‘Clicky’ Is a macOS Companion That Can Help You With Just About Anything
AI-powered digital assistants continue to expand into new areas and add additional capabilities at a rapid pace. Alongside the big names in the industry, there are also independent projects worth keeping an eye on.
Case in point: Clicky, a lightweight, versatile AI bot that hovers right next to your cursor on macOS (via XDA Developers). In exchange for your email address, Clicky can keep you company while you do what you do on your Mac, and via smart screenshot technology, it can provide you with context-sensitive help whenever it’s needed.
It is the work of Farza Majeed, and runs on Claude AI. The code is even open source, so you can play with it yourself and adapt it to your needs, or just download and run the standard version for normal people.
Getting to know Clicky
You can speak or tap on Clicky.
Credit: Lifehacker
Once you set up Clicky on your Mac, you will receive a brief introduction from Majeed. It explains how Clicky works, introduces the default keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Options), and guides you through the steps necessary to authorize Clicky to access your screen.
These permissions are required so Clicky can see what you’re doing, but Majeed says screenshot is only activated when you press hotkeys and is only used temporarily to give you relevant answers. You can also exit Clicky at any time: Click its menu icon, then the cog icon, then Exit Clicky.
The same menu bar panel reminds you of the keyboard shortcut you need to activate it (which you can’t change at the moment) and lets you cycle through four different colors for the Clicky flag. This flag floats next to the macOS cursor at all times. It takes some getting used to, but it didn’t take long before I stopped really noticing it.
When introducing Clicky, you are encouraged to introduce yourself to the AI tool. You can chat with him the same way you would chat with Claude on the web or in a mobile app: you can explain who you are, ask questions about anything you want, and ask Clicky to search the latest news headlines on the web, for example.
The context-sensitive help features are where Clicky really shines. Since the tool is always with you no matter what you do, you can get instant assistance on a task, whether you’re trying to find something on the web or manipulating photos. And if you don’t want to talk, just double tap Ctrl to type and get text responses instead.
What do you think of it so far?
What Clicky can do
Clicky will indicate menus, dialog boxes and options.
Credit: Lifehacker
I’ve tried Clicky with all sorts of commands, and it’s been great so far: it’s fast, accurate, and user-friendly. Ask a question like “How do I change my desktop wallpaper?” » and Clicky won’t just show you the steps, it will move your cursor back to the starting point so all you have to do is click.
To continue the wallpaper example, you can query anything on System Settings-like the Clock Appearance button – and ask Clicky to explain to you what the button means and how you can use it. I asked about a toggle switch on these dialogs and Clicky gave me a brief overview of it, along with reasons why I might or might not want to turn it on.
I also tried a bit of image manipulation in Photoshop, and Clicky worked great here as well. It remembers where you are in a task, will tell you which menus, buttons and sliders you need to use on screen and can give you advice on the best way to achieve a particular result, all powered by Claude’s knowledge base.
Clicky is also useful when browsing the web. You can ask anything: “Is this a trustworthy website?” » (he decided that Lifehacker was), to “can you summarize this site for me?” and the AI assistant obliges. Clicky will also help you if you need to know how to do something in your browser (like clear your browsing history).
Clicky is in its early stages and I wonder how it might work with lesser-known apps and workflows. Some additional customizations would also be welcome. But I’ve already found it really useful, especially when it comes to figuring out how to learn how to do something in an app, without having to look up the answer online. It’s easy to see how Apple and Microsoft could eventually add their own tools like this.
