But I can appreciate the appeal of Reeder for Mac, as it’s the desktop version of Reeder for Mac 1.1.2 ( $10): When it comes to RSS reading, I’m still a devoted ![]() Piezo makes this list at the wire-it was released in December-by offering dead-simple recording of audio from any app or input, and doing it with a charming interface that’s fun to use. For example, to record sound that’s playing in a browser window, in DVD Player, in a streaming-audio client, or in a VoIP app such as iChat, Skype, or FaceTime. Piezo 1.1 ( $10): Every year, one of the most-frequent requests we receive is for ways to record audio playing in particular apps. If you file a lot of email in OS X’s Mail, MsgFiler is a no-brainer. How much did this add-on improve my productivity-and spare my hands and wrists from repetitive stress? According to MsgFiler, I filed over 28,000 messages this year using it, which amounts to over 75 messages each and every day. ![]() MsgFiler also makes it easy to switch between mailboxes, copy messages instead of moving them, add labels to messages, and create new mailboxes. In practice, the filing process is lightning-fast, and it saves quite a bit of clicking and dragging. Select one or more messages, press MsgFiler’s shortcut and type a few letters of the destination mailbox’s name, and press Return. Since I reviewed it back in September, the utility has gained several additional options, making it even more useful.Īdd-on for OS X’s Mail email client, MsgFiler is aimed at those of us who’d rather file messages using the keyboard than using a mouse or trackpad. Love it or hate it, Lion Tweaks makes it simple to alter nearly two dozen interface and behavioral settings that are normally inaccessible. (Granted, this may say as much about the choices Apple made in designing Lion as it does about the quality of Lion Tweaks.) Interestingly, Lion Tweaks was also among the most disliked Gems of the year, as many Lion fans seemed to feel Lion Tweaks shouldn’t exist. Lion Tweaks 1.3 ( payment requested): This catch-all utility for tweaking the behavior of Lion (Mac OS X 10.7) isn’t something the typical person would use frequently-in fact, you may use it only once per Mac-but it was nevertheless one of the most popular Gems of 2011 among readers. I never thought I needed a focus aid, but after reviewing Isolator, I never uninstalled it. A number of useful settings let you tailor Isolator’s behavior to your preferences, and if you want to temporarily disable Isolator, a simple click or key press lets you toggle it off and on. You can adjust the tint color and level, choose the duration of fades, and even apply various filters to background programs instead of a basic tint. Isolator offers help by automatically fading ( tinting in the program’s nomenclature) everything but the frontmost application, the menu bar, and (optionally) the Dock. Isolator 4.4 ( payment requested): With all the distractions our Macs offer, sometimes we just want to focus-indeed, we get a surprising number of reader requests for focus aids. NetSpot, meanwhile, is an amazing little utility that uses your MacBook to map out your Wi-Fi network, helping you optimize your coverage area and minimize dead spots. ![]() ![]() iNet is a beautiful app that offers an easy-to-use summary of information about your network and the devices on it. But the two apps, each designed to help you get the most out of your network, complement each other well and cost a whopping $6 together. INet 1.2.1 ( $6) and NetSpot 1.1.284 ( free): OK, I’m cheating here by counting these two utilities as a single entry. Of the remaining 100+ Gems we reviewed this past year, these eleven rounded out my 15 favorites: Printopia even lets you configure your favorite printer settings-paper size, print quality, and more-for AirPrint printing. But just as useful are Printopia’s other features: Using the iOS print dialog, you can save documents to a folder on your Mac (for example, for saving receipts from an online purchases), save documents to your Mac’s Dropbox folder (thus making them available to any of your Dropbox-configured devices), send documents to applications on your Mac (for example, to open an iOS screenshot in your favorite image editor, or to send a document to Evernote), or process a document using any of the PDF-workflow options available in OS X print dialogs. Printopia 2.1.5 ( $20): This Mac OS X add-on extends iOS’s AirPrint feature by letting you print from iOS devices (or other Macs running Lion) to any or all printers configured on your Mac, no matter how they’re connected.
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