Startly - What is QuicKeys 4 for Mac OS X?

New to the world of QuicKeys? Let us take a moment to tell you about QuicKeys 4.

What is QuicKeys?

QuicKeys is software that makes it easier to use your computer. With QuicKeys you can automate common things you do all the time. And you can automate tedious things you don't do all the time — things that are hard to remember.

Shortcut

Abbreviation

With QuicKeys 4 you can automate your computer in two ways: Abbreviations and Shortcuts. Abbreviations, which are new in QuicKeys 4, are words you type into a document that are then automatically replaced by QuicKeys with longer text. Shortcuts are collections of one or more steps that perform specific tasks on your computer.

Your hands could be
recording super stars.

Make a New Record

Shortcuts are the main way you automate your computer using QuicKeys. Shortcuts are very powerful, but are super easy to make. That's because QuicKeys can make them for you by recording practically anything you can do. All you have to do is tell QuicKeys when to start recording and when to stop recording. QuicKeys will then make a new Shortcut containing steps that reproduce your actions.

Of course, if you want you can always create and edit Shortcuts by hand. You can even edit your recorded Shortcuts later if you want to have them do something different.

Open Item, Type Text, Clip.
Just a few examples of Shortcut steps.

One Small Step…

Like we said, Shortcuts are collections of one or more steps. The steps in a Shortcut are the heart of what QuicKeys does. Each step in a Shortcut performs a specific task to do something on your computer.

Some examples are typing text, opening an application, clicking a button, or making a menu selection. For virtually anything you can do on your computer there is a QuicKeys step or a combination of steps that can do the same thing.

Let's Get it Started!

When you want to use a Shortcut, you run it using a Trigger. The most common Trigger is a Hot Key. A Hot Key is simply a key on your computer keyboard that you press (with or without modifiers) that then triggers a Shortcut. You can set the Hot Keys that trigger your Shortcuts to whatever you want.

QuicKeys also includes many other types of Triggers. Some of the other types of Triggers include Day & Time and Speech recognition.

A Hot Key triggering a Shortcut whose steps select
a menu, press a button, and type some text.

Life's Better After a QuicKey

So that, in brief, is what QuicKeys is all about. If you want to explore QuicKeys some more, download the fully functional free trial and try it out.

If you want to chat with other QuicKeys users, stop by the Startly Community online forums. There you will find how-to discussions and questions asked and answered by fellow QuicKeys users.

Thanks!