Due to the hideous icon of WeatherVane, the app I posted yesterday, I felt compelled to post an app today with a nice, clean icon. After some scavenging, I found an excellent note-taking app called SketchBox. SketchBox is like OS X’s Stickies app, only infinitely better. Each note you make is stored in an iPhoto-esque environment with
your notes in a grid view. But, what makes the notes special is that they can store text, drawings, pictures, and even custom timers. All of these functions make for a great app with an attractive price: $0.

Rating: 5/5. Great app, amazing interface, and especially stunning icon. Perfect across the board.

Developer site:
OMZ-Software.de/SketchBox_Index.html

P.S. The gigantic 512X512 icon is available here. Seriously, look. You won’t be disappointed. It’s so crisp!:
http://FreeMacAppaDay.com/Images/SketchBox.png

WeatherVane is a simplistic tool that can show you your five-day weather forecast when you click an icon (the current temperature in your city) in your menu bar. I can see how it would be useful for people (specifically those who travel a lot), even if I don’t really use it. But in any case, it’s a nice little app with a neat function that can add to your arsenal of menu bar tools.

Rating: 4/5. Could use an update, and a new icon. Functions just fine, though.

Developer site:
SpikeSoft.net/Download.php#WeatherVane

iProcrastinate is an awesome assignment manager for Mac. It has a clean and intuitive interface, which helps to keep your organized for school. You can add your subjects in and color code them, then add assignments. Then you add and prioritize tasks, and it will do the rest. It has dedicated note-taking sections and a place to put files accompanying the task. You can also burn all of your assignments to a disc! The accompanying iPhone app (iProcrastinate Mobile) is also impressive. It carries over most of the features from the Mac version, and helps you stay organized on the go. The developer is currently working on making the two apps sync together, which should make for an amazing set of GTD tools at your disposal. Grab it while it’s hot, and get ready for school!

Rating: 5/5. iPhone app and syncing will top this one off.

Developer site:
CraigOtis.com/Mac
CraigOtis.com/Mobile

I hate to bring it up, but school is nearing. Fast. Since the coming year is always harder than the previous, it’s nice to have an edge. Schoolhouse can help you with that. Schoolhouse is an awesome assignment manager that has come a long way since its early versions. It features task listing, note-taking, file attachments, grade viewing, and even “classcasting”, a class-based podcasting service. Put simply, Schoolhouse can organize anything you do in school with ease, in a great, well-developed interface.

Rating: 5/5. Flawless.

Developer site:
LogansCollins.com/Schoolhouse

Every copy of Mac OS X (or any Unix-based system) ships with a Terminal application.  Terminal lets you run commands and access deeper tools than what’s available through most applications with a GUI. But, many have also complained at the lack of features that the default Terminal has. This is where iTerm comes in. iTerm has a ton of features like AppleScript support, custom background pictures, Bonjour support (with bookmarks), mouse focus following, rearrangeable tabs, a customizable interface, and even the ability to send a command to multiple tabs. The list goes on. iTerm is an amazing app that’s nearing its 1.0 release, which I really look forward to in the near future.

 
Rating: 5/5. Nice app, easy to use. Everything Apple didn’t include in Terminal.

Developer site:
iTerm.SourceForge.net

Dock Spaces is the kind of app I’ve been hoping for since I really began to use the Dock. Now, the Dock generally stores your favorite apps so you can conveniently open them, but what happens when it starts to fill up with apps? Then it becomes a huge mess, and nothing is within reach anymore. Dock Spaces fixes this problem by allowing you to have 5 different docks that you can switch between anytime. So, you can have one dock for work/school, one for photo editing, and one for gaming, or whatever you want. It’s an extremely useful little app, and it works very fast. Very highly recommended.

Rating: 5/5. Exactly what I’ve been looking for, and I love the menu bar functionality.

Developer site:
Web.Mac.com/PatrickJamelo/Dock.html

FlyGesture is an innovative little app launcher that I just heard about the other day.  It uses the concept of gesture recognition to open apps, or do just about anything you can do with Automator.  When you press F1, a grid shows up that you click and drag through.  You set your own gestures to do what you want to do, which is nice.  Really cool little app.

Rating: 4.5/5.  Great if you can remember the gestures.

Developer site:
FlyingMeat.com/FlyGesture

omnidea Rulers is a fun little tool that allows you to measure your screen (or small parts of it) with a set of rulers that sit on the edges of your screen. It can measure in pixels, centimeters, or inches, and also has a color sampling tool that will show you the exact Hex value of the color that your mouse it currently over. It has a lot of nice little additions as well, like the ability to take screenshots or put the rulers wherever you want. Nice app, I can see this coming in handy from time to time.

Rating: 5/5. Runs fast, video tutorial in Help menu is nice.

Developer site:
omnidea.it/En/Software/Rulers

NewsFire is a commonly used RSS reader with an awesome user interface. It has everything we love about Leopard in one app. It’s extremely fast as well, letting you browse updates faster than any other RSS app I know of. The fact that it’s free is kind of hard to believe–this app probably took a lot of work to make.

Rating: 4.5/5. Great look and feel, but low on features. Lightning fast, I might add.

Developer site:
NewsFireRSS.com

GimmeSomeTune is an old classic in the world of Mac freeware. It’s kind of like Growl for iTunes, but much more. You can fetch and add artwork and lyrics within the app, add a rating, and do tons of other neat things. It has a nice little HUD-based window where all of the song info can be seen, and an insane amount of preferences. Also, it just sits in your menu bar, like many iTunes control apps. Last.fm support is an added plus.

Rating: 4.5/5. Replaces TotalTunesControl nicely, but still has some minor bugs and kinks to work out.

Developer site:
EternalStorms.at/GimmeSomeTune