Does this
sound rude?

Press a shortcut in any Mac app.
Takes rewrites your draft a few ways.
Pick one and it's pasted back.

Download for Mac

Free and open source.
No account needed to download.
macOS 14 or later.

Choice is the product.

The Takes panel as floating layers: the draft above three takes of a Slack message, each with a note on how it may read: direct and firm, warm and clear, brief and a bit curt. The middle take is lifted to the front.

Compare complete alternatives and how each may read. Inspect changes, refine a selected take, then paste it back.

Your thought.
A few takes.

A small Mac app for finding the wording that fits. Write a draft, compare a few versions, and paste the one you choose back where you started.

01

Draft

Start with what you mean. Press Control + Option + Space in any text field.

02

Choose

Find the version that fits. Compare the takes, see what changed, refine one.

03

Paste

Return it to your text field. You decide when to send.

Rough in. Right out.

Four everyday drafts, one preset each. Takes keeps what you meant and fixes how it lands.

01

Proofread

thanks for the quick reveiw, ill send the deck tommorowThanks for the quick review. I'll send the deck tomorrow.

02

Shorter

hey so I was thinking that maybe, if it works for everyone, we could possibly move the sync to thursday, let me know what you all thinkCould we move the sync to Thursday? Let me know.

03

Polish email

can u resend the invoice its missing the PO numberCould you resend the invoice? The PO number is missing.

04

Translate

Running ten minutes late, start without me.Ich komme zehn Minuten später, fangt ohne mich an.

Also in the box.

  1. A message field with a rough Slack draft, the Control, Option and Space keys in front of it like a keyboard, and the Slack message preset picked
    Shortcuts

    Everything has a shortcut.

    Control + Option + Space opens Takes with your draft, in any app. Every move after that has a shortcut too, so each kind of use stays fast: pick a preset, jump to a take, paste.

  2. The Polish email preset selected in the preset list, with its instruction, its Do rules and its Avoid rules on separate tiles
    Presets

    Configured, personal style

    Set Do and Avoid rules, voice rules for every preset, and up to five examples of how you write.

  3. A proofread take with three fixes marked, reveiw to review, tommorow to tomorrow and its to it's, and the fixes floating beside it
    Proofread

    Proofread, marked

    Fixes spelling, grammar and punctuation, and keeps your words. Each fix is marked; when nothing needs fixing, Takes says so.

  4. A draft with three flagged phrases and the English coach below it, its fixes lifted out: If you will send to If you send, until tomorrow to by tomorrow, make you a feedback to give you feedback
    English Coach

    Write it better next time.

    Turn on the English coach and it spots the mistakes your takes fix, notices the ones you repeat, and teaches them back with your own sentences.

  5. A dark Engine card reading Local model, Ollama found on this Mac, with the model menu over it and an On this Mac badge
    Local model

    A model on your Mac

    Use Ollama or LM Studio instead of Claude, and your drafts never leave the Mac.

  6. A pasted message in a field, a Pasted toast with Command Z to undo, and a yellow Return key
    Instant paste

    Right away

    Give a preset its own shortcut and it writes and pastes, no panel.

  7. A draft being dictated, with a blue waveform and a Dictating label
    Dictation

    Say it

    Dictate a draft. Speech stays on your Mac.

  8. A take replying to Any update on the launch, with a note that it may read as warm and polite
    Context and tone

    Context and tone

    Add the message you're answering. See how each take may land.

  9. The same take in German, Spanish and English, stacked
    Languages

    Your languages

    Reply in any language, with a translate preset for each one you write in.

Your Mac. Your model. Your choice.

Local utility

Presets, optional history and English coach notes live on your Mac.

Your connection

Drafts, instructions and voice examples go to Anthropic through your Claude connection, to OpenAI through your ChatGPT plan, to the provider whose key you added, or nowhere, with a model on your Mac.

Your decision

Takes pastes the version you choose into the original field. You decide when to send.

Takes collects no data. Your drafts go only to the model you chose, and nowhere at all with a model on your Mac. Privacy notice.

Good to know.

How is this different from Apple's Writing Tools?

Writing Tools rewrites with Apple's models, one version at a time, on Macs with Apple Intelligence. Takes shows a few takes side by side, from presets you write yourself, with Do and Avoid rules and examples of how you write. It uses the model you pick: Claude, ChatGPT, another provider or a model on your Mac. Each take gets a note on how it may come across, and you can add the message you're replying to. It runs on macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.

Is my text sent anywhere?

Only to the model you chose, straight from your Mac and under your own account: Anthropic with Claude, OpenAI with your ChatGPT plan, the provider whose key you added, or nowhere with a model on your Mac. Takes reads only the text box you're typing in, and only when you press the shortcut. The developer runs no server and receives nothing. Privacy notice.

Do I need to pay?

Not for Takes. It's free and open source under the MIT license, with no ads or paid tier. The model is yours: runs count toward your Claude or ChatGPT plan, an API key is billed by its provider, usually a cent or two a run, and a model on your Mac costs nothing.

Why isn't it in the Mac App Store?

Takes reads and pastes into other apps' text fields with Accessibility access, and it can run Claude Code on your Mac. App Store apps are sandboxed, which rules out both. Instead, Takes is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and it updates itself with Sparkle after asking you first. You can also install it with Homebrew.

Which apps does it work in?

In apps whose text fields macOS can read, including Slack, Mail, Messages, Notes, browsers and Claude's desktop app. Where an app hides its field, Takes copies the text instead and puts your clipboard back. If an app doesn't work, please open an issue with its name.

What do I need?

macOS 14 or later, Accessibility access so Takes can read the field and paste, and a model to write with: Claude Code signed in to your account or an Anthropic API key, your ChatGPT plan, an API key from another provider, or a model on your Mac with Ollama or LM Studio.

Which models can it use?

Claude, through Claude Code on your Mac or your Anthropic API key. Your ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan, through Sign in with ChatGPT. Your own API key for OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral or another compatible https server. Or a model running on your Mac with Ollama or LM Studio, so nothing leaves it.

Is it made by Anthropic, OpenAI or Apple?

No. Takes is an independent app. It runs Claude Code or calls the provider you chose with your own account.

Write it rough.
Pick your take.

Download for Mac
Takes, the film · 1:07