These are the questions we are most frequently asked. If you don't find an answer here, try heading to the Support section of the site, or searching our News blog, or emailing us your question.
A: This is due to Apple's strict policy regarding access to iCloud for third party software. They will *only* permit apps that are sold through the Mac App Store to offer direct syncing with iCloud. For this reason, we are now maintaining two different versions of TypeIt4Me for two different distribution channels: an iCloud-enabled one that you can buy through Apple and another non-iCloud version that you can get directly from us.
The Mac App Store incarnation includes iCloud access and is at version 5.3.x. We will continue to support it and fix bugs, but due to Apple's recently implemented app sandboxing policy we are no longer permitted to add any further new features or functionality beyond its existing capability.
The TypeIt4Me available for download from our website is currently at version 5.2.x. Apple's policies prohibit us from building iCloud support into it, but apart from that it is full-featured. Best of all, we are free to add new features and continue its development.
A: Apple only permits apps sold in the Mac App Store to access iCloud, so for the moment, yes, buying TypeIt4Me from the Mac App Store is the only way to get iCloud functionality. Don't despair, though, we are continuing to develop the app sold through www.ettoresoftware.com and will carry on adding new features and functionality - it just won't have iCloud access built in.
We are also looking into perhaps creating a small 'helper' app that would provide iCloud support for customers who've purchased TypeIt4Me directly from our website. In accordance with Apple's policy, that helper app could only be made available via the Mac App Store, of course, but it would at least mean people who've already paid us directly for TypeIt4Me wouldn't be required to buy it again from the Mac App Store just to get iCloud access.
A: Adding iCloud support to TypeIt4Me means that you can decide to store your abbreviations and clippings in iCloud for sharing amongst all your devices. However, if you only use one Mac and no iOS devices, then of course there is no added benefit and you don't really need iCloud.
A: Yes absolutely, the latest version of TypeIt4Me is optimized for OS X 10.8 and takes advantage of Mountain Lion's 64-bit core technology. It also works fine with Mac OS X 10.7. If you're running older system software then you'll need to download an older version of TypeIt4Me. ForMac OS X 10.6 and 10.5, you should download TypeIt4Me5.2.1. If you're still running 10.4 or even older versions of OS X, you'll need to download TypeIt4Me 4.2.1 instead.
A: If this is happening then you're running an outdated 32-bit version of TypeIt4Me and we recommend upgrading to the latest version of TypeIt4Me - this will resolve the issue and you'll get the benefit of new features too. If you're not ready to upgrade yet though, there's a simple alternative fix for the problem. Locate the System Preferences application on your Mac (it lives in the Utilities folder), then ctrl-click on it and select 'Get Info' from the context menu that pops up. This will bring up an information window that features an 'Open in 32-bit mode' checkbox. Tick the box and you'll be good to go, it shouldn't bother you again. Show me.
A: Older versions did of course, but these are no longer in development as we must look to the future and focus on the more recent OS X clients in order to keep pace with the evolution of Apple hardware. Things have moved on quite a bit in the last ten years... we know it hurts, but it might be time to mothball that Macintosh SE/30 :-)
A: Yes you certainly can, though you might want to keep in mind that once the old abbreviations file is converted to the new format it can no longer be used with the Classic version (one way transfer only).
A: Select Edit Clippings... and click on the + ("add") button. A newabb/newclipping entry appears in the list, with newabb ready to be overtyped by the actual name you will invent for this new abbreviation.
Think of a name for this new abbreviation, for example, dtl could stand for date in long format and expand to Wednesday, September 16, 2009. Press the TAB key once to move to the newclipping field, then press it once more to exit edit mode, as you will not be editing the clipping in the cell.
