Shorthand 1.7.2

Changed

• 90 days free for every new user: after early access ends (March 31, 2027), the full-feature trial is 90 days instead of 14. If you installed during early access, your 90 days start on March 31, 2027.

Fixed

• Ask before snippets can reach the cloud: with Apple Intelligence as your provider and a cloud fallback, Reply using my snippets and Translate Group now ask once before sending snippets, because a failed on-device request goes to the fallback.

Shorthand 1.7.1

Changed

• Early access extended: every Pro feature is now free for everyone until March 31, 2027. Then a 14-day trial.
• Settings button: a gear at the top right of the main window opens Settings.
• Apple Intelligence help: when Apple Intelligence is off or still downloading, Settings ▸ AI shows step-by-step instructions, an Open System Settings button, and Check Again. AI features say the same and offer the button, instead of a general "set up a provider" message.

Shorthand 1.7.0

Added: AI

• Apple Intelligence (on this Mac): a new AI provider with no key and no account. Nothing leaves the Mac. Needs macOS 26 or later with Apple Intelligence turned on.
• Fill from Clipboard: in the fill-in window, AI fills the fields from text you copied (for example, a name and order number from an email).
• Reply using my snippets: an AI Action that writes a reply to a selected message from your most relevant snippets, and copies it.
• Tone by app: AI Actions and %ai snippets write in the tone you set for each app or website.
• Translate Group: a translated copy of a group, with fill-ins, dates, and other codes kept intact.
• Review Kept Codes with AI: after an import, AI suggests Shorthand versions of another app's leftover codes; every suggestion is checked and you choose which to apply.
• AI assistants (MCP): Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP apps can search your snippets and fill them in. Off by default, read-only, never shares scripts, %ai, the clipboard, or private groups, and stops while Shorthand is locked.
• Never send to AI: a group setting that keeps a group out of features that use your library.

Added: on this Mac

• Search by meaning: the search window also finds snippets by what they mean, using Apple's on-device language tools. Nothing is sent anywhere.
• Tune Up Library (File menu): duplicates, near-duplicates, abbreviations that get in each other's way, never-used and empty snippets.

Added: Teams

• Share snippet groups with up to 5 people or Macs through a folder the team already shares, with no account or server. Admins sign everything they share; members' Macs verify it. Optional team password encrypts the shared snippets. Settings ▸ Team has the admin panel (shared groups, members and seats, admins, team details, security). %team:Name% inserts a team detail.

Added: Shorthand Pro

• Free and Pro editions. Free covers everything for typing on your Mac. Pro ($29 a year, up to 5 Macs or people) adds AI, Teams, AI assistants, script snippets, calculations and conditions, sync across Macs, and Pro template packs. See Help ▸ Shorthand Pro and Licenses.
• Early access: every Pro feature is free for everyone until January 31, 2027. Then a 14-day trial.
• Settings ▸ License: add or remove a license code. Codes are checked on your Mac; nothing is sent anywhere. Without Pro, Pro features pause and your snippets keep working.

Added: iPhone and iPad

• Export ▸ Text Replacements for iPhone and iPad: plain snippets as macOS Text Replacements, which sync to iPhone and iPad through your iCloud.

Changed

• AI Actions have a "Use tone by app" option; translation and spelling actions skip it by default.

Shorthand 1.6.1

Added

• More apps to import from (File ▸ Import Snippets…):
  • aText: .atext library files and aText's JSON export. Groups, abbreviations, labels, and text come across; aText's own variables stay as text.
  • TypeIt4Me: .typeit4me set files, with dates, date math, the clipboard, Tab/Return/Delete keys, the cursor, and AppleScript snippets converted.
  • Rocket Typist: .rtfolder and .rockettypist exports, with dates, text fields, option menus, nested snippets, keys, and JavaScript snippets converted.
  • Text Blaze: the dashboard's folder export (.json), with the clipboard, cursor, dates, form fields, menus, toggles, imported snippets, and keys converted.
• Typinator: spreadsheet exports that use Typinator's codes now convert dates, date math, the clipboard, the cursor, Tab and Return, simple input fields, and other abbreviations.

Security

• Importing a damaged or doctored file can no longer create unexpected objects (aText files are now read with Apple's secure decoding) or exhaust memory (aText 3 decompression is capped at 64 MB).
• New stress tests feed every importer thousands of damaged files and random code mixtures.

Changed

• Help ▸ Importing Snippets lists every supported app, including how to bring snippets from Typinator (its spreadsheet export) and why PhraseExpress can't be imported.

Website

• A switching hub at shorthandexpander.com/switch with step-by-step guides for TextExpander, aText, TypeIt4Me, Rocket Typist, Text Blaze, Espanso, Raycast, Alfred, macOS Text Replacements, and other apps.

Shorthand 1.6.0

Added

• Template Packs (File ▸ Template Packs…, or + below the group list): 9 ready-made groups with 57 snippets: Email essentials, Customer support, Dates & times, Symbols & keys, Meetings & notes, AI writing assistant, AI for support teams, Developers, and Smart calculations. Adding a pack creates a new group; abbreviations you already use get a number instead of being replaced.
• Import from other apps: File ▸ Import Snippets… (⇧⌘I, formerly Import TextExpander Snippets…) now also reads Espanso match files and folders, Raycast and Alfred snippet exports, macOS Text Replacements, and CSV or tab-separated files with a header row (for example, exports from aText, TypeIt4Me, Typinator, PhraseExpress, Text Blaze, and Rocket Typist). Their clipboard, cursor, date, and fill-in placeholders are converted; anything without an equivalent is kept as text, and Shorthand tells you how many.
• Export Snippets (File ▸ Export Snippets…, ⇧⌘E): every group, or just the selected ones, as Shorthand JSON (complete and re-importable), CSV, TextExpander group files, Espanso, or Raycast. Exports are plain, unencrypted files.
• shorthandexpander.com: Shorthand's new home, with the full help center, comparisons with other text expanders, and release notes by email. Help ▸ Shorthand Website & Downloads and the links in Help now go there.

Changed

• Help and the app now use US English throughout (for example, the tag menu's Colour is now Color).
• The license agreement names John Kirker Inc. and gives a support address. Its terms are unchanged.

Help

• New topics: Template Packs and Exporting Your Snippets. Importing from TextExpander is now Importing Snippets, with a section on other apps.
• New screenshots (light and dark): Settings ▸ Expansion, Settings ▸ Options, Settings ▸ Hotkeys, Create Snippet, Template Packs, and Export Snippets.

Shorthand 1.5.4

Fixed

• Typing and clicking could freeze system-wide (scrolling still worked) if Shorthand's Accessibility access was turned off in System Settings while it was running. Shorthand now notices within a fraction of a second and fully stops its keyboard monitor.
• Reset Permission & Ask Again now stops the keyboard monitor before removing access, so it can't cause the same freeze.

Shorthand 1.5.3

Changed

• Shorthand's home on GitHub is now github.com/jkirker/shorthand-text-expander-mac, a name that says what it is. The online help moved to jkirker.github.io/shorthand-text-expander-mac.
• Updates, the Help ▸ Shorthand Website & Downloads menu item, and links in Help use the new address. Older versions keep updating through GitHub's automatic redirect.

Shorthand 1.5.2

Added

• Disk image download. Shorthand-x.y.z.dmg opens a window with Shorthand and an Applications shortcut to drag it onto. It's signed, notarized and stapled like the app; the zip is still provided for automatic updates.
• Uninstall Shorthand… in Settings ▸ General: "keep my snippets" or "delete everything" (asks twice). A synced library is never deleted.
• Dark mode screenshots throughout the Help and on the website. They follow your Mac's appearance.

Changed

• Automatic update checks are on by default (once a day), so there's no extra prompt. Background checks show a gentle reminder, and the update window always comes to the front. Previously a manual check could open it behind other apps.
• Update downloads are verified before they're unpacked.
• Running Shorthand straight from Downloads (macOS "translocation") shows a tip to move it to Applications, and no longer changes the login item each launch.

Fixed

• Declining the license agreement no longer loads or writes any data.
• The Dock icon goes away after the license, update and other windows close.

Release process (developer)

• release.sh refuses to publish unless:
  • the app and zip are the notarized Developer ID build, with matching build numbers
  • the Sparkle key in the Keychain matches the key built into the app
  • the signature verifies
• Failed feed or download checks stop the script, and leftover drafts are cleaned up.
• The install step waits for the old copy to quit, and installs only Developer ID builds.

Shorthand 1.5.1

Added

• Help ▸ Shorthand Website & Downloads opens the Shorthand page on GitHub, with downloads, release notes and the online help.
• Help pages: the license agreement (Getting Started), updates and the license (Support Shorthand), and what update checks send (nothing about you; see Privacy).

Notes

• This is the first update delivered through automatic updates. If you're on 1.5.0, Shorthand offers it on its own.

Shorthand 1.5.0

Added

• Automatic updates. Shorthand checks for new versions, shows what's new, and installs with one click.
  • Find it under Shorthand ▸ Check for Updates…, the menu bar menu, and Settings ▸ General ▸ Updates (check automatically, or download and install automatically).
  • Updates come from the GitHub releases of jkirker/shorthand-releases.
  • Each update is verified twice before installing: by the developer's Sparkle signature and by the same Developer ID.
• License agreement. It's shown once before Shorthand starts and must be accepted ("as is", no warranty). You can read it any time under Help ▸ License Agreement.

Changed

• Releases are published with one command: ./scripts/release.sh.