Five Useful Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - May 2018

Apps designed for the Mac often don't receive as much attention as apps for iOS devices, so we've launched a monthly series that highlights useful, interesting Mac apps that are worth checking out.

This month's app selection, outlined in the video and the post below, includes apps for managing and backing up your iPhone, transferring music between services, watching Netflix, keeping track of quick notes, and more. Many of the apps we've included this month were chosen by our forum members.

  • Stamp (Free) - Stamp is an app that lets you transfer playlists and music tracks from one streaming service to another. So if you're an Apple Music user and want to switch to Spotify, Stamp is the app to use. Stamp is free, but if you want to make unlimited song and playlist transfers, you'll need to shell out $9.99.
  • iMazing ($40) - iMazing is an iTunes alternative that's designed to allow you to manage the content on your iOS device. It lets you transfer files, photos, books, apps, and music to and from your iOS device or a new device, plus you can use it to create backups of all your content, archiving data like messages, contacts, books, and more.
  • Power Menu ($9.99) - Power Menu is a Finder extension that's customizable and able to add various actions to the right click menu and toolbar within Finder. Using Power Menu, you can create shortcuts for moving and copying files, creating new documents, editing with specific apps, sending via email, and more.
  • Thought Train (Free) - Thought Train is a simple free (pay-what-you-want) app that's meant to replace sticky notes. Thought Train lives in your Mac's menu bar and lets you enter quick reminders of things that you need to get done or thoughts you want to keep track of. Your entries can be set to scroll across the menu bar.
  • Friendly for Netflix (Free) - Friendly for Netflix is a free app that's designed to provide you with an alternative to the web browser for watching Netflix TV shows and movies on your Mac. It features trailers so you can preview shows, picture-in-picture functionality for watching a show while using another app, and Rotten Tomatoes ratings for every movie.

Do you have favorite must-have Mac apps that we haven't highlighted yet? Let us know what they are in the comments and we might feature them in a future video. Many of this month's picks came from our forum members.

For more of our Mac app picks, make sure to check out our lists from February, March, and April.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...

Top Rated Comments

ike1707 Avatar
87 months ago
It's unfortunate that iTunes has enough ongoing UI deficiencies to justify a 40 price tag for an app like iMazing.. but here we are. :rolleyes:
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
87 months ago
It's unfortunate that iTunes has enough ongoing UI deficiencies to justify a 40 price tag for an app like iMazing.. but here we are. :rolleyes:
Eh. People love to crap on iTunes but has a LOT of power user features. The interface is fine considering what it does. Not every piece of software can look #minimal and still, you know, do a lot of stuff.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
87 months ago
Friendly is nice but not update since 2016
[doublepost=1527804767][/doublepost]
Netflix works nice on AppleTV, you can love its interface or hate but it would not change much using an app which a web view basically is the same as browsing with safari. Anyway it is only for macOS which lacks a native Netflix app.
Yeah, I get that this is a Mac app, thanks.

Netflix works nice(ly) on Apple TV if you like crap starting to automatically play, with sound, whenever it feels like it -- which I personally do not care for.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ike1707 Avatar
87 months ago
Eh. People love to crap on iTunes but has a LOT of power user features. The interface is fine considering what it does. Not every piece of software can look #minimal and still, you know, do a lot of stuff.
I actually use iTunes exclusively, and I agree that it’s a good program in many ways, not least of which is the robust file conversion engine it houses. I’m a graphic designer though, and in turn a very visual person- other people gripe about things I can’t care less about, but this -

https://www.macworld.com/article/3140018/software-entertainment/the-artist-photos-in-itunes-are-useless-they-shouldnt-be.html

is inexcusable all these years later. A recurring theme in iTunes, on my phone, on my Apple TV, and in the iTunes Store. For a company with so much focus on aesthetic, it’s an embarrassment. Egg on Apple’s face.

If I simply had control over artist images in my library and on my devices? There is little else about iTunes to complain about.. in my opinion.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redheeler Avatar
87 months ago
It's unfortunate that iTunes has enough ongoing UI deficiencies to justify a 40 price tag for an app like iMazing.. but here we are. :rolleyes:
And Apple seems to think the only way to solve it is by removing useful features like app backup and sync, thereby making apps like iMazing even more necessary...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DodBasim Avatar
87 months ago
iStat Menus is really great for pros.
https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)