Applite
Applite


Installing software using the package manager, Homebrew, makes it much easier to update than downloading installation files manually. It isn't necessarily difficult to find the commands to download apps, but it does require a certain amount of searching around. The free and open-source utility, Applite, provides an App Store like interface for Homebrew, allowing you to browse what is available through a GUI. Anything you download through Applite can also be updated through the same interface.

When you install Applite, it will offer to install Homebrew . If you don't have it installed already, you'll want to do that. Otherwise, just choose the option to use your currently installed version, which will be detected.

Every application in the Homebrew Catalog is available through Applite. When you launch an app downloaded with Applite, the built-in Mac security apps, Gatekeeper and Xprotect will examine it to make sure it is safe to run. Most of the apps in the Homebrew catalog are notarized, but not all of them are sandboxed, meaning that some may run with elevated privileges. Be careful when downloading applications that few others have downloaded. Not all apps available through Homebrew are FOSS. Some are trialware of commercial products.

The following categories of apps are available along with info on some of the apps I have tested:

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