Cotypist: AI Autocomplete for Mac

My notes

Summary

Cotypist is a Mac-only AI autocomplete tool that predicts the next words you want to type across most apps, running fully locally on Apple Silicon. Positioned as “augmentation, not replacement”, you keep your voice, it just types faster. Free during beta; freemium model planned post-launch.

Key Insight

• Positioning angle that actually works: “dance with AI” (inline suggestions that preserve your voice) versus “delegate to AI” (chatbot wall-of-text you rewrite anyway). The whole pitch rejects the chatbot-editing loop most writing tools push you into.
• Local-only is a real differentiator, not marketing fluff. All inference on-device, claims ~1-2 GB RAM, recommends M1 Pro / M2 with 16 GB+. No cloud round-trip means near-instant completions, which is the core UX win versus Copilot/Gemini-style cloud autocomplete.
• Word-by-word accept via a dedicated key above Tab, lets you take partial suggestions and keep typing. This is the mechanical detail that separates good inline AI from annoying inline AI.
• Explicitly disables itself in IDEs and Terminal by default, acknowledges that GitHub Copilot already owns that niche and avoids fighting for it. Sensible scope discipline.
• Google Docs limitation: only works in comments, not document body (Docs’ custom input stack blocks OS-level text injection). Worth knowing before committing.
• Accessibility play is undersold: explicit targeting of dyslexia, motor impairments, and non-native English speakers. This is probably a stronger wedge than the general “type faster” pitch.
• Business model risk: free beta with hoped-for “free Casual tier + paid heavy user” post-launch. No committed pricing yet, could go either way.