity‑focused utilities are gaining traction as professionals seek to streamline daily tasks without inflating budgets. Apps like Maccy, a clipboard manager, and Exporter, which converts Apple Notes to Markdown, illustrate how lightweight, often free software can replace heavyweight suites, cutting licensing costs and minimizing onboarding friction. By integrating these tools into existing workflows, teams can accelerate content creation, data migration, and collaboration, directly impacting bottom‑line efficiency.
The rise of cross‑platform and open‑source solutions reflects a broader industry shift toward vendor independence. Photopea offers Photoshop‑level editing in a browser, while Readest provides a universal e‑reader that syncs across devices, eliminating the need for multiple proprietary subscriptions. Such flexibility empowers organizations to standardize on tools that work on any operating system, simplifying IT management and supporting remote or hybrid work models where device diversity is common.
Beyond productivity, emerging apps are redefining hardware utility, especially in entertainment and gaming. CrossOver and WinBoat enable Windows games to run on macOS and Linux, expanding the viable use cases for Apple hardware in gaming environments. Meanwhile, GameHub turns high‑end Android phones into portable gaming rigs, blurring the line between mobile and PC gaming. These innovations not only enhance user experience but also influence purchasing decisions, as businesses consider device ecosystems that can serve multiple functions without additional software investments.
16 Useful Apps You Didn't Know Existed
Image: A group of people standing in a circle holding their phones, bottom‑up view · Photo credit: Davide Angelini/Shutterstock
Sometimes, one little app that you stumble upon out of nowhere can solve that one problem you've had like a hand in glove. Many of the best Mac apps were ones I wouldn't have known about without some obscure forum post, but they were almost life‑changing for my workflow. Perhaps it's something minor, like Cider, an actually decent Apple Music replacement app. Perhaps it's something major, like Maccy, the best clipboard manager you ever did see. A good app can't help you if you don't know about it, though, so that's where we come in.
We're casting a wide net for a whole bunch of situations, so we had to research deeply and get creative. These apps are, in several cases, the keystone of what they do; without them, there would be few (or no) good alternatives. We also tried for a good mix of apps on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS — no one is getting left out here. It's our hope that by the end of this article, you find at least one app you weren't aware of, one that becomes a mainstay in your repertoire.
Poolsuite
Remember vaporwave? It was a mid‑2010s music “genre” that sounded like elevator music on an acid trip, paired with the aesthetics of a Windows 95‑era computer GUI. Then vaporwave “died” as it fell out of fashion. Some of us (myself included) feel it was one of the best internet subcultures, with music that’s a massage on the ears. Poolsuite keeps the dream alive. If nothing we’re saying makes sense here, then just open Poolsuite and maybe you’ll understand.
You’ll need to create an account, but once you load into Poolsuite, you’re treated to a pixelated interface with the date set to 1997. Through the player you can choose from various stations: Poolsuite FM, Friday Night Heat, Hangover Club, and Tokyo Disco. There’s a newsroom section with articles that look like something straight out of a ’90s magazine, an “events” calendar, a link to a fake Vacation brand webpage, and more. You can change the look of Poolsuite OS in the settings if you like. Poolsuite is all about the vibes, and we’re so here for it.
Poolsuite uses the SoundCloud API, so you can click on the songs to go to them directly, sometimes with the option to download them. It’s free to use and has apps for macOS, iOS, Android, and the PlayDate.
KineStop
One of the best hidden features of the iPhone is the anti‑car‑sickness feature, Vehicle Motion Cues. Having used this one extensively, I can say it really works. The dots on the side of the screen move in relation to the movement of the car, tricking your lizard brain into thinking you’re stationary, so you’re less likely to hurl chunks. Android has no such feature—at least not until Android 17. In the meantime, you can use the free KineStop app. Interestingly, it’s been around longer than Vehicle Motion Cues.
