The app stores are full of apps that look pretty and do little. This list is the exact opposite. The apps here might not be plastered on the walls of the Design Museum, but they are either unbelievably useful or tug at our geeky heartstrings in some way.
AUTHY
PRICE Free from authy.com
Two-factor authentication is a must-have on any password-protected account, and SMS-based 2FA is not to be relied on. Authy provides a brilliant free alternative, generating time-limited 2FA codes that are compatible with a huge range of online services (including password managers such as Bitwarden). Authy provides several measures to prevent it becoming a single point of failure or from locking you out of accounts should you, for example, lose the phone that provides the 2FA codes. It’s cross platform and can be installed on multiple devices, so the absence of one device isn’t critical. This is also very useful if you need to change the mobile phone number your account is tied to. In fact, everything with Authy is pretty simple – it does its job effectively, without fuss and without charge.
BARTENDER 4
PRICE US$15 from macbartender.com
The Mac menu bar can quickly become overcrowded, especially if you’ve installed the other Mac apps we’ve recommended here. Bartender 4 helps to keep things tidy, letting you keep the vital icons on display and hiding those that you don’t need until you mouse-over the menu bar. Bartender is hugely customisable, making it easy to get everything looking just so, right down to the amount of space left between menu bar items. It’s not cheap, but it’s an OCD balm.
BITWARDEN
PRICE Free (premium available) from bitwarden.com
There are many reasons why Bitwarden has become a favourite amongst the crew. It’s not the shiniest or most user-friendly of password managers. There are places where it’s a little rough around the
