aText App Reviews

The current version does not work on OSX 10.11. Do not get if you are on 10.11 until this is fixed.

I did manage to get this essential app working again after upgrading. It wasn’t super clear to find, but at the Support page at the bottom there is a link for the Non-App-Store version that works perfectly. Download the Trial and it migrates your app store license. Overall this app works really well and I use it everyday as part of my workflow.

Only works on El Capitan if you buy it from the developers website or transfer the license. Once you finally get it working it’s a real time saver. I recommend looking at other text expanders.

I relied on this app regularly. Stopped working on my Mac, I tried to delete it and reinstall. Didn’t work, so I did some searching that involved having my original App store version installed. Didn’t work and now I don’t have a record of my serial number to prove that I paid for it. This is a fail on the part of the app store and the developers of aText. I will find another expander software, preferably not through the app store.

This program works. It is necessary after downloading from App Store, to go on their website and download the „trial“ version. After installing the trial, everything will work without problems. There is even a Video how it should be done (click on aText Support and scroll down). Peace and out.

could not get this working with El Capitan..waste of money..

Fix 10.11 pls

It has many features, it is easy to use and to extend. It is possible to create custom groups that can be activated on demand, exported and imported on several machines. Highly recommended!

not working with 10.9 Maverick

Doesn’t work on Mavericks. I want my money back

Secure input troubles… can you please fix it? I can’t use the app!

Please consider updating the app - after the El Capitan upgrade, the app will not convert shortcuts The Diagnostic feature will not reveal any particular problem. The issue persists after restarting the app.

[Note: I dont give every review 1 or 5 stars. Most apps get a 3 and the very good or very bad get a 5 or a 1. 3 means a good middle of the road app.] On a cost to functionality ratio basis this WAS a very good app. Not sure how to advise on purchasing app now that the this version on the app store no longer works on the latest osx 10.11 and wont work going forward. Youll have to upgrade from the developers website. You should also be aware that using the off-store version, means you loose the security protection of sandboxing and in theory, aText could be exploited by malware. However, given how rare actual attacks occur on Macs, it probably a trivial concern. You could buy it here and then try the upgrade procedure described above. It did work flawlessly for me. Caveat emptor I suppose The app loses a point because I also believe the transition to the off store version was poorly handled. Other developers had to leave the store because of 10.11, and they all made me aware of the issue through mails (if they had my email) or even better in the app itself. I recieved no warning from the developer, the app just stopped working. Even on their support site, the information that it no longer works on 10.11 is far down the page. I wasted the better part of an hour troubleshooting because the build in diagnostic suggested conflict. The developer should have updated on the app store that would check system version and then inform the user they would have to go off-store to upgrade the app. The app loses one point automatically for not having in App help nor a link to support in the app itself. Like what seems a majority of the apps on the store, you just have to puzzle the operation of the app on your own. Its like a puzzle video game, except Ive got bleeping work to do. *Sigh*

This used to be an amazingly convenient program to use, but as others have pointed out, it’s gone way downhill. See comments below for the license vs. app store issue, but there are other problems as well. Where the text replacement used to be nearly instantaneous, you can now watch it backspace over the keyword before it types the replacement text. Very distracting. Bottom line: aText is done. Look elsewhere.

This app is a time saver, a must have in my opinion! Just install it from the developers website and you will run into NO problems. I have had this running on El Capitan for a long time now and have been nothing but satisfied with it’s preformance. For all of the users changing their votes from 5 stars to 1 star, it is because they do not know how to properly authenticate the license like the developer shows on his website. If you know how to use OS X and are more of an "advanced user" being able to do this simple task, you will run into no problems.

I bought the App Store version about a year ago and it stopped working in February. I could not get the workaround to work as explained by the developer in his YouTube video so I emailed the developer but did not get a response, so I gave up. Fast forward to today; I decided to give it another shot and this time it worked. I think I know what the issue was that caused it to not work previously. Here is the thing: follow the developer’s steps in his video EXACTLY. His steps are 1) install App Store version and run once. Quit. 2) Download trial version from website and run once. A prompt will say license has been transferred. Quit. 3) Copy downloaded app. Open Finder. Go to Applications folder. Paste app. A dialog will ask if you want to overwrite the app. Say yes. The key is to *overwrite the App Store version.* At some point in step 2, OS X gave me a prompt that is not in the video (must be an older version of OS X in the video), asking me if I wanted Finder to move the app to the Applications folder for me. I think in the past I must have said Yes. I chose No this time and manually copied and pasted the downloaded app into the Applications folder as per the developer’s video, overwriting the App Store version. This has done the trick. aText is working. It’s been a long time since I tried to get Atext to work before now, so the only other possibility that may have been the trick is that I may have manually deleted aText preferences when I was manually removing another app. I don’t remember doing this but I do remember I was deleting another app’s preferences so I could try the trial again and I may have seen aText files at that time and just deleting them thinking I would never use them again. App preferences are typically in ~/ Library / Preferences. It’s much more likely that manually overwriting the App Store version of aText was the solution though. I hope this helps people!

I bought it, it doesn’t work with Sierra. I’ve gone to their site and downloaded the update to make sure it works with El Capitan, but the app continues to quit without reason. It just stops. I’ve emailed support. NO response. The last time this was updated was in 2015. That’s right, 2015! It’s unfortunate. This has better features than the other expander I use and deeply wish it worked. Until it is updated to work with current operating systems, stay far away. And, if aText is ever updated to work without quitting, I will update this review to 5 stars.

Download the free version from his website (2.18). Drag it into your apps folder to replace the earlier version. Your license is preserved, but your sinppets are not…this was the only way that I was able to get it to work with the latest OS.

The app needs to be updated for 10.11 (El Capitan). It has been a great program. I rely on it daily. However, it doesn’t work with 10.11. Once it is updated to work with 10.11, I’ll go back to a 5 star rating.

If this app would only work consistently, I’d give it five stars. I love the functionality, especially for adding HTML. But I frequently type my abbreviations only to find that the app has crashed and nothing happens. =(