The Best 5 Bucks You'll Ever Spend for Mac Software

I spend as much time using iOS as OS X these days. I write most of these posts on my iPad and my iPhone is almost like an appendage. That's a testament to iOS's increasing functionality (and my near obsession with Apple toys). Actually, I've been completely spoiled by the ability to do 90% of my work from almost anywhere.

But, enough about me.

In 2009, Apple released iOS 3. With it, we got the much anticipated "Cut, Copy & Paste" capability which many believed was long overdue. After all, Blackberry and Android had it, so many people thought Apple was being wontedly stubborn by omitting it originally. Of course, Apple claimed it was because they were waiting until they could get the functions done properly. No matter the truth of the matter, Apple did do it properly. iOS's implementation of C,C & P includes a rather elegant method for selecting text and other objects. One that is tailored for touch. What is even more impressive is the pop-up menu that appears once you've made a selection. It intelligently lists a set of actions (like cut, copy, etc.) based on the type of data you select and what app you're using when you do it. Like most things Apple does, it is very intuitive and works flawlessly. If you spend much time in iOS, using these functions quickly becomes second nature.

So much so that going back to OS X can leave one wanting. I mean, <CMD + C>, <CMD + V>? Puhleeeease!

Not any more. Now there's PopClip (Now on sale for $2.99 in the Mac App Store). It provides a global method of providing pop-up lists of actions for things you select and it looks strikingly similar to the ones in iOS.  And because it runs in OS X, the developers were free to add a huge list of add-in functions that Apple would never allow on one of their iOS devices. More on that in a moment.

PopClip installs easily and when running, adds its icon to your menu bar (Yes, I know, another one. See Bartender) that gives you quick access to its user preferences and a button to quit the app. There is also a link for downloading add-ins. (Just one more moment.)

When you select text (or other things) in almost any app, PopClip intelligently pops up a list of actions you can choose to perform on that selection. Like the C,C & P functions in iOS, PopClip comes with the standard cut and copy buttons, but the real value in this app is found in the extensive list of free extensions (65 of them as of this writing) available on Pilotmoon's web site. You can transform text, replace text with the clipboard contents, clip to Evernote, Tweet the selected text, dial a selected number in Skype, create an email with your selection, look up selected text in the dictionary and...Well, the list goes on and on and it's growing rapidly. When I first began using PopClip a month or so ago the list of available extensions was only half what it is today.

PopClip is so convenient, I now find going back to iOS makes me wish I had some of PopClip's extensions there. I use the Evernote, Tweetbot and Wikipedia add-ins like crazy when I'm on one of my Macs.  It's a shame Apple will probably never allow that type of system-wide functionality from a third party iOS developer. Too bad.