Useful Developer Tools - App Edition

Overview

It's been 13 years since I started using only MacOS.

Even before starting my career as a developer, I had a hobby of exploring various tools to use Mac more conveniently. It was fun just trying out new tools.

Many tools have come and gone through that journey.

This time, I want to introduce the tools that have survived and continue to help me overcome various challenges. I'll be introducing them in two parts - Apps and CLI, and this article will cover the App edition.

tip

All tools introduced can be installed via the brew command.

Raycast

Raycast - Your shortcut to everything

Without a doubt, the undisputed number one. If I could only install one app on MacOS, I would choose Raycast without hesitation.

While Alfred is a competing tool¹, I strongly recommend switching to Raycast unless you're already heavily locked into Alfred. Even if you are locked into Alfred, I still recommend switching.

Since the respected Shong-shong has already written an excellent introduction to Raycast, I'll skip it here and refer you to the article below:

• A Peek into a Productivity Enthusiast's Raycast Setup (for macOS)

AltTab

AltTab - Windows alt-tab on macOS

MacOS's app switching UX is terribly inadequate. Browsers like Chrome often have multiple windows open, but the default app switcher only shows one Chrome icon, making it difficult to switch directly to the desired window. Users familiar with WindowOS will find this particularly awkward.

AltTab perfectly solves this problem by enabling much more intuitive app switching. Since it's an app that provides pure benefits without any drawbacks, I strongly recommend installing and trying it.

Loop

GitHub - MrKai77/Loop: Window management made elegant.

If you're already using Rectangle or Magnet without any issues, you might not necessarily need this. However, Loop uses arrow keys for splitting and provides intuitive UX through animations. If you've never used a window splitting tool before, start with Loop.

AeroSpace

GitHub - nikitabobko/AeroSpace: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

Automatically splits windows as they're opened. With its Workspace feature, you can group and manage screens quickly and conveniently. It's particularly useful if you're a Vim user like me who rarely uses the mouse.

Input Source Pro

Input Source Pro - Switch and track your input sources with ease

When you assign a language to specific apps, it changes the current input source to the designated language when switching to that app.

This means that if you set English as the default language for IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA where you rarely input Korean, the input source will change to English when switching to that app without pressing any language switch key. The same applies vice versa.

When the input source changes, a small popup briefly appears, making the change intuitively noticeable and more convenient.

Shottr

Shottr – Screenshot Annotation App For Mac

MacOS's default capture is somewhat cumbersome to edit right after capturing. With shottr, you can apply commonly used developer features like blur, box, crop, etc., via shortcuts and immediately copy the results to the clipboard. The scroll capture feature, useful for capturing long web pages, is a bonus.

I'm currently using it to completely replace the default capture functionality with minimal dissonance by disabling the default capture shortcuts and applying the same shortcuts in shottr.

Warp

The intelligent terminal | Warp

A terminal that comes with all the basic necessary features. Especially the wrapping feature, which can make even those unfamiliar with Linux commands feel like experienced SRE professionals, feels almost magical.

Implemented with their own framework written in Rust rather than Electron, it operates quickly despite providing quite many features. Feature additions are also active, so there's no need to worry about "what if patches suddenly stop." If you're unsure which terminal to use, just try Warp without hesitation.

Invite link: https://app.warp.dev/referral/7GXN8K

Ghostty

Ghostty

While iTerm2 is famous, there are now too many more elegant and sophisticated terminals (even excluding Warp). Unless you have old attachments, iTerm2 isn't particularly attractive these days... If you think so, I recommend Ghostty. It provides a very fast and light development experience while being feature-complete, requiring almost no initial setup. If Warp feels overwhelming, Ghostty could be a good choice.

Homerow

Homerow — Keyboard shortcuts for every button in macOS

You can control Mac in vim style without a mouse. Though it's paid, it's extremely useful for vim users. If you enjoy using Vimium, this is a particularly satisfying tool. Conversely, if you're not familiar with vim key mappings, the necessity might be somewhat lower.

Apidog

Apidog An integrated platform for API design, debugging, development, mock, and testing

While Postman is a popular tool used by many people, I haven't really warmed up to it due to various issues like security patches not being updated for quite a while. I'd rather recommend using CLI tools like HTTPie or curl, or using .http files provided within IDEs. Unless you have no choice due to external factors, I recommend looking at other tools instead of Postman.

That other tool is Apidog. I was first impressed by its sophisticated UI/UX, and then again by how conveniently it can generate documentation. Since the usage itself isn't much different from Postman, I think you can adapt quickly.

Obsidian

Obsidian - Sharpen your thinking

While it requires some research on concepts like PARA for effective use, it's quite developer-friendly with its lightweight nature and freedom to add functionality through plugins. Managing files locally makes backup easy, and you can very flexibly apply automation to meet specific needs.

Though there are hardly any places without internet these days, it's also a minor advantage that you can edit documents without issues even on airplanes.

With the recent change in pricing policy, it can now be used without a license even at work, making it even more accessible.

1Password

Password Manager and Extended Access Management | 1Password

Though it's a paid service, it's worth the value. It supports cross-platform extremely well, allowing use on almost all OS. It's really convenient that passwords are automatically generated and saved, eliminating the need to memorize them. The generated passwords are very complex, improving security.

Personally, I manage all kinds of sensitive information in 1Password, including driver's licenses, passports, credit cards, various recovery keys, etc. It also has a CLI, providing minor help with various automations.

Since it's like putting all eggs in one basket, the security of 1Password's service itself is very important. It's somewhat reassuring that they haven't been hacked in decades. If you're uncomfortable with the subscription model or have other concerns, try using Bitwarden instead.

Ice

GitHub - jordanbaird/Ice: Powerful menu bar manager for macOS

Completely replaces hidden-bar.

With newer MacBooks having a notch at the top of the display, when using hidden-bar, the hidden area was difficult to check as it was covered by the notch. With ice, you can display the hidden area as a popup, avoiding interference.

Conclusion

So far, I've briefly introduced the apps I always install when setting up a new Mac. If there are tools you find incredibly convenient that weren't introduced in this article, please leave a comment. This article will be updated gradually throughout 2025, so it would be very helpful for organizing.

The next article will be 'Best Tools of 2025 - CLI' edition, introducing tools from the perspective of developers more familiar with the terminal. It might be an interesting viewing point to see if tools you're already using well are introduced.

Footnotes

1. I also used it for more than 5 years ↩