7 Mac Apps Every CS Student and Junior Developer Needs in 2026

Whether you just got your first Mac for school or you're starting your first dev job, the default setup is... fine. But "fine" won't cut it when you're juggling assignments, side projects, and trying to actually learn without getting sucked into Twitter every 10 minutes. Here are 7 apps I wish someone had told me about when I was starting out. All of them are either free or cheap enough that a student budget can handle them. 1. Rectangle — Window Management That Actually Works Free | rectangleapp.com macOS window management is embarrassingly bad out of the box. Rectangle fixes that with keyboard shortcuts for snapping windows to halves, thirds, and corners. You'll wonder how you ever coded with one window taking up the full screen while your terminal hid behind it. It's free, open-source, and works instantly. 2. Homebrew — The Package Manager You'll Use Every Day Free | brew.sh If you're not using Homebrew yet, stop reading and install it right now. It's how you install basically every