Mac Best Apps for Developers is your source for the latest, most innovative apps from the world of Mac development. Whether you’re looking to create a new app or simply add to your development skill set, we’ll help you find the tools you need to make your vision a reality.
Table of Contents
Mac Best Apps For Developers
In this article, we provide a rundown of most commonly used Mac developer tools that make life easier for both novice coders and more experienced developers. We hope that our brief overview of 12 best developer tools for Mac will help you discover a utility which will well fit your workflow and make your development project go smoothly.
1. FlexiHub
FlexiHub is among the most efficient Mac apps for developers who are building software solutions for iOS devices. The utility helps share iPhones and iPads over the network making them available for access from any remote machine, which means a developer can connect to an iOS device without having it physically attached to their Mac. This is especially convenient for iOS app testing and debugging. FlexiHub works perfectly well across Ethernet, LAN, WiFi, the Internet or any other network and protects each connection with advanced traffic encryption.
2. Homebrew
A free open-source package manager. This solution provides a simple way to install UNIX tools, Mac terminal utilities and graphical apps on Apple’s macOS. It can quickly download and install them, compiling them from source. This Mac dev tool has been recommended for its ease of use as well as its integration into the command line.
3. Xcode
Xcode is an integrated development environment that offers a comprehensive set of Mac developer tools – everything programmers need to build great applications for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. This code editor supports multiple programming languages and gives developers a unified workflow for user interface design, coding, testing, and debugging. Xcode includes the Xcode IDE, Swift and Objective-C compilers, Instruments analysis tool, simulators, various SDKs, and hundreds of outstanding features.
4. iTerm2
iTerm2 is an open source replacement for Apple’s Terminal and the successor to iTerm. This handy terminal emulator will let you manage your workflow efficiently. This macOS developer tool is highly customizable and supports various OS features including window transparency, full-screen mode, ExposéTabs, Growl notifications, and standard keyboard shortcuts. Also, iTerm2 offers customizable profiles and Instant Replay of past terminal input/output.
5. Sublime Text
If you’re looking for a fast and feature packed text and development editor, Sublime Text will be a good choice. It is a sophisticated text editor for code, markup, and prose. With this Mac dev tool, you will get the highly desired abilities to write or edit in multiple places in a document simultaneously, edit super fast, reach the editor’s functionality via the keyboard, and get syntax highlighting and code snippets for a large number of languages, like Javascript, PHP, CSS, HTML, Python, LESS, XML and C++ to name a few.
6. NetBeans
Packed full of features to help developers write bug free code, NetBeans can integrate with such industry standard tools as FindBugs, thus helping to identify and fix common problems. NetBeans Profiler provides a means to inspect your applications’ speed and memory usage. A visual debugger allows for easy GUI debugging. All latest Java technologies are supported in all add-on analyzers, converters and code editors within the IDE.
NetBeans’ compatibility with various operating systems makes it a worthy contender when it comes to choosing an appropriate programming software for Mac. NetBeans has an extensible editor, providing plug-in support for programming languages like C/C++, XML, HTML, PHP, JSP and Javascript.
7. Tower
An easy to use Git client for Mac. It integrates easily with lots of other Mac OS developer tools and can be controlled from the command line. Git Tower can become an indispensable macOS developer tool for those who want to access their Planio repositories via an intuitive GUI. The solution provides a host of advanced features such as single line staging, submodule support, and file history. With this app, you don’t have to worry about making mistakes – you can use “undo”, create new branches via drag & drop, or roll back to previous revisions.
8. SourceTree
A free Git client for Mac and Windows. This desktop app is designed to simplify how you interact with your Git repositories so you can focus on coding. What really stands out this Mac developer tool from other apps is a simple Git GUI helping developers visualize and manage hosted and local repositories. The tool lets you create, clone, commit, push, pull, merge, and more with a single click. It works with Git and Mercurial.
9. Atom
Atom is another popular text and source code editor based on web technologies. It is chosen by thousands of developers for its beautiful UI and modular design. What’s nice about this open source macOS developer tool is that it supports plugins written in Node.js, and embedded Git Control developed by GitHub. What’s more, it can be used as an IDE for a plethora of programming languages. With Atom, you get syntax highlighting, language autodetection, a context autocomplete system and many other great features.
10. Visual Studio Code
A free, lightweight yet powerful tool for editing and debugging web applications. It comes with built-in support for TypeScript, JavaScript and Node.js, has integrated Git and a wide range of extensions for other languages. By using its various settings, you can configure this software for Mac app development to your needs: almost every part of its editor, UI, and functional behavior has options you can modify.
11. Dash
In case memorizing code syntax from all languages sounds impossible to you, a good solution will be Dash. It is an API documentation browser and code snippet manager. It collects Documentation for such programming languages as HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, Sass, LESS, and some other. Dash helps you store snippets of code, as well as instantly search and browse documentation for almost any API you might use. This Mac app for developers offers instant offline access to more than 200 API documentation sets.
12. Go2Shell
Our list of 12 best Mac apps for developers would not be complete without a tiny Go2Shell tool that opens a terminal window to the current directory in Finder. You simply install this app, drag and drop it onto the Finder toolbar, and get a button in your Finder windows to click and open a terminal window in that directory.
We hope our selection of macOS dev tools helped you learn more about what tools work best for others. There are many great ones out there, but here are the ones that are used most frequently by Mac app developers.
And which solutions do you find to be most helpful when it comes to app development software for Mac? Feel free to add any thoughts at all in the comments below.
TOP CHOICE
FlexiHub
- 4.8 overall rank based on 78+ users
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and Raspberry Pi. 8.97MB Size.
