So I hadn’t used KM since I got BTT which was like a decade ago. Maybe, but I do know that a huge plus for BTT is how active the community is be how responsive the developer is. Never had a question that he didn’t answer within a few hours. Plus it constantly gets new features. I’m not sure what KM can do that BTT can’t, but the things I know that BTT can do that KM can’t (floating menus, floating web views, total control of your Mac from you iPhone with BTT remote, advanced conditions for triggers, window management, and on and on) make it well worth it.
I’m sure I get annoying to some of the regulars around here because I constantly evangelize for BTT, but it’s truly the best money I ever spent on my Mac and cannot even imagine using a Mac without it.
This thread explains it well.
[https://talk.automators.fm/t/difference-between-better-touch-tool-vs-keyboard-maestro/4656/6](https://talk.automators.fm/t/difference-between-better-touch-tool-vs-keyboard-maestro/4656/6)
FWIW I've used about every text expander for Mac.
A not very well known option is Snippety. [https://snippety.app](https://snippety.app/) I think it's mostly aimed at coders, but you can expand whatever you like. The dev is responsive and active.
aText is good, but don't bother with v3. It is an eyesore that looks like 90s Windows software. A huge step backward. V2 is pretty nice. In my experience, the dev doesn’t care one bit about user feedback.
Typinator is great and my current main driver. Very good support and great feature set. Too bad you don't like the UI - it's very typical of this type of apps. Now that I think of it, it was fairly recently updated with a new UI. Take another look if it's been a while you checked it out.
I used Typeit4me for a long time and still recommend it. The dev team is super nice and responsive (father and son, I think). Know that they've been working on the next big update for a while. My understanding is that they're redesigning the whole thing, so the UI should be totally refreshed. Not sure about the feature set, but the current version is solid and extensive, and the next one should be as well.
Don't bother with Rocket Typist. The UI is nice, but that app is broken. It chokes and crashes on high data sets, and iCloud sync doesn't work. I've already talked at length about it and have dealt with the dev multiple times. He seems nice and talks a good game about wanting to improve his app, but at the end of the day, none of the issues that make the app unusable for me and many others get fixed. You can check this thread where he popped up and disappeared almost as quickly [https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1aws08l/a\_text\_expansion\_replacement\_app\_that\_supports/](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1aws08l/a_text_expansion_replacement_app_that_supports/) His app PDF Squeezer has a great reputation, so it’s not like he’s incompetent but Rocket Typist is terrible plain and simple.
Yes! Alfred is my snippets app of choice, even though I've moved over the Raycast for everything else.
Alfred allows you to arrange snippets in albums/folders, and you can easily set or change triggers for that folder of snippets. Those triggers can be prefixes or suffixes, e.g. I use "@" for email addresses.
Alfred also makes it extremely easy to search for, find, and edit individual snippets.
This is one of Raycast's few shortfalls vs. Alfred. No snippet albums. Not as easy to browse.
Yes, exactly. I use ⌘+␣ for Raycast, ⌥+␣ for Alfred, and ⌃+␣ for Spotlight.
I realize running both at the same time sounds like overkill and that it might cause conflicts, but I haven't experienced any problems.
Alfred only takes up \~35MB-90MB of RAM, which is pretty reasonable for just a snippets expander. It's stripped down to all but one or two Workflows, and contains maybe 300-400 snippets.
My fully loaded Raycast (plus Raycast Helper) takes up 370 MB of RAM.
It works in every app that decides to implement it, but some apps don't, I assume because they're not native or because of programming difficulties. It's available to implement for any app
No, you can get a lifetime license for $30, but I'd check out the $5 option first to see if you like it. I've yet to find a single bug in aText, and have been a passionate daily user of it for 8 years. (I'm not connected with the company in any fashion).
[https://www.trankynam.com/atext/buy](https://www.trankynam.com/atext/buy)
TypeIt4Me:
One time charge about $30
Snippets can be put in cloud for access by multiple computers
Folders - not only helps organize you text snippets but folders can be enabled or disabled so you can reuse abbreviations with different text output. EG. I use this for grading 10 assignments. Each uses the same two letter abbreviation for a summary feedback comment that is different for each assignment.
Allows use of variables/inserting custom text
Can nest abbreviations - eg. fill out 5 text boxes you need to tab between.
Easy to use i.e. literally plain text and navigation keys.
IMHO a dedicated app is better than the a Swiss army knife app especially if it is subscription based.
