This article was published on January 21, 2018

These are the best apps you’ve probably never heard of


These are the best apps you’ve probably never heard of

Have you ever wondered what products or apps you’re missing out on? It’s easy to find the most popular ones in a particular category—but what about the hidden gems? One of Product Hunt’s community members David Spinks has the same question. So, he asked other users: What’s one app you use a lot that most people don’t know about?

The community responded with over 220 product recommendations. Here are 27 of our favorites—from a plug-in that helps you write better, to a Mac volume booster, to an automated website that tracks just about everything in your life. Read on for more…but be ready to go down an app blackhole for the next few hours. :-)

Magnet for Mac: Keep your workspace organized

“I figured Magnet would just be a gadget app that I would never end up using. Yet, before I knew it, I couldn’t work without it anymore. Every time I use it, people go, ‘Woah, how do you do that? I need this so bad.‘”’ It’s a super simple tool to organize/split your screen between open windows by dragging windows to a side/corner of the screen. It automatically resizes the windows to fill only a certain portion of the screen so you can see multiple windows at once. Incredibly helpful, and I cannot work anymore without this.” — Kevin Ferret

RescueTime: Analytics on your daily habits and productivity

“I use this a lot. Its usefulness has multiplied since it became an integration for Gyroscope (which is another recommendation on this list).” — Edward Woodcock

Bear: A beautiful, flexible writing app for notes and prose

“Simple, elegant, well-designed. Exactly the right set of features — markdown, formatting, sync with mobile apps — at a great price. This is the best note taking app I’ve ever used — and I’ve used a lot of them!” — Zaheer Merali

Gyroscope: A personal website powered by your life

“Knowing all the intricate details of my days has helped me make adjustments for the better. Definitely recommend going all in with Gyroscope and tracking everything for yourself.” — Mark Pinero

Workflow: Automate things you do everyday on your iPhone/iPad

“This app is a timesaver beyond wildest expectations. I’ve used it to automate workflows on my phone that would have otherwise cost me hundreds of hours of work.” — Joe Minock

f.lux: Adjust your computer’s display to adapt to the time of day

“I’ve been using f.lux for years and have it installed on all my computers/laptops and always recommend it to people. When macOS 10.12.4 released with Night Shift, I tried for a day or two. But, I wasn’t satisfied with it as it wouldn’t make the screen warmer like f.lux does and doesn’t have app-level settings (You can make f.lux automatically disable when you open a particular app) and other excellent features like taskbar icon to disable movie mode and more. So f.lux has and will continue to be my favorite.” — Syed Irfaq R.

Alfred: Never use your mouse again

“I use it many times a day for everything, from a quick calculation to a search (web or computer) to a definition of a word.” — Margot Mazur

Grammarly: Clear, effective, mistake-free writing

“I get more use out of this than I do most any other tool/app. My writing has improved and I am paying closer attention to what I write and how. The progress reports it sends each week are smart.” — ronsheridan

Bartender: Organize and hide menu bar items on your Mac

 

“I love this app. There were so many little icons in my top bar — now just the ones I use frequently are showing, with the rest tucked away for easy access.” — Nicole Hennig

Spectacle: Move and resize windows with ease on Mac

“Free and simple window manager. For my little screen, this helps LOADS!” — Kara Carrell

Dark Sky: A weather app that predicts when it will rain or snow

“This app is amazing for knowing exactly how long a downpour is going to last and when it’s safe to make a run for the train.” — Cindy Au

Mail to Self: An iOS extension to mail notes to yourself from any app

“You open this app once to configure it, then all you use is its extension. One tap and whatever you were looking at is in your inbox, ready for you to get back to when you’re ready.” — Farhad Pocha

Divvy: Simple Mac window management

“Anytime someone sees me use this, they freak out and ask me how I did that.” — Nathan Bashaw

Butler: Raise your productivity to a new level in Trello

“Trello on steroids. Enough said. :-)” — Wilco De Kreij

Atlas Recall: A searchable photographic memory for your digital life

“Atlas Recall is by far the MOST underrated application I’ve found. Recall is something I just cannot live without. It literally is a central digital repository for everything I interact with all day, everyday. The history is stored in the cloud and everything is accessible from my Mac, iPhone, or iPad. Absolutely amazing!” — Jay Nichols

Droplr: The easiest way to share files

“This is a daily tool for quickly sharing and annotating screenshots.” — Kai Gradert

Caffeine: Keep your Mac from going to sleep

“Nice, simple Mac application to let you toggle sleep mode on/off. Never let your Mac dim during a presentation again!” — Hunter Walk

Viral Loops for Startups: Creating a viral loop has never been easier

“While running a growth hacking agency, Viral Loops has allowed us to leverage the power of referral marketing and easily deploy successful user acquisition campaigns that have a tendency to go viral.” — Vassilis Stathopoulos

Pushbullet: Send files, links, and more to your phone and back

“This is great when working between Mac and Windows, or desktop and phone.” — Daniel Foster

Boom: System-wide volume booster and equalizer for Mac

“I’ve noticed at least a 50% improvement in audio quality and levels with Boom. Once the trial ends you realize you can’t listen without it anymore. One of the only apps I’ve purchased without hesitation!” — Udara Jay

Paste: Smart clipboard history and snippet manager for Mac

“I’ve used a handful of clipboard managers, and even though this one isn’t free, it’ll save you so much time whether you’re a developer, a writer, or anything in between. The UX is so perfect, and once you install it you forget it’s there and reap the productivity benefits.” — Nick Nish

Blinkist: Key insights from 2,000+ bestselling non-fiction books

“I use it to read during my commute! Tons of great books and insights.” — Saulo Marti

Day One: A simple daily journal for iPhone, iPad, and OS X

“DayOne on Mac and iOS makes it really easy to save snippets of text and media through your day. It makes journaling a simple and effortless task.” — Manik Rathee

Point: Awesome link sharing and commenting with friends

“Probably the most underrated tool. I am constantly Point-ing articles to friends as I browse online. I have yet to find something I like more.” — Jake Wayne

Mapstr: Never forget places again

“Mapstr is a gorgeous map that allows you to save all the places you like, all around the world thanks to it’s HUGE database. You can sort with tags, share things with your friends, and be notified when your close to them. The app also gives you access to many details about your picks, such as timetables and pictures.” — Emilie Gautier-Gander

Morning Reader: The easiest way to keep up with tech news daily

“The perfect news aggregator. Always accurate, content focused with no distractions, and fast.” — Jared Schaffer

ShadowBid: A simple way to save on Amazon with automated purchases

“I buy a lot of books on Amazon, and I use this app 2–3 times a week to save money. On some books I save over 50 percent, and it’s super easy. Seeing the price history of products is also great — I would hate to be the person who paid three times as much for something, right before Amazon’s algorithm dropped the price.” — Paul Morgan

If this list of under-the-radar apps wasn’t enough, you can find more of the Product Hunt community’s recommendations for other apps to try on this Ask PH page.

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