Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I’m being productive when I’m really just procrastinating. Here’s a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

Workstation

  • Mac Studio, M1 Max, 64GB RAM (2022)

    I was using an Intel-based 15.4” MacBook Pro prior to this and the difference is night and day. I’ve never heard the fans turn on a single time, even under the incredibly heavy loads I put it through with our various launch simulations.

  • Apple Magic Trackpad

    Something about all the gestures makes me feel like a wizard with special powers. I really like feeling like a wizard with special powers.

Development tools

  • VS Code

    I really like to work on VS Code. It’s more than a code editor.

  • iTerm2

    I’m honestly not even sure what features I get with this that aren’t just part of the macOS Terminal but it’s what I use.

  • TablePlus

    Great software for working with databases. Has saved me from building about a thousand admin interfaces for my various projects over the years.

Design

  • Figma

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

Productivity

  • Alfred

    It’s not the newest kid on the block but it’s still the fastest. The Sublime Text of the application launcher world.