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16 Best Free Mac Apps

1. AdiumAdium is an amazing communication app that brings together all of your chat accounts onto oneplatform, including Facebook Chat and Gchat. You can download and add plugins to customize theapp, allowing you to change elements such as font style and speech bubble color.There's also a small, animated Adium icon that lives in your dock. The green duck tells you who

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has chatted you and holds up a wooden "Away" sign to match your away status.IMAGE: ADIUM

2. Kindle for MacKindle for Mac syncs your reading progress between your tablet, iPhone and laptop.You can also customize Kindle for Mac with different colors. But the best part about Kindle forMac? You don't even need a Kindle to read books. You can simply use the app to turn yourdevices into a Kindle e-reader.IMAGE: KINDLE FOR MAC

3. CaffeineCaffeine is to your Mac what Starbucks is to your mind, but, unlike Starbucks, it doesn't cost $5 toreap the benefits. The free app creates an icon on the right side of your menu bar. If you click theicon, your Mac's screen will stay powered up, preventing the screen saver, screen dimmer or sleepsetting.This app is ideal when watching movies or consuming longreads on your desktop. You won't haveto wiggle the mouse to keep your computer powered up anymore -- simply turn on Caffeine andyou're good to go.IMAGE: FLICKR, KELLY SIKKEMA

4. CheatSheetCheatSheet is extremely useful for program navigation. The app grants you access to anencyclopedia of hot keys for whichever program you're using; however, it pops up whenever youpress certain keys, so it's a bit disruptive when using it at first.IMAGE: CHEATSHEET

5. CloudAppCloudApp is a neat way to share files with coworkers and friends. After installing the app, simplydrag and drop a document to the cloud icon. CloudApp generates a short URL that you can postonline, email or chat to someone.Although you can only see five files links at a time with the CloudApp Mac app, the web appversion gives you access to a higher number of files.IMAGE: CLOUDAPP

6. DropboxDropbox is an exceptional file-storage app. When you save a file to Dropbox, you can access itfrom any Wi-Fi-enabled device. Starring a file on Dropbox lets you access it offline as well.The free app comes with 2.5 GB of free storage space, with options to upgrade your account at aflat rate of $100 per year for 100 GB of space. You can also earn 250 MB of storage for free bycompleting five out of seven Getting Started tasks.IMAGE: DROPBOX

7. FoundFound lets you search all of your content in desktop folders, cloud-based storage like Dropbox,Skypebox, Google Drive and others. You can create hotkeys shortcuts for the Found app in thesettings folder. According to the website, Found never sends any of your personal data to a thirdparty; however, it does send anonymous usage data. You can sync the app with multiple Googleaccounts.IMAGE: FOUND

8. OnyXOnyX is a great maintenance tool for organizing your computer system and keeping it secure. IfOnyX detects any problems with your hard drive, it will prompt you to carry out a reparation task.It reminds you to repair the permissions of your system, clear browser settings, cache, passwords,delete applications, user and system caches, etc.One of the best parts about OnyX is that it includes a glossary of information about the differenttasks it performs.IMAGE: ONYX

9. SelfControlIf you lack the self control necessary to stay off of Facebook or Twitter all day, this is an app tohelp you focus.SelfControl lets you add website URLs to a blacklist and then specify how long you want to belocked out of those sites. It works across browsers, preventing you from pulling up Firefox orSafari in order to beat the system.IMAGE: SELFCONTROL

10. SkitchEvernote developed Skitch as a way to visually collaborate on documents. You can easily applycolored annotations to PDF documents, and it's compatible on both your phone and your desktop.IMAGE: SKITCH

11. Sublime TextSublime Text is an exceptional online text editor for coding, markup or prose. While it is free todownload and evaluate the software, the download page does say that the license must bepurchased for continued use, However, there is no specified time limit for the evaluation.You can make batch edits, quickly navigate between files and view multiple files at once. You canalso customize the app itself with simple JSON files.IMAGE: SUBLIME TEXT

12. SuperDuperSuperDuper is an easy-to-use, reliable data loss prevention app that both non-technical andtechnical users will enjoy.With SuperDuper, you can create a backup of your hard drive so that if your Mac crashes, you'llhave a second copy of your work stored elsewhere. It's great when moving from one machine toanother, or for simply backing up your files. If one of your files becomes corrupted, you cansimply reboot it with your SuperDuper copy.IMAGE: SUPERDUPER

13. The UnarchiverThe Unarchiver is a quick and easy way to open all compressed file types. This app is extremelyeasy to customize, and allows you to specify which files for which it should be used and where itshould save the files.This app can handle more file types than the default OS X app, allowing for foreign charactersupport from Zip,Tar-GZip and more.IMAGE: THE UNARCHIVER

14. TransmissionTransmission is a notably fast BitTorrent client with an extremely easy-to-use interface andcustomizable options. The app lets you queue downloads, set timers for when to start or stop them.It's open source and claims that it doesn't track its users or have any kind of third-party ads, soyour cybersecurity is safe.Its most notable feature is that it doesn't use up a lot of memory, so it won't slow down yourcomputer significantly while running.IMAGE: TRANSMISSION

15. VLCThe VLC player is arguably the best and most versatile media player out there today. It can playvirtually any media file, and with a GNU GLP license, you can customize the player to match yourneeds.Hot keys give you quick and painless access to VLC's different views and features. VLC also hasa slew of effects settings -- audio, video, synchronization and more.IMAGE: VLC

16. JumpcutRemember when Microsoft Word had a clipboard that let you copy and paste multiple items?Jumpcut is the free Mac app equivalent.Jumpcut lets you see everything you've copied that day, and allows you to page through the copieditems until you've found the item you'd like to paste.For a more detailed explanation of how the app works, click here.IMAGE: JUMPCUT

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BY JESS FEE / JUL 21, 2013

When you hear the word "app," you immediately think of those small programs for yoursmartphone. However, an app is simply any piece of software that serves some kind ofpurpose, either online, on your computer or another electronic device.

