Alter - Talk to your Mac and get things done fast with an AI copilot
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Alter is the Mac AI assistant that lets you get stuff done fast. Just talk to extract insights from YouTube videos, draft emails, or extract data. It understands what's on your screen and works across your apps, bringing intelligence to your entire day.
Replies
Alter
Hey Product Hunt! 👋
I'm Samuel, founder of Alter, and after months of building with a tight community, we're finally launching the first AI assistant deeply integrated with your mac!
🫠 The Problem
Let's be real - our workday is a mess. We jump between countless apps, tabs, and tools, constantly losing context and focus. AI tools should help, but most just add another window to manage and another place to check.
✨ What Makes Alter Different
We've built intelligence that belongs in the flow of everyday life:
Lives in your notch - Always accessible, never in the way
System-wide integration - Works with ALL your apps, files & folders
Privacy-ready & accessible - Can run offline or use your own API key
Voice commands built-in - Because talking is so much faster
Meeting superpowers - Instant actionable notes from any conversation
🚀 Getting Started & Community
Download Alter for free—no credit card needed! All core features are unlocked, and you get a 14-day trial of our Pro plan with access to 50+ AI models.
After your 14-day trial ends, you can continue using Alter with all features by connecting your own AI provider or local models.
Pro Tip: Just hold the mic button or the FN shortcut to start a voice commands for quick tasks. Drop or paste files, images, folders directly to the notch to quickly build your context.
Join our Discord community—we're building this together, and your feedback shapes what comes next! Our community members are creating amazing workflows every day and sharing them with each other.
Would love to hear your thoughts and questions! 🙏
(And a huge thank you to our beta testers who enjoyed our countless Fridays releases—no worries we'll keep shipping!)
Blocks
What Apple Intelligence should have been on MacOS - and more!
Alter
@nic_trn I couldn't said that better!
Alter
@nic_trn Yes!
My Financé
I like the form factor (is that the right word?)! congrats on launching and I appreciate the transparent pricing.
How should i think about the threat model of using something like this. I imagine i need to grant some really powerful permissions, so im curious how you think about that data retention. Do you route llm queries straight to the provider, or do you proxy them through your own server?
Alter
@catt_marroll yes, you need to grant powerful permissions (accessibility, screen recording, microphone) but you're always in control of what goes as context. You build the context yourself: add apps, drop a folder to the notch, paste an image and so on.
Also some users are using it completely offline with local models because their work is too confidential to take any risks. It's completely supported by Alter.
If you use the models we provide, it's proxied through our servers (3 locations, 2 US + 1 EU). We don't store conversations and use providers that don't train on your data. Conversations are encrypted locally on your device.
Strollhunt: Walk, Play, Learn
The only Mac OS app I allow to launch on startup and use on an hourly basis. Makes me more productive. Congrats to the team for making such an indispensable product.
Alter
Thanks @lucas_braunschvig1 ! 🙏 So glad Alter had turned into a habit, that's exactly what we're trying to achieve.
Alter
@lucas_braunschvig1 Thank you Lucas for the kind words!
I discovered this promising app in beta and submitted 50 feature suggestions and bug reports to assess developer responsiveness before committing to a purchase. The trajectory looked good, and it seemed to be what Apple should have done, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't throwing my money away. The developers addressed most issues within a week and release new features every Friday, which ultimately convinced me to buy.
Feature-wise, my comparison on Reddit’s r/MacApps ranks it at the top, despite being much more recent to the AI app scene than others.
It's also one of the few apps offering a lifetime purchase option that includes unlimited API access (subject to fair use) to most models. It doesn't require you to provide your own API keys, although that option is still available.
I find myself frequently dictating prompts now due to the efficiency, though regular input is also available. Highly recommend!
Alter
@eric_louw Been impressed by the amount of work you put in your assessment of AI apps. Thanks for the kind words!
LOVING this. It's the Mac control app I've been waiting for.
Some of the interaction with apps is a little fiddly, but that's a beta thing.
Alter
Thanks @mikeorren ! Would love your feedback of the interaction that weren't smooth in your opinion so we can do better.
@0xgrrr It may be something that is coming with the app connections shown in your recent video (and not there yet). What I want to do is add something I'm viewing (webpage, file, etc) to NotePlan (or other app) as a task for today. Is that possible yet?
why would I pay a provider if it's already offered by Apple?
btw, your site is laggy - the vid playback is playing up, I think
Alter
Hey @taniabell, are you talking about Apple Intelligence?
Alter
@taniabell Apple Intelligence is very basic. Most of our users are saying we are what Apple Intelligence should have been, so the best advice I can give is to try both and see what works best for you.
For example, if you're mostly using it for grammar correction, Apple Intelligence might do the job, even if it doesn't always work with all apps compared to Alter.
Product Hunt
I tried this for about half a day and I really like it. It's like having @Perplexity, @ChatGPT by OpenAI, and @Strawberry bunched into one. What I currently use it most for is context research - if I'm on a site, reading documentation, or need additional help on something I'll reference the app/window and chat alongside Alter. The UI also makes it really fun to use :)
Curious if anyone has any hints or good actions they've created. Congrats on the launch @0xgrrr!
Alter
Thanks @gabe ! In a similar way investors are using custom actions to quickly create memos from startup websites, we also have marketers who have specialized actions for landing page assessments. Two very different kinds of actions but that leverage the same core functionality you mentioned.
Any way to sync with Google photos (or a screenshot saving folders) to get more contextualized AI work?
Alter
@ben_jonniaux you mean for working with photos as context? You can drop folders and any kind of files to the notch before starting a conversation. You can also create Workspaces which are synced with the folders and files you've put inside.