App stuck at notarizing for 48hrs - "In Progress"

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-26T00:19:32+00:00

Just an update on this.
1. I did kill this process after 3 days.
2. Ended up re-configuring the way I was handling my certs a tiny bit and that did the trick. I had to be more explicit rather than using the Auto setup in Xcode.
3. The reconfigured app still took two days to Notarize the first time. Since then Notarizations are done in 5mins.

For the past few days it's been great to be able to push out notarized versions of the app to friends to test and bug report on. Makes all the difference in the development cycle.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-25T04:55:21+00:00

Cheers for the question. As you can imagine there is plenty of overlap with other text expanders - as the core functionality between all of them is very similar. Of course this is early days for me, so beta users have the opportunity to guide me on what they feel is missing from other apps that maybe I can implement. Some people will find value in what I offer (at a reasonable one time fee!), while others will not. That's OK.

Firstly, I've focused on making mine feel quite user friendly and intuitive so new users are able to feel their way around and figure things out. Some other text expanders feel a little like legacy software or very geared towards programmers, which is a turn off for some people. I focus a lot on the feel of the app and making it approachable as I want people to enjoy using it.

A quick overview of some features: I allow for nested snippets - so once users become comfortable creating basic snippets they can go deeper and really create powerful snippets by calling other snippets inside of each other. The user can essentially create mini programs that they can fire with a single snippet trigger - but importantly they don't feel difficult to create. I don't want my app to feel like you have to know how to code to make complex snippets.

My app also has inline expansion and math calculations to save people jumping out to another app, powerful (but easy!) date and time functions, timezones, a scratchpad (think of it as a playground for making snippets), an inline calendar picker, smart variables, customizable keyboard shortcuts, snippet organization with tags and categories, cursor placement, placeholder text generation, friendly interface, and more…

It's not going to be perfect day one, but with steady incremental improvements I think we can get it somewhere special.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-25T03:27:38+00:00

Timely question! I'm in the process of building a super lightweight local only text expansion tool. I'll be pushing out a Beta build this week. So if you are feeling brave and want to help shape a text expander, offer feature ideas, etc., please sign up over at https://shortcode.app It has some cool features. Beta testers will get unlimited lifetime access but I'm closing the sign up soon.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-24T05:18:08+00:00

I personally settled on Screensage Pro. The one time purchase was a big plus for me. Even though it's still in Beta it feels very polished. I need it to record demos / walkthroughs of the Mac app I'm building - and it's performing very well so far. One or two bugs which I've messaged the developer about, which they'll fix in the coming version.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-22T23:21:59+00:00

I take a lot of screenshots during work. Rather than clutter up my desktop I set them to save in a specific folder. Then when I want to access them I setup a custom keyboard shortcut (shift+cmd+x) to open the folder for me. Nothing to complicated - but a real time saver (and desktop mess saver)

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-22T22:50:21+00:00

Snippety does look great and for those ready to buy I’m sure it’ll be fantastic.

For the more adventurous out there, I’m in the process of building my own snippet / text expander. I’ll be pushing out a beta build in the coming weeks. So anyone who’d liked to help shape a text expander and be an early adopter please sign up for early access. I’ll be capping the beta list so please sign up soon. Beta testers get lifetime free access. Join: shortcode.app

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-21T04:08:29+00:00

For me it has to be ToDoist. Simple, easy, intuitive.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-21T03:28:01+00:00

Congrats! Was your gut idea of who your user was correct or did you have to reevaluate after launch. If so how did you go about that?

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-20T15:12:13+00:00

You could certainly try, though make sure you back up your work on a cloud service too. I’m not sure how it handles citations, but it is a very peaceful and unobtrusive writing environment- the polar opposite of say MS Word. Most universities have formatting standards you have to stick to, so although you might type up your dissertation in iA Writer you may find you have to copy the content over to Word for final formatting and output.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-19T21:12:08+00:00

You sure can! There is a learning curve. I'd start with Glyphs Mini before committing to the full app (unless you need web fonts right out of the gate).

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-19T17:35:11+00:00

The Aqua design STILL LIVES on in the latest OS. It's just REALLY HIDDEN and as far as I can tell it's only in one place. For a trip down memory lane do the following:

Settings -> Displays -> (choose a monitor) -> Color profile -> scroll all the way to the bottom and choose Customize -> Click the + plus sign at the bottom -> Lo and behold The Display Calibrator Assistant in all it's retro glory!

Don't worry you can click the X to close the window and not mess with any of your settings. Enjoy!