Some of the best and most versatile apps are available for Mac. We've compiled a listof the best free Mac apps, from well-known ones such as Dropbox and Skitch, tolesser known ones such as Adium and CheatSheet.

SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Free iPad Apps

Some of these apps can be found within Apple's App Store, while others are registeredunder the GNU GPL license, meaning that you can view and change the source codeeasily. Many of them are also compatible with various plugins and add-ons, whichmake it easy to customize the app to your liking.

Which free Mac apps would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments sectionbelow.

Homepage image: Flickr, John Watson

TOPICS: APPLE, APPS, APPS AND SOFTWARE, FREE, MAC,MACBOOK, TECH

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Jul 22, 2013

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Jewel Guevara

LIKE / REPLY

Missing Alfred... Best free mac app by miles

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Cristiana Lacerda

LIKE / REPLY

I have Sublime text, VLC and for some yet unknown reason dropbox. The firsttwo are excellent, the rest I am not the least interested in.

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Mashable obsession with iPhone wasn't enough, now Mac??!!

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Sorry you said Mac? Then no.

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Don't forget about copy, tons of free space to share files click below....

https://copy.com?r=y48o6P

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Bits diary: http://bitsapp.info

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Why do I need CloudApp's free 250mb, when Dropbox gives 2.5 gb?

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Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

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Jul 21, 2013

Angel Leon

Morgan Kee

Divyendu Singh

Manu Sharma

Levan Melikishvili

Damon Blue

Ben King

Eduardo Ortiz-Ramírez

Brennan Toomey

Arnab Das

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And FrostWire of course.

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I second ClipMenu and Pocket. Also, f.lux is a great app - it automatically tintsyour screen yellow once the sun goes down in your area, which helps to keepyour circadian rhythms in sync. Blue light makes your body think it's still dayand so you don't feel sleepy, and I'm always on the computer before bed so thatwas a problem until I found f.lux.

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Well @Mashable to be honest ClipMenu us much better than JumpCut, youmight wanna update the listing and give ClipMenu a real GO GO. !! :)

1 LIKE / REPLY

@Jess Fee I was just about to mention Alfred, guess I don't have to, haha.

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Hey author, do you know what Alfred is?

1 LIKE / REPLY

Jul 21, 2013Jess Fee moderator

Hey @Levan Melikishvili, thanks for reading! I thought aboutincluding Alfred but I think the paid version is what makes it trulyessential. It's not my favorite app for a "free" list. Do you pay, or doyou use the free version?

3 LIKE / REPLY

Need to add Witch to the list. The only way to switch between apps!

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"an app is simply any piece of software that serves some kind of purpose, eitheronline, on your computer or another electronic device." Gee thanks!

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nice!

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woah woah woah, Mac and Free in the same sentence? It must be a scam.

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1. Twitter for Mac - at least its better than the web version. Although personally Iprefer Tweetbot.

2. NoSleep - Google it, you'll be surprised :)

3. VLC - Yea, "plays everything". That should be their brand tagline actually.

4. InstaShare - Brilliant. AirDrop on steroids.

5. Pocket - best read it later service, after Instapaper.

6. Libre Office - for those who simply need a good but free MS Office lookalike.

7. Google Chrome - Ok, Safari is better. But you get to play Bastion on thisbrowser!

8. Skitch - Surprisingly easy to use, superb tool.

9. Google Drive - It's awesome. Period.

10. Fluid app -Again, google it. It's pretty awesome.

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Jul 21, 2013

Elouisa Georgiou

Carl Dispoto

Michael McGee

Evert Chin

Tin Aung Linn

Jason Correia

Okay, 10 should be enough. More on paid apps when Mashable comes up withthat article.

2 LIKE / REPLY

surprised not to see wunderlist on here. I love that it syncs to all my devices soI'm never without my to do lists.

1 LIKE / REPLY

My favorite, Alfred, is missing. Don't know what I would do without it.

2 LIKE / REPLY

Jul 21, 2013Jess Fee moderator

@Carl Dispoto I thought about including Alfred but I think the paidversion is what makes it truly essential. It's not my favorite app for a"free" list.

1 LIKE / REPLY

What about Windows, Linux and Chromebook apps huh? Very Apple-centric'news blog', thats all we need.

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Jul 21, 2013

Aug 24, 2013

Aug 24, 2013

Josh Poulain

Henry Law

Henry Law

@Michael Zee Have you read anything on this site other than thisone article? If you did you'd see plenty of articles about Microsoft,Google, Twitter, Facebook, and plenty of other major techcompanies.

Of COURSE the article specifically about Mac apps is going to beApple-Centric. Jesus you people complain about everything.

3 LIKE / REPLY

@Michael Zee freaking fandroid like u are annoying and they areeverywhere on every ios / osx related article / comment section , gee,i like google but their users have issues , yea yea yea , u must be amiddle aged dude lives in your basement with your POWERFUL pcand u are going to say mac is overpriced

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@Michael Zee pathetic .. to be honest , who gives a flying fxk ofwindows ? linux ????? seriously ??? how old are u ? some kind ofelitism geek ? have u ever got laid ?

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While Caffeine is more popular choice, I find NoSleep is a better.

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wow Sublime Text 2 isn't really free. Just their demo is.

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Jul 21, 2013Harry Williams

@Tin Aung LinnThe entire app is completely usable for free. It justnags every so often after saving a file asking you to register it. It'spretty much free.

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Sublime Text 2 isn't free.

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Jul 21, 2013Ali Razzouk

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