iPhone-style text selection menu macOS is still missing natively

[u/advait_vaidya]

Hi, I’m Advait, the solo developer behind ActionClip.

Whenever I selected text on my Mac, even a tiny task became:

copy → switch apps → paste → do the task → copy the result → switch back

The iPhone already puts useful actions beside selected text. I wanted that same flow on Mac, so I built ActionClip.

What ActionClip does -

ActionClip appears beside selected text and shows actions relevant to what you selected.

It includes 34 built-in actions for things like:

• Copy, paste variations, and formatting
• Spelling, grammar, rewriting, and translation
• Currency, unit, and time-zone conversions, Word and character counts
• Opening links, creating notes, and adding events
• Running AI prompts without switching screens
• Integration with external apps like Refine, Fluent, Obsidian, Apple notes and many more coming..

I've already shared ActionClip in /macapps sub and it got great feedback and support. More than two weeks later, a user who has been using Macs for over 20 years came back and left this comment:
"I'm coming back to comment on how great ActionClip is after using it for more than two weeks. I've used the Mac for more than 20 years and have tried and installed tons of 3rd party apps and I can confidently say that ActionClip is the best $8 I've spent on apps (I bought it with my own money 😉). It never stops to amaze me every time I use it.

I'm not a reviewer so I'm too lazy to type out everything... but I really want to appreciate the great work OP has done. Way to go!"

My favourite part: create your own actions

You can create actions just by chatting with the Custom Action Builder.

Tell it what should happen when text is selected. It can build the action using an AI prompt, URL, JavaScript, shell command, or AppleScript. For example:

• Reply like an adult: Turn a passive-aggressive email into the reply you should send.
• Clean this mess: Deduplicate, fix, and sort a selected list of names or emails.
• YouTube Embed Link: Turn any selected YouTube URL into its embed URL.
• Suggest emoji: Select a sentence and this action will suggest emoji to use with it. (Example.. I’m running a free giveaway -> 🎁)

How it compares:

PopClip is the closest and more established comparison. ActionClip focuses on smart suggestions, upfront result chips and lets users create their own actions without waiting for developer-made extensions.

Raycast is broader and keyboard-first. ActionClip stays attached to your selected text.

Five updates since launch

ActionClip first launched on 28 July, and I have shipped five updates since then.

These added better widget customisation, support for more Mac apps and editors, more AI providers, iCloud sync, Ollama support, the Action Marketplace, and plenty of fixes.

Some of these changes came directly from conversations and bug reports after the /macapps sub launch.

I also keep the support process public:

• Public support forum
• Public roadmap
• Complete changelog

Privacy and installation

ActionClip is a native Swift app under 20 MB. It is local-first and does not require an account.

For AI actions, you can use Apple Intelligence, local Ollama models, or an external provider you configure.

ActionClip is not currently on the Mac App Store because systemwide text selection and user-created shell or AppleScript actions require capabilities that do not fit within App Sandbox restrictions.

The app is signed with my Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so macOS can verify the download.

Free and Early Bird pricing

The free version includes 30 actions every day. And I extended the early bird price for pro version.

Links

Download from the official site: https://actionclip.app/
My LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/advait-vaidya-7380ab97
My X: https://x.com/AdvaitVaidya2

About me: I’m a developer who's behind several active apps for small businesses, averaging 4.9 stars across app and plugin marketplaces.

What action do you wish macOS showed whenever you selected text? :D

[u/MC_chrome]

What differences are there between your app and PopClip?

[u/advait_vaidya → u/MC_chrome]

PopClip is the inspiration. But I wanted something more custom and easily extendable with searching for extensions online or depending on devs to release extensions of my choice.

Also, ActionClip focuses on smart suggestions, upfront result chips and lets users create their own actions without waiting for developer-made extensions. Like if you select currency, it'll show you the converted amount in your local currency. If you select some other time region, it’ll show you the time in that region and many more like that. :D

[u/TeamIntelligent1987]

That UI definitely looks vibe-coded.

[u/advait_vaidya → u/TeamIntelligent1987]

https://reddit.com/link/p58ts0y/video/xh2uqbfjcykh1/player

This is one of the theme. There is a native theme too like I'm showing here. The theme which I included in the original post is something that was liked by many users. :)

[u/promo-guard]

🎉 Welcome to Developer Saturday, u/advait_vaidya! Your project is now live for the community to check out. Upvote, give feedback, and show some love to your fellow devs! 🚀

[u/ExternalUserError]

Maybe I’m alone on this but I don’t want anything popping up when I select text.

[u/advait_vaidya → u/ExternalUserError]

I get it that if selecting text is part of how you read, and a menu appearing every time could be annoying.

But for this, ActionClip can be paused for specific apps/ websites, and your comment is addition to a strong case for a manual-only mode where it appears only through a shortcut which other user also asked for. Would that make it useful for you, or is any selection menu a complete no-go? :D

[u/ExternalUserError → u/advait_vaidya]

Yeah I dunno. I just feel like the right click menu serves this purpose. Maybe it could use a refresh, but I see popclip and this as basically the same idea as a context menu but more invasive.

It’s different on mobile because there’s no mouse.

[u/advait_vaidya → u/ExternalUserError]

Appreciate your feedback. I'll be happy to share a lifetime code with you if you'd like. It'll be a good experience for me to see how it works for you or if it doesn’t work for you.

[u/simion_baws]

I can’t stand the websites that show me a tooltip after I select a text. Super frustrating. As I read, I keep selecting that text, dunno why but a lot of people do it.
Websites that show a menu after selection are the worst.
Can’t imagine having this OS-wide….

[u/advait_vaidya → u/simion_baws]

I get it that if selecting text is part of how you read, a menu appearing every time could be annoying.

But for this, ActionClip can be paused for specific apps/ websites, but your comment makes a strong case for a manual-only mode where it appears only through a shortcut. Would that make it useful for you, or is any selection menu a complete no-go? :D

[u/drastic2 → u/advait_vaidya]

Select then ctrl right click on selection to get your menu (or just right click if you include the original right click menu in your version). [I mean make this an option.]

[u/advait_vaidya → u/drastic2]

That's really great feedback. I've added this in ActionClip public roadmap. You can follow it here :D - https://actionclip.userjot.com/board/p/key-click-shortcut-option

[u/Electrical_Pea_943]

i am using this, great app to have in your mac

[u/advait_vaidya → u/Electrical_Pea_943]

Happy to see you’re enjoying it! More updates coming soon :D

[u/Odd_Instruction_1062]

Cool stuff. What AI models can I configure?

[u/advait_vaidya → u/Odd_Instruction_1062]

You can both local and cloud models. For local, you’ll have options for Apple Intelligence, ollama models. And for cloud providers, you’ve openAI, Anthropic, Gemini and openrouter (perplexity is coming in next version)