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PopChar from Ergonis Software is a Mac utility that gives you instant access to every character in every font installed on your Mac, all from a single click on a small "P" in the menu bar. Whether you need currency symbols, accented letters, arrows, mathematical notation, or typographic punctuation, PopChar puts them all at your fingertips without hunting through menus or memorising unusual keyboard shortcuts.

In this tutorial, Lee walks through everything you need to get up and running with PopChar. This includes inserting your first character, searching the full Unicode library, building a collection of favourites, as well as using the HTML insertion mode for web work. He also covers two power user features: finding which of your installed fonts support a specific character, and the Shape Finder for identifying characters you can see but can't name.

PopChar is available via Setapp. At the time of this recording, you can also purchase directly from the developer with a one-time payment of $39.99 for the current major version, or take up an annual subscription for $19.99.

Converting media files to different formats is an occupational requirement for many of us, whether it's audio, video or image files and there are lots of tools out there to choose from. Permute is, without a doubt, one of the best, due to its speed and range of options.

It also offers some optional add-ins that expand its functionality even more. Perhaps you want to create a video file using a static image alongside an audio file, or how about a text file you'd like to convert into speech? Permute is here to help.

In this video, Lee walks you through simple conversions, batch conversions, configuring groups, stitching videos using modules, and more.

Have you ever wished a web service had a dedicated Mac app instead of staying in the browser? With Unite, you can create your very own. With 90 pre-built apps from popular websites for social media, shopping, news sites, and more, you may find the one you want right away. But Unite lets you create them from scratch, and you can also make what Allison calls "Super Apps" with multiple web services as tabs in the same Mac app. Join Allison as she shows you the ins and outs of Unite, with lots of useful examples and tips.

Unite runs on macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, and is available as part of your Setapp subscription (as of this video's release).

MacPaw have recently released Moonlock, a protection suite for macOS that gives you real-time malware protection, a built-in VPN, network inspector, and clear system-security advice — all in a sleek, Apple-style interface. In this video, Lee uses the app for the first time and offers his views on both the strengths and weaknesses of this first version of Moonlock.

Moonlock is available as part of a Setapp subscription or on the MacPaw website, and runs on macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer. Current pricing information is in the Resources below.

Joseph Humfreys' Substage integrates the natural language approach offered by products like ChatGPT into the Finder on macOS, allowing you to action complex commands that would normally take multiple windows or multiple apps to accomplish.

Imagine needing to email a video, but it's too large? You've taken some great photos with your iPhone but the format doesn't work when uploading to a website? Just ask through Substage to make the video smaller, or change the photo type. You learn this and a lot more with Darcy as your guide in this short video.

Numi is a sleek, notepad-style calculator app for macOS designed to blend natural language with powerful calculation features. You can type expressions like “$20 in euro - 5%” or “today + 2 weeks,” and Numi instantly interprets and computes the result in a clear and elegant interface. It supports simultaneous multi-step calculations, unit and currency conversions, time-zone and date math, percentages., and maintains a history of your calculations in organized “notes,” making it both intuitive and efficient.

In this video, Lee walks you through some of the best features of Numi.

Numi runs on macOS 10.13 or newer.

Whilst it's important to keep your Mac as clutter-free as possible, it's even more important to do so prior to upgrading your operating system. With macOS Tahoe just around the corner, Lee thought it would be a good idea to revisit CleanMyMac.

This popular utility from MacPaw has undergone some changes since we last covered it in 2021, with a whole new interface as well as some new features. Lee shows you My Clutter which sorts through your storage, deleting your unneeded files, and Cloud Cleanup which connects to your cloud storage provider and helps improve your sync times by only syncing files you truly need.

CleanMyMac runs on macOS 11 or later.

Dynamic Island is the latest in software innovations for the iPhone, enhancing the notch with seamless interactions for live activities, media control and so much more.  NotchNook brings these innovations and more to the notch on MacBook Pros, and introduces a virtual notch on other Macs.  Interact with this area to write notes, use your calendar, control what's playing and access your Siri Shortcuts without opening any other applications.  For professionals, the notch houses a tray which stores files that can be previewed, opened or airdropped.NotchNook is $25 for a one off purchase, $3 per month for a subscription, or you can pick it up as part of your Setapp subscription

A lot has changed with this episode's app in the last 4 years, but one thing remains the same: Ulysses remains a great writing app for the Mac. In this screencast, Mike walks through the major new features since ScreenCastsONLINE last covered Ulysses back in 2021.

You see useful features in action, including the ability to post directly to a handful of social media accounts, linking to other sheets internally, create great-looking equations, generate a table of contents (TOC), and more.

Ulysses runs on macOS 13 or newer; iOS or iPadOS 17 or later.

Sindre Sorhus is a prolific Apple developer who has 55 apps (so far) and this week, Allison Sheridan will introduce you to 3 of them.

• Dato is a menu bar app that gives you access to your calendar and reminders, even creating them right from the menu bar. You can join video calls right from Dato and tailor the app to the view you like. 

• Aiko gives you on-device transcription using Whisper AI, which means your data isn't shared anywhere, and it runs on macOS, iOS, and even visionOS.

• With the browser picker app Velja, you'll be able to control where web links open, including directly to apps like Zoom instead of taking a trip through Safari first.

In show 1449, Lee started to walk through BusyCal, an alternative calendar application on the Mac (also available for iOS), that offers far more features than the native Calendar app. Whilst that video mostly looked at basic features, in Part 2 we look at elements that set it apart. This includes tagging events to help with organisation, Smart Filters that only show you what you need to see at a given time, and also how to integrate BusyCal with Zoom so you only need one interface to schedule that all-important conference call. By the end of this screencast, you'll be ready to take your calendar management to the next level!

