Pixave

Pixave is an application that provides the ultimate environment for managing your photos on your Mac. The app includes a system of classification that addresses the manifold ways images can be coordinated and organized. The menu on the left enables you to browse photos by collection, tags, and hex color. You can customize collections as well as create smart collections, if you want to set up a custom list of criteria. When an image is selected, the panel on the right hand side reveals metadata or information concerning the "kind," "rating," "label," copyright," and "url," associated with the image, plus additional image information, including the name, type, file size, dimension, color, etc. If you choose to use Pixave, you may not have much use for Photos as an organizational tool.

AirDrop

AirDrop by Apple Inc, was first introduced for the Lion operating system for the Mac and has continued to perform well in El Capitian. AirDrop enables you to share files from a Mac to iOS devices instantaneously. This feature is very helpful when sharing content between your devices or when sharing it with others. Airdrop can be found in the left hand side menu of the finder window. When selected, you will see available computers and devices that you can connect to. AirDrop's performance under El Capitan has pretty much eliminated the need for other third party apps like Desktop Connect.

Reflector 2

Reflector (formerly "Reflection") is one of the few applications available that enable you to mirror your iOS devices on our Mac using your Wi-Fi network. In addition to displaying your iPhone and iPad on your Mac, you can also add device frames for select models of your device, as well as record sound. Reflector is especially useful for those who like to create tutorials or offer demonstrations for how to use various applications on your iOS devices. You can manually control the size of your device or simply launch it full screen. Reflector 2, the latest iteration, now comes with a companion app for iOS called Reflector Director.

Actions

Actions offers a way to control and interact with your Mac, virtually replacing your keyboard with your iPad as a push-button control panel. Working with any application on your Mac, Actions on the iPad enables you to set up commands that will make workflows on your Mac seem smooth and natural. With Actions, you can add customized buttons for menus and submenus to control applications like Preview, Photos, Keynote, Finder, and much more. Actions on the iPad is like a track pad on steroids. Actions gives you over 900 icons to choose from, so just about any application on your Mac can be given its own set of "Actions." Check out our video review to learn more.

Disk Art

If you are a computer geek, you are probably quite comfortable with understanding the architecture of your computer by using the Finder, Spotlight, or Terminal. Disk Art however provides a way to view the contents of your computer in the form of a visual grid that breaks down how much space each asset is using on your computer. In short, Disk Art takes digital assets and converts them into a Mondrian Bauhaus grid. On the right hand side is a thin panel that enables you to drop segments directly into the trash to eliminate unnecessary data. The app is highly original and practical to use.

DeskConnect

DeskConnect was released in timely fashion after Apple announced Air Drop, which initially could not be used in conjunction with your iOS devices or with older Macs. DeskConnect was developed to overcome those obstacles, providing the ability share files to Macs and iOS devices. DeskConnect must first be installed on your Mac, which shows up as an icon along the top menu bar. This area can be used to drag-and-drop files for transference. The DeskConnect application is also available for iPhones and iPads. Once the app is installed, you will be able to share web pages, documents, keynote files, photos, and more. With the release of Yosemite and El Capitan, Apple's Air Drop functionality improved dramatically, essentially eliminating the need for DeskConnect, although it's still a wonderful option to have. Check out our review to learn more.