Help · PIKY 1.0.0

PIKY, step by step. From the download to your first Pack.

PIKY lives in the menu bar, not the Dock. Everything below is done from its icon there, from its Settings, or from macOS System Settings.

Install

Get PIKY from the download page. It is one disk image, for Macs with Apple silicon on macOS 14 or later.
Open the disk image and drag PIKY into Applications.
Open PIKY from Applications. PIKY is notarized by Apple, so the first time macOS only asks whether you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Click Open.
Find PIKY in the menu bar and follow the short setup. It asks for two permissions (below), lets you practise a Pick, and offers to open PIKY when you log in, which is off unless you turn it on.

Permissions

PIKY asks for two macOS permissions. You turn each one on yourself, in System Settings › Privacy & Security.

Accessibility is required. It lets PIKY read the text you select, start picking, and put your Pack into the message box you choose. PIKY reads a selection only while you are picking.
Screen Recording is only for Camera; text and files work without it, and you can leave it for later. On macOS 15 and later it is called “Screen & System Audio Recording”. Apple may ask once more when Camera first looks at your screen. This is screen access, not your webcam, and Camera keeps still pictures only.

To turn one on: open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility (or Screen Recording). If PIKY is listed, switch it on, then go back to PIKY and click Check again. If PIKY is not listed, click + below the list and choose PIKY in Applications, or click Show PIKY in Finder in PIKY and drag it into the list.

After you turn on Screen Recording, macOS may ask you to quit and reopen PIKY. Choose Quit & Reopen: PIKY opens again at the permissions step of setup, not at the start.

Switched on, but PIKY says it’s off? Click Check again in PIKY; checking never asks macOS for anything. If PIKY offers Restart PIKY, use it; your Pack is saved first. If it still says off, select PIKY in that System Settings list, remove it with the − button, then add it again with + (choose the copy in Applications) and switch it on.

macOS may also ask before PIKY uses a file you picked in Desktop, Documents or Downloads (Files & Folders). PIKY needs no Input Monitoring or Automation permission.

Using PIKY

Pick. Press Option + Space to start picking, in any app. Drag across text to pick it, or click a file in Finder. Each selection joins your Pack as a Pick. Escape stops picking; your Pack stays.
Camera. While picking, hold Option: PIKY outlines what is under the pointer. Slide two fingers on the trackpad (or turn the scroll wheel) to change the outline, then click to capture. Or keep Option held and drag around an area. Escape cancels. Camera needs Screen Recording.
Use Pack. Click in a supported message box and press Command + Return. PIKY puts your Pack in; check the draft and its attachments, then press Send yourself. PIKY never presses Send. You can also choose Copy all in Review and paste with Command + V.
Hide Pack. While a Pack is ready, Command + Return belongs to PIKY. Hide Pack in PIKY’s menu gives it back to your apps.
Undo. Click ↶ beside PIKY in the menu bar to take back the last Pick. Undo last Pick is in PIKY’s menu too, with the shortcut Control + Command + Z, which you can change or turn off in Settings.
Review. Click PIKY’s icon in the menu bar to see your Pack: every Pick, in order, and remove what you don’t need. Right-click the icon for PIKY’s menu.
New Pack and Library. New Pack in PIKY’s menu starts over; the Pack you had is saved in Library. Library… in the menu opens your saved Packs, to use again, rename or delete.
Shortcuts. Change the keys for Start picking and Use Pack in Settings: click a shortcut, then press the new keys. How PIKY works… in the menu shows a short walkthrough.

Updates

Once a day PIKY checks whether there is a newer version. If there is, PIKY downloads it in the background and checks its signature. It installs when you quit PIKY or restart your Mac, or after 30 minutes away from your Mac, never while you are using it. Your Pack is saved first, and your Packs and settings stay.

To install a downloaded update now: Restart to Update in PIKY’s menu, or in Settings › Updates.
To check now: Check for Updates… in PIKY’s menu, or in Settings › Updates.
To stop automatic updates: Settings › Updates, turn off “Keep PIKY up to date automatically”.

Moving from an earlier version

Download PIKY once more from the download page.
Quit PIKY (Quit PIKY in its menu), drag the new PIKY into Applications and choose Replace.
Open PIKY. Your Packs stay: they are kept outside the app, in Library › Application Support › PIKY in your home folder. From this version on, PIKY updates itself.

Coming from build 48 or earlier? Builds from 53 on are signed with PIKY’s Apple Developer ID instead of its development certificate, so macOS asks you to allow Accessibility once more, and Screen Recording if you use Camera. If System Settings already shows PIKY switched on but setup still asks, select PIKY there, remove it with the − button, then allow it again when PIKY asks.

Troubleshooting

Option + Space does nothing. Another app may use those keys: launchers such as Raycast or Alfred, and ChatGPT’s, often do. PIKY says so in Settings; choose other keys there. Start picking is always in PIKY’s menu.
PIKY can’t pick text or put a Pack in. Check that Accessibility is on for PIKY (see Permissions above), then click Check again in PIKY.
Camera doesn’t start. Camera works only once Screen Recording is on and usable. If the outline misses what you need, keep Option held and drag your own area.
The Pack didn’t all go in. App and file support vary, and each app sets its own attachment limits. Check the draft before you send, or use Copy all in Review and paste with Command + V.
PIKY isn’t there after a restart. PIKY lives in the menu bar, and opening at login is off unless you turn it on: Settings › General, “Open PIKY when you log in”. If macOS asks, approve PIKY in System Settings › General › Login Items.

Report a problem

Choose Report a Problem… in PIKY’s menu (it is also at the bottom of Settings). It opens a new email to hello@getpiky.com in your mail app, with PIKY’s version, your macOS version and the kind of Mac filled in, and shows PIKY’s Diagnostics folder in Finder so you can attach it. Say what happened and what you expected. Without a mail app, write to hello@getpiky.com yourself.

Diagnostics are a small log PIKY keeps on your Mac: event names, counts, timings, on-screen positions, short random IDs, app identifiers such as com.apple.Terminal, and the version and commit PIKY was built from. They contain no file names, folder paths, picked text or images. PIKY never sends them; attaching them is your choice.

Uninstall

Quit PIKY: Quit PIKY in its menu.
Drag PIKY from Applications to the Trash.
Optional: to remove your Packs and Diagnostics too, delete the PIKY folder in Library › Application Support in your home folder (in Finder, Go › Go to Folder… and type ~/Library/Application Support/PIKY). PIKY’s settings are in ~/Library/Preferences/app.getpiky.mac.plist.
Optional: remove PIKY from System Settings › General › Login Items if you turned that on, and from the Accessibility and Screen Recording lists in Privacy & Security (select it, then −).

Contact

Email hello@getpiky.com, or use the feedback form (Give Feedback… in PIKY’s menu opens it with your version filled in). What we do with your messages is in Privacy.