Apps that I am not uninstalling, Part 8.

Like most Mac users who enjoy tinkering, I've installed more apps than I'd ever admit publicly. Most come and go. A few stick around. Here are some that have genuinely impressed me lately. Forecast Bar(Monthly Subscription):- I've always had a strange obsession with weather apps, particularly those that offer proper colour icons in the menu bar. Forecast Bar has been around for years, and after a period when it felt some of its best features had disappeared, I recently gave it another try and I'm glad I did. The latest version is excellent. Whether you prefer colourful icons, minimalist designs, dock integration, detailed forecasts, weather alerts, sunrise notifications, umbrella reminders, or even earthquake alerts, Forecast Bar covers them all. It's highly customisable and is easily one of the best weather apps currently available for macOS. Hyperkey (Free): -Hyperkey is one of those apps I ignored for years, mainly because I never bothered to find out what it actually did. The app turns the Caps Lock key into an extra modifier key, opening up a whole range of shortcut possibilities. I've never been a massive keyboard shortcut user, but Hyperkey makes creating and remembering shortcuts surprisingly easy. Best of all, it's free. Parallel Spaces(once-off purchase):- Parallel Spaces is a relatively new app that allows you to run multiple instances of supported applications, each with separate logins and settings. My testing has been limited so far, and not every application works perfectly, but the developer continues to expand support and improve the software. Parall (Once-off purchase): an app I've mentioned before suddenly came to mind. I had been overlooking its main function and instead using one of the many additional features it provides, which has led to some lovely dock customisations. Parall is focused on multi-instance app running and compatibility with over 100 apps. Animated dock icons are also one of its features, which is where I tend to hover. Since it is always installed, I am definitely going to look at what I might have been ignoring all along. Eloquent:- (Free)Voice dictation has never really been my thing. Early speech recognition systems required endless training and rarely understood what I was saying. But Eloquent might be changing my mind. Google's new voice-to-text offering is impressively accurate, fast, and easy to use. While I still rely on Soniox for all Afrikaans dictation, Eloquent has become one of the most impressive, completely free dictation tools I've tested recently. MaCursor (Free) and Mousecape (Free): - For years, Mousecape was my favourite cursor customisation tool. Development eventually stopped, and compatibility became an issue. A beta version is available for Tahoe, but as we head to yet another new OS, one wonders how long before it fails. MaCursor effectively fills that gap. It offers a large collection of cursor designs, extensive customisation options, and even allows you to create your own cursor themes. If you enjoy personalising your desktop, it's definitely worth a look. Mole (Free) and Mole (once-off Purchase): Mole has become my preferred uninstaller and maintenance utility. The app handles application removal cleanly, performs system maintenance tasks efficiently, and generally stays out of the way while doing its job. The free version installs with Homebrew and works via terminal commands, but I soon had ChatGPT create an application that restored all app functionality from a desktop perspective. The one I now use is a paid app, one I have no hesitation recommending. It is believed to be the same developer, but Mole, the paid app, is smooth, easy to use, and feature-rich. If you miss the old days of MacUpdater, Mole seems to offer this functionality for free and delivers accurate daily app update results. Dock Apps Ghost Tile (free) :-Ghost Tile is a fascinating project aimed at hiding dock icons that would otherwise remain visible. While it's still early days and there are limitations, particularly with certain system and background applications, the concept is promising, and the developer seems to be heading in an interesting direction. If you hate a particular dock icon, this might be a solution, and I hope any interest shown by fellow cavers might help drive the development of this app. DockMover (Free):- solves a simple but surprisingly annoying problem. It remembers exactly where you want icons positioned on your dock and restores them automatically. If you're particular about keeping your dock organised, you'll appreciate what it does. It won't bypass macOS limitations around hiding certain icons, but for maintaining a consistent dock layout, it works very well. Easy to install and use, it's very good at keeping the dock exactly how you want it. Like Ghost tile, it's still a very young app at best. We will meet again when app 9 is published. As always, if you are an app developer, please send me your app. Even though I can't promise that I will be using the app or even list it on this forum, one never knows what will arrive today. Apps I am not Uninstalling, back in time:- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8