HexEditor is the Premiere Hex Editor for Mac OS X
If you need to hex edit a file for work or your own personal use, there are a few freeware options for the Mac user. HexEditor is one of them. While I don’t think Hexeditor has the easiest interface, it does get the job done when other hex editors don’t.
Download and Installation (4 out of 5)
You can download HexEditor at this website. While it was released a long time ago in computer years (2002!), it still works on modern Macs just fine. Once you download the file it will mount on your desktop and you should be able to open it and start hex editing right away.
Features (4 out of 5)
According to the website, HexEditor “allows viewing/manipulating raw data inside files. It can show data using various encodings as integers (hex or decimal), floating points, binary, and character strings.” Basically, it allows you to manipulate the information inside a file, at the binary level. It is what people use to modify games or other files with.
HexEditor’s interface is pretty simple to understand, but it is not that easy to navigate. You have a list of Addresses and the Contents of said Addresses are listed next to it, but in order to find an Address you can’t use the search function. You have to type it in the Selection box. Also, if you want to edit a line you have to do so in the View/Edit box and not in the line itself. It works well, it just takes some getting used to.
Saving a file is easy with HexEditor. Plus, unlike some of the hex editors I’ve used, HexEditor allows you to save your modded file as a separate file from the original. This is great in case you screw something up.
Usefulness (4 out of 5)
If you hex edit regularly, you probably have a much fancier program than this freeware, but if you are new to hex editing HexEditor will do everything you need. It may take a few tries to figure out how to use it properly, but it works better than the other freeware Mac hex editors on the market.
Overall (3 out of 5)
HexEditor is a great freeware hex editor for Mac users. If you need to hex edit a file for any reason, try out this program. You won’t be disappointed.
