WordPop 2.0

WordPop 2.0 is a redesign. The features are the same; what changes is how they are laid out, how they look, and how you find them. It was reviewed in two rounds by separate visual, usability and accessibility reviews, with personas for a student, a technical writer and a novelist.

A new layout

• Word popup: the answer first. Definitions, then the best words for your sentence and the tone buttons. Everything else sits in three groups that open with a click and stay as you left them: Word choice, Usage and Sound. A closed group names what is inside. Long entries such as "run" show their first senses with "Show all".
• Notes on a passage by priority. Mistakes (with one Fix button at the top), Clarity (hard sentences, passive voice, rhythm) and Style (weak, repeated and crutch words, fiction; closed until opened).
• Four tools, always in the same place: Rewrite (reframe, add a sentence, transition), Check (how it reads, main point), Text and Translate. A tool that cannot run says why.
• No repeats. Synonyms leave out the words under Fits your sentence; long and above-grade sentences become one Hard sentences note; adverbs and hedges become one Weak words note.
• Settings in four tabs: General, Word Popup, Passage Notes and Style Rules, with a writer profile and the status of your rules file.

A new look

• Four colors, each with one meaning: blue-teal for words, green for what fits, amber for what to review, red for opposites. All reach 4.5:1 contrast.
• Two chip styles, one link style, gray section labels, a filled Fix button, and checkmarks on chosen fixes.
• Rare words carry a "rare" tag instead of looking disabled. Text fades under the header when it scrolls.

Easier to find

• A welcome window on first launch, with both shortcuts, a sample word and passage to try, the clicks worth knowing, and a writer profile (Everyday, Student, Technical, Fiction). Welcome & Tips… in the menu opens it again.
• A one-line footer explains click, ⌥-click and ⇧-click until you have used them.
• Quick Search shows its modes (Describe, Phrase, Pattern) as chips, and the mode you are in.
• The menu bar menu shows the lookup shortcut and has Quick Search.
• The back button names the word it goes back to.

Accessibility and keyboard

• VoiceOver labels on every icon button, named actions for Replace and Compare, readable fix chips ("Change recieve to receive"), a described rhythm chart, and announcements for the popup, Quick Search rows and messages.
• ⌘Return applies fixes, ⌘1 to ⌘3 open the groups, and with Full Keyboard Access Tab reaches every control. A new Extra Large text size.

Safer

• If the app you selected in is no longer in front, Replace and Fix put the text on the clipboard and say so, instead of doing nothing.
• A phrase with no dictionary entry no longer falls back to its first word ("a").

Install

1. Download WordPop.zip below, unzip it, and move WordPop.app to your Applications folder.
2. Open WordPop. Because the app is not signed with an Apple Developer ID, macOS says it cannot verify it. Click Done, open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security, click Open Anyway next to the message about WordPop, and confirm.
3. When WordPop asks, grant Accessibility permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. WordPop needs it to read your selected text.

Updating from an earlier version: macOS treats the new build as a different app, so the old Accessibility permission stops working even though it still shows as on. Remove WordPop from the Accessibility list with the − button, then open WordPop and grant permission again.

The Apple Intelligence features need macOS 26 or later on Apple silicon with Apple Intelligence turned on. Everything else works on macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.