Release notes for the Windows version (v6):
This is a pretty huge and exciting update :D
1. Improvements to the Summary/Key Points/Table/Chat window — you can now:
- Chat with the summary! You can for more details on particular parts, or ask it to explain things. The chat history is preserved until you close the window.
- Copy the response as markdown.
- I also added a sweet tiny "Thinking..." animation haha.
2. Gemini 2.0 Flash is now the default model. It's more intelligent than GPT 4o and Gemini 1.5 Pro!
3. The Writing Tools Chat Mode (when you invoke Writing Tools without selecting any text) now shows its response in a proper Chat window. So you can now have a quick chat with an LLM with one click, anywhere.
New.Chat.Mode.Demo.mp4
4. There's now an automatic check for updates feature, which checks for a new version by pinging a file in this repo on the initial Writing Tools launch. It'll never annoy you with any pop-up notice or notification — just a small message on the Writing Tools pop-up itself :)
5. Thanks to @ErrorCatDev for significantly improving the About window, making it scrollable and cleaning things up! I've also increased the height (to 720px, the max of a 720p display) to better showcase our awesome contributors :D
6. There's now a Start on Boot toggle in Settings. Thanks to @Vadim-Karpenko for helping implement it!
7. There's now an automatic self-quitting function should Writing Tools ever detect itself malfunctioning (there was a rare bug on waking the PC from sleep that caused Writing Tools to keep spam detecting its hotkey until it was restarted).
8. Misc improvements: Updated dependencies; added an Ollama instructions button to Settings; larger default zoom for the Summary window; some UX improvements.
9. The Settings window has been improved with a scrollbar and smart window height (based on the monitor’s height), solving an issue where it spanned past the border of smaller screens.
10. Slight digression: I added Tips to the README! It has instructions on YouTube summaries & improving compatibility with MS Word.
11. And guess what? Writing Tools is now HALF⚡ its previous size thanks to build optimizations! :D So it'll launch faster and use less RAM.
Upcoming features:
- Editable buttons! (you'll be able to re-arrange buttons, create your own, and edit their prompts).
- More of the feature suggestions in the Issues page.
⬆️ Update Instructions:
Delete your old Writing Tools folder and download the new one (the config file format has changed).
🐞 Known Issues
-
On some devices, Writing Tools may not work correctly with the default hotkey.
To fix it, simply change the hotkey to ctrl+` or ctrl+j and restart Writing Tools.
PS: If a hotkey is already in use by a program or background process, Writing Tools may not be able to intercept it. The above hotkeys are usually unused. -
The initial launch of the
Writing Tools.exemight take unusually long — this seems to be because AV software extensively scans this new executable before letting it run. Once it launches into the background in RAM, it works instantly as usual.
🆕🎉 Release notes for the native macOS version by @Aryamirsepasi (v2):
- New Feature: Image Processing via Gemini (Thanks to @Joaov41. GitHub: https://github.com/Joaov41)
- Added direct Mistral support
- Added Provider selection in the Onboarding Window
- The installer now has a shortcut to the Applications folder
Note: macOS 14 or later is required to run Writing Tools (due to accessibility API requirements).
Upcoming features:
- Text streaming in the Response Window
- Localisation of the buttons for some languages
- Ability to close the Popup Window via ESC Key
- Ability to work with an embedded local LLM without any configuration
Contributors
Vadim-Karpenko, Joaov41, and 2 other contributors