macOS

The good stuff

A hand-picked guide to macOS.

The apps worth installing, the repos worth starring, the reading worth your time, and the people worth following — plus a searchable directory of nearly 1,200 more.

Updated May 2026·Curated by Jared Rummler

Essential macOS Apps

Repositories worth starring

jaywcjlove/awesome-mac
Curated list of high-quality macOS apps, tools, and resources.
104k+ stars · the most starred macOS list
serhii-londar/open-source-mac-os-apps
A community-driven collection of open-source macOS applications.
43k+ stars · community-driven
Homebrew/brew
The missing package manager for macOS (and Linux).
Essential for developers
drduh/macOS-Security-and-Privacy-Guide
A practical guide to securing and hardening a macOS install.
Popular security resource
objective-see/tools
Free, open-source macOS security and forensics tools.
Industry-standard defensive tooling
sindresorhus
Hundreds of useful macOS-focused CLI and GUI utilities.
One of open source's most prolific authors

Recommended Reading

macOS Apps Step by StepSarah Reichelt macOS Reference & Cheat SheetmacOS Reference & Cheat Sheeti30 Media

macOS Tahoe For DummiesGuy Hart-Davis macOS Tahoe 26 User GuidemacOS Tahoe 26 User GuideStep-by-Step

The Art of Mac Malware, Vol. 2Patrick Wardle

People worth following

Research & papers

Academic work on macOS forensics, security, and internals · drag, use ← → or click a card

First page of "MEGA: A Tool for Mac OS X Operating System and Application Forensics"

#12008

MEGA: A Tool for Mac OS X Operating System and Application Forensics

Robert A. Joyce, Judson Powers, Frank Adelstein · 2008 · Digital Investigation (Elsevier) · DFRWS

1/9

The full directory

1,197 macOS apps across 61 categories, curated by awesome-mac.