Products/Productivity / AI Assistant/MiniAi

MiniAi

Select text. ⌥Space. Done. Free macOS app.

Productivity / AI AssistantSeoul, South Koreaaiproductivitytext-selectionassistantReviewed

Our Take

MiniAi is one of those "why didn't I think of that" tools — you select text anywhere on your Mac, hit option-space, and get an instant AI explanation. It's basically a system-wide copilot for reading comprehension without the tab-switching hassle. The mechanic is simple and the execution is clean, which is basically the entire pitch. Whether it's a sleeper hit or just a nice-to-have depends entirely on how annoying you find context-switching, and honestly, not enough people hate it enough to pay for this yet.

Native macOS app that lets you select any text on your Mac and press Option+Space to get instant AI explanations without switching context or opening a browser.

Key Features

Select any text + Option+Space for instant AI explanation, Works in any Mac app (Safari, VS Code, Notion, Keynote, Mail, etc.), Follow-up conversation support within the popup, Native macOS app built with Swift (not Electron), Privacy-first: text only goes to AI, not stored or analyzed, No account, no billing, no API key required, Tiny footprint: 3.2 MB, starts in under a second, Lives in menu bar, no dock icon, no menu clutter, Translucent glass popup that feels like macOS

Problem It Solves

Eliminates the need to copy-paste text, open a browser, navigate to ChatGPT, write a prompt, wait for a response, and switch back to your original app — a 7-step 45-second process reduced to 3 steps and 2 seconds.

Target Customer

Mac users who frequently encounter unfamiliar terms, code errors, foreign language content, or complex topics while working in any app.

Use Cases

Understanding unfamiliar terms and concepts, Decoding code error messages and stack traces, Translating foreign language content (emails, articles, contracts), Research and learning while reading

Pricing Details

Download for Mac — Free. No account, no billing, no API key required.

Differentiator

Native macOS app with zero context switching — works directly in any app where you can select text. Built with Swift for native performance, not Electron or web wrapper.

Why Now

AI language models became smart enough that all they needed was a simple shortcut to be useful. Option+Space provides instant answers without leaving your workflow.

Traction

Notable Metrics: 3.2 MB app size; starts in under a second

Key Facts

The people behind MiniAi

Denis Naumov

profile

Founder

7+ years tech entrepreneurship and product management. Developed and launched AI agent for LinkedIn account management using OpenAI API within 2 months, achieving 41% conversion to sales.

Srigan Sivagnanenthirarajah

profile

Co-Founder & CEO

4+ years in leadership and managing teams of developers. Background in modular system architecture.

Links

Website LinkedIn Source: product-hunt

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