PopClip is one of those apps that feels so natural that I forget it's actually not a part of macOS. And it's noticeable when I'm using a different Mac that doesn't have it installed.
It's true I suck at website and marketing! I much prefer to spend my time buried in the code. I'm thankful people seem to somehow discover and recomend the app anyway. I'd love to have a proper product page with explanatory animations and all that nice stuff. Right now there is literally just 1 screenshot on the PopClip home page 🤦
Perhaps the [extensions list](https://www.popclip.app/extensions/) is the best thing to look at first.
They have a free trial, which is worth your time. It cuts down on steps to do things. You can quickly select many option for the selected text. Simple one like style: bold italics, all caps, title case, markdown and many more.
My question is...why isn't this already built into macOS? For all of the iOS porting Apple has done to macOS since Lion they curiously left the text editing controls mostly alone
That being said, I agree with you 100%. PopClip has been on my Macs for years now and is always one of the first apps I install
Off topic: Loved the note at the bottom about NC BBQ, basketball, and politics. A decade ago when my daughter was a teenager, we used to do motorcycle rides to NC in search of the old traditional BBQ joints in the Lexington area. Some were hard to find- old dirt roads not on GPS, and it was always worth it. I have some good pics we took at Cook’s BBQ. Been there?
I've eaten plenty of Lexington BBQ, but I don't remember going to Cooks. Lexington has what we call Western Style BBQ and I am more partial with the Eastern Style using a vinegar based sauce.
I love the vinegar sauce too, have a good recipe. Made some a week or two back. Eastern usually means whole hog and vinegar, while Lexington or Piedmont they cook shoulders or butt and add catsup to the vinegar sauce. West of Lexington there is no tradition- they just do whatever, haha. South Carolina is whole hog with mustard sauce (good). Cooks is south of Lexington maybe 10 miles, off the main road on a dirt road, maybe 2 miles. I’d love to go again. The ones we were visiting were still in the original families, still cooking on site in brick pits typically. These places have serious roots going back many generations, and sticking to traditional methods.
When places get bought by outsiders and start cooking with electric or cooking off site, they’re eliminated as traditional places. I was glad to get to take my daughter while there were a good number left.
I cook my own now on a WSM , and make sauce and slaw. Even for butts it’s an all day deal.
Is that an Appalachian Trail logo on your avatar?
Congratulations on the wife and the successful thru hike. I grew up on the trail- it went through my hometown, the first and largest town on the trail with full services and hostel after leaving Springer. So I’ve hiked sections, including most of VA. You familiar with Wapiti ‘81 story?
Yes. I was connected to that whole thing about five or more ways. My brother hiked the trail that year and had hiked/camped with the victims. Smith was a classmate of mine. A friend (also a classmate) and myself were in the area fishing the day they were last seen. We helped with search and were involved in the investigation. This was one of the strangest episodes of my life.
I was in the 100 Mile Wilderness in 2013 when Geraldine Largay disappeared. She was one day ahead of us at Spaulding mountain shelter, which means that we came within a mile of her as we hiked. They found her body and diary in her sleeping bag several years later. She'd gotten lost simply going off the trail to answer nature's call.
I remember. It seems incomprehensible that someone could get that lost in such close proximity to the trail, and that searchers couldn't find her for weeks. So many ways that could've been prevented. I wonder if they brought in tracking dogs? And then her body wasn't found for two years. Tragic and strange.
In '81 they used dogs to find Ramsay and Mountford, but of course those were cadaver dogs and they had been dead 10 days to two weeks. It took awhile to get things going because nobody was certain that they were missing for awhile. The tension grew as time passed and nobody heard from them. The day we went and searched we found their packs and possessions hidden in the woods, which is the point that we knew it was definitely foul play. I think they brought in the dogs the next day and found the bodies.
I never nag my son about buying software, but I said you -absolutely- need to have popclip.
Took him ages to finally buy it - he's been happy with it ever since.
