Software development is an ever-evolving field, and as a professional who works with mobile app development for iOS and Android using React Native, I am constantly exploring more efficient ways to do my job. Here, I'd like to share some indispensable tools that help me streamline my work and boost my productivity.
My go-to tool instead of Spotlight, an enhanced productivity booster and, in my opinion, a step above Alfred. -Awesome extensions, clipboard history out-of-the-box
An auto-completion tool for the terminal. It's handy for managing scripts, aliases, and PATH. It's also a smart way of storing your configs in the cloud - especially useful if you switch PCs often. Bonus: it has a free AI feature! I don't use the autocomplete.
A simple yet effective GUI for git. It's no frills, but it does the job remarkably well and makes handling git tasks less of a hassle.
This ingenious tool lets me control an Android device on my PC as I would an iOS simulator. It's incredibly handy and saves me so much time.
I rely heavily on VSCode for my daily work, and the following extensions add considerable value:
- Fira Code: A fantastic monospaced with ligadures.
- Copilot: Would prefer to code with a single finger over coding without copilot.
- Code Spell Checker: Helps keep embarrassing typos at bay.
- Error Lens: Adds errors as a "lens" at the end of the line.
- Pretty TypeScript Error: Because clear and meaningful error messages are gold.
- saveBackup: An insurance policy against the inadvertent loss of code, it saves the history of all files you save.
Of course, ESLint and Prettier are my standard go-to tools for maintaining code quality.
My VSCode settings are as follows:
"errorLens.excludeBySource": [
"sonarlint",
"eslint(prettier/prettier)",
"ts(1128)"
],
"eslint.rules.customizations": [
{
"rule": "prettier/prettier", // disables prettier enforcement via eslint, having it enabled slows down the editor (if projets are setup to enforce it via eslint)
"severity": "off" // I trust prettier extension so I force disable that rule.
}
],
"audioCues.taskCompleted": "on",
"audioCues.terminalCommandFailed": "on",
"editor.smoothScrolling": true,
"editor.stickyScroll.enabled": true,
"typescript.experimental.aiQuickFix": true,
"window.nativeTabs": true,
"typescript.referencesCodeLens.enabled": true,
"typescript.implementationsCodeLens.enabled": true,
"workbench.editor.pinnedTabSizing": "shrink",
"workbench.commandPalette.experimental.suggestCommands": true,
"window.experimental.nativeContextMenuLocation": true,
"workbench.editor.limit.enabled": true,
"workbench.editor.limit.excludeDirty": true,
"workbench.editor.limit.perEditorGroup": true,
"workbench.editor.limit.value": 16,
"workbench.editor.wrapTabs": true,
"workbench.editor.enablePreview": false,When it comes to theming, I recommend solarized-light-fjs for a light theme and Monokai Pro for a dark theme.
Whole universe of automation and extensiability for your mac, uses I give it: Window management(like windows), remap keyboard, toggle showing notes app by dragging cursor to right edge 3 finger tap/middle click on notes keeps it shown, otherwise as you move cursor outside of notes it hides it (no animations).
- Expo Orbit: Lets you launch builds and start simulators from the menu bar. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to check this one out, but it's on my list!
- Good Task: Manage apple tasks and reminders, plan the day, track time etc.
- Setapp: Yearly subscrition that gives access to lot of paid MacOS (and some iOS/iPadOS apps).
- Alt-Tab: You get it.
- Jira: I enjoy the deprecated native Macos Jira app (reach out if you trust me and want a copy of it).
If anyone's starting out with Fig or Raycast and would like a few tips, let me know. I have quite a few to share!
Fig extensions:
