I confess I haven’t really looked at the new version of TextExpander since the launch, when everyone was up in arms as they were going subscription (initially at a crazy high price…) without adding any features for single users.
Is there anything else added in subsequent updates that’s made it worth pursuing? I currently run Sierra but plan to update to Mojave and my old pre-subscription version will no longer be supported.
Has the iOS keyboard improved at all?
I’m a bit disappointed with the lack of advancement for single users. Most of the advancement appears to have focused on team use. I made several suggestions to Smile for things like supporting sripting languages on Windows, having a way to determine what pllatform you were on so that you could actually run different snippets accordingly, and a few others besides (one of which has actually been delivered around public sharing) around automation services (IFTTT, Zapier) and the like.
The most notable change for me overal I would say is that Windows is out of beta (I use a Windows PC at work and sync my snippets between Win, MacOS and iOS and that cross platform compatibility (including the existence of Textexpander enhanced apps on iOS) for me is the killer feature with scriptable stuff on the Mac side coming a fairly close second). But the beta was actually relatively stable and the support responsive so even that wasn’t all that big of a jump ‘up’ for me in the end.
They also made public sharing an option (something I suggested but I’ sure was on their road map); though I’ve still got to get around to sorting out some of the public groups I’ve probably been preparing on and off for over a year now.
I don’t tend to use the keyboard an awful lot on iOS. I prefer Textexpander enhanced apps then I can use any keyboard I like, including a hardware one. However when I have used it, I have noted that over time it has become more reliable and responsive. But I’m sure some of this is down to my change in hardware (newer -> faster) and improvements made by Apple to support third party keyboards in its OS revisions.
I recall when I did make the decision to upgrade thinking that the design on the new Mac app was much nicer and worth the price of upgrade. I don’t remember specifics though.
I echo @sylumer. Having the cross-platform ability so that my snippets are available on my PC at work is a lifesaver. (At least until I can convince my firm to let me have mac at work instead.)
I entirely missed a really important change!
The recent post about on this forum regarding Textexpander Privacy reminded me that Smile did also implement end to end encryption (ref. Textexpander adds encryption at rest), but quite honestly I was somewhat surprised that it wasn’ baked in at launch … but it is therefore something new since its launch.
It also means that some people and organisations who, understandably, had issues with that aspect at lanch might now be in a position to re-evaluate.
I suspect It all depends on what you want to do. If you use Advanced features then TextExpander might be worthwhile - long paragraphs of text with variables that you get prompted to complete etc.
If all you use it for is simple text expansion then no, IMHO the subscription is NOT worth it, (I terminated mine when it expired) - there are solutions that are equally useful in Alfred, KeyboardMaestro or even apple keyboard shortcuts (one day they might synch reliably across devices).
I agree with Philrob. I tried Textexpander for a while, it was complete overkill for what I needed. Now I just use Apple’s built-in Text Replacement, which syncs with iCloud and is available on all my devices. No extra cost!
I’ve considered just using Apple’s built-in text replacement. But while sync has finally gotten reliable, it can’t do javascript to, for example, insert today’s date. Since that’s one of my most-used snippets, Apple’s built-in option isn’t really an option for me at all.
(Though if they did support javascript, I’d been sorely tempted to use it since it works in all iOS apps.)
Well I’ve just replicated everything I had in TE in Alfred, with a bit of scripting and elbow grease. I realised that everything fancy I had in TE was AppleScript based so it wouldn’t need to sync to iOS. The plain expansion will go to built-in text replacement if I can’t sort an easy sync solution.
And now that I’ve had some time with it, I am blown away by how much more powerful Alfred is thanks to the ability to embed script filters in snippets.
There’s always a-Text. For $5, NO SUBSCRIPTION, you get decent functionality in basic text expansion that’re way better than Apple snippets. No iOS option though.
Script filters are basically scripts that run repeatedly while the user is typing and give results based on that input.
Say you wanted to write a snippet to call someone, e.g. “Call Fred’s mobile number 555-1212”
You could create a series of script filters that will let you select a recipient, then dynamically populate a list with that recipient’s number types (home, mobile, etc.) & choose from the list and insert the selected number.
My main use case will be for searching for and inserting links to particular sheets in Ulysses on the fly, using https://github.com/derickfay/Alfred-GetUlyssesSheetURL
I’m picking this up because I finally tried the TE6 trial run, coming from years of using TE5.
Like others have said here, as a single user I wasn’t sure what the upgrade would buy me. I don’t need to share my snippets, or use them on a Windows machine.
I was surprised that the Mac interface is only slightly improved but effectively the same. Especially when I have complicated snippets with multiple optional and pop up fields. The resulting script is still just as complicated to navigate as the last version.
What I get with TE6 is a much improved iOS keyboard, including direct access to all my basic snippets. By “basic” I mean no fill ins, no javascript, only standard replacements. It is very handy when I need something arcane, and I can’t remember the abbreviation. Also, it just looks cleaner. And I like that - but I don’t think I need it to spend so much extra money.
So, I think it’s back to TE5 for me. I’m hoping that they have more updates coming in the future. I actually want a reason to give them my money for the latest-and-greatest. I just can’t justify giving it to them for no material differences to my life.