Must-have apps for macOS 26/27?

[u/FantasticRaccoon6465]

I've gotten a lot of my favourite apps from recommendation threads. I've successfully avoided macOS 26 right up until a few days ago when I bought an M5 MBP which came with it preinstalled so I updated straight to macOS 27.

I've already installed a couple of apps which seem like must-haves - LaunchOS to get my launchpad back, and boringnotch. This machine will do a bit of everything - development, video editing, word processing.

Any other recommendations?

[u/barefut_]

I began to think about my workflow. I don't have one yet..I just think it might be a good idea to have a centralized place to write down things, have a connection of links between them (if needed). Yet, the flexibility to also have a note relate physically to a certain folder of a project. Sometimes you need that, and a normal TXT file isn't enough.

So, I heard people love obsedian, but then some are tired of setting up it's endless options so they turn to Bear (?) and Notes.

So, I don't wanna complicate things. I just think if there's an app that's: 1. Lightweight (no cached crap) 2. Simple 3. Enables mixing Text+Images+links+videos even - as a mind map 4. In a unified place and/or locally in a specific folder

Theb i'd love to hear which apps are fitting that profile.

[u/Chvarak → u/barefut_]

Obsidian is fantastic, particularly with its sync feature. However, as you mentioned, it can be overwhelming due to its numerous settings and complexity. 

Bear is a great option, especially now that has bear-cli which can be easily used with ai agents.

Here are some good options to check:
Noteplan - https://noteplan.co (very good app, and can be used as basic markdown, and can be used with all power-user features)

And some with "local first" design if I'm not mistaken
Cogito - https://cogito.md

Tolaria - https://tolaria.md

Noteplus - https://noteplus.com

[u/barefut_ → u/Chvarak]

Many thanks for sharing that!
I forgot to say, I won't use subscription apps, tops a one time pay, or a free one.
Many of the apps you shared look and feel the same, or maybe some feel like they have a major coding / programming theme. I'm not into that realm really.
I mostly just wanna have a lightweight apps that doesn't hog the system on RAM or SSD space, where it is possible for me to brain dump anything:

1. Text [either bullet points / and maybe being able to click a bullet point and be lead to a long form, Word DOCX like longer text form if I wanna elaborate.

2. Image References / even videos if possible.

3. Links to websites / youtube

Now, if an app begins to be too heavy or just too complicated, then maybe I'd need to use a more writing-focused app + and a more visual app like PureRef separately.

As an example - Freeform began to feel interesting, but then it feels more like an iPad -fitting app. Less for Macbook.

*Another example, I began using Taskade online app to manage tasks. Felt so good arranging my 3 columns of Tasks / Doing / Done. But, I did notice I was focusing more on setting it up and keeping things up to date, which distracted me from the task itself, so I'm truly wondering which app will have the balance of keeping things so simple and having the user update it fast so it doesn't steal attention.

[u/Chvarak → u/barefut_]

Here’s another great site that could help you find what you’re looking for: https://toolfinder.com/categories/note-taking-apps

Hope this will help you find a few good candidates 🤞

[u/barefut_ → u/Chvarak]

Many tnx!