KineStop places dots across your screen that move in response to the vehicle’s acceleration, braking, and turns—the parts that really exacerbate motion sickness. I tested this app a couple of times, and it does seem to reduce my nausea while in a moving vehicle. It isn’t quite as effective as the iPhone implementation, but it’s still better than nothing.
WinDiskWriter
Image: Screenshot of WinDiskWriter on macOS desktop
Photo credit: Jordan Wirth/SlashGear
When people make the switch from Windows to Mac, they usually do so with finality. But sometimes you need to reinstall Windows on a device with a bootable USB. On Windows you simply download Microsoft’s proprietary tool. On macOS you can’t, and options like Rufus don’t have a macOS version. The usual macOS tools (e.g., balenaEtcher) often don’t work for Windows installers. You need WinDiskWriter.
WinDiskWriter is a free macOS utility for creating Windows installation media. It works incredibly well and even helps you bypass Windows 11’s strict hardware requirements, like TPM. So if you need to install Windows 11 on, say, a handheld PC like the Legion Go S, you can do it yourself without borrowing a friend’s Windows PC.
Photopea
You shouldn’t have to pay for Apple Creator Studio or Adobe Creative Cloud if you just want to touch up group pics once in a while. Photopea lets you do it all from your browser. It supports the major file types and is more than enough for basic editing. No downloads, no fees, no problem. The app supports itself with ads (or an ad‑free subscription), which is a very fair trade. If the online‑only option isn’t ideal for you, you can install it directly to your device as a browser app.
If you’ve ever used Photoshop, the interface will feel familiar. Photopea’s tutorials are there to help in any case. It’s far from the only free Photoshop alternative, but it’s a solid choice.
Readest
The big hogs like Apple Books and Kindle get the job done for most avid readers. But if you want to detach your reading collection from the Apple or Amazon ecosystem, Readest is a good start. It’s a free, open‑source e‑reader that works on basically every platform: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, and the web. Like its competition, it offers full text‑customization options, dictionaries, translators, TTS (text‑to‑speech), complete progress sync, and built‑in notes and highlights.
Unique features include a parallel‑read mode that lets you read two documents at the same time, coupled with DeepL translation—handy for language learners.
The app is free, but the library and progress syncing have a 500 MB storage limit. The Plus and Pro plans ($4.99 and $9.99) give you 5 GB and 20 GB, respectively, and a lifetime plan starts at $9.99.
novelWriter
We’ve previously covered the best software for someone writing the next great American novel. Scrivener and Ulysses are industry standards, though pricey. novelWriter is free and competitive. Like both Ulysses and Scrivener, novelWriter provides a hierarchical organization scheme for long writing projects (e.g., novels), complete with comment support and novel‑related metadata such as synopses. It leans more toward the Ulysses side with Markdown support.
Multiple modes—Outline View, Editor Focus Mode—help you plan and write. When you’re ready to share, there’s an export tool that creates a beautiful PDF, excluding any documents you don’t want. If novelWriter isn’t your cup of tea, we’d recommend Zettlr.
Exporter
Image: Exporter main window on macOS desktop
Photo credit: Jordan Wirth/SlashGear
Apple Notes can do a lot, but you cannot export those notes to another note‑taking app. That’s why you need the straightforwardly named Exporter. Exporter exports your notes into Markdown or HTML in the hierarchy you organized them with, preserving metadata like creation and modification dates and attachments.
In a couple of clicks I had my entire Apple Notes library ready to be relocated elsewhere. Locked (encrypted) notes are inaccessible to Exporter, so you’ll have to copy‑paste those manually. The app is free; for $4.99 you can extract only specific folders.
Free Download Manager
Think about how often you find yourself downloading a large file that takes forever or fails repeatedly. A download manager can help. Free Download Manager (FDM) breaks up downloads into chunks for faster speeds, automatically resumes interrupted downloads, and can download videos from streaming sites and torrents. It can also download the same file from multiple mirrors or extract only the needed part of a zip file. Extensions are available for further control. FDM supports Windows, macOS, Android, and Linux. It’s free, and donations are appreciated.
