Tired of popups constantly asking you to enable cookies or pop-ups asking you to sign up for a newsletter? A free and open source extension for Safari called Hush means you'll never see them, along with nags for things like enabling notifications. It's the kind of thing you install and then forget about until you use someone else's computer or phone, then wonder how anyone lives without it.

Hush isn't an ad blocker, though it does use the same Safari features utilized by ad blockers. Joel Arvidsson, who created and maintains the tool, states that it has "absolutely no access to your browser habits or passwords" and that it doesn't track behavior.

After installing Hush, you will need to ensure that the extension is enabled in Safari. On a Mac, you can do this by opening Safari, opening Safari's settings, and heading to the Extensions tab. Make sure that "Hush" is checked. On an iPhone or iPad you'll need to open the Settings application, scroll and open Safari, then scroll to an open Extensions. Ensure that Hush is set to on.

Credit: Justin Pot

After that, you're done—Hush will run in the background and block various annoyances. The entire application is half a megabyte, meaning it won't have a significant impact on your system performance.

What it does have an impact on is your browsing. All of us are sick of prompts for enabling cookies and will be glad to simply not see them. Now, this doesn't mean that you're blocking all cookies—that would break a lot of websites. Legally, according to the European Union regulation known as GDPR, websites have to ask permission for any "non-essential" cookies. Not every website complies with that law, though, in part because it only applies in Europe and in part because some people disobey the law. Hush simply stops you from every seeing the cookie pop-up, which means you can browse the web without that particular interruption. It also means that you never give consent to non-essential cookies, which probably on balance is good for your privacy even if it doesn't force anything.

Windows lets you preview a window by hovering your mouse over the icon in the taskbar. The Mac can't do that, unless you install DockDoor. This free and open-source application adds previews to the dock and also gives you a proper Ctrl-Tab keyboard shortcut for switching windows.

DockDoor is simple to install: just download it, drag it to the applications folder, and launch it. You will need to provide both accessibility and screen recording permission to the application in order for it to function. After that, the application will run in the background—you can configure it by clicking the menu bar icon.

Hover over any dock icon and you will see a real-time preview of what's happening in that application. If there are two windows open in that app you will see both windows, and you can click on it to open it. These are all features Windows has had for over a decade that haven't yet made their way to macOS.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Tab to cycle through all windows open on the current space. This is a great way to jump to a particular window without having to hunt it down with the mouse.

Credit: Justin Pot

DockDoor isn't perfect. It can't preview hidden windows, or windows on another space, due to limitations in how macOS operates. If you're a single-space-full-of-windows kind of person, and you miss the window preview from Windows, DockDoor just might be perfect for you.

It's been roughly a year since Reddit's API changes killed off all the good clients, and the company hasn't backed down yet. The problem: Reddit's mobile app and website can both be pretty annoying to use, thanks to a combination of bugs and intrusive engagement gimmicks.

Third party Reddit clients capable of posting and voting aren't coming back, but if you're more of a lurker, you should still check out RDX. This open source interface, available online or as an iOS app, lets you browse Reddit without having to actually open Reddit. This tool works around the recent API limitations by not actually using the API at all—it scrapes the actual JSON pages that constitute Reddit in order to present you with posts, comments, and media in a super clean format—a streamlined version of Reddit that loads instantly, even if you can't post (or interact with posts) while using it.

Credit: Justin Pot

By default, the service serves up r/all, which is just the most popular posts on the site at the moment. You can browse any subreddit directly—from within the app or using the web version, just tap or click the word "rdx" by the arrow in the top bar of the site and type the name of the community you want to browse. You will see suggestions as you type—pick the community you want or hit "Enter" to open the top match.

Credit: Justin Pot

There is also support for subscribing to subreddits, meaning you can customize the home page to show only posts from communities you care about. The application can even import your existing subscriptions from Reddit—the process takes about 30 seconds. Beyond that, you can choose custom color themes, fonts, and an infinite scroll mode. That's about it in terms of options, but the experience is still better than Reddit's first-party options.

But to reiterate, there's a big downside to RDX, at least for active Reddit users: You can't use the client to post, leave comments, or upvote/downvote. That won't change unless Reddit walks back the changes to its API. But if you're more of a lurker than a poster, RDX is near perfect—a lightweight, speedy alternative to the clutter of the standard Reddit user interface.