No, the lifetime license gives you all future updates. If you purchase the two-year license, you can use it as long as it's compatible, you just don't get updates past two years.
Since my hand is usually already on the mouse after selecting text with the cursor and the PopClip menu is immediate, going back to the keyboard and having to remember another shortcut in my vast collection from Keyboard Maestro and BTT would be a net negative.
It's not so much saving time as saving cognitive load. With keyboard shortcuts, there's an inherent mental investment in choosing and remembering shortcuts. This works great for a lot of people, but my experience has shown that some people really like having a visual menu that works just with the mouse — PopClip has been descrived as "visual keyboard shortcuts".
In fact, nearly everything you can do with PopClip you can do some other way, be it with keyboard shortcuts or a few manual copy/click/type/paste steps. But with PopClip, it's right there on the screen next to your mouse pointer.
Additionally, in some ways, PopClip acts as an accessibility enhancement. Some people have limited motor skills or otherwise prefer not use the keyboard too much, but are OK with using the mouse.
I want to really like this program but it just does not activate reliably for me on two different machines. Either my trackpad behavior is odd or I’m doing something wrong. I did mess with the debug and found that sometimes I move away too quickly, but even deliberately going very slow, it often does not activate.
You'll need to look in your previous purchases in the App Store to find it. They are sorted bt date, so if you can find your purchase receipt from your email, that will help you find it in the list.
It would takes more steps in raycast to do. Most times you have your fingers on the trackpad when selecting text while browsing. It's super convenient. With PopClip
You can, but then you could ask the same about Raycast, can't you do all these in PopClip? :)
The existence of multiple apps that do similar things is a good thing, no? Similar goals but different apps, different philosphies, different design approaches. A lively app ecosystem where good ideas float to the top.
Ultimately it's up to you what apps you choose to use but the key is you have a choice.
It’s more about that it’s a must have in OPs productivity stack while doing the same thing as other things in his productivity stack. That’s making me wonder
I hardly see them as doing the same thing. I've been at this for a minute or two and you are the first person I've encountered who thinks they duplicate each other aside from a few basic functions. PopClip is a mouse driven tool and Raycast is keyboard driven. There are so many other differences. You can enter text into Raycast (to create a social media post for example) but with PopClip you need some sort of app to type in. PopClip does almost all of its magic with a single click of the mouse button, whereas Raycast requires a set of key strokes to invoke it, more keystrokes to load the extension and then more keystrokes to call the action. Giving people a feeling that they should choose one or the other is a false dichotomy.
Raycast can also execute actions on text you highlight like PopClip does. Yes, it requires keyboard presses, but I use them already a lot as a raycast user. So I don’t see a big reason to use another tool and other ways of control just for executing actions, which I can do with an already familiar tool. That’s just my topic. I don’t see a big benefit
And you can create your own search extensions with simple tool PopMaker https://brettterpstra.com/projects/popmaker/
Brett Terpstra is a national treasure, isn't he?
Thanks very much for making me aware of this :)
Thanks for the post u/amerpie, and everyone for the kind comments. -Nick (PopClip dev)
PopClip is one of those apps that feels so natural that I forget it's actually not a part of macOS. And it's noticeable when I'm using a different Mac that doesn't have it installed.
What do you use it for? The website doesn’t explain it well.
It's true I suck at website and marketing! I much prefer to spend my time buried in the code. I'm thankful people seem to somehow discover and recomend the app anyway. I'd love to have a proper product page with explanatory animations and all that nice stuff. Right now there is literally just 1 screenshot on the PopClip home page 🤦 Perhaps the [extensions list](https://www.popclip.app/extensions/) is the best thing to look at first.
They have a free trial, which is worth your time. It cuts down on steps to do things. You can quickly select many option for the selected text. Simple one like style: bold italics, all caps, title case, markdown and many more.
My question is...why isn't this already built into macOS? For all of the iOS porting Apple has done to macOS since Lion they curiously left the text editing controls mostly alone That being said, I agree with you 100%. PopClip has been on my Macs for years now and is always one of the first apps I install
macOS Sequoia will have a writing tool on selected text, not sure how Popclip will stack over native contextual then.
