Every once in a while, a utility comes along that makes you realize that while you might be able to live on an iPad, you wouldn’t want to. I can name names:
Paletro, available directly from the developer or through SetApp, is a modern twist on an existing idea: instead of mousing for commands and features in the menu bar, and instead of memorizing keyboard shortcuts, you invoke Paletro and search, using text, for the command you’re looking for.
Apps like Many Tricks’ Menuwhere offer a similar feature; with Menuwhere, a key command invokes a floating version of the macOS menubar, and the user can mouse (or navigate from the keyboard) from there. An old favorite utility of mine, MaxMenus, was a more customizable utility, but I used it largely in the way that I would use Menuwhere now.
Paletro’s inspiration comes from VSCode’s Command Palette, which you invoke–in the case of both apps–on the Mac by typing Command-Shift-P. In VSCode, the Command Palette exposes features specific to the application and the extensions you’ve installed. For example, in Dendron, which I wrote about most recently, the Command Palette is where you go to winnow down the list of notes to traverse the naming hierarchy, rename notes, refactor, and more.
Paletro exposes the menu bar options that are available to you in a specific application by typing Command-Shift-P (the hotkey is user modifiable). So if you’re typing away in Bike, for example, and can’t remember the keyboard shortcut to hoist or focus, you can invoke Paletro, and type “focus.” In Safari, it’s an easy way to see your browser history, browse your favorites, or open a bookmark.
If you know an app inside and out, and have the keyboard shortcuts committed to muscle memory, Paletro isn’t going to be a faster or smarter way to work. But it’s great if you find yourself mousing for features, and like the help menu’s feature that searches for commands, the utility helps when you don’t know where to look.
Paletro is also extensible; programming types can attach scripts to extend the built-in features of the application itself. There are a number of color themes built in, and the developer promises more to come. A $6.99 license is good for two machines.