Support
Help with KeyAct.
Choose explicit languages, keep Apple resources ready, and use the tools supported on your Mac. The Mac App Store edition requires macOS 15 or later.
Free tools and Full Access
Translate, Synonyms and Look Up are free. One lifetime Full Access purchase unlocks Context, Spell Check, Conjugation, Voice Note and Actions. KeyAct shows the current price from the Mac App Store before purchase. No KeyAct account or subscription is required. If you already purchased Full Access, use Restore Purchases in the unlock screen with the Apple Account used for that purchase.
First launch and language resources
The setup assistant helps you choose translation languages, visible tools, resources, and shortcuts. You can reopen it from Settings. Language menus use a catalog checked on first startup; “Add languages…” opens the resource step and refreshes what this Mac can offer.
A language available for translation is not necessarily available for Context, related words, spelling, or speech. Apple does not provide an in-app installer for every resource type. In particular, KeyAct cannot select or install a specific Apple Dictionary through the public lookup API. An unavailable feature must not be treated as successfully installed.
What the tools do
- Translate: translates between the explicitly selected languages when the pair is supported and its resources are ready.
- Synonyms: finds model-related words; they are not all interchangeable synonyms.
- Context: labels word classes in a sentence, rather than performing complete syntactic or semantic analysis.
- Spell Check: uses macOS checking services; grammatical checks depend on the language and system support.
- Conjugation: looks up verb forms in a bundled offline catalog for Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. Coverage is finite and uneven; a language being listed does not mean every verb is included. Enter one verb. An unknown verb is not replaced with English rules or invented forms.
- Look Up: uses Apple's dictionaries first, with optional Wiktionary fallback when no local definition is found.
- Voice Note: saves audio, produces a local transcript on a supported language route, or does both.
- Actions: opens configured URLs, sends HTTP requests, or invokes a trusted script you install yourself in the App Store edition.
Recording and transcription
Voice Note is part of Full Access. It records audio or a transcript inside KeyAct; it does not enter dictated text into another app's text field.
Choose a speech language, output mode, and audio folder in Settings. Starting a recording requests the required macOS permissions. If you previously denied one, macOS may require changing it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone or Speech Recognition. Audio-only mode does not need a transcription model.
If speech is not recognized, check the exact selected language, available local route, microphone input, and the displayed error. Support on one language does not establish support on another. If a saved folder becomes inaccessible, choose it again to renew access.
No transcript can also mean silence, an incorrect input device, a model that is still being prepared, or a recognition error—not just an unsupported language. Check the error before retrying. Completed transcripts are read-only; you can select, copy and read them aloud. Leaving the tab clears the transient result, not saved audio or history.
Clipboard and scripts in the App Store / TestFlight edition
Copy text before invoking a text-based shortcut, or type it in KeyAct. This edition does not read another app's selected text or inject a replacement into that app.
Install an executable script manually in ~/Library/Application Scripts/ie.raindigit.keyact/. Select it in the action editor and provide arguments, one per line. {{text}} substitutes clipboard text as a literal argument, not shell source. KeyAct does not install scripts for you.
After 30 seconds KeyAct stops waiting, but Apple's script API cannot terminate the script. A timeout is not proof that it stopped; another script cannot start until the previous one finishes. Only use scripts you trust.
When a resource cannot be prepared
- Unsupported: use another supported language for that tool. A macOS update is not a guaranteed solution.
- Not downloaded: open “Add languages…”, select a resource that Apple offers, and allow preparation to finish. A request alone is not proof of installation; the actual function must pass its check.
- Offline or download failed: reconnect and read the reported error. Do not remove system files or reset macOS language caches to force a download.
- Look Up has no entry: this is not proof that a dictionary is missing. The public Apple lookup API cannot list, choose or install a specific dictionary. Online fallback is optional and sends the term to Wiktionary.
- Conjugation has no entry: its catalog is already bundled. An additional Apple language download will not add an absent verb to that catalog.
Most language menus show resources discovered on first startup. They do not redownload or deeply test every language each time you open them. Reopening the setup resource step refreshes availability on this Mac.
Contact
Email admin@raindigit.ie. Include the macOS version, KeyAct version and build, tool, selected languages, steps, and exact error. A redacted screenshot can help.
Do not email passwords, tokens, private request URLs, confidential clipboard text, or personal recordings.
Read the KeyAct Privacy Policy for the app's data handling.