KeyCue 10.0
Ergonis has released KeyCue 10, a major new release of the keyboard shortcut and emoji cheat sheet utility that not only shows existing shortcuts but also now enables you to assign your own keyboard shortcuts on the fly. You can add or modify existing menu shortcuts by simply pointing at a menu command and pressing the desired key combination—KeyCue will define your desired shortcut so it’s available instantly.
Now a universal application with native support for Apple silicon Macs, the release also adds support for the F20 function key, disables itself when Universal Control is active, works around an issue where some shortcuts were missing in Microsoft Outlook, and fixes cosmetic alignment issues in the Settings window. KeyCue 10 is free for anyone who purchased a license for KeyCue on or after 1 May 2021; owners of older licenses can upgrade for €9.99. (€19.99 new with a 25% discount for TidBITS members, €9.99 upgrade, 5.4 MB, release notes, macOS 10.10+)
Apple silicon native.
KeyCue has always been the least useful of the Ergonis utilities to me; I liked being able to pop up a full selector sheet of emojis, but other than that I guess I’m just a really good shortcut memorizer.
I have a scripture reference application, Accordance, that I use regularly in my work. It is highly technical and scholarly, and it has a complex dynamic menu system. The developer built in a keyboard shortcut customization system, which works well for all the menu items that are programmed. There are several items that only appear under certain conditions, like “Save Text Selection” (which leads to a submenu with two different formats rather than a dialog). The customizer not only does not “know” about it, but it also appears to block the system-level application keyboard utility from customizing it.
KeyCue was able to set up a shortcut without any additional steps. I simply invoked the menu item and left it open, then pressed and held the keyboard combo I wanted for the new shortcut. An arrow with an embedded countdown timer appeared, and when the graphics indicated it was done…well, it was.
The defined shortcut appears in that item now, and survives KeyCue being quit.
I’m not often bowled over by a utility like this, but that’s really cool.