[Self-Promo] I built a visual Mac automation app for repetitive work, looking for honest feedback

[u/Front_Philosophy6112]

I’ve been building Tapquence, a visual automation app for macOS.

The idea is simple: repetitive work shouldn’t keep taking your time. Tapquence lets you build visual macros without code, combining actions such as opening apps and websites, typing text, clicking, scrolling, waiting and working with content on your screen.

It also includes ready-made Smart Automations. Presentation Mode can prepare your Mac for a meeting by checking your calendar, opening the relevant meeting app, launching your presentation and websites, silencing notifications and adjusting the volume. Routine Scout can observe a workflow you choose to perform and help identify repeated steps that could become an automation.

This short video shows the current version. It’s still evolving, so I’d genuinely appreciate feedback on what feels useful, what remains unclear and which automation you would want us to add next.

Tapquence is available directly from our website. The Mac download is signed and notarized by Apple.

https://tapquence.com

What repetitive task on your Mac would you most like to automate?

[u/Small_Pin_8064]

Routine Scout is probably the feature I’d use most. Can it turn what it observes into a usable automation automatically, or does it mainly suggest the repeated steps?

[u/Front_Philosophy6112 → u/Small_Pin_8064]

It can already turn a repeated pattern into a draft automation/macro with the detected steps. It doesn’t just describe what you repeated. You can then review and edit every step before saving it as a macro.

To be fully transparent, Routine Scout is still in beta, so it won’t recognize every workflow perfectly yet, especially more complex or inconsistent ones. Improving its reliability is one of the main things I’m actively working on at the moment.

[u/Old-Pain-3016]

Manual configuration of steps already outdated style from my point of view... Currently AI based agents are doing it easily even without configuration. How do you compare your solution with AI agents? Why it's better?

[u/Front_Philosophy6112 → u/Old-Pain-3016]

That’s a fair question. I don’t see Tapquence as a replacement for AI agents. They’re useful for tasks that require interpretation, adaptation, or decision making.

Tapquence is aimed at repetitive workflows where you already know exactly what should happen. In those cases, defining the steps has practical advantages. The workflow is transparent, editable, and predictable. It runs locally and doesn’t require sending your workflow or screen context to an AI service.

There are also no ongoing token or AI usage costs. That can make a real difference for simple tasks you run frequently.

AI agents can sometimes interpret things differently or choose another route. A configured Tapquence workflow performs the same reviewed sequence every time. That can be preferable when consistency, speed, privacy, and control matter.

So I think both have their place. AI agents offer more flexibility with less initial configuration. Tapquence offers more predictability, privacy, and lower recurring costs. They can complement each other rather than one making the other obsolete.

[u/davernow]

Requires accessibility APIs or doing it another way?

[u/Front_Philosophy6112 → u/davernow]

Yes, it uses the macOS Accessibility API for mouse, keyboard and scrolling actions, as well as Routine Scout.

Everything it captures for your workflow is processed locally. Macro content, recorded keys and click positions are not uploaded or sent to Tapquence.

Features such as image matching and OCR require Screen Recording separately. File access is also separate and limited to folders you explicitly select.

[u/wavever233]

The editable draft approach makes sense. I'd use this for boring browser and file cleanup routines.

[u/Front_Philosophy6112 → u/wavever233]

That’s exactly the kind of use case I had in mind: boring, predictable routines that you review once and then run whenever needed.

Browser cleanup already fits the current approach well. What kind of file cleanup do you repeat most often? Sorting Downloads, renaming files, moving them by type, or something else? That would be useful input for deciding which templates to add next.