Whether designing user interfaces or building apps for the Mac operating system, the tool must be as efficient as the coding. Having the right Mac developer tools effectively supports development workflow and helps maximize productivity.
Factors to Consider in Mac Developer Tool
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Clean UI
A tool with a busy interface can adversely affect productivity. Hence, the tools must have a clean and intuitive UI that will help speed up the workflow.
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Performance and Integrations
The tool must run seamlessly without any lags or crashes. Ensure the tool’s performance is not hindered when working with large files or running multiple apps simultaneously. It must easily integrate with other software or apps involved in development.
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Price, Community, and Resources
Free tools are a great choice, but weigh the tool’s features against its cost. Often, paid tools can be more beneficial as they offer more features and long-term support.
The tool must also have a strong community and comprehensive documentation to help in the long run. Lastly, help must be accessible to understand specific features or fix glitches.
Here are the best Mac developer tools to look for in 2024:
1. Bitbucket
Bitbucket is a web-based service owned by Atlassian. It helps host source code that uses either the Mercurial or Git version control systems. It offers a central location for developers to collaborate on code, track changes, and control the development process.
With Bitbucket, teams can maintain a seamless workflow with the project’s growing complexity and scale. This is ideal for teams using Atlassian products like Confluence, Jira, and Trello.
Pros
- Offers free plan for teams with up to five users with unrestricted private and public repositories
- It lets developers set access controls on private repositories and defines every user’s actions on specific branches
- Supports pull requests
Cons
- Poor community support
- Restricts users on the free plan
- Not many open-source projects are hosted on Bitbucket
2. ClickUp
ClickUp boosts software development and project transparency. It does this by bridging the gap between coding and project management. ClickUp’s task boards can be customized to fit the required style.
ClickUp’s Whiteboards and ClickUp Docs allow developers to collaborate on ideas, plans, and documentation in real-time. The tool has @mentions, comments, and Chat view features to keep the teams in the loop.
Its native automation features help set triggers for assigning tasks, changing statuses, or sending reminders. This frees up developers’ time for other essential tasks.
Pros
- It has a modern and intuitive interface
- Developers can set time estimates for tasks that will help track the actual time spent
- Seamlessly integrates with over 100 tools
- ClickUp AI helps in creating documentation, preparing project updates, and turning meeting notes into summaries
- Offers extensive resources and tutorials
Cons
- The free plan does not offer ClickUp AI
- Many customization options may confuse new users
3. SourceTree
SourceTree is a Git client that offers a GUI for managing code repositories. This tool allows developers to interact with the codebase, handle tasks, commit changes, and manage branches. The tool helps quickly review codes, stash code changes, and save time on repetitive tasks.
Pros
- The tool has an intuitive UI that is easy to navigate
- Developers can perform complex Git commands with just a few clicks
- Supports hosting platforms like Bitbucket, GitHub, and GitLab
- Gives a visual presentation of a project’s commit history and branch structure
- Lets developers organize their commit history by combining, deleting, or reordering commits
Cons
- It uses much memory, impacting performance, especially on old systems
- Slows down when working with vast repositories
- Lacks integration capabilities
4. Postman
Postman is an API tool for building and testing APIs. Its user-friendly interface helps create and manage requests, classify them into collections, and picture responses in an organized manner. The tool has features for documenting APIs, monitoring their health, and sharing collections with the teams.
Pros
- Lets developers create multiple team workspaces for collaborating on API collections, environments, and flows
- Seamlessly integrates with Dropbox, Slack, Gitlab, Azure DevOps, Github, and Bitbucket
- Developers can suggest modifications by adding comments and tagging team members using the @mention feature
- It supports No auth, Basic Auth, OAuth, and Bearer Token authentication methods
- Helps create and run REST, SOAP, and GraphQL queries
Cons
- The free plan does not allow more than 3 team members
- Extensive features can be confusing to new users
- The tool slows down when working with complex requests or large files
5. Transporter
Transporter, by Apple, is a MacOS app designed to publish apps to Apple’s App Store. Developers can also use it to submit music, movies, or books to Apple Music, iTunes Store, or Apple Books. Transporter’s interface is user-friendly, with a drag-and-drop feature to get started.
The tool handles the validation process once the content is uploaded. It also checks for errors that might prevent submissions. Moreover, it offers detailed feedback and error messages. This helps developers resolve issues rapidly.
Pros
- Easy to install and let’s upload multiple files simultaneously
- Developers can resume their workloads during connection failures
- Developers can easily access history of previous uploads, including date and time
- Checks for updates and installs them automatically
Cons
- Feedback on issues can be unclear
- The upload progress bar is unstable on slow networks
Also Read: Top 5 AI Tools for Software Developers in 2023
Conclusion
These five Mac developer tools are designed for unique use cases. So, choose the most suitable tools or combine them with others to meet the project’s needs. Select a tool that helps streamline the development workflows and serves as a central hub for managing coding projects from start to finish. With features for project planning, progress tracking, and integrations, these tools help developers keep their projects organized and on schedule.
