This must-have app for road warriors gives you granular control over how your Mac apps access network data. Use it to conserve data while tethered to your iPhone, prevent apps from “phoning home”, shut down internet access once you hit a bandwidth limit and see exactly how much data an app has used over time.

What we love: How TripMode lets you choose which apps get internet access based on how you’re connected. For example, allow only Mail, Messages and Slack to use data when your Mac is tethered to your iPhone, but allow all apps access when you’re on Wi-Fi – TripMode automatically switches to the right settings for each network.

Quick tip: Use the Scheduler feature to create time-specific settings. For example, help yourself focus by blocking social media apps and sites during the workday, or preserve bandwidth for evening movies by blocking network-intensive online-backup apps.

Meet the creator: TripMode’s developer, Alix, was founded in 2015 by three friends in Geneva. Travellers in RVs or boats with satellite connections, people living in countries where expensive mobile data is crucial for communication and others who need to conserve data inspired Alix to create the app.