A useful Mac utility that saves steps
Suppose there is an AI prompt that you use often, for example, "Use <topic> to create 30 blog titles. Place each title on a new line, but do not number the lines and do not use quotation marks."
In order to use it with ChatGPT, you have to go sign into ChatGPT in your browser and enter your prompt. When the AI is finished with the task, you copy the output and paste it to where you want it.
Vidix saves some of these steps. For example, I am in my Mac Notes app, and I have a topic already listed. I select the text, and press my special key combo (called a short code by Vidix), and my prompt is activated. In this case, it is written as: "Based on the text below, use the topic to create 30 blog titles. Place each title on a new line, but do not number the lines and do not use quotation marks."
My AI model of choice, selected in Vidix (ChatGPT 4o is what I am using), will now act on the selected text with my prompt. Vidix provides the output in place, where I am working. So, if I am in the Notes app, the output appears there. I just saved the steps of opening my browser, going to ChatGPT, typing in the prompt, copying the output, and pasting it into Notes.
Sometimes the AI processing seems to take a few more seconds than I would expect, but I don't think that is an issue with Vidix.
One issue is that Vidix has an icon in the Mac menu bar at the top, so I assumed it would remain there and be functional, even if I closed the Vidix app. This was not the case. When I closed the app, Vidix went away from the menu bar and stopped working. This means that to use Vidix, you have to keep the app open and running.
I had asked previously if Vidix was like Keyboard Maestro. Keyboard Maestro is a powerful app that runs in the background, responding to key combinations and other signals to take action and automate tasks. There are some similarities, but Keyboard Maestro is a much more robust, developed application. The advantage of Vidix is that it provides access to AI, which Keyboard Maestro does not.
I hope to see Vidix further improved, but as it is, it does provide a useful function to Mac users.
Toni_Vidix
Jun 14, 2024Hi drleeds,
Thank you very much for your positive feedback! I really appreciate it.
Regarding the issue you mentioned about the long wait times, we've implemented a subtle "loader" indicator. If you look at the top bar while waiting, you'll notice that the Vidix icon (Vx) turns purple and displays a loading animation, indicating that it's working correctly. I hope this helps!
As for the menu bar, it's a common feature in all Mac applications. Unfortunately, if we create an app that isn’t limited to the top bar, it requires the menu bar to remain open. Otherwise, we could only have the "settings" open.
For me, it is also annoying to always have the app open. Perhaps in future versions, we can move the entire interface to the settings menu and have the entire app be a top bar, much lighter.
Once again, thank you for your comments!