The very best in low-cost Mac software and hardware
Longtime Mac Gems readers know that while I’m a user of OS X’s Mail email client, I’m a fan of the many add-ons and utilities that extend and enhance Mail. In fact, several of my most-used Gems are Mail add-ons.
And while all Gems are by definition inexpensive, longtime readers also know that I sometimes write about a great deal or bundle that lets you get Gems at an even better price than usual.
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When Postbox 2 () debuted, I thought it blew the doors off Apple Mail and Microsoft Exchange, offering solid performance and an arsenal of first-rate email features. Since then, Apple’s Mail has closed much of the feature gap, integrating its own versions of Postbox features such as quick replies and threaded conversations. In response, the new Postbox 3 focuses more on integration with other popular apps than on inventing new interface bells and whistles. And if it’s not quite as distinct from Apple Mail as its predecessor, it’s also considerably less expensive, at just $10.
Postbox 3 does add a few new interface touches, including a Favorites menu for frequently accessed folders, reminiscent of the similar feature in Apple Mail. But Postbox 3’s biggest draw is its close cooperation with Gmail and the Dropbox and Evernote services. Over IMAP or POP, the program recognizes Gmail labels and sorts your mail accordingly. It can use Gmail-style keyboard shortcuts, shuffle messages into your Gmail archive, and move detected dates within messages into your Google calendar(s).
If you’ve installed the Evernote OS X app and set up an account, you can take any message in Postbox and convert it into an Evernote note with the click of a button. The tags, subject, and text of my test notes were all correctly reflected in my Evernote account.
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It seems like it was just yesterday that we kicked off our annual Summer of Mac Gems marathon, where we featured a quality, inexpensive Mac app every weekday. We got through a lot of different programs, from tools for managing your Instagram photos to battery saving utilities and everything in between. In case you missed a few, here’s our complete list of products from GemFest 2012.
Gemini 1.1 combs through your folders and looks for duplicate files, spitting out snarky phrases while you wait.
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Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through late August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
My MacBook Pro just celebrated its third birthday, and though it’s still going strong, I’ve been taking precautions to make sure it keeps performing at its best. One thing I’ve been trying to improve is battery life, and DeepSleep has greatly helped with that. This app does only one thing—it puts your Mac into Hibernation mode instead of standard Sleep mode—but it does it well.
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Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through late August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
I like my desktop neat and tidy—not only does it look better, it keeps my iMac running more smoothly. I like it even more when things get cleaned up without my having to lift a finger, and Desktop Tidy (Mac App Store link) does just that. This handy utility tidies up your Mac’s desktop, keeping it free of clutter. It stores all the cleaned-up desktop files and folders in a hidden Shadow Desktop, which you can access from the menu bar or in the Finder.
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Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
VeprIT’s Resize Sense (Mac App Store link) is an all-in-one batch resizer and cropping tool that will save both time and tedious labor in getting one image—or hundreds of images—to exactly the right size for webpages, email, and layouts.
Resize Sense’s tri-partite single-window interface is clean, and the panes are an unobtrusive gray color, which makes it easier to concentrate on your images. The toolbar contains all the basic controls for adding and removing images, saving images, copying, pasting, rotating, or resetting crops. The app also has a full-screen mode and a search box.
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Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
Due to a production error, we inadvertently published an version of this review written about the 1.0 release of JPEGmini. This review now rates the current 1.3 release of JPEGmini, including the capability, added in version 1.2, to process lower-resolution photos.
If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot of photos stashed on your Mac. And if you’ve been faithfully snapping away with digital cameras for the better part of a decade as I have, those photos are taking up a lot of space. The arrival of the iPhone and its always-close-at-hand camera is only adding to the capacity crunch.
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