Name: TypeFire
Author: TypeFire

Question 1

What is a text expander?

Accepted Answer

A text expander is a small utility that watches what you type and replaces short triggers with longer text. Type "zem" and it instantly expands to your full email address. Type "zsig" and your complete signature drops in. The point is to stop retyping the same blocks of text dozens of times a day.

Most people store between 30 and 200 snippets: email signatures, canned support replies, addresses, common code patterns, meeting templates, slash commands. Power users build libraries of 500 or more.

The technical details matter for which apps it works in. macOS has a built-in text replacement feature, but it only works in native Cocoa text fields. It silently fails in Chrome, VS Code, Slack, and most cross-platform apps. Dedicated text expanders like TypeFire monitor keystrokes through the Accessibility API, which works everywhere on macOS.

Question 2

How does TypeFire work?

Accepted Answer

TypeFire watches keystrokes through the macOS Accessibility API, the same low-level system that screen readers and voice control use. When you type a registered abbreviation, TypeFire detects the match, deletes the abbreviation characters, and pastes the full snippet content. The whole sequence takes under 50 milliseconds, which is faster than your screen can refresh.

You can trigger a snippet three ways. First, by typing an abbreviation like "zem" or "zsig". Second, by pressing a global keyboard shortcut you assigned to a specific snippet (like Cmd+Shift+E). Third, by opening the Spotlight-style launcher with Cmd+Shift+P, typing a few letters, and picking the snippet from a fuzzy-search list.

The Accessibility permission is granted once during setup. TypeFire never sends your keystrokes anywhere. Detection and replacement happen entirely on your Mac.

Question 3

Is TypeFire really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire is 100% free with no paid tier, no trial period, no feature gates, and no plan to add any of those in the future. Every feature is available to every user: unlimited snippets, unlimited collections, abbreviation expansion, keyboard shortcuts, the Spotlight-style launcher, rich text editing, Markdown expansion, dynamic tokens, iCloud Sync, JavaScript and AppleScript scripting, AI tokens with five provider options, and the multilingual interface across 8 languages.

The cost comparison against paid alternatives is direct. TextExpander charges $40/year on a subscription. aText costs $4.99 but stopped getting updates in 2016. Typinator is $24.99 as a one-time license. TypeFire is $0 forever, distributed through GitHub releases as a notarized macOS binary.

The project runs at near-zero cost because it has no cloud backend. Snippets stay on your Mac. iCloud Sync uses your own iCloud Drive. AI features use your own API keys. Nothing routes through a TypeFire server.

Question 4

Does TypeFire work in all apps on my Mac?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire works in every Mac app that accepts text input. This includes native apps like Safari, Mail, Notes, Pages, and Numbers, plus Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc), Electron apps (VS Code, Slack, Discord, Notion, Figma, Linear), terminal emulators (Terminal, iTerm, Warp), Microsoft Office, JetBrains IDEs, and any other text-input surface.

Why this works universally: macOS Accessibility APIs sit underneath the application layer, so they see keystrokes regardless of what framework the app is built on. Apple's built-in text replacement feature, by contrast, only works in native Cocoa text fields and silently fails in everything else.

Setup is a one-time grant of the Accessibility permission. No per-app configuration, no extensions to install in browsers, no plugins for editors. The abbreviation you typed, the keyboard shortcut you bound, and the Spotlight-style launcher all work the moment you switch focus to any app.

Question 5

What are dynamic tokens in TypeFire?

Accepted Answer

Dynamic tokens are placeholders that resolve to live values when a snippet expands. Eight built-in tokens cover most needs.

{{date}} inserts today's date. {{time}} inserts the current time. {{datetime}} inserts both. Each takes an optional format string like {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} or {{time:HH:mm}} for custom output.

{{clipboard}} pastes whatever is currently on your clipboard. {{cursor}} positions the cursor at a specific spot within the expanded snippet, so you can type immediately at the right place. {{snippet:abbr}} nests one snippet inside another, useful for composable templates.

