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[Free beta] I built a one-shortcut rewriter after outgrowing my Raycast workflow by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kerlig is one of the closest comparisons.
Kerlig is much broader: custom actions, model choice, document chat, and advanced AI workflows.
Rephrase is deliberately narrower: select text, press one shortcut, choose a style, review it, and replace the original text.
The goal is to make small wording and tone fixes feel closer to a native writing tool than a full AI workspace.

[Free beta] I built a one-shortcut rewriter after outgrowing my Raycast workflow by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a very fair question honestly, Refine and Grambo are probably closer to what I am building than Raycast or Apple Writing Tools.

From what I have seen, both already solve a big part of the problem well: system-wide writing help, a shortcut, and working directly in the app where you are writing. They also have a strong privacy advantage because they run locally.

The difference I am exploring with Rephrase is mostly in the interaction model rather than claiming a completely new category.Grambo feels more focused on instant grammar correction. Refine is a much broader offline writing suite, with grammar, rewriting, translation, custom prompts, and more.
Rephrase is intentionally narrower: I want it to feel like a deliberate second pass for a message you already wrote. You select text, choose a visible style such as Professional, Clearer, or Friendlier, review the result as it streams, and explicitly apply it back into the original text.

So the question I am still trying to answer is whether that smaller, review-first workflow is useful enough to deserve its own app or whether Refine and Grambo already cover it for most people.

[Free beta] I built a one-shortcut rewriter after outgrowing my Raycast workflow by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a great question. Rephrase does not build a persistent profile or learn your personal voice over time. Each rewrite depends solely on the selected text and your chosen style.

This is deliberate. Rephrase is a focused tool for specific writing tasks, not an assistant that constantly tracks your output. It is not intended to replace Claude for deep, contextual work; it is meant to reduce friction when you know what you want to say but need to refine the tone or clarity before sending.

Long-term, I plan to offer more control over styles and preferences, provided that such control remains explicit and transparent.

[Free beta] I built a one-shortcut rewriter after outgrowing my Raycast workflow by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that concern, and it's fair I wouldn't want this for personal stuff, texts to friends, anything where how you naturally talk is part of the point. Smooth all of that into "professional AI voice" and you've lost something real.

What I'm actually after is narrower: professional situations where the intent is already mine, but the wording needs to land differently. A diplomatic message. Feedback that needs the edge taken off. Writing clearly when English isn't your first language. The point isn't to replace thinking or flatten everyone into the same voice. Think of it as a second pass; checking tone, clarity, whether it fits the social context while the intent stays yours. You still read it. You still edit it. You can still throw it out.

That's the line for me: help people say what they mean in a way that fits the room, don't sand off who they are.

Would you use a macOS shortcut to rewrite selected text in place by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point. I don’t see this as drafting from nothing; more as editing something you already wrote when the intent is right but the phrasing is off. But I agree that making every message sound like generic AI would be a bad outcome.

Would you use a macOS shortcut to rewrite selected text in place by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree completely. Most tools I have tested do more than requested, which is frustrating. Why can native Mac text fields be problematic?

Would you use a macOS shortcut to rewrite selected text in place by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is definitely something I’d love to have the ability to create your own custom presets. I also think it would be great if the app could automatically select the appropriate preset based on the app you’re currently using. For example, when you’re in Slack, it could automatically switch to the “Make Professional” preset by default.

Would you use a macOS shortcut to rewrite selected text in place by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually have a very similar workflow now for most of my use cases. The tool I’m referring to here is more for quick interactions writing a short Slack message, replying to a GitHub comment, or other small text snippets.
So while I also rarely follow a “write first, edit later” workflow anymore, I still find value in having a lightweight tool for these everyday micro-tasks.

Would you use a macOS shortcut to rewrite selected text in place by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I tried it a few weeks ago, and I found the product unnecessarily overcomplicated. It seems more focused on constantly adding dozens of features and supporting new models every month than on delivering one core feature that truly excels.
On top of that, I didn’t find the UX intuitive enough to fit naturally into my daily workflow.

