Macs are unique in that they come with a ton of great apps pre-installed on your computer. Photos, Music, Maps, and Books are some of the many great programs that can make your life easier.
If you ever find yourself craving something more, Apple makes it easy to get. All you need to do is open the App Store and download your program of choice.
But what if you don't know what you need?
Today we're going to look at some of the best free Mac apps. The programs mentioned on this list are all apps you don't know you need until you have them.
Keep reading to learn about some of the top free apps you'll want to download off of the Mac App Store.
Google Chrome
Every Mac user knows that Macs (and all Apple products) come with Safari pre-installed. While Safari has a ton of great features that make it a great choice, it's worth having a copy of Google Chrome in your dock, as well.
Chrome is fast, powerful, and provides users with an endless number of customization options. Search the web with Google's powerful voice assistant and personalize the browser until it resembles the browser of your dreams.
Like Safari, Google Chrome also syncs across your devices. Open up a web page with Chrome on your phone, then continue reading it on your computer.
uTorrent
Most people may hear "torrent" and assume that it means pirated files, but the truth is that you can find tons of legal content on there. Books, music files, and games all exist in the form of torrents.
uTorrent helps you unbundle these files to use them.
uTorrent provides you with many customization features to ensure that your files download as fast as possible. It also keeps downloading torrents from hogging too much memory.
Developers recently released a web version of uTorrent, which helps make it even easier to get the files you want.
VLC Media Player
Are you someone who watches a lot of movies on your computer? If so, do yourself a favor and download VLC Media Player.
Macs come with QuickTime Player installed on them, and well powerful, QuickTime has nothing on VLC. VLC is open-source, and like the other apps on this list, comes with a plethora of great customization options that let you personalize the experience.
It also lets you play almost any type of file, meaning that no matter how strange of a site you get your movies from, they should play without a problem.
Slack
No one wants to think of work while browsing on the App Store, but if a program can make your work life easier, it's worth downloading. That's exactly what Slack does.
Slack makes work communication easier than ever, especially when much of society is still working from home. Create groups, drag and drop files, and search for messages faster than you ever believed you could.
One of the hallmarks of Slack is the ability to create different communication channels/threads. You can create a channel for work, a channel for in-house updates, and even a channel for juicy office gossip.
GarageBand
Whether you're an aspiring music producer or someone who enjoys throwing beats together in your spare time, GarageBand is a great place where you can get started.
GarageBand comes with all sorts of instruments, beats, voices, and sounds that let you craft the perfect auditory experience. You can make something as simple as a ringtone or something as complex as an album.
GarageBand is an Apple product, and as with all things Apple, it features a sleek and minimalist design. To create music, all you have to do is drag and drop files. This makes it easy to compose great music—regardless of how tone-deaf you are.
GarageBand is definitely one of the best Mac apps for developers.
Shazam
Speaking of music, do you ever hear a song and wonder what it is? You can try listening to the lyrics to search them later, but sometimes those are difficult to hear. Luckily, Shazam comes to the rescue.
Shazam helps you detect music playing nearby, telling you everything you need to know. Within a matter of seconds, you'll know the name of the song, the album, and the artist—no matter how obscure the song may be.
People who've used Shazam have probably used it on their phones. But the Mac version is just as powerful and well worth the download.
Spotify
Macs come with Music, an app that lets you listen to local audio files on your computer. It also allows you to connect to Apple Music, the tech giant's premium music streaming service.
However, Apple Music doesn't allow you to listen to playlists or other music for free.
Spotify, however, does. Whether you sign up for a monthly subscription or just have the free version, you'll have no problem listening to the tunes you need to get through the workday.
One of the best ways to use Spotify is with Sidecar Mac. This feature lets you use an iPad as a second screen. Listen to your Spotify tunes without affecting your workflow in any way!
Enjoy the Best Free Mac Apps
Whether you're looking to make music or listen to it, stay connected with your coworkers or browse the web, there's an app for that.
Use this guide as a resource to help you better understand some of the best free Mac apps. If you don't have any of the apps mentioned on your computer, consider downloading them today to enjoy all they offer.
Are you looking to learn more about some of the other great content on the Mac App Store? If so, spend some time checking out the rest of our site for more great content.