We realise you guys may not be able to hear us over the sound of fireworks and champagne corks popping, but there’s news to report. As we raise a glass to toast the incoming year, we’re pleased to announce the release of TypeIt4Me version 5.5. This update brings some much requested new features, including [relatively] hassle-free syncing of snippets via Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive and shared network folders. We’ve also taken the opportunity to rewrite parts of the code in Swift for improved performance and have given the app a long overdue facelift, bringing it into line aesthetically with its iOS companion app.
Oh and one more thing. Today we celebrate 25 years of our text expander app TypeIt4Me on the Mac platform. The culmination of many months of prototype alpha builds and oh-so-patient beta testing by family and friends, version 1.0 was officially released for System 6 on New Year’s Eve 1990. To mark this major milestone, we are slashing 75% off the regular $19.99 retail price. For a limited time, TypeIt4Me is available for purchase at the special discounted price of just $4.99.
It warms our hearts to reflect on the fact that our software has now been saving people keystrokes for a quarter of a century. When work began on the first alpha build of TypeIt4Me in 1989, the world was a very different place. Shoulder pads, big hair and big glasses were rife. Back to the Future II was yet to hit cinemas. Woody and Kelly were dating on Cheers. Reagan had just vacated the White House, Gorbachev still presided over the Soviet Union and Hasselhoff was yet to dismantle the Berlin Wall. Many of future history’s most important movers and shakers were not in a position of strength, for that matter: Steve Jobs had been exiled from Apple, while Mark Zuckerberg was on his way to kindergarten and kids were likely throwing spitballs at Larry Page in Junior High. As for the internet, it didn’t even exist as we know it today. With no App Store or websites, Mac developers had to advertise in magazines and distribute software on physical media, dispatching 3.5″ floppy discs to customers by post.
Things have come a long way since, then, haven’t they?
The enthusiastic support and encouragement we’ve received from the Mac community throughout TypeIt4Me’s long-running development is very touching. We’re beyond grateful to everyone who’s helped and sustained us with positive feedback over the years. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. Here’s to a prosperous 2016 for you and yours!
Riccardo & Guy
6 Comments.
Hi Riccardo – Happy New Year and Congrats on 25 years!! I’ve been using it for probably 20 years at least…
The Mac App store just upgraded me to Version 5.4.1, but here you’re announcing 5.5?
And in the process of the upgrade my TypeIt4Me appears to have become Unregistered :-(
Happy New Year, Roger! We remember you :) It’s always great to hear from a longstanding customer and former beta tester. Thanks so much for your support over the years.
Sorry about the hiccup. Your TypeIt4me is not unregistered, that’s actually a glitch displaying an erroneous “Unlicensed demo copy” message in the About window. That message should only appear for people using the non-App Store shareware demo, who haven’t registered yet. We’ll be submitting a Mac App Store version 5.4.2 bug fix to Apple later today, which also resolves a problem with the Help button not working properly.
The Mac App Store version will always remain at 5.4.x. We continue to offer TypeIt4Me for sale on Apple’s store for anyone who prefers to buy it that way, but because it’s not a sandboxed app we are no longer allowed to add new features there. We are only permitted to fix bugs. As a result, there are differences between the Mac App Store TypeIt4Me and the shareware version available directly from Ettore Software, which we continue to develop and is now at 5.5. The Mac App Store version offers iCloud syncing of snippets, while version 5.5 offers syncing via Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive or a shared network folder. This is explained in more detail in the TypeIt4Me FAQ (6th question in the list).
We’ve just noticed that you bought an upgrade licence for 5.5 today. We’ll refund you that purchase: as you’ve already paid for the App Store version we were going to offer you a free code for 5.5. It’s our policy that any Mac App Store customers wishing to migrate to version 5.5 can get a free licence code by emailing us their Mac App Store receipt. No need for you to do that, though, we know you’re legit :)
Once again, sorry about the confusion.
Guy
Thanks for the response Guy, and for the refund :-)
Up until now I had my snippets file in iCloud (which is why I was using the App Store version), but I’m quite ready to move to a different synch system – one where I might myself know exactly where the file is stored. ;-)
Also I noticed that the “Help” in the App store version doesn’t work when clicked.
Also, the icon in the menu bar is not “elegant” – I’m not sure how to post an image here, but here’s a link to it on my site. (I’m on the current version of El Capitan).
http://lisaandroger.com/MiscImages/TypeIt4Me.png
Thanks!
Roger
You’re welcome, Roger. Hope the new sync options work out for you.
The unresponsive Help in the App Store version is a known issue that slipped through because we were under pressure to upload the binary to Apple before the Christmas lockdown on app submissions. Mulled wine and champagne may have played a small part, too. Thanks for the heads up, anyway – it’ll be resolved as soon as Apple approve the 5.4.2 bug fix update we submitted today. In the meantime, App Store customers can still download the Help / User Guide PDF here: http://ettoresoftware.store/download/TypeIt4Me%20User%20Guide%205.4.1i.pdf
Strange that the TypeIt4Me icon is distorted in your menu. Could you please email screenshots of your AutoCorrect and Apps Preferences to our support@ address? Riccardo will follow up with you and we’ll do our best to figure out how to stop the fuzziness in a 5.5.1 update.
Thanks again,
Guy
TypeIt4Me has saved more than typing for me. It’s saved time and neck pain! Thank you, Ricardo!
Richard Bruno
Really glad to hear that, Richard :)