Spotube
Image: Spotube on macOS desktop
Photo credit: Jordan Wirth/SlashGear
YouTube Music is affordable, but using YouTube without a subscription for music means constant ads, and YouTube Music lacks a desktop app. Spotube is a free app that removes the ads. While primarily focused on YouTube Music, Spotube has plugins that support other platforms like Spotify. The plugins let you add metadata from services like MusicBrainz, giving your music album artwork and accurate descriptions. Spotube has a beautiful UI that doesn’t rely on Electron. It’s available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.
CrossOver
Image: CrossOver app on macOS Desktop
Photo credit: Jordan Wirth/SlashGear
Apple makes great computers, but gaming on a MacBook is still a challenge due to limited native titles. For those willing to invest a bit of money and patience, CrossOver lets you translate PC games to run on macOS, using the same foundational technology that the Steam Deck (a Linux machine) uses to run Windows games.
CrossOver makes software installation as easy as possible, with a primary focus on gaming, including paid titles through storefronts like Steam. Before you download, use the CrossOver compatibility checker to see if other users have gotten a game to work. Keep in mind CrossOver is still in early stages of PC‑to‑macOS translation, so some tweaking may be required.
Pricing is a one‑year renewable license (renewal is about 50 % off the regular price). The version you buy can be kept forever. Your purchase also supports the broader Wine project that powers Linux/macOS game translation.
FxSound
Hate the way your speakers or headphones sound on Windows? FxSound is a free, one‑click way to change that. If you’re not interested in fine‑tuning the equalizer, you can choose a sound profile for broad categories like TV & movies, music, or video games. Options also let you boost bass or increase volume beyond what Windows normally supports. It’s free, though donations are encouraged.
FxSound used to be paid software for over 20 years; now it relies on donations.
Solaar
Logitech is a leader in peripherals, but its software support on Linux is lacking. Solaar is the Logitech Linux utility that never was.
Solaar can connect to Logitech’s Unifying and Bolt receivers (including pairing new devices), reprogram mouse and keyboard buttons, change scroll directions, check battery levels, and more—without needing drivers. It can’t update firmware or sync settings via a Logitech account, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to without bloat.
WinBoat
CrossOver supports Linux, but it isn’t free. WinBoat is. It isn’t a Wine translator; instead, it installs a virtual Windows machine on your device and runs Windows apps in a native‑window container, providing file‑system integration, USB passthrough, and other conveniences.
The downside is higher resource usage: your computer runs both Linux and Windows simultaneously, so sufficient CPU and RAM are required. For lightweight systems we recommend CrossOver; for PCs with headroom, WinBoat offers fewer compatibility issues.
GameHub
You can now play PC games on your Android device. Programs like GameHub (and GameNative) let Android phones act as a Steam Deck‑lite. Both apps target Steam owners and make it almost painless to install and run many games from your PC library. High‑end Android flagships (e.g., Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with Snapdragon 8 Elite) can run demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 at 60 fps.
It’s not flawless yet—many games won’t work, and demanding titles may struggle—but the ability to turn an Android phone into a miniature gaming PC is a game‑changing development.
LibrePods
AirPods work great with Apple devices but are notoriously uncooperative with Windows, Android, and Linux. LibrePods frees your AirPods from Apple’s walled garden on Linux and Android. It lets you adjust noise cancellation, transparency mode, head gestures, conversational awareness, battery status, and more—everything except firmware updates and automatic device switching.
LibrePods is a small, community‑driven project; development is paused until May 2026.
Hemingway Editor
If you haven’t yet succumbed to letting ChatGPT do all your writing, there’s an exceptionally helpful app for making your prose flow better: Hemingway Editor. Instead of suggesting fancier synonyms, it encourages you to break up long sentences, replace overcomplicated words, and trim unnecessary fluff.
It’s primarily a web tool, but there’s a paid desktop app for PC and Mac, and a more comprehensive AI‑powered version starting at $8.33 per month. Use its suggestions as guidance, not gospel.
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