Help
Short guides for the things people ask about. If yours is not here, email us and a person answers.
The shortcut
Select text in any app and press ⌃⌥R on Mac or Ctrl+Alt+R on Windows. A panel opens next to the cursor with four actions. Press ⌘1 to ⌘4 (Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+4 on Windows) to pick one, or use the arrow keys and ↩.
Hold ⌃⌥D (Ctrl+Alt+D) and speak. Let go and the clean text is pasted where your cursor is. A quick tap keeps listening until you tap again.
- ⌘↩ replaces the selection with the rewrite or dictation.
- Esc stops speech first, then closes the panel.
- Space pauses and resumes Read aloud.
Change either shortcut in Settings. Mac offers ⌃⌥R, ⌃⌥E, ⌃⌥Space, ⌥⌘R, ⇧⌘E, F18 and F19. On Windows pick any combination in Settings. The two shortcuts must differ.
Permissions on Mac and Windows
On Mac, Zimplfy reads the text you selected through the Accessibility API, so macOS asks for Accessibility access on first launch. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and turn Zimplfy on. The Microphone permission is asked for the first time you dictate.
If a permission looks on but does not work (often after an update), turn it off and on again, or remove Zimplfy from the list with the minus button and add it back from Applications.
On Windows no permission is needed to read a selection. Windows may ask about the microphone the first time you dictate: Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone.
Zimplfy never reads the screen, the clipboard or the keyboard beyond the text you select and the moments you dictate.
Calm reading
Turn on Calm reading in Settings → Reading. Results then appear on a warm paper surface in Atkinson Hyperlegible Next, a typeface where I, l and 1 never look alike. Pick a reading size from 13 to 22; the line height stays 1.5 and lines never run longer than 68 characters.
During Read aloud the word being spoken gets a yellow marker. Change the speed with the 0.8×, 1.0× and 1.2× chips, or in Settings.
The web reader has the same choices under the text box: text size and output language.
Your own API key
Create a key at console.anthropic.com and paste it in Settings → Account. From then on Rewrite, Explain, Summarize and the cleaning step of Dictate go from your computer straight to Anthropic. Our server never sees that text and the free quota does not apply.
The key is stored in the macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager and never leaves your computer. Remove it in Settings at any time.
Read aloud and the recording part of Dictate still use our voice service and its daily allowance. An ElevenLabs key can be added the same way to bypass that too.
What happens to my text
When you press an action, the selected text goes over an encrypted connection to our server, which forwards it to Anthropic's Claude API and streams the answer back. We do not store the text or the answer, and they are not written to logs. Audio for Read aloud and Dictate goes to ElevenLabs with zero retention.
We keep an anonymous device record and usage counts for the free quota. Nothing is linked to a name or email, because there is no account.
Updates and versions
Zimplfy checks for a new version when it starts and once a day. When one exists, the menu shows Update available. Choose it to install; the app restarts by itself. Every version is listed on the changelog.
Common questions
Is my text or voice stored anywhere?
No. Text goes to Anthropic's Claude API and is streamed straight back. Audio for read aloud and dictation goes to ElevenLabs and is not kept. Our servers store only anonymous usage counts for the free quota. See the privacy policy.
Who is Zimplfy for?
Anyone who meets too much text. Hear a text instead of decoding it, get the plain version, see what you have to do, and answer by talking. Nothing to set up, and it never judges your spelling.
Which languages work?
Swedish and English for read aloud and dictation. Most languages for rewrite, explain and summarize. Swedish stays Swedish and English stays English unless you ask for a translation.
Does it work in Outlook on the web, Gmail and other web apps?
Yes. Zimplfy reads the selection through the operating system's accessibility APIs, with a copy-and-paste fallback that works in every browser and Electron app. That is why macOS asks for Accessibility permission on first launch.
Why does macOS say Apple could not verify Zimplfy?
Zimplfy is not in the App Store and not yet notarized by Apple, so a copy saved by your browser gets that dialog once. Easiest way past it: paste the one-line command from the download page in Terminal. It installs the same app with no dialog. Or open System Settings → Privacy & Security and press Open Anyway. You do it only once.
Why does Windows show a blue Windows protected your PC screen?
That is SmartScreen, which warns about any new installer that has not yet built up a reputation. Ours is new and not yet code-signed. Click More info, then Run anyway. You see it once per version.
Can I change the shortcut?
Yes. On Mac, Settings offers ⌃⌥R, ⌃⌥E, ⌃⌥Space, ⌥⌘R, ⇧⌘E, F18 and F19. On Windows the default is Ctrl+Alt+R and you can pick another combination in Settings.
Which AI models are used?
Claude from Anthropic for rewriting, explaining and summarizing. ElevenLabs for the voices and for turning speech into text. You can enter your own Anthropic API key in Settings to pay Anthropic directly for the text features.
Is it safe to run a command from a website in Terminal?
The command only fetches /install.sh from this site, a short script you can read first by opening that address in your browser. It downloads Zimplfy from our public GitHub releases, copies it into Applications and opens it. Nothing needs your password.
Does Zimplfy start with the computer?
Not until you say so. Turn on Start at login in Settings on Mac, or Start at sign-in on Windows.
How do I uninstall?
Mac: quit Zimplfy from the menu bar and drag it from Applications to the Bin. Windows: Settings → Apps → Zimplfy → Uninstall. Nothing else is left behind except the anonymous device token, which you can remove in Settings before you uninstall.
Where do I get older versions?
Every release is on GitHub. The link is below the download buttons.
Contact
Email is the fastest way. We read everything and answer within two working days, in Swedish or English.
Security reports: security@zimplfy.io
Press: press@zimplfy.io