Everyone is always looking for new, better applications. I think that’s a given. At least, every Mac / Pc / Whatever passionate I’ve met in my life was always open to suggestions regarding new, noteworthy applications.
Now, that of discovering and testing new Mac apps is a hard subject. I mean, since Apple opened up the AppStore, many things have changed: people are most likely to be given new apps (you know, the AppStore, Genius, “People also bought”) rather than spend 4 hours looking for some new solutions. Then, there’s the “indie” software problem: sometimes an indipedent developer can’t do big advertising campaigns, for this reason his app will remain unknown and only the “elitè” will use it. By elitè I mean nerds.
Anyway, I think there’s still a few number of users / nerds / call them how you want it who actually spend hours looking for the next big thing. Or there wouldn’t be indie Mac apps anymore.
Which are the best places to find new stuff? Keep on reading guys.
Bodega
Actually, Bodega is a Mac app. It helps you discover, buy, install and update Mac apps, basically. What’s so great about Bodega is its “online store” nature: it’s weekly updated with new softwares and stuff, so it’s a great place to keep track of every new app out there.
We also interview Bodega’s creator Rick Fillion, be sure to read the interview if you missed it.
Google Advanced Search
Yeah, Google. A simple, yet powerful Google search.Set the time to “last month” or “last week”, type the keywords you’ll like and here you go, fresh results about the Mac app you were looking for.
PrMAC
Prmac is a website about Mac press releases. Every new app / updates goes under Prmac.
Do I need to say something else?
Twitter is in my opinion to best place to discover new stuff about everything. In my case, I follow people who tweet a lot of stuff about Mac and iPhone, so it’s easy for me to discover new applications. Build your network, follow people who your friends follow, make twitter searches. That’s the way to go.
Forums and Friends
You know, sometimes you should just go out and talk to people. Talk with people in online forums, talk with your friends about the apps you use and you’ll surely discover new stuff.
Blogs
There are hundreds of Mac related blogs which daily review Mac and iPhone apps and you should definitely subscribe to. Here are a few from my RSS feeds lists:
Wakoopa and IUseThis are websites which let the users share their discoveries and rate applications. I highly reccomend IUseThis.