- Version 5.3.14268. (20 Oct, 2021).
best mac apps for developers 2021
1. WordPress
WordPress powers 40% of websites around the world, and no wonder. This web builder offers thousands of pre-made themes and a high level of customization (thanks to its functionality and 50,000+ plugins), making it a perfect choice when building a website to fit your brand. WordPress also has an excellent content management system (CMS). It’s easy and straightforward to publish content in the blink of an eye. And word has it that it’s the best CMS for SEO.
WordPress offers a free plan. Paid plans start at $4/month.
2. Webflow
Source: Webflow
Webflow is an all-in-one responsive web design tool that folds a CMS, managed web hosting, and free SSL certificate all in one no-code platform. Build interactions and animations into your website, drag-and-drop unstyled HTML elements. Or make use of pre-built elements like sliders, tabs, and background videos. The tool features a master component library of core layouts, components, and patterns. Plus, Webflow gives you the ability to prototype and export code to hand off to developers if you don’t want to launch a site on its native subdomain.
Webflow starts free, with plans going up from $12/month on an annual basis.
3. Wix
Source: Wix
Wix is a user-friendly web design software for complete beginners. Don’t know where to start? Choose from over 800 templates or answer a few questions from Wix Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI). ADI will automatically build a website based on your responses. To customize it, drag and drop elements on the screen and edit as you see fit.
Wix offers a free plan. Paid plans start at $4.50/month.
Additional options of a drag-and-drop website builder include Boxmode and Webwave.
4. Statamic
Say hello to Statamic, the CMS of the future. Built by developers for developers, this laravel-based and open-sourced CMS handles everything without any plugins. And by everything, we mean everything. Custom fields, navigation builder, search, you name it. Compared to other CMS, it’s easy to customize Statamic from the frontend. Its flat-file mode reduces complexity and makes maintenance a piece of cake. This is one cool web builder.
It’s free to use Statamic. Paid plans start at $259/site with an additional $59 for updates (free for the first year).
5. Ghost
Source: Ali Abdaal
Ghost is a simple professional publishing platform. In addition to the blogging tool’s standard features, Ghost also offers built-in memberships and email newsletters. Other great features include the minimalistic and powerful editor, site speed, and user-friendly and lightweight CMS. If you want to set up a membership website with zero hassle, look no further!
Ghost offers a 14-day free trial, with plans going up from $29/month when billed annually.
Best web editors
6. Adobe Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver is a simplified coding engine allowing a real-time preview of your content as you made edits to the code. Start your next responsive website project from a template or build from scratch. With Git support and code hints, you can custom-build all kinds of HTML assets like emails, eCommerce sites, portfolios, blogs, and more.
Start with a 30-day free trial. Plans start at $20.99/month or $52.99/month for the entire Adobe Creative Cloud when billed annually. (Prices vary for students, teachers, and businesses.)
7. RapidWeaver
RapidWeaver is a native web design software exclusively on and for Mac. Choose from 50 built-in or over 100 community-built themes, and instantly see how your designs will look on various Apple devices. The software integrates with Unsplash and has a big focus on giving you SEO-friendly code.
RapidWeaver has a free trial. Download it for $84.99.
8. openElement
openElement is a free WYSIWYG web editor with a whole host of editing features that support many different page elements such as text, images, tables, lines. Some web elements are even drag-and-drop. Users praise it for being lightweight and SEO-friendly.
openElement is free.
9. Atom
Atom is an open-source hackable desktop code editor from GitHub. Use this tool to access thousands of open source packages, explore text editor themes built by the Atom community, and work in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. You can also run Teletype for Atom to share workspaces for synchronous code editing.
Atom is free.
10. CoffeeCup HTML Editor
CoffeeCup HTML Editor was built for WYSIWYG precision and excellence. Work from scratch in HTML, CSS, and PHP, or choose from an existing theme. Use the “Open from Web” option to take any website as a starting point for your new design. With a components library, code validation tool, and live preview, you’ll have your next web design up and running quickly.
Try CoffeeCup for free or buy it for $29.
11. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a cross-platform source code editor compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux.. It supports many programming and markup languages natively.
You can download and try Sublime Text out for free. The personal license costs a one-off purchase of $80. And the business license starts from $65 per year for up to 10 seats and get cheaper as you get more seats.
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To save your time, we create a cheat sheet with all the tools and resources mentioned in this post. Download it to browse everything at a glance and pick what you need quickly.
WEB DESIGN TOOLS CHEAT SHEET
Best web design software for ecommerce
12. Squarespace
Source: SquareSpace
Squarespace is a feature-packed website builder with 100+ flexible designer website templates. It offers customer account functionality for online stores as well as inventory management, discount codes, and abandoned card recovery. This site builder is gorgeous, so if you’re looking for flawless layouts and bleeding-edge artistic vibes, Squarespace may be the right ecommerce site option for you.
Squarespace starts with a 14-day free trial and moves up from $12/month yearly from there.
13. Shopify
Source: Shopify
Shopify is quickly becoming the go-to digital storefront platform. Every Shopify store comes with an SSL certificate, and you can buy domain names directly from them. The team is continually revising the shopping cart experience. That way, they can help reduce cart abandonment and give store owners and drop shippers the flexibility they need to dynamically determine shipping rates, taxes, and more. Shopify also has a suite of marketing tools and mature third-party integration ecosystem to help you sell more.
After a free 14-day trial, Shopify starts at $29/month. There’s also Shopify Lite for $9 per month for pre-existing websites.
14. BigCommerce Essentials
BigCommerce is an enterprise ecommerce solution. For smaller businesses, there’s BigCommerce Essentials, which offers responsive designs, no-code editor, advanced product search, and CRO tools – including an abandoned cart saver feature. Plus, choose from a vast variety of payment gateways.
BigCommerce Essentials starts with a 15-day free trial and goes up from $29.95/month.
Conclusion
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