Mac Apps

CloudMagic email client comes to the Mac

On Wednesday, CloudMagic released an OS X version of their minimal email client, which is also available on iOS, Android, watchOS, and Android Wear. Like its mobile counterparts, CloudMagic for Mac supports email accounts from Google, Exchange, Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud, and any IMAP-hosted account, making it a well-rounded client for managing several accounts in one place.

Original Fantastical for Mac is now officially over, Fantastical 2 is 20% off until January 10

The original Fantastical, the popular calendar and reminders app which basically launched developer Flexibits back in 2011, has received its final update in the Mac App Store. While support for Fantastical 1 is now officially over, Fantastical 2 for iPhone, iPad and Mac will of course continue to be updated, maintained and supported for the time being.

“After more than four years of free updates and support, it’s time to focus our efforts, energy and resources on Fantastical 2,” Flexibits said.

Twitter for Mac revamped, gains dark theme, inline video and GIF support, group DMs and more

Twitter today at last issued a long-expected update to its free of charge OS X desktop client in the Mac App Store. The new Twitter 4.0 experience starts with a brand new dark theme for those who prefer the Finder's optional dark appearance in OS X Yosemite and El Capitan.

Other enhancements in this edition of Twitter for Mac include the ability to mute accounts, use a new Today widget to see Twitter Highlights in the Notification Center, group chats with up to 50 people and support for Twitter's new quotation format, animated GIFs and inline video playback.

How to download older versions of iOS apps

Charles Proxy is a tool for OS X that can be used to facilitate the download of older versions of iOS apps from iTunes. It's a bit of a drawn-out exercise, but if you've ever been in need of an older version of a particular app, then you know how handy such a technique can be. In this video, which was inspired by this Reddit post, I'll show you how to download older iOS apps directly from iTunes on Mac.

Advanced iPad Pro and Apple Pencil support now available in Astropad’s iPad app

Astropad, an awesome app by former Apple engineers that basically turns the screen of your iOS device into a graphics tablet for the Mac, has received an important update this morning with expanded support for Apple's new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil. Coupled with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, Astropad is now truly a Wacom Cintiq replacement that’s wireless.

“We’ve spent significant time with iPad Pro and we’ve rethought, tweaked and tuned Astropad to make the most of this powerful device,” developers tell me via email.

The Sims 2: Pet Stories hits Mac App Store

Tired of good ol' Sims? How about Sims with pets? Based off of The Sims 2 engine, this classic Sims title returns to the Mac—courtesy of Electronic Arts and Aspyr Media—with updated graphics and several other enhancements and is available for the first time on the Mac exclusively through the Mac App Store.

With native display support for Retina and 4K Macs, gesture support for zoom and rotate, drastically improved performance and other tweaks, you can now care for and train those lovable yet unpredictable pets as you compete for Best in Show at the most important local pet show of the year.

iTunes 12.3.2 with Apple Music browsing improvements now available

A few days following the release of the iOS 9.2 software update for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with Apple Music improvements and other changes, Apple today posted a matching iTunes update for Macs running OS X El Capitan.

iTunes 12.3.2 makes it easier to browse classical songs on Apple Music with support for works, composers and performers.

Duet Display now works on iPad Pro, lets you run iOS and Mac apps together

Duet Display, a terrific app which turns an iOS device into an external display for the Mac, has been updated in the App Store with official support for the iPad Pro and major performance improvements on both iOS and OS X.

The best thing about the updated app is its ability to allocate one-third of the iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 4' display for iOS apps, with the remaining two-thirds of the screen real estate dedicated to Mac apps.

Dual-screening using an iPad Pro and Duet Display comes with zero lag, developers claim. Crafted by ex-Apple engineers who worked on the iPad and iMac, Duet Display through its desktop helper app appears as an external display hooked up to your Mac or Windows PC via the USB port.

Today’s Pixelmator for Mac update brings several new features

Pixelmator, one of the best Photoshop alternatives on any platform, has received a nice little update in the Mac App Store this morning. Bumped to version 3.4.1, the refreshed app brings half a dozen new features and refinements and packs in nearly two dozen bug fixes and stability improvements, including faster and more responsive performance on 2011 Macs with Intel's HD 3000 graphics cards.

Review: CleanMyDrive 2—stylish, lightweight app to get rid of junk cluttering your drives

MacPaw, a fresh, independent developer behind the versatile and powerful CleanMyMac application, today unleashed a major update to CleanMyDrive.

CleanMyDrive is a free-of-charge Mac utility designed to help reclaim free disk space by cleaning the junk from your internal hard drives and external storage devices such as USB thumb drives, SSDs and more

The new and much improved CleanMyDrive 2 app boasts a completely redesigned user interface that lets you check disk stats, drag-and-drop files directly to any drive, automatically clean disks after hitting the Eject button and more.

With it, cleaning hidden junk that's been clogging up your drives is easy and fun.

Review: SiriMote—control media playback on your Mac with Siri Remote

Wouldn't it be nice if you could use the Siri Remote that came with your new Apple TV to control media applications on your Mac? After all, the remote is Bluetooth-based and Mac itself has robust support for Bluetooth networking.

With SiriMote, a new freeware app, now you can. Created by Vienna, Austria-based Eternal Storms Software's Matthias Gansrigler, SiriMote lets you control various functions of the Mac using your Apple TV's Siri Remote.

Chrome for Mac nixes notification menu bar

Google's Chrome browser was updated yesterday to version 47 on Windows, Mac and Linux. The latest stable release of the browser includes bug fixes and removes a rarely used feature: the notification center in the Mac's menu bar.

Chrome for iPhone, iPod touch iPad also received an update yesterday in the App Store, bringing out support for 3D Touch shortcuts on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus and enabling more shortcuts via external wireless keyboards.