Optional⌥L
Latest
The screenshot you just took, the file you just downloaded, what you just copied. Each says where it came from and when.
Option-Tab,
for everything else.
Hold Right Option, tap a letter, let go. Your clipboard, windows, recent files, headphones and the right action for what you’ve selected. One gesture, no typing.
Free for 14 days · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon
Released. Optional would paste this.
Try it here: hold ⌥ and press V, Tab or S
Tap a key to try it:
One gesture. Learn it once.
- 1HoldRight Option, or any key you choose.
- 2TapA letter picks the wheel. Tap it again to move down.
- 3Let goWhatever is selected runs. Esc to back out.
Hold the key for half a second and a card shows every wheel and its letter.
Fourteen wheels, filled with what’s happening now
Nothing to set up first. The clipboard holds what you just copied, the windows are the ones you have open, the files are the screenshot you just took.
⌥V
Clipboard
Text, images, files, links and colors. Release to paste, hold Shift for plain text.
⌥Tab
Windows
Every window, including minimized ones and those on other desktops. Type to filter: “we” finds WeChat.
⌥F
Recent Files
Screenshots, downloads and files you just saved. Release to paste straight into a chat or upload box.
⌥A
Audio
Switch speakers, headphones and microphones.
⌥B
Bluetooth
Connect or disconnect paired devices.
⌥T
Browser Tabs
Every tab in Safari, Chrome, Arc, Edge and Brave.
⌥I
Input Sources
Switch between English, Pinyin, Japanese and the rest.
⌥C
Meetings
Your next meetings. Release to join the call.
⌥S
System Toggles
Dark mode, Wi-Fi, Night Shift, keep awake and more, plus any Shortcut.
⌥O
Favorite Apps
Up to eight apps in fixed spots, so your hand learns where they are.
⌥M
App Commands
The commands you use most in the app in front, in fixed spots. Type to find any menu item.
⌥Space
Context
Actions for what you’ve selected or the app in front. More below.
Things a launcher can’t do
Optional never takes focus away from the app you’re in, and nothing starts with a search box. That makes a few things possible.
Every app gets its own wheel
⌥M puts the commands you use most in the app in front on a wheel, in spots that don’t move. Type to find any menu command once, and from then on it has a spot.
Undo anything
⌥Z takes back the last thing Optional did: the window switch, the headphones, the paste, the image it converted.
A clipboard that reads the room
In an address bar links come first, in WeChat images and files, in Terminal paths and commands. Tap Space to stack a few items, then paste them one ⌘V at a time.
Send it anywhere
Select text, a link or files, and flick to AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Notes or Reminders.
Edges that come alive
Start dragging a file and the screen edges light up like an aurora: send on the left, compress or convert on the right, park it on the Shelf at the top.
Edges, your way
Choose what sits on each edge, or let every wheel spread along the screen edges instead of opening in the middle.
The Context wheel reads the room
Same gesture, different actions, chosen by plain rules. No AI, nothing leaves your Mac.
- A link
- Open in another browser · Remove tracking · Copy as Markdown
- A date or time
- Add to Calendar · Convert time zones
- A color code
- Preview · Convert to RGB, HSL or HEX
- Some math
- See the result · Replace the selection with it
- Any text
- Plain-text copy · Full/half width · Change case · Space between 中文 and English
- Images in Finder
- Convert · Compress · Rotate · Copy the picture itself
- PDFs in Finder
- Merge · Extract pages · Compress
- A Finder window
- New file here · Open in Terminal · Show hidden files
- Music or Spotify
- Play/pause · Next · Shuffle · Repeat
- A video call
- Mute · Camera on or off
Made to feel like part of macOS
Fast
The wheel is on screen in under 150 ms. It never waits on the network.
Private
Clipboard history, files and windows stay on your Mac. Password managers are skipped.
Yours
Change the trigger key, every letter, list or wheel, and what’s inside.
Bilingual
English and Simplified Chinese, and it works while Pinyin is on.
Pay once
No subscription.
$10.99
¥68 in China, with Alipay and WeChat Pay
- Every 1.x update
- Use it on 2 Macs, move it to a new one any time
- 14-day free trial, no sign-up
- 7-day refund, no questions
Major new versions (2.0 and later) will be a paid upgrade.
Questions
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon on macOS 14 Sonoma or later. That’s every Apple silicon Mac, from the 2020 M1 models on.
Why does it need Accessibility permission?
macOS requires it for any app that reacts to a held key, pastes for you or switches windows. Optional never records what you type. Screen Recording, Calendar and Automation are optional and only asked for when a wheel needs them.
How is this different from Raycast or Spotlight?
Those start with a search box: you open them, type a name, pick. Optional starts with your hand already on the key and never takes focus from your app, so it can paste where you are, act on what you’ve selected, keep every app’s commands in fixed spots and undo what it just did. Use both; they don’t overlap much in practice.
What if I already use Right Option?
Pick another trigger: Right Command, Right Control, Fn or the left keys. Letters that aren’t assigned to a wheel still reach your app.
How do I move my license to a new Mac?
Choose Deactivate This Mac in Settings › License on the old one, then paste your key on the new one. Lost the key? Use the recovery page.
Is there a Mac App Store version?
No. Optional needs permissions the App Store doesn’t allow. It’s signed and notarized by Apple and updates itself.