yKey for Mac โ #1 App For Automation of Repetitive Actions
yKey is an automation utility that creates shortcuts to accomplish repetitive tasks. Free yourself from the ball and chain of repetitive drudgery. Rule your computer, don't be a slave anymore. Work smart, eliminate the toiling & grunt work.
yKey adds an essential but missing element in Mac OS X: automation! yKey will save you and your company precious time and energy. It's all about efficiencyโwe call this "doing less and accomplishing more." yKey can turn some repetitive action that might consist of thousands of mouse clicks (in various applications, in menus and different dialog boxes) and pages of typing into one yKey shortcut that can be launched anytime to perform the exact same action with a simple key press.
Are you a slave to your computer?
We love our computers, but we are all familiar with the fatigue of repetitive tasks. We know computers are very capable of dealing with repetition, but there has been no easy way, up until now to collect them and pass them on to the computer to perform. Now, luckily on the Mac there is yKey. Free yourself from the ball and chain of repetitive drudgery. Rule your computer, don't be a slave anymore, use yKey automation for mac.
A Simple Example of How yKey Can Save You Time!
Say you open Safari each day and go to the same 8 websites and then copy some text which you email to someone. Instead of performing this same task each day for 15 mins with typing and clicking and opening and closing applications, do it with yKey via one hotkey or menu item and let it work in the background while you do some other work or have a cup of tea. Seriously, why sacrifice your life to monotonous repetitive actions when your computer can do them for you.
How yKey Works
yKey is an automation utility, a program that creates shortcuts to accomplish repetitive tasks. In essence, an yKey shortcut is a little program in its own right, but you don't need to know the first thing about programming to create an yKey shortcut. All you have to do is put together three necessary parts of a shortcut: One or more commands that give the shortcut its functionality, a context in which it runs, and a launcher that defines how the shortcut is activated.
Commands
A command is the action, or series of actions, that you want yKey to perform. An example of a command is: Open Photoshop and start a new document. yKey can open menus and choose menu items. It can hold and run Apple scripts from a palette. Automate movement of the mouse to tap areas of the screen in an app.
Contexts
The context is from where your shortcut can be activated. Most commonly the context is set to universal so that it will work regardless of which application you are in. However you may wish to set a hotkey for use only in Photoshop, in this case the context would be set to Photoshop. yKey works in and between all apps.
Launchers
A launcher is what activates your shortcut. Most commonly it is a hotkey or date time event. For example launch Safari by pressing option + s or have it load for you at 8:00 am each morning.
Key Features
- Automate Repetitive Actions: Turn thousands of clicks and pages of typing into one simple shortcut
- Hotkey Activation: Launch shortcuts with custom keyboard combinations
- Menu Integration: Access shortcuts from menus and palettes
- Timer & Event Triggers: Automate actions based on time or system events
- USB Device Support: Launch shortcuts from USB devices like XKey
- Application Control: Launch, switch, show, quit and relaunch software applications
- Document Management: Open specific documents even in other applications
- Window & Menu Control: Control the actual windows & menus of running applications
- AppleScript Support: Run AppleScripts from palettes
- Mouse Automation: Simulate both keydown events and mouse events
Applications and Documents
Use yKey to tell your computer to launch, switch, show, quit and relaunch software applications, or to open specific documents even in other applications than their creator application. Includes access to recent applications and the currently running applications. yKey is even able to control the actual windows & menus of running applications.
What Reviewers Say
Tutorials and Resources
Learn how to get the most out of yKey with these helpful tutorials and resources:
- March 2013 Tutorial "Using Ableton Live with yKey": Fran Cotton's in-depth tutorial shows why yKey is essential for using Ableton Live 9. This is essential if you work and spend a lot of time with audio.
- Tutorial by Ben Waldie, Peach Pit Press: Ben Waldie's tutorial is a great intro to yKey as automation/macro software.
- Works with KeyCue: yKey works with KeyCue which gives quick access to all your hotkeys.
For more information about yKey, please visit the manual page .
Changelog
1.5.0
minor๐ Changes
- Enhanced keyboard shortcuts
- Improved customization options
- Better app integration
โจ New Features
- Enhanced keyboard shortcuts
๐ง Improvements
- Improved customization options
- Better app integration
Reviews
"Since I started using yKey, this gem has saved me up to an hour a week using shortcuts. Overall, I found the yKey to be reliable and very easy to use. For those looking for an affordable solution to creating shortcuts in Mac OS X, I highly recommend taking a look at yKey."
"David Pogue discusses automation/macro software and in his weekly video he says yKey is his favorite."
"Michael Hyatt describes his use of yKey to boost productivity."
User Raves
"Without your software my days of replying to endless same question emails would become utterly monotonous โ Thanks for freeing me of repetitive tasks"
"Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to say that IMHO your product yKey is simply the best productivity aid available for OS X that I have come across to date. It's interface and access to features are so simple and well executed that in the year or so I have been using it I have barely have had the need to open the help files to accomplish a desired task."
"This is the old Youpi Key, with *lots* of new features. Very very nice! It now easily rivals QuicKeys."
"This is a fantastic program! It is saving me hours and hours of work. I keep thinking of new things to do with it."
"Thanks for the on-going support and new releases of yKey that keep getting better and better โ I used to use Quickeys years ago and am very happy with my decision to switch to yKey โ it offers everything I need at a fraction of the cost โ keep up the good work!"
"I used KeyQuencer for years on the Mac. When I switched to OS X, there was no OS X version for it, so I tried Youpi Key (which is now yKey). It's a great replacement. It saves me hours of time. Highly recommended!"
"yKey Rocks!!!! Great Job!!!!"
Product Manuals
Product Manuals
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No previous versions available for this app.