- App Store
- Automator
- Books
- Calculator
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Dictionary
- FaceTime
- GarageBand
- iMovie
- Keynote
- Launchpad
- Maps
- Messages
- Music
- Notes
- Numbers
- Pages
- Other (name it in the comments)
0
voters
My favorite app of all time has to be Gnu Emacs. The Swiss Army knife of software. It can do just about everything, including edit text files.
I have installations on all of my computers (Mac, Linux and Windows).
But don’t bother with the stripped-down version Apple used to ship with macOS.
Either download a fully GUI-enabled build (e.g. https://emacsformacos.com/ ) or compile your own from the open sources (it’s pretty easy to do).
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I have a number of favorite apps, but I will just name the ones which I use on a daily basis without fail, in no certain order:
Adobe Photoshop
BBEdit
Online Bible
Mail
Firefox
SpamSieve
I have been using all of them for many years now, and they are the core apps I use with my online Christian ministry. I began using Photoshop with version 5 as I recall; not CS 5, but 5 when it was still distributed on CDs. With BBEdit, I think I go back to about version 6. Firefox is also an oldie with me, but I don’t recall my first version number.
I seem to recall a long, long time ago, that I had considered using Emacs. However, in the end, I opted for BBEdit, and I have been using it ever since.
All of my web pages are built with BBEdit, and verified with another jewel of an app called Balthisar Tidy for Work. Initially, I started out with WYSIWYG editors, such as Adobe’s Page Mill. However, WYSIWYG apps tend to add a lot of unnecessary proprietary code to HTML docs, so I eventually knuckled down and began learning how to write HTML myself.
Then, years later, I got into Google’s AMP, and was forced to update every single page on my website so that they conformed to the AMP standard. What a job that was!
Is this poll only for MacOS? Because I’m not including iOS.
My current fav apps have to include:
- InDesign
- Xojo
- BBEdit
- Safari
My favorite past apps (I still miss them):
- Aldus FreeHand
- FullWrite
Marc, yes, I had macOS, Mac OS X and Classic Mac in mind when I designed these two polls. However, feel free to create one that is dedicated to iOS if you like.
Drafts
BBEdit
Adobe Lightroom
OmniFocus
Arc
SpamSieve
Anki
Also, all the UNIX tools, too many to list, but since Emacs has been mentioned I have to list vi. 
Bash scripts and Perl, my old workhorses.
Python my current learning project.
I have too many, too too many…
Impossible to pick one.
Current
Script Debugger - has gotten a bit bloaty of late but the debugging is great
Filemaker Pro - always loved using it
AdBlock Plus - makes the web bearable
SequelPro (now Sequel Ace)
XOJO (love/hate relationship)
Keynote - probably my favourite Apple app
Carbon Copy Cloner - less useful now but awesome
Defunct
Facespan - cool way to build interfaces and apps for Applescript
Aperture - can’t believe they killed it
Mac OS Server - made running a bunch of services simple
Honourable mention to Affinity suite. They’re good but not mature enough to be a favourite. The way Affinity Link works is genius.
Edit to mention one more from OS9 days - OneClick. It was a macro/scripting app which could do pretty amazing things. Started my programming journey with it.
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I used AdBlock Plus for the longest time. However, some time ago, for reasons which I can’t even remember now, I switched to UBlock Origin. I also used to use Sequel Pro. However, I now use TablePlus to work with my databases. I still use Carbon Copy Cloner as my backup work horse on both my iMacs. I consider it an indispensable tool. Once set up, it is hassle free and just does what it does.
As I previously mentioned, BBEdit is my go-to text editor for everything text-related that I do on my machine. I have Adobe Lightroom because it come as a part of the Photoshop bundle. However, I never use it. I’ve been using SpamSieve for quite a few years as well. It is quite easy to use, and saves a lot of time when it comes to spam.
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Older members maight recall an app I loved: MacSoup. Simple e-mail and offline newsgroups, back when comp.sys.mac.comms etc were the forerunners of Tidbits and weren’t infested with spam. And if you really like old apps, I got into offline newsgroups readers with Paperboy on the Newton and eMate.
Quicken Classic Premier is the latest name for this financial management software and my clear favorite.
It saves me so much time with auto-downloading of all accounts and many billing statements, auto-reconciling, projected balances, every report I’ll ever need and easy import into TurboTax each year including category match with my Schedule C.
It is the only software I am willing to pay a subscription fee for and it is worth every penny.
I use Notes constantly throughout the day.
drmoss_ca, oh yes, I remember MacSoup, but back in the day, I used to use NewsHound, YA NewsHound I think it may have been called, and there was another very popular one I switched to, the name of which, I can’t even remember now. I think it may have been Unison.
YA NewsHound
Newswatcher, I think, in many various forms.
Chris
Yes, you are correct. That was the name of it. It has been a long time, and my old brain can get a big foggy.
YA NewsHound sounds familiar. I also remember Agent but I think that was Windows based.
Geez you guy aren’t going back far at all!
My favorite older apps, used daily, were Eudora and Quicken. Then WordPerfect. Graphic Converter.
There are others I know I used but many have fallen out of my head by now.
Diane
Diane, I personally never had a need for Quicken. However, yes, Eudora was my go-to mail app for the longest time, until Qualcomm stopped developing it – or whatever happened, I can’t even remember now – and I eventually began using Apple’s Mail app. Oh wait! There was another very popular one I used. Hmmm … I think it was called Claris Emailer, which, IIRC, Apple bought out or took over or something. We are talking decades ago.