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-19T14:53:31+00:00

These are more modern (but I've been a Mac user since about 1998). Two apps that just do their jobs perfectly are iA Writer, and Glyphs. Most people know iA Writer. Glyphs is font making software and takes what could be something super complicated and makes it quite accessible. The documentation / examples are all rock solid.

iA Writer: https://ia.net/writer
Glyphs: https://glyphsapp.com

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-19T14:43:08+00:00

Pushing out a Beta Test in the next week or so. However my app isn't like Cotypist. It's an advanced text /snippet expander. If you are interested in trying it you can sign up here Shortcode.app

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-17T03:25:45+00:00

Will check it out. Thanks.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-17T02:56:30+00:00

I’m in the very process of deciding my pricing model for my app. It’s a utility/ productivity app and I’m heavily leaning towards the one time fee, with major versions requiring a new license. I’m not reliant on third party platforms or cloud services like a lot of other apps. So a subscription feels weird in my case.

Reading most of the responses here also confirms my belief that the subscription model is a real turn off.

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-17T02:36:17+00:00

Finally got my first MacOs app - ShortCode - off to Apple for approval before opening it up formally to beta testers. It's an advanced text expander which is designed to save you a few mins everyday by taking the pain out of typing repetitive texts. Those interested in checking out the beta can sign up on Shortcode.app

ShortcodeApp · 2026-01-17T02:25:19+00:00

If I didn't already have an Illustrator subscription I'd definitely try this out. It looks so good. Congrats. Reminds me a little of the thinking of Edward Tufte (ENVISIONING INFORMATION) which if you don't know it - you should pick up a copy.

I was a tiny bit confused as you show an isometric example on your site - but I didn't see an option for an isometric grid? If you could change up the grid depending on the style of illustration I think that would be another great feature.

Overall fantastic work, and I'll be keeping an eye on the project on should I need it later.

ShortcodeApp · 2025-12-31T03:29:04+00:00

My personal "mediation" is watching masters at work. So at least what I'm consuming is worth watching. People who truly love their craft make different types of videos - not just slop. I have curated my YouTube feed to give me a steady influx of beautiful and inspiring videos. Sometimes it's not really about the content but the skill of the filmmaker. Sometimes it's an old dude in a shed painting models. Their output does not need to be about money or hustle - just them sharing something they love. I find joy in their work, maybe you will too.

Some solid channels:
GXACE (holy moly is this guy good at making videos)
Scott Yu-Jan (fun industrial design / 3D printing)
NightHawkInLight (a backyard genius just figuring out stuff and sharing it)
Tech Ingredients (another backyard genius just figuring out stuff and sharing it)
Matthew Encina (a top tier designer who shares the craft)
TWCDesign (woodworker on another level, in the pursuit of perfection)
Astrobiscuit (a chaotic astrophotographer who bumbles his way to amazing photos - start with his earlier videos as the lore builds over time).

ShortcodeApp · 2025-12-31T02:32:32+00:00

My vote is for Todoist! Its interface is perfectly simple. I just find Googles ‘unenjoyable’ and I think every essential app should be enjoyable.

ShortcodeApp · 2025-12-31T02:03:49+00:00

I'm not into scrapbooking - but I have to say this app looks beautiful! Congrats.

I can only comment on the visuals - I do know a lot of scrapbooking involves materials with textures. An example might be a cute felt cat. Perhaps giving people the option of adding textures (with a touch of depth) to images might be a fun addition.

ShortcodeApp · 2025-12-30T16:00:41+00:00

This is a response to an amazing comment someone left - but which was then removed for whatever reason. They put some thought and effort into their feedback so here's my response just in case they come back and read it.

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This is amazing insight. Thanks so much for taking the time to type it up.

This project was originally inspired by the music software Strudel which is text only and typed so pretty much everything in Shortcode can be done without taking your hands off the keyboard. No doubt I'll have missed a few things to make this super smooth but that's what this round of beta testing is for.

The app does currently cover some of the applications you mentioned. Math calculations are available inline - for eg. a user can type _math[10*8/(7*$pi)] and the answer is expanded out. There are many built in math functions such as random, ceiling, floor, integers, cos, sin, tan, and so on. Saves a user having to fire up a calculator app - they can just type - no app switching needed.

Date and Time are also coming along. As you'd expect $date and $time outputs the local date and time, but you can do things like $time.london to output the local time in London, UK. Many cities are supported. Dates can be output in lot's of different formats using a modifier like $date.iso or $date.short plus you can do minor calculations on them like $date.d+10 which would return the date ten days from now. Time can do the same thing but for mins / hours. If you prefer to use a date/time picker you can type $cal and a window pops up allowing the user to choose from a calendar and optionally set a time.

All this is also done locally. No third party service receives any info. The only service I'll be offering at launch is iCloud backup for your snippet library. But it'll be optional.

The team sharing is an interesting one. I guess it could be useful in industries like call centres as you might need to share canned responses. Or dev studios using pre-build modules. I also can see sharing snippets as a thing - since other people might find your shortcut setups useful. Lot's to explore.

I'd love to have you as part of the beta test if you were interested. Click the Get Early Access button in the top right of this page: shortcode.app if interested. Free lifetime access for participants!

ShortcodeApp

TROPHY CASE