Those are actually the modifier keys – Shift, Control, Option and Command – which you can now use in abbreviations as if they were regular keys typing literal characters. That way, you can instantly see which abbreviations you are using frequently and the ones you may have forgotten about and which are perhaps ready to be thrown over the left.Ī feature that I was really surprised to see included in version 8 are what the developers call “Magic Keys”.

That’s useful if you want to clean out your collection of expansion sets from time to time.īetter even, you can sort (ascending/descending) your entries by clicking the tiny clock icon (how long ago) or hashtag icon (how often) in the column header. The new statistics mode lets you see the number of times you’ve been using abbreviations and sets, as well as how long ago an abbreviation has been used. My favourite text expander Typinator has reached version 8 and except for its Regex capabilities, its assistant for creating forms to enter variable data in an expansion, its calculation features and its ability to set your cursor where you need it after an expansion, Typinator 8 now also offers usage statistics, literal support for inclusion of the Mac’s modifier keys in abbreviations, and time zone support.

Typinator insert time