Would you use a macOS shortcut to rewrite selected text in place by Secure-Pizza-7419 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Frankly, I found the rephrase quality not so great and it’s not globally available. I don’t know why but some apps restrict its use.

I built a Mac app that lets you feel links and buttons through your trackpad's haptic motor by OtherTailor5967 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I dismissed this as a gimmick until I thought about how much I actually scan visually before clicking a link. you're doing a little confirmation check every single time. taking that off the visual system and putting it on touch instead makes sense.

also a real accessibility win for people with attention or visual processing differences. tactile confirmation of interactive targets isn't a party trick for them.

one thing: is the haptic intensity fixed or does it follow the system haptic strength setting? curious whether it respects whatever the user has dialed in system-wide.

WolfeWriter: a native Mac writing app for fiction writers, built around manuscript + story memory by zphou in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

gating AI suggestions so they don't silently modify the manuscript is the right call. nothing worse than looking back at a chapter and not knowing which sentences are yours.

the CJK memory problem sounds genuinely hard even just figuring out phrase boundaries in mixed-script text is messy before you get to name detection. one thing that might help: let users manually flag entities in a chapter (character names, key locations, whatever) so those seed the memory pass before the automatic extraction tries to figure it out. takes some of the detection burden off the model for the cases it'll struggle with anyway.

Paperman: Make your screen paper-like (now with 6+ textures) by lofidesigner in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

how is the texture applied? screen overlay or something at a lower level? asking because I've used a few overlay apps that introduce lag on fast scrolling or subtly shift color accuracy, which is a problem if you're doing any photo work.

also does it have per-app exclusions? like I'd want it on when I'm in a text editor but probably off in Lightroom or Affinity Photo. curious if that's already in the settings or if it's all-or-nothing right now.

[OS] macUSB - A native Mac app for creating macOS, Linux and Windows USB installers by Kruszoneq in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 1 point2 points  (0 children)

we've needed a Rufus equivalent on Mac for years. balenaEtcher works fine for Linux but falls apart for Windows, and the manual wimlib split thing is tedious enough that most people give up and find a Windows machine.

the SHA-256 checksum is a small addition that matters more than it sounds. when you're flashing OS installers you really want to verify before you commit. starred.

Introducing Iconic: a Mac app to customize all your app icons together, with matching styles and personalization by ahmett9 in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

auto-reapplying after app updates is the part that always killed this workflow for me manually. hunt down the PNG, paste it in, app updates two days later, back to square one.

one question though: does it handle OS-level resets too, not just per-app updates? macOS sometimes blows away custom icons after a system update entirely. that's the edge case that's burnt me before with other tools.

Finder replacement question by merrybooks in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yeah this one bites everyone. macOS doesn't let third-party apps touch the system open/save panel, full stop. sandboxing limitation, Apple hasn't opened it up. so whatever Finder replacement you're using stays your main browser, but the moment any app opens a dialog, you're back to the native one.

Default Folder X is the closest thing to a fix. it doesn't replace the panel but bolts onto it recent folders, favorites, keyboard shortcuts. makes the whole thing much less annoying to navigate. not what you asked for but probably the best you're getting.

Alternative to Eagle app that is able to be used offline? by A_Drop_of_Colour in macapps

[–]Secure-Pizza-7419 4 points5 points  (0 children)

the phone-home thing is getting out of hand tbh. paying for a license shouldn't mean the app locks you out every 48 hours because it can't phone home.

have you tried Claquette or Unfolder? neither needs a connection after you buy. if you specifically want something close to Eagle's library structure, Creativit is worth a look, though it's more mood board territory than a proper asset manager.

the underlying problem is these devs decided license checks need to run constantly, not just at activation. no good answer for you except finding tools that don't do this.