Safari, on mobile devices, does not offer a homepage. This isn't a big deal if you like the default new tab page, which shows links to your hand-picked "Favorites," tabs you have open on other devices, and a few more recommend pages. If you'd rather have your favorite search engine or landing page show up instead, though, you need an app called Homepage. This tool is completely free and does one thing: lets you set a homepage in Safari.

Open the application and you can type any URL for your homepage and hit "Save". Simple, right? You're not done: you need to enable the extension in Safari. Open System Settings and head to Safari > Extensions. Here you'll see that "Homepage" is turned off.

Credit: Justin Pot

Tap Homepage and then make sure Allow Extension is turned on. Then tap Open New Tabs and make sure With "Homepage" is selected.

Credit: Justin Pot

Now head to Safari and open a new tab. If everything was configured properly, you should see your chosen URL instead of the default "new tab" page. It's a simple thing, sure, but if you want your favorite webpage every time you open the browser, this is the best way to do it.

We've talked a lot about the "don't break the chain" method of building habits over the years, where you visually mark the completion of a habit every day to help you build it. The classic method is to put an "X" on a paper calendar every day. The longer your streak goes on, the more motivated you are to keep it going—as anyone with Snapchat streak with a friend knows.

Paper is fantastic for this, granted, but some people prefer digital tools. That's why I like Habo, an open-source habit tracking app for Android and iPhone that couldn't be simpler. There are no ads and no upselling—it's just a way to help build habits. Once you've downloaded and opened the app, add as many habits as you like. The idea is that you will check things off as you do them.

Credit: Justin Pot

There's an indicator on the top of each habit that lets you know how many days your streak has lasted. And you can configure the settings to do things no paper calendar can, like reminding you about your habit every day at a particular time. For example: You want to start doing 20 pushups before lunch every day. You can set the application to send you a notification right at 11:55. You can also add specific details about your routine and the reward you'll give yourself after completing it.

What I really appreciate about this app is its simplicity—and the fact that it's completely free. Too many productivity tools become needlessly complicated as they pursue monetization. Habo does what you need it to do and nothing else.

If you have some mix of Apple, Windows, and Android devices it can be a pain to quickly send a file from one to the other. Airdash is an open-source program that solves this problem—just install the app on all your devices and you can send files directly, meaning nothing of yours is ever stored on some server somewhere. Even better: Because there's no server, there are no file size limits, outside what can fit on the receiving device.

To get started, install the application on all of your devices. Next you'll need to pair your devices, which is quick: You'll just need to type four digit codes on both devices. You'll need to repeat this process between any two devices you want to share files between.

Credit: Justin Pot

Then, when it's time to transfer files simply choose the device you want to send the file to and select which file you want to send. Note that the application needs to be open on both devices (the desktop version can optionally run in the system tray, which makes this easier).

AirDash on the iPhone Credit: Justin Pot

Hit send and the file will show up in the "Downloads" folder of the receiving device after the transfer is done.

Credit: Justin Pot

Because there is no server involved, the speed of the transfer is going to depend entirely on the internet speed of the two devices. I tested this locally and found it close to instant; I tested it on devices on two different networks and found it a little slower. The main use case for this, in my mind, is quickly sending large files from one device to another, especially if you're trying to maximize your free file storage—though it could also be handy for the occasional small file.

I listen to a lot of music while working and love to quickly check what's currently playing, which is why I checked out MediaMate. It's an indie app for Mac that costs €7 (roughly $7.50) that shows the current track, either as an extension to the MacBook "notch" or as a semi-transparent pop-up. It can show up every time the track changes, every time you adjust the volume, or when you hover your mouse over the notch.

This is nice for quickly checking what's playing but also for figuring out which media application currently "owns" the media control keys. For example: sometimes I click play on a video online while I'm also listening to music. I'll hit "pause" with the intention of pausing the music only for the video to pause. This is annoying because I don't really understand what's going on, but with MediaMate I can at least see in real time which application I'm pausing and playing.

Credit: Justin Pot

MediaMate also replaces the bulky volume and brightness popups with slimmer ones. Granted, this is a minor cosmetic change, but it's one I appreciate. You can even combine this with the now-playing section in the notch, as seen at the top of this article. Another choice is to have a thin volume display at the bottom of the screen.

Credit: Justin Pot

All of this can be customized a create deal in the settings—you can choose between four different styles for the volume and brightness overlays and configure quite a bit about how they all work. If you're the kind of person who loves tweaking things and isn't quite happy with how macOS handles the volume and brightness overlays, it's worth a download.