For students, especially undergrad, overleaf is an excellent way to dip your toes into latex. I wouldn't want to use it for anything large or serious, but it will handle a typical undergrad length document and doesn't even require installation.
Although things like [Skim][1] exist, Basictex does most of what I need, so I've never really tried wiring it into my existing install.
Pipe dream - If the people who work on macOS's Preview application were smart, they would steal it (or [Marked's][2]) ability to have a custom processor for displaying output. In that case, I could point it at my TeX install and just run my Makefile from there.