2026-02-19 04:08:53
I'm currently covering apps currently on sale at BundleHunt . Many of these are new to me and taking advantage of steep discounts provides anyone interested a chance to add missing tools to their Applications.
The Mac ecosystem is currently awash in vibe-coded throwaway apps, especially in categories like window managers, clipboard managers, and dictation tools. The problem isn't just volume — it's durability. Many of these apps come from inexperienced "developers" who can't realistically maintain or evolve the software long-term. The result is often a quick version 1.0 followed by silence.
That said, I'm not going to stop looking. Every now and then, a real gem shows up — something built by people who clearly intend to keep improving it. VibeSonic is one of those apps that, despite its unfortunate name, deserves a serious look.
I'm not a developer, and I'm definitely not a vibe coder. Sorting through endless new releases can be exhausting. But VibeSonic stood out because it tries to solve real workflow problems for technical users rather than just wrapping AI in a shiny UI.
The app normally sells for $29.95 for a two-seat license with a year of updates, but it is included in the current BundleHunt Sale for just $3.
Why I Gave It a Shot
Since AI-assisted dictation became practical, I've experimented with several tools — both free and paid. After spending time with the excellent Mac Whisper, I eventually moved to Spokenly's free plan. More recently, I've been testing VibeSonic to see whether its deeper integrations and workflow features justify switching again.
Like most dictation apps, it's triggered with a hotkey and displays a HUD while recording. One useful touch: you can insert custom AI instructions at the start of dictation, which lets the model edit your transcription according to predefined rules without extra cleanup later.
Privacy-first transcription
VibeSonic runs powerful models like Whisper and Parakeet locally, so you don't need a subscription just to get high-quality transcription. More importantly, your dictation stays on your Mac. For anyone who regularly dictates sensitive notes or drafts, this alone is a strong argument in its favor.
Works Anywhere You Can type
If an app supports a cursor, VibeSonic works there. It also supports voice-activated snippets, which means you can trigger text expansions while dictating — a small detail that turns out to be a major productivity win if you already rely on snippets in your workflow.
Notes And Reusable prompts
You can insert predefined notes or prompts into your transcription. This is handy for recurring writing contexts: canned responses, project notes, recurring disclaimers, or setup blocks you normally paste manually.
AI-assisted Research (with limits)
Research features rely on the Perplexity model. If you choose to enable it, you can perform lightweight web research directly during dictation — useful for quick bug explanations or technical references without breaking your flow. There's an optional "Include Sources" setting if you want citations included in the output.
Agentic Assistance mid-workflow
You can invoke a voice-activated assistant while dictating to ask questions or request explanations without stopping to switch apps. Used sparingly, this feels less like a gimmick and more like having a technical coworker quietly standing nearby.
Built For Technical users
This is where VibeSonic differentiates itself. It supports native file path detection and project mapping designed for code-centric workflows. You can dictate paths naturally and ask the assistant for coding examples, debugging help, or explanations directly inside your transcription.
Multi-language support
It supports dozens of languages for transcription and translation, which broadens its usefulness beyond English-only workflows.
One of VibeSonic's more interesting ideas is persistent notes that the AI uses as background context while editing your text. You can define instructions like:
That last one is quietly powerful. Instead of explaining your ecosystem every time, you can teach the app once and let it adapt.
Most of us write in multiple modes throughout the day — business email, personal messages, blog posts, Reddit replies, quick notes. VibeSonic lets you define writing styles for each context so the output adapts automatically. Done well, this reduces the friction between dictating quickly and sounding like yourself afterward.
VibeSonic isn't magic. If you just want simple transcription, lighter tools may be enough. But if your work involves technical writing, coding, or switching contexts frequently, the app starts to make sense because it combines dictation, editing rules, and contextual AI assistance in one place.
The biggest compliment I can give it: it feels built around real workflows rather than marketing copy.
2026-02-18 16:18:18
"This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie
What’s a lyric that resonates deeply with you and why?
This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie
In a time where the right wing insists that the only real America is one created by and for white Christians, I am reminded of the wise words of one of my personal heroes, Woody Guthrie, that the real America is one that belongs to all of us, no matter our color or creed...or party affiliation, or legal status or gender identity.
2026-02-17 03:03:55
I’m currently covering apps on sale at BundleHunt. Many of these are new to me, and steep discounts are a good excuse to try tools you might otherwise ignore — or to fill gaps in a workflow you didn’t realize had gaps.
First up is Fluent, an AI-powered writing assistant that handles translation, grammar, spelling, and style suggestions. The app I’ve been using for the past year for similar tasks is Rewrite Bar. They aren’t clones, but they definitely live in the same neighborhood.
Both apps are aimed at people who don’t want to keep copy-pasting text into a ChatGPT window every five minutes.
Rewrite Bar feels exactly like what it is: a tool. You invoke it, issue a command, review the result, and move on. The workflow is linear and quickly becomes muscle memory. It stays out of your way. It supports session history, versioning, and some iterative editing in its review window. If you don’t want to manage API keys or models, Rewrite Bar also offers a subscription that includes model access. A lifetime license is $29 if you bring your own model, and it includes 35K AI credits to get started.
Translate, Magic Refine, Fix Grammar, Make Concise Summarize, Paraphrase Text, Explain Like I'm 5, Continue Writing
Fluent, by contrast, presents a smart panel you interact with directly. That panel can stay persistent or disappear depending on your preference. The experience feels less like firing off commands and more like working alongside an assistant. Fluent is context-aware, supports back-and-forth conversation, and allows chaining actions together into something closer to a workflow than a single command.
