Software that I Love

I use a lot types of software every week, ranging from excellent to horrendous. I wanted to dedicate this page to listing some software that I love and why. In no particular order, here it is.

 

1) RetroArch. 

 

This is one of the best--if not the best--front-end for emulators out there. It's free, open source, lightweight, powerful, and simply fantastic. It uses an interface known as libretro, and works by using files called "cores" that act as the specific emulator for each system. There's an insane amount of support for nearly any retro system you could possibly think of. Yes, even the Amiga CD 32 is supported if you mess around with it enough. If you've seen my channel, you know how much I use RetroArch and how much I enjoy it. It may not be the easiest software to learn at first, but once you have it down, it's amazing. You'll never look back.

 

2) Apple Music

 

Call me an Apple Fanboy all you want, but this is a really solid music streaming service. What can I say? The audio quality is amazing, the personal music recommendations and automatic playlists are great, the Radio is literally it's own culture (there's SO much to say about the radio), the lyrics screen looks fantastic, and the interface is extremely well-done (with some occasional bad decisions) and looks fantastic on any device. Plus, it's slightly cheaper than Spotify for the individual plan. Apple Music's integration within it's ecosystem just makes it a winner for me. It works seamlessly with nearly anything Apple. HomePods, Apple Watches, your iPhone, your Mac--it's always amazing. 

When your AirPods are connected and that lossless audio flows throughout, you feel a sense of connection with the music that other services don't provide. Maybe it's the culture, the strategies of their marketing and advertising, or the premium feel of Apple as a company. 

My favorite part of the app that I've truly not seen anywhere else is the insane Radio section. This has 24/7 live music from various stations ranging from hits from the '90s to chill electronic sounds. There's also tons of radio shows hosted by artists and professionals in the industry that air on the live radio from time to time. My favorite radio (that's sadly ended) is Easy Hits with Sabi. This radio section has a ton of interviews, episodes, stations, and even local broadcasters. It's the best way to discover new music on the app and a really fun way to listen to music. It's made it's own culture. Nothing beats that feeling when a song you love comes on the radio.

 

3) Safari

 

Once again, call me an Apple fanboy, but I kinda like this browser. It may not be everyone's first choice, but I think you can learn to use it effectively. It's not as supported as Chrome or Firefox, but it works well for most things you'd need to do. It's free of a lot of bloatware and annoying features from other browsers. In fact, you can make it look so plain and simple on the start page that you'd barely recognize it was a browser. It's fast and not very memory-hogging, meaning you can leave it open with plenty of tabs and still be okay. The only thing that holds it back is that it's a proprietary browser for Apple devices only, so you're not getting this on ANY other computer. Since I have a Mac, I get to enjoy using this nearly everyday.

 

4)  Google Drawings

 

This is one of the only Google web apps that I actually like. It's a very simple shape-based drawing applications that lets you create images and diagrams with a variety of tools. It's completely free, and despite its limitations, can be used to make some impressive art. I have a few videos on my channel using this to make art. Even though it's often overlooked, it doesn't mean it's a bad software.

 

5) KWrite

 

This application is so basic, that it was hard finding an image of the icon. I believe this is the icon for the "Oxygen" theme in KDE Plasma. KWrite is a basic text editor for the KDE Plasma desktop environment. In my case, I'm using KDE with Arch Linux. I love this software. Even though it's simple, it looks fantastic and does its job so well. I've written countless things in it.

 

 6)  Apple Books

 

Who needs a Kindle when you have Apple Books? This is an old software that's on everything Apple that's used for.... ebooks. You can store a library of EPUBS and PDFS. My library has gotten quite large over time. Additionally, this comes with a bookstore to purchase books and audiobooks from random places. I have great memories of this app: lying in bed at 12:30am reading on my tiny iPhone SE, the smell of leather from the Apple phone case filling the aroma of the area. Now, whenever I think of this app, I think of that smell. I think I smelt the leather so much because I had the phone close to my face. I still use this app quite a bit.

 

7) Apple Keynote

 

This is my favorite presentation designer. It's free, simple like always, and great for animations. The interface of the app removes a lot of friction that PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress introduce with overwhelming icons and options. The fact that there's only a few things on the immediate interface puts you in control of creating.

  

8) LibreOffice Writer

 

The best free and open source word processor. I love using this for anything and everything, especially on Linux. Download this.

9) QuickTime Player

I feel as though this app gets overlooked and seen as that "glorified" VLC. I love VLC, but for MacOS, QuickTime Player is an excellent choice for a variety of things. It's a media player, so you can watch or listen to audio in plenty of formats. Additionally, QTPlayer powers the built-in screen recorder for MacOS. If you pair it with BlackHole, it can be a pretty good screen recorder for YouTube. It also works with Elgato capture cards, meaning you can record console gameplay. You can record audio with it, so I've recorded several YouTube video audios with it.

10) iMovie

iMovie comes standard on every Mac, and I gotta say, it ain't that bad. It's certainly not as professional and feature-rich as something like Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, but it can still make some pretty good videos. You can do all of your basic video editing tasks like cutting, cropping, adding effects, and enhancing, but you can also get creative and do some more advanced things. It's designed to be simple, so while your videos may not match the quality of high-budget films, it's a great option if you're looking to quickly edit raw footage and make it look polished. I've used it for a lot of YouTube videos before, and it's still held up. 

11) TextEdit

That's right--the one from the video. This app is probably my favorite way to write documents when I don't need to add images or any crazy formatting. Like Apple Pages, it is extremely frictionless, meaning it allows you to throw your ideas down on the page quickly. There is little in the way between your ideas and the white void. Additionally, the app is blazing fast on any Mac (as you'd expect), so you can have it open while you multitask and work on other things. For me, I always have it open when I'm recording for a video. I'm not sure why this application isn't widely discussed; ever since I got my Mac, it's been one of my favorite apps. 

12) Blogger

How could I make a blog post about my favorite software without mentioning Blogger? Blogger was released in 1999 and later acquired by Google, and it still holds up today. It was one of the first programs at the time that allowed users to create their own web log. Today, it's still widely used by many white moms across the US to share their favorite memories of life. Sure, you have things like WordPress that can do the same, but I like how this software is simple and free. There's plenty of different themes to choose from (I went with the most simple one, of course) and ways to customize it further. With some effort, you can make your blog visually appealing and filled with engaging content that invites exploration and helps others learn more about you. In fact, you can even make some $$$ off your blog.

There are more software that I use and love, but this list is okay for now.