Question
What software do you install first on a new computer?
Inspired by this tweet:
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I just shared this with a friend who just bought a new MacBook Pro...! It's kinda rough, but my personal init script...
System Preferences
Security & Privacy
- Turn on Firewall
- Turn on FileVault
Sharing
- Set computer name
Keyboard
- Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar
Shortcuts
- Disable Spotlight > Show Spotlight search
- Disable Screenshots > Save picture of screen as file
- Disable Screenshots > Save picture of selected area as file
Input Sources
- Hide Input menu in menu bar
Network
Create Locations
1. Google DNS
1. 8.8.8.8
2. 8.8.4.4.
3. 2001:4860:4860::8888
4. 2001:4860:4860::8844
- Cloudflare DNS
- 1.1.1.1
- 2606:4700:4700::1111
- 2606:4700:4700::1001
Sounds
Show Volume in menu bar
Notifications
- Disable Calendar and Reminders notifications
- Disable FaceTime notifications
- Turn on Do Not Disturb:
- From 11pm to 7am
- When the display is sleeping
- When the display is locked
- When mirroring to TVs and Projectors
FaceTime
- Turn off FaceTime
Fonts
- Disable non-english fonts
Dock
Remove Apple apps
My set:
- 1Password
- Chrome
- Brave
- Spotify
- Sonos
- Superhuman
- Messages
- Messenger
- Telegram
- Slack
- Things
- CleanShot X
- Paper
- Atom
- Bear
- Fantastical
Unsplash Wallpapers
Customize Touch Bar (Under Keyboard)
Configure file storage
- iCloud
- Dropbox Download
- Choose folders to sync
- Google Drive
- Time Machine Backups
Finder
- Hide Tags
Communications & Social
- WhatsApp Download
- Messages
- Enable messages in iCloud
- Slack Slack Beta
- Messenger
- Superhuman Download
- Grids Download
- Twitter Download
Safari
- Enable Develop menu (under Advanced Preferences)
- Enable 1Password, Rakuten, Bear, 1Blocker, uBlock extensions
Writing
- Day One
- Bear
- Rocket
- TextMate
- Atom
Entertainment
- BeardedSpice Website
Shortcuts
- play/pause: ^⌥⌘-\
- next: ^⌥⌘-left arrow
prev: ^⌥⌘-right arrow
Enable Show controls in menubar
Spotify download
- Enable high quality streaming
- Turn off announcements about new releases
- Turn off Friend Activity
- Advanced Settings: Don’t launch Spotify after you log into the computer
Soundcloud
iTunes
- Turn off “Automatically sync when this phone is connected”
- Devices > Enable Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically
Sonos Download
Productivity
Alfred
Set Preferences folder to Dropbox location
Features > Default Results > Applications > Options
Turn on “Match Applications’ keywords in default results”
Set up Spotificious
Calendar
- Go to Calendar -> General, select Fantastical 2 as default calendar app
- Go to Birthdays calendar setting and turn off alerts
Fantastical 2
Preferences
Appearance
- Set Text Size to small
- Disable “Show reminders…”
- Disable “Show completed reminders”
- Enable “Show multi-day events in all-day section”
- Enable “Use color menubar icon” #### Accounts
- Add Google account
- Reminders > Disable Show Reminders #### Advanced
- Open Maps in Google Maps
Disable Go to Today after adding items
Add Calendar sets
Paste
Download
- Set shortcut to ⌘-\
- Launch on Startup
- Install Paste Direct helper
Deliveries
Download
Sign in to June Cloud
Turn on Update in Background
Add deliveries to calendar
Things
- sign in to Things Cloud
- Add Things Helper
Design
Sketch
Sketch - Download Sketch
* Install Apple iOS UI Library
Skitch
CleanShot
CleanShot for macOS
- Set Toggle Desktop icons shortcut to ^⌥⌘-\
- Sip
- ColorPickers
- TheNounProject
- Fonts
- SkyFonts
- imageOptim
Crunch
Security and Identity
1Password
Download the installer from here
* Disable Lock 1Password shortcut
* Disable Show 1Password shortcut
* Advanced > Enable Spotlight and 3rd party app integrations (i.e. to enable Alfred integration)
- Change Fill Login shortcut to shift-command-\
Cocktail
Cocktail - A perfect mixture for macOS
Misc apps
iMazing
- Enabled Launch iMazing Mini at Login
- Dropover
- Cleanshot
- Skyfonts
- Swish
Lungo
Bartender
Softorino YouTube Downloader
Brightness - Menu Bar Control for Built-in Display Brightness
Rocket — Download
iTerm
iTerm2 - macOS Terminal Replacement
Misc tips
- Setup Profile Photos Dropbox Folder
- Enable Archives prefpane
Cloudflare tends to be the fastest but it's less reliable, so in those cases I switch to Google DNS.
For captive Wi-Fi (when I was traveling more) I often couldn't set my own DNS, so then I'd have to revert to "Automatic" (no custom DNS).
Ahhh clever on auto-switching to no custom DNS when traveling. That's the best way to make sure those wifi popups on public wifi show up.
The first things I install are Dropbox and 1Password. Dropbox start syncing files, and brings in my 1Password library, which makes installing and signing into everything possible.
I'll typically then install Alfred, as I use it both to launch apps and expand text, and the latter quickly gets annoying to live without.
iA Writer as my notes app comes pretty quick after that, along with things like Slack, whatever my current email app is (Superhuman and Hey, for work and personal, at the moment), Spotify, Notion, Airtable, and more. So much of the rest of my software is web apps where I may or may not install their native app.
One thing I always end up forgetting about, missing, then installing later on are fonts—especially the monospaced fonts I enjoy using to write.
I would add at least one more as a must have app for Mac OS, that is (https://www.alfredapp.com/ “Alfred”). It is so cheap compares to what it can do.
I have exactly the same list. 1password, dropbox and then mailing app which i am using or trying at that specific time (at present hey & superhuman). Notion for notes, then Mindnode for mindmaps
Another very important app for my workflow which i cant live without is cleanshot X, hands down the best screenshot application out there.
I finally started using Cleanshot X after @chrismessina mentioned it in a discussion about best apps to record your screen and turn it into a GIF, and it really is a nice tool!
My essential stack regardless of what activity/function I am going to be doing is:
- Brave/Firefox
- Notion
- Dropbox
- 1Password
- f.lux
- Superhuman
- Alfred
- TextExpander
- Pastebot
@optemization Interesting you're still using Flux—do you find it better than macOS' built-in Night Shift?
On Alfred, do you have any default workflows you install?
i use flux and night mode and dark reader and night owl lol! i take my evening computer time seriously 😂
with alfred, the spotify, calm notifications, and lorem ipsum i'd pre-install
Is lorem ipsum just to write filler text? I use an Alfred text expander for that where I type =lorem and it expands a paragraph of lorem ipsum text for testing.
TBH I do most of them with Spike. I pin important emails to the top of the Inbox so there's in front of my eyes. And I create little tasks and reminders for myself there too. I'm not the most organized person, so having everything in 1 app helps me.
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@chrismessina That's an incredibly detailed list, thanks for sharing!
Are you using CloudFlare DNS as a Google DNS backup, or using different DNS in different locations?
I'm surprised I hadn't gotten Crunch before, as it seems like almost every day I'm browsing through app file contents (in Alfred) to find apps' .icns file, then converting it to PNG in Preview. This will shorten that workflow—thanks for sharing!