Selection Assistant
The Selection Assistant reads text you select in another app and sends it to SpotAsk for an action such as Translate, Explain, Summarize, Polish, or a custom prompt.
Enable it
- Open Settings > Selection Assistant.
- Enable Selection Assistant.
- Authorize Cross-app text access when prompted.
- Choose a Trigger mode.
SpotAsk requests this permission only when you enable the feature. It uses the permission to read text you select; it does not monitor your whole screen.
Trigger modes
Run default action sends the selected text directly to the default prompt you choose.
Show quick actions displays the action bar next to the selection. You can also enable labels beside the action icons.
Automatic display
In Show quick actions mode, turn on Show quick actions after selecting text to avoid pressing the shortcut each time.
Use Auto-show apps to control where it appears:
- All apps: show in every app that exposes selected text.
- Whitelist: show only in selected apps.
- Blacklist: hide in selected apps.
The default delay is 0.8 seconds. Set Wait from 0 to 3 seconds so the actions do not appear while you are still selecting.
Manual trigger
The selection shortcut works even when automatic display is off. The default is ⌥ + ⇧ + Space.
What can go wrong
- Empty selections do not trigger SpotAsk.
- Secure input fields cannot be read.
- Some apps do not expose selected text to macOS Accessibility; SpotAsk will tell you when that happens.
- If permission is denied, the app shows a recovery message with a link to System Settings.
Related: Prompts, Troubleshooting