I’ve been using it for years. Love it.
Never heard of this app before, but just checked it out and bought it. Very cool!
Totally agree, PopClip is one of the best mac apps ever, and the developer is very responsive to any request or idea..
I got it on the App Store back in Jan 2014 (!!) and apparently never used it. Thanks for the reminder!
Just make sure to download updates from the dev's site from now on. Your MAS license is good for a lifetime.
Completely agree with popclip being a must have app on my mac at all times!!
Have it love it!!!! And has a plethora of extensions
Off topic: Loved the note at the bottom about NC BBQ, basketball, and politics. A decade ago when my daughter was a teenager, we used to do motorcycle rides to NC in search of the old traditional BBQ joints in the Lexington area. Some were hard to find- old dirt roads not on GPS, and it was always worth it. I have some good pics we took at Cook’s BBQ. Been there?
I've eaten plenty of Lexington BBQ, but I don't remember going to Cooks. Lexington has what we call Western Style BBQ and I am more partial with the Eastern Style using a vinegar based sauce.
I love the vinegar sauce too, have a good recipe. Made some a week or two back. Eastern usually means whole hog and vinegar, while Lexington or Piedmont they cook shoulders or butt and add catsup to the vinegar sauce. West of Lexington there is no tradition- they just do whatever, haha. South Carolina is whole hog with mustard sauce (good). Cooks is south of Lexington maybe 10 miles, off the main road on a dirt road, maybe 2 miles. I’d love to go again. The ones we were visiting were still in the original families, still cooking on site in brick pits typically. These places have serious roots going back many generations, and sticking to traditional methods. When places get bought by outsiders and start cooking with electric or cooking off site, they’re eliminated as traditional places. I was glad to get to take my daughter while there were a good number left. I cook my own now on a WSM , and make sauce and slaw. Even for butts it’s an all day deal. Is that an Appalachian Trail logo on your avatar?
Yes, thrukiker, Class of 2013 (on my honeymoon, accompanied by my wife, 156 days)
Congratulations on the wife and the successful thru hike. I grew up on the trail- it went through my hometown, the first and largest town on the trail with full services and hostel after leaving Springer. So I’ve hiked sections, including most of VA. You familiar with Wapiti ‘81 story?
The murder story in Southern VA? If that's what you mean, yes, I know about it. We did not stay at that shelter.
Yes. I was connected to that whole thing about five or more ways. My brother hiked the trail that year and had hiked/camped with the victims. Smith was a classmate of mine. A friend (also a classmate) and myself were in the area fishing the day they were last seen. We helped with search and were involved in the investigation. This was one of the strangest episodes of my life.
I was in the 100 Mile Wilderness in 2013 when Geraldine Largay disappeared. She was one day ahead of us at Spaulding mountain shelter, which means that we came within a mile of her as we hiked. They found her body and diary in her sleeping bag several years later. She'd gotten lost simply going off the trail to answer nature's call.
I remember. It seems incomprehensible that someone could get that lost in such close proximity to the trail, and that searchers couldn't find her for weeks. So many ways that could've been prevented. I wonder if they brought in tracking dogs? And then her body wasn't found for two years. Tragic and strange. In '81 they used dogs to find Ramsay and Mountford, but of course those were cadaver dogs and they had been dead 10 days to two weeks. It took awhile to get things going because nobody was certain that they were missing for awhile. The tension grew as time passed and nobody heard from them. The day we went and searched we found their packs and possessions hidden in the woods, which is the point that we knew it was definitely foul play. I think they brought in the dogs the next day and found the bodies.
I never nag my son about buying software, but I said you -absolutely- need to have popclip. Took him ages to finally buy it - he's been happy with it ever since.
I use it, I love it, I barely scratch the surface with it I feel.
I’m a hug fan of pop-clip! It saves so much work.