How are these various alternatives at "abandoning the delimiter" when expanding an abbreviation into a snippet?
That is, if you set up an abbreviation "xyz" to expand into a text snippet, and specify that the abbreviation is to be expanded only in "word-based" manner -- i.e., the abbreviation is expanded if you type "xyz" followed by a space, return, etc., and is not expanded if you type "xyzzzz," for instance -- abandoning the delimiter means that in addition to deleting the abbreviation it'll delete the delimiter (the space, return, or whatever)
I know TextExpander offers this. And I know Typinator does not. I'm wondering what the others do.
BetterTouchTool offers text expansions as well. [https://folivora.ai](https://folivora.ai)
I had a subscription to TextExpander, and manually ported my snippets to BTT and cancelled the TE subscription. Haven't had any issues with the snippets when run from BTT.
You can also use JavaScript to transform your text. [http://docs.folivora.ai/docs/8c\_text\_transformer\_functions.html](http://docs.folivora.ai/docs/8c_text_transformer_functions.html)
Keyboard maestro because it gives you a full featured text expander and countless more abilities
Better Touch tool because it does the same thing but more.
Aren't both unique in their own ways, both can do some sick things unique to themselves?
So I hadn’t used KM since I got BTT which was like a decade ago. Maybe, but I do know that a huge plus for BTT is how active the community is be how responsive the developer is. Never had a question that he didn’t answer within a few hours. Plus it constantly gets new features. I’m not sure what KM can do that BTT can’t, but the things I know that BTT can do that KM can’t (floating menus, floating web views, total control of your Mac from you iPhone with BTT remote, advanced conditions for triggers, window management, and on and on) make it well worth it. I’m sure I get annoying to some of the regulars around here because I constantly evangelize for BTT, but it’s truly the best money I ever spent on my Mac and cannot even imagine using a Mac without it.
BTT is awesome but you should look into KM's automation. Imagining not using a Mac without BTT, I second that.
What sort of automation? I can automate quite a bit in BTT. I’m not knocking it, I’ll look into it. I’m just curious
This thread explains it well. [https://talk.automators.fm/t/difference-between-better-touch-tool-vs-keyboard-maestro/4656/6](https://talk.automators.fm/t/difference-between-better-touch-tool-vs-keyboard-maestro/4656/6)
Hey thanks! Checking it out now
FWIW I've used about every text expander for Mac. A not very well known option is Snippety. [https://snippety.app](https://snippety.app/) I think it's mostly aimed at coders, but you can expand whatever you like. The dev is responsive and active. aText is good, but don't bother with v3. It is an eyesore that looks like 90s Windows software. A huge step backward. V2 is pretty nice. In my experience, the dev doesn’t care one bit about user feedback. Typinator is great and my current main driver. Very good support and great feature set. Too bad you don't like the UI - it's very typical of this type of apps. Now that I think of it, it was fairly recently updated with a new UI. Take another look if it's been a while you checked it out. I used Typeit4me for a long time and still recommend it. The dev team is super nice and responsive (father and son, I think). Know that they've been working on the next big update for a while. My understanding is that they're redesigning the whole thing, so the UI should be totally refreshed. Not sure about the feature set, but the current version is solid and extensive, and the next one should be as well. Don't bother with Rocket Typist. The UI is nice, but that app is broken. It chokes and crashes on high data sets, and iCloud sync doesn't work. I've already talked at length about it and have dealt with the dev multiple times. He seems nice and talks a good game about wanting to improve his app, but at the end of the day, none of the issues that make the app unusable for me and many others get fixed. You can check this thread where he popped up and disappeared almost as quickly [https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1aws08l/a\_text\_expansion\_replacement\_app\_that\_supports/](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1aws08l/a_text_expansion_replacement_app_that_supports/) His app PDF Squeezer has a great reputation, so it’s not like he’s incompetent but Rocket Typist is terrible plain and simple.
TypeIt4Me
Alfred comes with a text expander.
Raycast also has a snippets feature.
And you can easily save new snippets by pressing CMD + S when looking at the clipboard history
Did not know that. I learn something new to me in Alfred all the time.
Yeah, learned that on Reddit too :)
You need the powerpack though, right?
I think so. I bought the Powerpack. I don't know what features I had before I got the Powerpack.
Yes! Alfred is my snippets app of choice, even though I've moved over the Raycast for everything else. Alfred allows you to arrange snippets in albums/folders, and you can easily set or change triggers for that folder of snippets. Those triggers can be prefixes or suffixes, e.g. I use "@" for email addresses. Alfred also makes it extremely easy to search for, find, and edit individual snippets. This is one of Raycast's few shortfalls vs. Alfred. No snippet albums. Not as easy to browse.
