Igor's OSX Tools

I pretty much use mac exclusively. I have 3 at work, and a mac mini at home, and I’m an automation nerd so I try to have everything auto install/syncronize across the machines. On the mac, I’m either in chrome/edge, Cursor (the new VS.code), the terminal (I use iterm), capcut (video editor), zoom, or the few super handy utilities I list below.

Apps

Alfred - The everything launcher/doer!

I LOVE Alfred. I can do all sorts of stuff

  • Snippets - Helpful snippets
  • Clipboard - Browse clipboard history
    • Often I copy multiple things and paste them back in order later

3rd Party Plugins:

  • Emoji Snippets ; to get emoji ; emoji to look for
  • GitFred -
    • gmy (search my repos)
  • ChatGPT
  • System Settings
  • Screen Shots
    • clipls - View Clipboard Images
  • Window Navigator
  • Thumbnail navigation (use fnav)

2nd Party - E.g., Igor wrote it.

My CLI for Yabai/and other apps and generate Alfred commands

My personal plugin:

  • “idv” Search my blog
  • ss - Capture Screen Shot
  • A bunch of cool stuff for Yabai + random y.py

Productivity

  • Omnifocus - Task Manager
  • Flow - A Pomodoro Timer
    • Write back sessions to calendar
    • Name sessions
    • Nice UX
  • The terminal
    • I do crazy stuff in there.
    • Nerd Fonts

Quality of life utility

  • Hand Mirror - Preview Your Camera
  • Ice Manage the menu bar
    • (The new Bartender)
  • Alt Tab - Windows-like alt tab
  • Yabai - Tiling Window Manager
    • Aerospace - Different window manager - seems more powerful, but not stable yet.
    • Borders - Highlight current selected window
  • Menubar - Show next meeting in the menu bar
  • mpv+iina - Video Players
  • 1password - Awesome Password Manager
  • Karabiner Elements - Make my keyboard perfect
    • Even does crazy stuff like let me use 2 keyboards at once, chording across keyboards!#$!
  • Screencasting specific

Screen Resolutions and Display Settings

OSX has several built-in ways to manage screen resolutions and displays:

  1. Default Settings: System Settings -> Displays

    • Choose between Default or Scaled resolution
    • In Scaled mode, you can select from several preset options

  2. Advanced Resolution Options:

    • Hold Option key while clicking “Scaled” to see all available resolutions
    • This reveals additional resolutions your display supports

  3. Command Line Tools:

    # List all available resolutions
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType

# Get current resolution
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType | grep Resolution

  4. Third-Party Tools:

    • BetterDisplay - Force custom resolutions, manage display settings, and override system limitations
      • Allows forcing any resolution your display can handle
      • Supports HiDPI and scaled resolutions
      • Can override system limitations for refresh rates
      • Free and open source
    • I use my custom zsh aliases to quickly fix and check display settings: 
      # From my zsh_include.sh
alias lg-fix='betterdisplaycli set --resolution=3840x2160 --refreshRate=59.94Hz'
alias lg-show='betterdisplaycli get --resolution --refreshRate'

  5. EDID Override Method for 4K@120Hz:

    • Apple Silicon Macs can be tricked into supporting 4K@120Hz over HDMI using EDID overrides
    • This method works with compatible USB-C to HDMI 2.1 adapters
    • Steps to enable:
      1. Install BetterDisplay and AW EDID Editor
      2. Export your display’s EDID binary using BetterDisplay
      3. Edit the EDID in AW EDID Editor:
        • Change EDID format to V1.4 (change Revision from 3 to 4)
        • Change Video Interface bits to DisplayPort (0101)
      4. Upload and apply the modified EDID in BetterDisplay
      5. Set your resolution to 4K@120Hz using BetterDisplay
    • For some adapters, you may need to update firmware (e.g., Cable Matters adapter)
    • I’ve saved a working EDID configuration in my Settings repository
    • More details in this MacRumors forum thread

  6. Testing Your Display:

    • Use TestUFO Refresh Rate Test to verify your display’s refresh rate and resolution
    • For accurate results:
      • Close other applications and browser tabs
      • Run the test for at least 30 seconds
      • Use full-screen mode
    • TestUFO helps identify frame skipping and confirms if your custom resolution settings are working correctly

  7. Tips:

    • For external displays, try “Default for display” first
    • For Retina displays, “Looks like” resolutions scale content while maintaining sharpness
    • Use Option key in Display settings to access HiDPI modes
    • Some USB-C to HDMI adapters work better than others for high refresh rates
    • YCbCr422 color format is typically used for 4K@120Hz; RGB or YCbCr444 may require additional tweaking

Philosophy

Do not switch back and forth between windows and osx.

I used to try to use windows and mac, and move between them. Super hard on my brain. I highly recommend against. Give up windows, and go all mac. And you’ll feel a lot better for it.

When you go all in on the appleverse, it’s glorious

iPhone/Watch/iMessage/iPad, it all just works, syncs perfectly. it’s a dream come true.