Next you need to change 'newclipping' to a special syntax that will represent the date and or time in whatever format you wish. Delete the word 'newclipping' in the large blue pane to the right of the Clipping tab, then click on the Insert popup menu under this pane, like so:
Select the appropriate date or time format from the options in the drilldown menu. When you make your choice, you will see a funny looking mix of % signs and letters or numbers, for example: %A, %B %e, %Y
Now click Save and the new abbreviation is ready for use.
NOTE: This is a standard way to describe the elements making up date and time, called 'strftime'. Do a web search for 'strftime' if you want to find out more about it, or simply use the above Date and Time menus to pick the pre-defined formats or even roll your own using the individual elements in the lower three sections. Note that when the month or the day numbers are two digits long, you may wonder why they appear twice. Looking at the above picture, you'll see that the first number is 09 while the second is 9, giving you the choice for single digit months (or days, 09 and 9 above) to include (or not) a leading zero.
IMPORTANT: If you ever want to have a % (percent sign) come out in your expanded clipping, you'll have to double it (%%) because of the above syntax.
A: To define keyboard shortcuts, also known as "hot" keys, go to the HotKeys tab of TypeIt4Me's Preferences panel.
You can define up to six hot keys to summon these options: Add a clipping, Edit clippings, Pause/Resume, Add Word to Ignore and Autocorrect On / Off.
A: Use the Finder's Find to search for items whose extension is .typeit4me:
or under older systems, whose Type is T4ME:
A: Make sure you store the abbreviations file on the same volume/partition as the startup system volume.
A: You need to turn the 'Use smart cut and paste' option off in Word's Preferences, under Edit
A: As many as you care to define and will fit on your disk.
A: Some users like to have different sets of abbreviations for use at different times or in different applications.
A: There is no specific limit. However, a large number of entries will tend to slow things down a little and bringing up the Edit Clippings... dialog will take a fairly long time.
A: Clippings (i.e. the text that is typed when you type an abbreviation and a trigger) can be up to 32,000 characters long.
A: Abbreviations should not exceed 50 characters. Also, if you later want an entry to expand automatically as you type its abbreviation, make sure the abbreviation does not contain any of the trigger characters (as chosen by you via the Preferences… dialog).
A: To uninstall TypeIt4Me 5.x, simply locate it in your Applications folder, move it to the Trash and empty the Trash.
To uninstall older versions of TypeIt4Me, follow these two steps:
1) open the TypeIt4Me Preference Pane and click Turn TypeIt4Me Off:
2) click Show All, ctrl-click on the TypeIt4Me icon in the System Preferences and choose Remove:
A: Don't worry, TypeIt4Me is not a keylogger in the scary sense. While it does indeed log keystrokes, these keystrokes are never saved or sent anywhere. Moreover, TypeIt4Me empties its cache whenever you type the spacebar. Thus, TypeIt4Me hardly ever remembers more than 20 characters of what you most recently typed. Using TypeIt4Me does not compromise your privacy.
A: Ah, this one's a little tricky to explain - take a look at this page about secure input and TypeIt4Me.
A:This can happen if you have set your preferences to hide the TypeIt4Me icon in your dock and you click on Quit in the menubar while the preferences window is still open. Just close the preferences window and you should be right as rain again.
A: Feel free to email it to support@ettoresoftware.com and we'll do our best to answer it (but be aware that at busy times, we may not be able to reply for several days).
This product is designed to run on Intel Macs with the following operating systems:
• Mac OS X 10.8
• Mac OS X 10.7
For Mac OS X 10.6 or 10.5, including PPC Macs download TypeIt4Me5.2.1
For older versions of OS X
download TypeIt4Me version 4.2.1 instead
A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but a short video tutorial trumps all. See TypeIt4Me in action.
Check the features page for a comprehensive rundown on TypeIt4Me features.
Feel free to download the TypeIt4Me user guide.
If you need help with something not covered here, head over to our support page.
People have a lot of nice things to say about TypeIt4Me. If you're still undecided about whether to take it for a spin, check out some of the customer comments we've received over the past 20 years. Some of them make us blush.
