The text was the same for every message, but there were some specific numbers which were different for each individual message. The template engine in TextExpander allows you to pre-define such "variables", which will then be able to be filled out every time you use that snippet.įor example, in this snippet which I prepared for a job, I needed to ask a lot of people about their scientific papers. Let's say you have a template which stays close to a pre-defined text, but you need to fill in a couple of placeholders like customer names, some specific prices, or alike. PlaceholdersĪs the previous example already hinted at, aside from simple text snippets like putting a pre-defined texts, some greetings, and alike, TextExpander comes with some more advanced tools for templating. So, let's go over some features of TextExpander in more detail. Well, for me the simplicity, in the end of the day, makes me come back to it despite its pricing point. While similar automation can be achieved with other apps or sometimes even simple scripting skills, TextExpander snippets shine through its easy to use snippet editor. Sometimes I cancel it, but then come back to a yearly subscription on the next occasion. But then there's some single event where I have a mundane programming task involving lots of copy and paste or some e-mail announcements where I need to template a few hundred emails to conference participants. I often have months where I don't touch it at all. It depends on how much you use templates or text snippets, and whether it can be integrated well into your workflows.įor me, its usage is vastly fluctuating. Is the price worth it for a utility app? Well it is hard to say.
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With a subscription, you get full access on all platforms including macOS, iOS/iPadOS, and Windows, as well as Web access and synchronization functionality. The new pricing is about fourty bucks per year for an individual, although there are regular discounts and coupons (Actually, my affiliate link also includes a small discount.) There are also pricier plans targeted at teams and companies, which include some extra collaboration features and such. Therefore, they switched to a subscription model to be more sustainable.įeelings about subscriptions aside, it is now the only way you can get TextExpander. While new features are rather rare, the company develops bugfixes for newer OSes, maintains servers for collaboration, and so on. However, there's only so much you can do when it comes to text expansion.
TextExpander used to cost about fifty bucks per platform per major release, charging for updates. Overall, this is the idea, but the app goes a bit further, allowing things like placeholders, pre-defining values, automation and scripting capabilities, collaboration, and so on. pnetcomment" into the reply field and it will give me the template for writing the comment - with (a) the username already inserted into the "(Clipboard)" placeholder, and (b) the cursor already positioned in a way that I can quickly continue typing:įunctuality like this is not available in the built-in text replacement of OSes, but rather need extra software, like TextExpander. It's a snippet for replying to comments on this website. First of all, it's not just for single phrases or abbreviations, but rather allows for creating long-form templates, such as e-mails, longer messages, or even things like articles or blog-posts, if you happen to have a strict formatting on those. Well, TextExpander comes with a lot more customizability and options for this. So far so good, so why do you need another, paid, app for this, if it is already built-in into macOS?
When you type "omw" the OS will now replace those words with the suggestion "On my way!". The idea is simple, so simple that it's actually a basic functionality already built-in into macOS and iOS: So, TextExpander is an app around, well text expanding.
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