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Provides: Auto-fill/placement of frequently used text strings and images.
Format: Download
Developer: SmileOnMyMac, LLC
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.4
Processor Compatibility: Universal
Price: $29.95
Availability: Now
Version Reviewed: 2.6.2
Demo: 3.6MB .dmg

I really need to start trusting the kids these days. When fellow Appletell writer Gaecke told me at Macworld Expo 2009 to check out SmileOnMyMac’s Text Expander because it’s, like, “... the greatest utility ever,” my thought was, “Yeah, well, this guy liked the new Star Wars movies.” After using TextExpander for a while now, I’ve determined that although Jake’s taste in science fiction leaves a bit to be desired, his opinion on Mac utilities is dead on. TextExpander is, like, the greatest utility ever.

It functions basically like your standard keystroke shortcuts in various software programs. You now how hitting Command+B will make your type bold? TextExpander does the same thing, only with much more power and compatibility. Also, it mainly focuses on content, not formatting…although you can certainly use it to format, too. For instance, my main use for TextExpander is within my Appletell templates. See the software spec formatting above? Before TextExpander, I would find an old review from which to copy that content, paste it into a new document, delete the outdated info and add the relevant info. Not ideal. I eventually switched to a text snippet, which I would just drag into the new document. Better, but I still had to hunt it down in my Appletell resources folder. Now, I just type “aRevSoft” and it appears. That’s it. Doesn’t matter if I’m in BBEdit or Safari or what have you. It’s the same with the rating formatting at the bottom of this review. All of that appears by typing “aRate5.”

You can see a pattern, right? This is because to use TextExpander to its best capabilities, you need to remember your codes. I use the lower case “a” to represent Appletell (and because I’m not likely to start a normal word with a lowercase “a” followed by a capitalized second letter). From there, you can figure it out.

There are a couple of ways to get your content into the TextExpander database. The “te” menu bar icon allows you to automatically create a snippet from your clipboard or highlighted text. Selecting either automatically opens the TextExpander System Preferences panel, and displays your selection in the content area. Simply assign a label to it, then, more importantly, the abbreviation. You need to choose carefully here, as it should be something you wouldn’t normally type without needing your snippet, but that is easy to remember when you want it.

If you forget, though, no worries. You can always just select your snippet from the menu bar icon if you can’t recall the abbreviation:

Being able to automatically insert long strings of text and code—and even images and PDFs—would be enough for me to completely recommend this app. Anyone working on anything with set formats will immediately benefit from TextExpander. But it doesn’t stop there. If you like having the ability to autofill web forms but aren’t satisfied with the security of web browser autofills, you can keep that info in TextExpander. You can also have it automatically correct your most common spelling mistakes and typos. Add “udpate” to the snippet library so it’s replaced by “update,” and you’re all set. And if you don’t have time to add every possible common spelling mistake, don’t worry about it; SmileOnMyMac offers a library of such snippet files ready to download.

Before I close, there are a few other features I want to point out. First, TextExpander can automatically insert the correct date and time. On our daily Macintosh/iPhone software update roundup, for example, I just type in “aRoundup” to pull in the headline, along with “%B %e, %Y.” That code becomes “June 22, 2009,” with the appropriate info, of course.

Second, your snippets can be synched up via MobileMe. Whether I’m working at the office or at home, I know all of my formatting snippets are always available to me. If you don’t have MobileMe (or don’t want to pay for that second TextExpander license), you can simply save your snippets to a file, then import them into your other computer’s TextExpander system prefs.

And finally, you can control in which programs TextExpander works. The default is “all applications,” and that’ll be fine for most users. If, however, you don’t want TextExpander’s functionality in certain programs, you can set it to work in “all applications, except…” or “only these applications…” which you control with check boxes.

There’s more that TextExpander can do, but that’s enough for here. If I haven’t already sold you on this wonderful utility, then find someone who will, because anyone who does a good degree of writing and coding on the Mac needs TextExpander. That’s right…needs. The developers are so sure of this, they even offer a 90 day money back guarantee. If you still don’t believe me or the folks at SmileOnMyMac, ask Jake Gaecke. But don’t ask him about the Star Wars movies. I don’t want his opinion there to taint your view of his credibility.