{{key:tab}} or {{key:return}} simulates a key press, useful for filling form fields. {{nbsp}} inserts a non-breaking space.

Tokens turn static text into context-aware templates. A meeting note template might start with the date filled in, jump the cursor to the attendee list, and end with your sign-off. Without tokens, the same snippet would expand identically every time.

Question 6

How is TypeFire different from TextExpander?

Accepted Answer

The biggest difference is the pricing model. TextExpander costs $40 per year on a subscription that automatically renews. TypeFire is free forever with no subscription. For an individual user that adds up to roughly $400 in TextExpander fees over a decade for the same core feature set.

Beyond cost, the technical differences favor TypeFire on a Mac specifically. TypeFire is a native macOS app built with Tauri, which compiles to a small native binary (about 11 MB). TextExpander is built on Electron and runs a bundled Chromium runtime, so it uses more memory and CPU than a comparable native app. TypeFire also stores snippets as plain Markdown files in a folder you choose, so there is no vendor lock-in. TextExpander stores in its proprietary cloud database.

Feature-wise, both handle abbreviation expansion and global shortcuts well. TypeFire adds Markdown expansion (write in Markdown, expand as formatted HTML), AI tokens with five provider integrations, JavaScript and AppleScript scripting, and a Spotlight-style launcher. TextExpander's main advantage is team collaboration features for workplaces, which TypeFire does not offer.

Question 7

Can I sync snippets across multiple Macs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire has built-in iCloud Sync that keeps your snippet library in sync across every Mac signed into your Apple ID. Turn it on once in Settings and your snippets, collections, and tags sync within seconds whenever you make a change.

The sync uses your own iCloud Drive, not a TypeFire-operated server. Apple encrypts iCloud Drive end-to-end, which means TypeFire never sees the contents of your snippets in transit or at rest. This is different from TextExpander, which routes snippet data through its own cloud infrastructure as part of its subscription service.

iCloud Sync is free and unlimited. There is no per-snippet cap, no per-device cap, and no separate fee. If you have three Macs at home plus a work laptop, all four stay in sync at no cost.

The one limitation is that TypeFire does not sync to iPhone or iPad, because Apple does not allow third-party apps to handle text expansion on iOS. macOS-only is the design.

Question 8

What content types does TypeFire support?

Accepted Answer

TypeFire supports five distinct snippet content types, each with an editor tuned to that format.

Plain Text is the simplest. Just text, expanded character-for-character with no formatting. Best for email addresses, short canned phrases, and code snippets where formatting would interfere.

Rich Text uses the built-in TipTap editor and supports font family, size, color, highlighting, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, numbered lists, code blocks, images, and links. Expands as rich text in any app that accepts formatted clipboard content.

Markdown lets you write snippets in Markdown source format. When the snippet expands, TypeFire converts the Markdown to HTML and pastes it as formatted text. The source file stays clean and readable in any text editor.

JavaScript snippets run JavaScript code when triggered and paste the return value. Useful for clipboard transformations, dynamic computation, or generating output that depends on context.

AppleScript snippets work the same way, running AppleScript and pasting the result. Used for macOS automation, controlling other apps, or pulling data from system services.

Each content type can also use dynamic tokens like {{date}} and {{clipboard}}.

Question 9

Does TypeFire support rich text formatting?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire ships with a full rich text editor built on TipTap, the same WYSIWYG framework used in modern apps like Notion. The editor supports font family, font size, font color, text highlighting, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, numbered lists, code blocks, inline images, and hyperlinks.

When you trigger a rich text snippet, TypeFire writes the formatted content to your clipboard as rich HTML and pastes it. The result keeps its formatting in any app that accepts rich clipboard content. This works in Mail, Pages, Word, Slack messages, Notion pages, and most other modern apps. Apps that only accept plain text (Terminal, vim) get the plain text version automatically.