Fluent also includes RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). In plain terms, that means the model doesn’t rely only on its training data — it can reference files you provide to generate responses. You can organize these files into areas like projects, emails, or a catch-all bucket for your writing style. In practice, that means it can use past examples as context rather than guessing blindly. If you’re writing a billing summary, for example, it can reference previous invoices to match tone and structure.
Everything you add to Fluent stays on your Mac. Nothing is stored in the cloud. The output quality largely depends on the quality of the material you feed it — garbage in, garbage out still applies.
It’s worth clarifying what Fluent is not. This isn’t a local, continually learning replacement for ChatGPT. It isn’t training a model on your data or improving itself over time. It simply retrieves relevant information from your files and uses it as context for each request.
Fluent’s regular price is $29.99 on the Mac App Store. Right now, it’s on sale at BundleHunt for $4.99
There’s a broader pattern worth noticing here: AI writing tools are starting to split into two camps. One camp gives you fast, one-shot utilities that stay invisible until needed. The other tries to become a persistent collaborator that remembers context and rides along with your workflow. Which one fits depends less on features and more on how you actually write — quick surgical edits versus ongoing conversation with your tools.
2026-02-16 22:33:23
"Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy
A song from a genre you didn’t think you’d like—what changed?
Bring the Noise by Public Enemy
As a dumb southern kid with an "us vs. them" mentality I avoided what we then called "rap music" because it wasn't the rock and roll my radio station played. When I eventually grew up, opened my mid a wee bit and started to seek things outside of the world of white male privilege, I began to appreciate the poetry and political intent of Public Enemy. This was the tune that opened my eyes.
2026-02-16 04:09:19
The first BundleHunt sale of 2026 kicked off today. This round is focused entirely on lifetime licenses - no one-year subscriptions or short-term trials disguised as deals. Update eligibility for major or minor releases still varies by app, so always check the fine print before buying.⌘
In tech, big names rise fast and disappear just as quickly. When a company sticks around for well over a decade, there's usually a reason. BundleHunt has been doing its thing since 2010, offering a different twist on software bundles: you build your own. That means you're not forced into buying 30 apps just to get the three you actually want.⌘
Over the years, they've built a decent reputation for fixing problems when a purchase doesn't work out, and I've picked up a few solid tools there myself - including Keyboard Maestro, Mountain Duck, and Downie. The catalog always includes lesser-known apps too, which is both fun and dangerous. Affordable software has a way of convincing you that you suddenly need something you'll never open again. Discipline required.
These aren't just random listings - they're legitimate contenders in their categories.
TextSniper is one of those deceptively simple utilities that ends up becoming part of your daily workflow. It's an OCR tool that lets you grab text from almost anywhere: videos, PDFs, presentations, screenshots, online courses - basically anything visible on your screen.⌘
Draw a box around the text and it captures it. Rotation, odd angles, and shadows usually aren't a problem. There's a handy option to remove line breaks automatically, and an additive clipboard mode that makes multi-step capture painless.
Real-world use case: grabbing command output from a video tutorial or copying text from an app that inexplicably doesn't allow selection.
Developer Price - $9.99
BundleHunt Price - $2.00
MacPilot is a system-tweaking utility with an almost absurd number of options - over 1,100 tweaks at last count. Think of it as a centralized control panel for settings Apple hides or spreads across plist files and command-line flags.
A few examples of what it can do:
Power users will appreciate having everything in one place instead of hunting down obscure terminal commands.
Developer Price - $29.99
BundleHunt Price - $3.99
Lingon Pro has been around for more than two decades, which is practically geological time in Mac utility years. It remains one of the best GUI front-ends for launchd - the scheduling and background-task system built into macOS.
You can create jobs that run:
If you run scripts, backups, or maintenance tasks behind the scenes and don't want to babysit cron files or plist syntax, this is one of the cleanest ways to do it.
Developer Price - $23.99
BundleHunt Price - $4.00
These are the ones that caught my eye but aren't part of my regular toolkit - yet.
Infinidesk tries to solve desktop clutter by letting you create multiple desktop environments, each with its own files, folders, and wallpaper.
Two modes stand out:
If your Mac desktop becomes a dumping ground by noon every day, this could be a surprisingly practical way to enforce structure without changing your habits.
Developer Price - $12.99
BundleHunt Price - $3.00
Rocket Typist has developed a loyal following fast. It's a text expansion and snippet manager that regularly comes up in discussions alongside TextExpander and Typinator - usually because it adds a few modern touches those veterans don't emphasize.
Highlights include:
If you live in repetitive text - support emails, documentation, or code templates - tools like this pay for themselves quickly.
Developer Price - $19.99
BundleHunt Price - $3.50
Anyone who misses the late, great DragThing will probably perk up here. Dock Star lets you build custom, hideable docks anywhere on your screen.
Notable features:
The nostalgia factor is real, but the utility angle is solid if you like highly customized desktop layouts.
Developer Price - $20.00
BundleHunt Price - $4.50
Bundle sales live in that weird intersection between smart bargain hunting and impulsive software hoarding. The build-your-own model helps keep things sane, but the temptation to pick up "just one more app" is very real. Some might say it's an addiction.⌘
The practical approach: start with a specific workflow problem you're trying to solve. If an app clearly fits that need - great. If not, leave it in the cart and walk away. Your future self will thank you.⌘And if you're the kind of Mac user who enjoys experimenting without committing to subscriptions, this is one of the cleaner opportunities to stock up without the recurring-cost hangover.
2026-02-15 18:50:01
"Hope the High Road" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
How do you discover new music, and what’s the latest gem you’ve found?
I will admit that I am much more comfortable with music I know and love than I am with 'kids these days" tunes, but I do occasionally find new to me stuff through Apple Music playlists and Crucial Tracks, of course,
