There are applications for macOS that are simply essential, such as a good browser, a good email client, a good photo manager, among many others.
There are some, however, niche, that make sense only for those who perform a certain task on the Mac and, therefore, definitely do not deserve everyone's attention.
I don't know if an app capable of managing the clipboard is something that everyone needs.
I would say no.
But, depending on what you do on your Mac, something that can help you a lot.
In my case, I spend a good part of my day talking on Slack with the team , selecting guidelines, copying / pasting links, etc., such a utility is simply indispensable.
When I recognized that I needed such an app, I opted for Paste because, Pastebot didn't even exist at that time.
I love the app, but I missed something simple, but very useful: being able to copy / paste information in sequence (more on that below).
And it was the one Pastebot came into my life.
It wasnāt simple.
To tell you the truth, I once tried to adapt to Pastebot, I didn't make it and gave up.
Only that the lack of this feature in Paste is really lacking and I ended up giving Pastebot another chance a few months ago.
And now, I've managed to adapt.
Maybe my first attempt was not happy that I was just coming from Paste, an application that is much more visual and easier to adapt / use than Pastebot.
Trying to explain it quickly, as if Paste was made by a designer and Pastebot by a programmer.
Paste is a beautiful app and Pastebot without any whim.
No, I don't dare say that I even prefer Pastebot's more sober look.
But access to the resources themselves, the many combinations of keyboard shortcuts and the developer of the Tapbots app can alienate some people.
The fact that, after forcing myself to use Pastebot for a few days and understanding the way it was created, I will probably not return to Paste anymore.
Thinking in a simplistic way, such an application serves to keep a history of what was copied and to facilitate pasting the information itself in the desired location (in almost all these utilities, you can install a helper to paste the copied text in a automatic in the field in question), offering features like search, shortcuts for you to be more productive, a blacklist of apps so that the utility doesnāt keep the information in history (for example, the passwords you copy from apps like 1Password), option to paste in plain text (plain text), iCloud synchronization, compatibility with Apple's Universal Transfer area and beyond.
Pastebot, however, goes much further than that.
And some resources caught my eye, like the possibility of āpassingā the text copied through very interesting filters.
For example, you can copy several words and make it a list (HTML); transform texts into emojis, remove emojis from a text, remove any capital letters from a text or do the reverse, Transforming the First Capital Letters into Capitals, ALL IN CAPITALS and so on.
Here "sky is the limit", since you can create your own filters.
Creating a list in Pastebot for macOS
What really got me on Pastebot was the possibility to copy some information and paste it in sequence.
This is very common here in the work we do in , either by selecting agenda links or copying URLs and titles of the most read and most commented articles to our Sunday post.
Instead of going back and forth in the Safari tabs copying / pasting information, I simply copy everything in the desired sequence and then paste it in the desired fields.
And all of this, of course, through configurable shortcuts in the application itself.
one hand on the wheel and so much!
Text string copied to Pastebot for macOS
Was the sequence order wrong? No problem.
Just open the Pastebot window and, using the left / right arrows on the keyboard, you can place or remove something from the sequence individually.
There is, however, a great absence that I simply do not understand.
In cases like the one I described in the Sunday post, pasting the information in sequence makes perfect sense; in others, however, I simply want to copy a list of links, for example, and paste it somewhere at once.
And that is not possible at Pastebot.
Either I copy a link and paste, copy another and paste (and so on) or make a sequence, copying all the desired links and pasting them all in sequence.
Instead of using shortcut V to paste this string, link by link, did it cost to offer a shortcut to paste this entire list at once?
Paste doesn't offer something like that either, but in it I can paste all the links I want, open the history, make a new copy of the list of those links and paste in the desired location something that Pastebot doesn't allow.
Still, I ended up getting more used to the idea of āācopying a string and pasting it one by one than doing it in Paste.
Another thing that bothers me about Pastebot are the two windows it offers, one accessible through the icon in the menu bar and the other through the icon in the Dock.
I understand the idea of āāoffering more simplified access in the menu bar and something more complete through the Dock, but this can end up confusing people's heads more than helping.
Pastebot mini window for macOS
Normal Pastebot window for macOS
Pastebot expanded window for macOS
The window accessible via the menu bar offers three viewing options (mini, normal and expanded).
So, in my view, the app could be just a icon in the menu bar with these three options (with the expanded one being actually the most complete, exactly like the one we have today when accessing the app through the icon in the Dock).
Pastebot main window for macOS
Leaving these two criticisms aside, however, Pastebot is quite a utility! It arrived at the Mac App Store in late 2016 after a short trial and is currently in version 2.1.4.
The app has everything to become more and more complete who knows even solving these problems commented by me.
If you want to test it before making a purchase decision, there is a trial version available on the Tapbots website (DMG).
So, if you are looking for such a clipboard manager, this is a great option!