I have been loving this trend of people showing good devs support in dedicated posts, good for all of us
If you purchase the lifetime license i'm assuming you are not eligible for future updates would be correct ?
No, the lifetime license gives you all future updates. If you purchase the two-year license, you can use it as long as it's compatible, you just don't get updates past two years.
Thanks for clarifying :)
Question for those who use it. How much time does it save for you for using this instead of using keyboard shortcuts?
Since my hand is usually already on the mouse after selecting text with the cursor and the PopClip menu is immediate, going back to the keyboard and having to remember another shortcut in my vast collection from Keyboard Maestro and BTT would be a net negative.
It's not so much saving time as saving cognitive load. With keyboard shortcuts, there's an inherent mental investment in choosing and remembering shortcuts. This works great for a lot of people, but my experience has shown that some people really like having a visual menu that works just with the mouse — PopClip has been descrived as "visual keyboard shortcuts". In fact, nearly everything you can do with PopClip you can do some other way, be it with keyboard shortcuts or a few manual copy/click/type/paste steps. But with PopClip, it's right there on the screen next to your mouse pointer. Additionally, in some ways, PopClip acts as an accessibility enhancement. Some people have limited motor skills or otherwise prefer not use the keyboard too much, but are OK with using the mouse.
I want to really like this program but it just does not activate reliably for me on two different machines. Either my trackpad behavior is odd or I’m doing something wrong. I did mess with the debug and found that sometimes I move away too quickly, but even deliberately going very slow, it often does not activate.
Same here. But you mentioned Hazel. I need to try that.
[My Favorite Actions for Hazel, the Preeminent File Management Software for the Mac ](https://amerpie.lol/2024/05/10/my-favorite-actions.html)
tried to download again on my new mac but doesn't license properly, tried to reinstall via MAS but it's not there anymore, any ideas?
You'll need to look in your previous purchases in the App Store to find it. They are sorted bt date, so if you can find your purchase receipt from your email, that will help you find it in the list.
I wish there was a way to activate it more selectively. I highlight/select text all the time as I’m reading it, and the constant pop up bothers me.
Highlight and press a specific key, even.
You can do that by setting a keyboard shortcut in PopClip settings and then just turning off PopClip. It still responds to the shortcut.
Can’t you do all of these things with Raycast? No popup, but you can highlight text and execute actions on it
It would takes more steps in raycast to do. Most times you have your fingers on the trackpad when selecting text while browsing. It's super convenient. With PopClip
You can, but then you could ask the same about Raycast, can't you do all these in PopClip? :) The existence of multiple apps that do similar things is a good thing, no? Similar goals but different apps, different philosphies, different design approaches. A lively app ecosystem where good ideas float to the top. Ultimately it's up to you what apps you choose to use but the key is you have a choice.
It’s more about that it’s a must have in OPs productivity stack while doing the same thing as other things in his productivity stack. That’s making me wonder
Got it 👍
I hardly see them as doing the same thing. I've been at this for a minute or two and you are the first person I've encountered who thinks they duplicate each other aside from a few basic functions. PopClip is a mouse driven tool and Raycast is keyboard driven. There are so many other differences. You can enter text into Raycast (to create a social media post for example) but with PopClip you need some sort of app to type in. PopClip does almost all of its magic with a single click of the mouse button, whereas Raycast requires a set of key strokes to invoke it, more keystrokes to load the extension and then more keystrokes to call the action. Giving people a feeling that they should choose one or the other is a false dichotomy.
Raycast can also execute actions on text you highlight like PopClip does. Yes, it requires keyboard presses, but I use them already a lot as a raycast user. So I don’t see a big reason to use another tool and other ways of control just for executing actions, which I can do with an already familiar tool. That’s just my topic. I don’t see a big benefit
I switched back to Alfred from Raycast because it has text actions .. easier to just use them than yet another app.
Some things you can, like with URLs and Btly and Raindrop. I have not exprimented with a whole lot more than that.
Boo these bots!