For developer-style workflows, TypeFire also supports Markdown snippets. Write your snippet in Markdown source format and it expands as fully rendered HTML at paste time. The Markdown source stays in your snippet file, which makes diffing and version control easy if you keep your vault in git.

Question 10

Is TypeFire safe and private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire is built around a privacy-first design. Snippet content stays on your Mac as plain Markdown files in a folder you choose. The app never reads, transmits, or stores your snippet contents on any server.

Keystroke monitoring happens entirely on your device through the macOS Accessibility API. TypeFire sees the characters you type to detect abbreviations, but those keystrokes are processed in memory and discarded immediately. They are never logged, transmitted, or persisted. The Accessibility permission is the only system permission TypeFire requests. No Input Monitoring permission is required.

Telemetry is anonymous. TypeFire uses Aptabase for privacy-friendly analytics, which counts active installs and expansion totals without identifying individual users. No Mixpanel, no third-party tracking pixels, no personal data of any kind. The one piece of personal info we do touch is your email, which you provide during signup to verify the install. Email is stored in a Google Sheet for usage tracking and is never shared.

iCloud Sync, when enabled, routes through your own iCloud Drive. Apple encrypts iCloud Drive end-to-end, so even Apple cannot read the contents.

Question 11

What macOS versions does TypeFire support?

Accepted Answer

TypeFire supports macOS 12 Monterey and every release since. That covers macOS 13 Ventura, macOS 14 Sonoma, macOS 15 Sequoia, and macOS 26 Tahoe. Each major macOS release gets tested before TypeFire ships.

The app is a universal binary, so it runs natively on both Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4 generations) and Intel Macs without Rosetta translation. The native build is roughly 11 megabytes, which keeps installs lean and startup fast.

Apple Intelligence features in TypeFire require macOS 26 Tahoe or later, since that is when Apple shipped the on-device foundation models. On older macOS versions, the rest of the AI provider integrations (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama) work normally. Every other TypeFire feature works on all supported macOS versions.

Question 12

Can I use variables and placeholders in my snippets?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire treats variables as dynamic tokens (covered in detail in the dynamic tokens question above). The practical way to think about variables: any data point that changes by context goes into a token, and TypeFire resolves it at paste time.

Common patterns. {{date}} for daily logs and meeting notes. {{clipboard}} for snippets that wrap whatever you just copied (like a Markdown link wrapper, or a console.log of the clipboard content). {{cursor}} for jumping the caret to a fill-in-the-blank position. {{snippet:abbr}} for composing reusable building blocks (your signature inside your email template).

For more dynamic logic than tokens cover, JavaScript snippets give you full programming capability. You can read the clipboard, transform it, query system data, and paste a computed result. AppleScript snippets do the same with deeper access to other Mac apps.

The token system covers maybe 80 percent of cases. Script snippets cover the rest.

Question 13

What languages does TypeFire support?

Accepted Answer

TypeFire's interface is fully translated into 8 languages: English, Spanish (español), French (français), Portuguese Brazil (português brasileiro), German (Deutsch), Italian (italiano), Dutch (Nederlands), and Russian (русский).

Every UI surface is localized, not just menu labels. That includes the sidebar, the snippet editor, settings panels, the Spotlight-style launcher, onboarding flow, error messages, and notifications. Roughly 800 strings per locale.

To switch languages, open Settings, go to Appearance, and pick a language from the dropdown. TypeFire restarts to apply the new language and remembers your choice across launches. On first launch, TypeFire defaults to your macOS system language if it matches one of the eight supported locales.

Snippet content itself can be any language and any script (Cyrillic, CJK, RTL, emoji). The localization is for the app interface specifically. If you write Russian snippets while running TypeFire in English, both work fine together.

Question 14

Does TypeFire support AI like ChatGPT or Claude?