BusyCal requires macOS 11 or newer.

The native Calendar app on macOS serves a purpose for most users, however there are alternatives that offer more with their feature set. In this video, Lee starts walking you through his application of choice, BusyCal. It's been around since 2006 and in that time, has always iterated, and added useful features along the way. This first of this two-part series looks at the basics of adding accounts, working with the different event types you can add (did you know you can journal within a calendar application?) as well as customise your view settings and work with the menu bar to quickly add items using natural language. Lee also shows you how you can group related calendars together, then quickly reveal or hide them with one click.

BusyCal requires macOS 11 or newer.

Back in show 1032, Lee covered Session in one of the Tuesday Tip videos. Since this show was released, the application has developed significantly and he now uses it as his main tool for staying focused on his work. Session is an application that uses the tenets of the Pomodoro Technique to split the working day up into focused sessions of work, encouraging you to set intentions, eliminate distractions and take frequent breaks, ensuring you make the most of the time you have available.

Focusing on the Mac version in this video, Lee walks through not just how to use the app at a functional level, but also offers some ideas for how you may want to set it up for yourself. Lee also looks at some of the useful automation functionality Session has to offer, such as Shortcuts integration and the ability to support URL schemes, allowing you to start custom work sessions by clicking a link.

Session runs on macOS 10.15 or newer, and iOS 13.4 or later.

Virtual private networks (VPN), while they've been around for a while can still be hard to understand. Even if you know about them, once turned on it can be unclear if you're receiving the benefits. Using ClearVPN, in this show Darcy outlines exactly how a VPN works to protect your devices while browsing on insecure networks (such as your favorite coffee shop's public wifi) with real demonstrations of ad blocking.

With a beautiful user interface, ClearVPN also gives you the ability to access streaming services around the globe. Throw in quick access through Shortcuts and widgets on your home screen, and you've got a very flexible way to manage your VPN connections.

ClearVPN from MacPaw runs on macOS 13 or newer, and iOS or iPadOS 16 or later.

You get access to ClearVPN through a Setapp subscription, or you can subscribe to the app on a monthly ($9.99 USD) or annual ($44.99 USD) plan, after a 3-day trial, perfect to follow along with Darcy!

The application Almighty from Indie Goodies software simplifies how you use system shortcuts and settings on your Mac by combining them into a single app experience. It gives you access to over 50 different customisations that can be triggered using keyboard shortcuts or the menu bar. These include tasks like automatically converting rich text to plain when copied, creating spaces in your Dock to organise your apps, and displaying your keystrokes, to name just a few.

Join Darcy in this episode as he goes through many of these actions, demos them for you, and shows you how to organise your favourites into a workflow that allows you to run a sequence of actions and settings with a single click!

Almighty will run on macOS 13.0 or newer.

From Neil Clayton at shinywhitebox comes iShowU, a full-featured and very customisable screen recording application, optimised for Apple silicon. The user experience can either be a simple mode for easily configuring your recording with connected displays, microphones and cameras, or a deeper, integrated "Pro" mode. In this mode you can add layers that you can customise to your needs, making it very flexible for a variety of use cases. In this episode, Darcy takes you on a tour of the app. So download iShowU and follow along with him!

iShowU v6 requires macOS 13 or newer.

You can buy an iShowU v6 perpetual license for $89 USD, or subscribe for $24 USD annually.

Every now and then an application comes along that captures the imagination with a novel approach and design and Godspeed is no exception. It's goal is to make you use the app exclusively from the keyboard, without the need to use a mouse or trackpad by utilising keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys. It may seem niche, but it's incredibly effective and the application doesn't hold back on features. It also has one of the fastest sync engines we've seen between macOS and iOS and in this video, Lee walks you through how to use it, and customise it to suit your own needs.

Rocket Typist is an app designed for text expansion, which simplifies typing using much shorter abbreviations of longer bits of text. It will surely boost your productivity, and ensures accuracy by avoiding typos and other common errors. Rocket Typist is part of Setapp, so if you’re looking to move away from other text expansion apps for a lower overall cost, this utility may just be for you.

Join Don in this episode to learn all about Rocket Typist and how it can streamline what you do each day using your Mac's keyboard.

Rocket Typist requires macOS 13 and iOS 16 or newer.

Rocket Typist Pro for iOS: $9.99

Rocket Typist Pro for macOS: $19.99

Muse is an easy-to-use project planning and creative app which brings together several types of assets into a flexible canvas-style workspace. You can combine photos, PDFs, and links to resources, along with notes and text blocks, all within Muse. Join Darcy as he delves into what Muse has to offer on the Mac by showing you its numerous features. It includes various templates you can use as a starting point, and it supports collaboration and sharing so you can work alongside friends and colleagues easily.

Muse will run on macOS 12 or newer; iPadOS 15 or newer. All pricing information is in the Resources section below.

When you spend a lot of money on your Mac device, you want to be sure it's performing as it should. iStat Menus 7 is a great tool to help you monitor component performance, such as CPU and GPU, Memory, Disks and Battery. You can also set notifications to alert you when certain thresholds on your system are met, like when the battery on your laptop is getting low. You're not limited to the internals of your Mac, either. iStat Menus can give you access to Calendar, World Clocks and even the weather, all from its menu bar icon. Join Lee as he gives you an in-depth tour of this full-featured utility. iStat Menus requires macOS 11 and newer, and is available as part of your Setapp subscription.