Show HN: MyRephra 2 – Free, system-wide AI paraphrasing utility for macOS
by goofywon | 2025-06-15 18:07:37+00:00
Hi HN,

I'm the developer behind MyRephra. To be honest, I built this tool for myself, born from a deep frustration with the current state of AI writing assistants.

Like many of you, I live in my text editors, word pages, and web forms. I found that despite the boom in built-in AI, they were actively fighting my workflow:

* The Constant Context Switching: The biggest flow-killer. Why should I have to highlight, copy, open, find the tab, paste, click a button, wait, then copy and paste back? It's a dozen steps for one thought.

* The Black Box Problem: Where is my text going? Is it being logged? Used for training? Most services are silent on this, making them a non-starter for any sensitive or corporate work.

* The "One-Size-Fits-All" Rigidity: Pre-canned prompts just don't cut it. My needs change constantly depending on whether I'm writing an email to a client, a Slack message to a colleague, or drafting documentation.

* The Unreliability: You know the one I'm referring to... It tends to crash or become unresponsive exactly when you need it the most.

I wanted something that felt like a native OS extension - something that was mine, that was fast, and that I could trust. And that is how MyRephra came into existence:

1. It feels like a native macOS feature

I was determined to make it vanish into the OS. It's a lightweight, native Swift app. You can simply bring it up anytime by pressing the fn key during selecting, or by double-clicking the shift key after selection. There's no need to switch contexts. It offers the speed and smooth integration you'd expect from a native OS tool.

2. Your privacy isn't a feature; it's the foundation

MyRephra is designed to work seamlessly out of the box with local Ollama models. This is its fundamental approach. There are no intermediate servers involved. No data is logged or tracked. No subscriptions required. Your data privacy remains entirely in your control, as it should. It however does offer a cloud API, such as OpenRouter, allowing you to experiment with various models without needing to download huge model files upfront.

3. It's a powerful, customizable utility for power users.

This was the most important part for me. The app comes with a few default prompts, but the real power is in creating your own. You can build a library of custom commands tailored to your exact needs. * "Fix grammar and typos" * "Translate this to Japanese for a customer email" * "Summarize this wall of text into three bullet points" * "Make this sound more confident and less passive"

I kept finding new uses of it everyday.

4. It's reliable

Since it runs locally, it doesn't rely on a vulnerable, overburdened "free tier" service. Simply select a model that matches your Mac's capabilities. If you have an older Mac, opt for a reliable model on OpenRouter to breathe new life into it.

5. Finally, it's free.

All features are available for free. If you find it valuable and want to support its development, you can choose to purchase an optional license, but it's not required. You can download it here: https://idemfactor.com

I've been using it dozens of times a day while coding, writing emails, and even just chatting on Slack. It has fundamentally changed my workflow, and I hope it can for you too. I'll be here all day to answer every question and listen to all feedback. I'd genuinely love to hear what you think.