When comparing aText vs TypeIt4Me, the Slant community recommends TypeIt4Me for most people. In the question“What are the best text expansion apps for macOS?” TypeIt4Me is ranked 2nd while aText is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose TypeIt4Me is:
Not too thin, not too bloat. Very approachable.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro No Update
Pro A snippet can be expanded to plain or styled text and include pictures
Pro Has built-in snippets for common typos
Pro Cheaper than competition
$4.99, cheaper than textExpander ($35)
Pro Compatible with TextExpander snippets
TextExpander snippets can be imported into aText
Pro Works with VMs
Pro Imports from most alternative text expansion apps
aText can import data from TextExpander, TypeIt4Me, SpellCatcherX, Automaton and CSV file.
Pro Has common HTML & JS snippets built-in
Pro Snippets can include editable fields
Pro Data can be synced through cloud storage services
Pro Snippets can include a wide variety of variables
Possible variables include date, time, other snippets, clipboard content, etc.
Pro Just right
Not too thin, not too bloat. Very approachable.
Pro No subscription
TypeIt4Me is relatively inexpensive. There's a $19.99 one-off payment and that's it. No recurring monthly fee after that (though they do charge an optional $8.99 fee to upgrade to a new version every few years).
Pro Relatively easy to use
Other text expanders do the job but are really difficult to use, with complicated interfaces to learn. By contrast, TypeIt4Me is relatively simple and intuitive. It also has a detailed instruction manual for when you do want to get into the power features.
Pro Has been actively developed for decades
The developer has been supporting TypeIt4Me since the 1990s and clearly cares about maintaining the product.
Pro Good support
First class customer care.
Pro Related notepad app for iPhone and iPad
The Mac version of TypeIt4Me can sync snippets via iCloud with TypeIt4Me Touch (an iOS note-taking app with built-in TypeIt4Me text expansion support, available as a separate purchase).
Cons
Con Frequent crashes in MacOS Sierra
aText crashes frequently, and the developer is unresponsive. Not clear if app is supported or under current development: last update was in 11/15; last post to aText Facebook page 10/15.
Con Doesn't work in Mojave
The current version, with no issues. In fact, I've never had any issue with it with Mojave, so I assume when Mojave was released, aText was already up to date for it.
Con Long time no update
Seems to be abandoned.
Con Less sophisticated feature set
If you're switching from TextExpander you may miss one or two power features like fill-ins that don't have direct equivalents. There's usually a workaround that achieves roughly the same outcome, though.
Con Infrequent updates
It's a great app but there tend to be quite long intervals between major new versions.
Con Language support
The TypeIt4Me app interface itself is available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish but the Help / instructions are only available in English. If your English is not strong, this could be frustrating.
