Using Typeahead in different apps

Typeahead works in Mac apps with a standard text field: your browser, email, documents and chat. Most work as soon as Typeahead is on, and you can set each one up the way you like. The full list is on the compatibility page.

Set it up app by app#

Open Settings › Apps and pick an app, or click Add App. Each app can have:

• Its own writing style. Formal for Mail, casual for Slack. Pick a style, or add a few words of instructions just for that app.
• Its own keys. Handy where Tab already does something.
• Its own context settings. Window context (on by default) and clipboard context (off by default) can be switched per app.
• Learning on or off. Switch off Learn from This App and Typeahead neither learns from that app nor uses what it learned there.

The menu bar menu has a submenu for the app you're in, with the same switches.

Switch it off for one app#

Choose Disable for that app in the menu bar submenu, or switch the app off in Settings › Apps. Typeahead stays out of it until you switch it back on, and works as usual everywhere else.

Apps that need a setting first#

• Google Docs needs a one-time setting: turn on screen reader support in Google Docs, under Tools › Accessibility. Suggestions then appear in your documents.
• Arc needs a one-time setup too. Its entry on the compatibility page is marked Setup needed.

Terminals and code editors#

Terminals and code editors are off until you turn them on. Switch Typeahead on for one in Settings › Apps, as an experimental option. In a terminal it uses ⌥Return to accept and ⌥→ to take one word, because Tab already completes commands there. Chat boxes and sidebars inside editors work as usual.

Where it stays off#

• Password fields, always.
• Password managers, crypto wallets, finance apps and Finder, out of the box.
• Search boxes and small form fields, on the default Balanced appearance. Choose Everywhere under Appearance in Settings › General to see suggestions there too.
• In Mail, it leaves the To, Cc and Subject lines alone and suggests in the message itself.

Apps it can't reach#

A few apps draw their own text and don't show it to macOS. Virtual machines and remote desktops show the remote screen as pixels, so there's no text field to read. And where an app won't let Typeahead place the suggestion at your cursor, it shows it in a small bubble instead.

If an app you use isn't working, email hello@typeahead.ai with the app's name and we'll take a look.