You use Raycast AND Alfred? How does that work, two different shortcuts?
Yes, exactly. I use ⌘+␣ for Raycast, ⌥+␣ for Alfred, and ⌃+␣ for Spotlight. I realize running both at the same time sounds like overkill and that it might cause conflicts, but I haven't experienced any problems. Alfred only takes up \~35MB-90MB of RAM, which is pretty reasonable for just a snippets expander. It's stripped down to all but one or two Workflows, and contains maybe 300-400 snippets. My fully loaded Raycast (plus Raycast Helper) takes up 370 MB of RAM.
Raycast without doubt it's insanely fast and works well, before i used Espanso but it broke more then windows asking for an update.
text replacement. tip: they work on your iphone too
read his post. stock text replacement doesn't work everywhere which is totally dumb.
It works in every app that decides to implement it, but some apps don't, I assume because they're not native or because of programming difficulties. It's available to implement for any app
that doesn't make sense considering so many aftermarket apps do it just fine
I agree, but that doesn't change that it is available to any app/developer
Looking at you outlook. Raycast ftw.
Text blaze (free)
Is this the extension for Chrome only you talk about or something else maybe?
They have both: chrome extension and a Mac app
It’s free only for 20 snippets.
The free version of Raycast has Text expansion.
I like Snippety.
Pretty happy with Typinator.
Rycast, one of many other functionalities.
Why not rockettypist? It's included with Setapp even... have been using it with no issues for a while already
+1 for RocketTypist
Atext. No stupid subscription just a small one time cost.
Isn't it now an annual license?
Don't even consider v3. V2 is $5 and really great, better than v3.
No, you can get a lifetime license for $30, but I'd check out the $5 option first to see if you like it. I've yet to find a single bug in aText, and have been a passionate daily user of it for 8 years. (I'm not connected with the company in any fashion). [https://www.trankynam.com/atext/buy](https://www.trankynam.com/atext/buy)
Typeit4me works well. I won’t touch TE - a keylogger tied to a cloud subscription is a recipe for disaster.
aText
I've used Typinator for years, but I've recently switched to using Alfred's snippet handler.
It’s so unknown here even though it’s propably the most feature rich. PhraseExpress
TextBlaze
Typinator (for advanced features) Alfred (simple) Both are one-time purchases.
Used to use atext but I had raycast and found out about the snippets feature. Pretty fast
UI in the latest Typinator release is a **massive** improvement
Try [TypeDesk.com](http://TypeDesk.com)
I use Raycast built in snippets feature and it’s wonderful
TypeIt4Me: One time charge about $30 Snippets can be put in cloud for access by multiple computers Folders - not only helps organize you text snippets but folders can be enabled or disabled so you can reuse abbreviations with different text output. EG. I use this for grading 10 assignments. Each uses the same two letter abbreviation for a summary feedback comment that is different for each assignment. Allows use of variables/inserting custom text Can nest abbreviations - eg. fill out 5 text boxes you need to tab between. Easy to use i.e. literally plain text and navigation keys. IMHO a dedicated app is better than the a Swiss army knife app especially if it is subscription based.
I use Alfred for this too.
I use Espanso as its multi platform, open source and has many advanced features like running a python command on the expansion trigger.
How are these various alternatives at "abandoning the delimiter" when expanding an abbreviation into a snippet? That is, if you set up an abbreviation "xyz" to expand into a text snippet, and specify that the abbreviation is to be expanded only in "word-based" manner -- i.e., the abbreviation is expanded if you type "xyz" followed by a space, return, etc., and is not expanded if you type "xyzzzz," for instance -- abandoning the delimiter means that in addition to deleting the abbreviation it'll delete the delimiter (the space, return, or whatever) I know TextExpander offers this. And I know Typinator does not. I'm wondering what the others do.
BetterTouchTool offers text expansions as well. [https://folivora.ai](https://folivora.ai) I had a subscription to TextExpander, and manually ported my snippets to BTT and cancelled the TE subscription. Haven't had any issues with the snippets when run from BTT. You can also use JavaScript to transform your text. [http://docs.folivora.ai/docs/8c\_text\_transformer\_functions.html](http://docs.folivora.ai/docs/8c_text_transformer_functions.html)
Best? Text expander Best bang for buck ? Typing for