Apps I use every day as an indie maker — Episode II
Must-have tools powering my indie journey
Hey, listen!
Long time ago, I published in an issue the tools that I used in a daily basis.
Some things changed after then.
Here are my new additions to my workflow.
The last list was in July, but since then, I’ve started using quite a bunch of new tools in my daily work.
And some of them, I use A LOT.
Like, I cannot imagine my life without them.
As in the Episode I, some are included in the Setapp subscription, and some not.
Let’s list them all…
Cursor
I arrived late to this party, but I can’t live without it now.
It’s simply the best AI powered IDE that I’ve tried.
It’s the best taking into account the project’s context, performing changes in different files and creating the new ones. The Composer mode level is something that others cannot reach right now.
However, it is far from being perfect. It has quite a learning curve on how to ask things or guiding the assistant on how it should perform the tasks requested.
It still hallucinates some times and makes mistakes, but now with Cursor, I feel more like a code reviewer rather than a programmer.
It needs setting up some things in terms of using it for iOS. I followed these two guides:
However, there is a tool getting better and better day by day, that may make me don’t use Cursor anymore for iOS development. It is…
Alex Sidebar
The Cursor for Xcode.
This is literally their headline.
With the recent 2.0, it is getting closer and closer to Cursor.
It is getting that good that I am starting to prefer staying in Xcode using Alex, rather than having to jump back and forth between Cursor and Xcode.
And it is free during beta — I’ve been using it for free for months, unbelievable.
Downie
I use this little tool all the time for downloading videos from YouTube or any social media.
Just paste the link and hit download.
Super convenient!
It makes a perfect combo with Permute for extracting the mp3 audios of videos.
I love this little tools that performs single tasks but they do it damn good.
Included in Setapp.
Mockuuups Studio
This tool is simply INSANE.
The amount of mockups they have available for doing product placement of your product simply makes no sense.
You can find mockups in literally any context, and you can showcase your apps just dragging and dropping your screenshots.
Included in Setapp.
Sip
A super convenient tool that does just one thing: picks colors and save them in custom collections.
It’s super convenient having it in the menu bar always available
Included in Setapp.
PixelSnap
This tool feels like magic.
Measure pixel by pixel any element on your screen, it doesn’t matter what.
I don’t know how the fuck these guys technically built this tool, tbh.
But it is so convenient and can be very useful in some scenarios.
Included in Setapp.
QuitAll
I love this one.
Hit Control + Option + Q and just quit ALL the apps that you have opened.
You can configure it with some exceptions, but it is such pleasant to see all your apps quit instantly.
Peace.
Included in Setapp.
NotchNook
This one is super nice if you have a MacBook with notch.
It takes the same approach as the Dynamic Island on the iPhones: creating a feature from a disadvantage.
Access media controls, calendar events, shortcuts, and more — all from the top of your screen.
And all of it with super duper animations.
So cool!
Included in Setapp.
Xcodes
Yes, in plural, it isn’t a typo.
This is a rather classic one, but I haven’t started using it until last month for installing Xcode 16.2
This is a convenient, simple but powerful tool for managing the Xcode installation.
Update, install several, change defaults, try betas…
And it is way faster than installing it by .xip or App Store.
A must!
Screen Studio
This is simply the best tool for recording demo videos of your products or doing demonstrations, while talking and having a view of your camera.
You probably have been tons of videos made with this tool on Twitter.
The automatic animations while zooming and focusing the mouse cursor are super recognizable.
Kudos to Dan, my guardian angel, that decided to gift me a lifetime license for being member of his awesome community, the Morning Maker Show
And that’s it!
I think this is enough for the Episode II.
I’ll come back after some months with a new episode, when I collect a decent a mount of new tools that deserve to be shared with you!
See you next week!
Juanjo