Accepted Answer

Yes. TypeFire has AI tokens you drop into any snippet. The built-in tokens are {{ai:rewrite}}, {{ai:summarize}}, {{ai:translate:fr}} (or any language code), {{ai:fix}} for grammar, and {{ai:custom:your-prompt}} for arbitrary prompts. Drop one of these into a snippet, bind the snippet to a shortcut, and the AI runs against your current text selection or clipboard contents.

Five AI provider integrations are supported. Apple Intelligence runs on-device on macOS 26 Tahoe or later, costs nothing, and works fully offline. Claude (Anthropic), OpenAI (ChatGPT), and Gemini (Google) use your own API keys for cloud-based requests. The Custom provider option accepts any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which covers local model servers like Ollama and LM Studio, plus hosted gateways like Groq, OpenRouter, and Together.

A typical example. Highlight a paragraph you wrote, press your shortcut, and the AI rewrites it. Or copy a long thread, type {{ai:summarize}}, and a TL;DR pastes back. Whatever the result is, it lands directly in the app you were typing in, no copy-paste back and forth.

Question 15

Can I use TypeFire AI without paying for an API key?

Accepted Answer

Yes, three free options.

First option: Apple Intelligence. If you have macOS 26 Tahoe or later on Apple Silicon, Apple Intelligence runs on-device at zero cost. No API key, no usage limit, fully offline. The model is smaller than the cloud ones but handles rewrite, summarize, and translate well for typical lengths.

Second option: Gemini free tier. Google offers a free tier on the Gemini API with generous daily quotas (currently 15 requests per minute and 1500 requests per day on the standard model). Sign up for an API key at ai.google.dev, paste it into TypeFire settings, done. For light personal use this rarely hits the limit.

Third option: local Ollama. Install Ollama on your Mac (free, open source), pull an open-source model like Llama 3, Mistral, or Qwen, and point TypeFire's Custom provider at http://localhost:11434. Usage is unlimited, fully offline, nothing leaves your Mac. The tradeoff is that the model runs on your CPU/GPU so quality and speed depend on your hardware.

Most people start with Apple Intelligence if their Mac supports it, then add Gemini or Ollama for power use cases.

Question 16

Do I have to pay extra to use AI in TypeFire?

Accepted Answer

TypeFire is free. AI costs depend on which provider you pick.

Free providers. Apple Intelligence (on-device on macOS 26+), Gemini free tier, and local Ollama all cost zero. These cover most personal use cases without spending anything.

Paid providers. Claude (Anthropic) and OpenAI charge per token. For typical TypeFire use cases (rewriting paragraphs, summarizing emails, translating short text), a request costs somewhere between $0.001 and $0.01. A heavy daily user might spend $1 to $3 per month. Both Claude and OpenAI let you set monthly spending caps on their dashboards, so there is no surprise bill risk.

TypeFire does not mark up AI usage or take any cut. The API key you paste in connects directly to the provider. Your usage shows up on your provider's billing dashboard, not TypeFire's. The app itself never charges you, never sees your API responses, and has no way to monetize your AI usage even if it wanted to.

Free Text Expander for Mac - Type less.
Do more.

How the text expander works

Create a snippet

Assign a trigger

Type it anywhere, it expands

Everything you need in a macOS text expander

Abbreviation expansion

Global keyboard shortcuts

Spotlight-style launcher

Rich text and Markdown

Dynamic tokens

AI tokens

Collections and tags

iCloud Sync

JavaScript and AppleScript

Clipboard history & stats

TextExpander import

Available in 8 languages

Why choose TypeFire over other text expanders?

Free forever - no subscription

Native macOS app - not Electron

Works in every single app

Beautiful, modern interface

Rich text, Markdown, and scripts

Powerful dynamic tokens

Who uses a text expander on Mac?

Developers

Writers and bloggers

Support teams

Sales and outreach

Marketers

Everyone else

Frequently asked questions about TypeFire

Start typing smarter today

Free Text Expander for Mac - Type less.Do more.