PopClip — An Interview with Nick Moore
Nick Moore explains how PopClip began, how its core interaction survived years of macOS changes, and why simplicity matters in long-term app development.
PopClip made selecting text with a mouse feel much more useful to me. Its simple interface and growing collection of extensions added something genuinely useful to my workflow. For My Mac Apps Story, I asked Nick Moore how the app began, how he has kept its core interaction working across macOS changes, and how user feedback has shaped it.
Interview by Ighor July for Reverse Everything.
Interview
Nick began by explaining why he believes PopClip has remained relevant.
Nick Moore
I think the reason it’s remained relevant is that, at its heart, it is still the same app as it was when it first came out: you select some text, and a bar pops up with a row of buttons. That’s the core proposition. Everything else changes around PopClip, but PopClip tries to stay the same.
Ighor July
What originally inspired you to create PopClip?
Nick Moore
I was working on DwellClick (https://pilotmoon.com/dwellclick/) and it seemed a nice idea to have clickless cut/copy/paste available after a drag completes. I added a pop-up bar to DwellClick as an experiment, but realised it was pretty cool and useful in its own right so I made it its own separate app instead. I never imagined anything beyond Cut, Copy Paste and put it on the App Store for $2.99 just as a little experiment really.
Ighor July
What have been the greatest technical challenges involved in keeping it working across many macOS releases while preserving the same core interaction?
Nick Moore
Biggest technical challenge is keeping the core mechanism of “detecting the selected text” working. The Accessibility API goes a long way but not all apps support it. Or if they do, sometimes there are bugs in implementations that need to be worked around. A lot of my development time goes into responding to macOS changes and maintaining 3rd party app compatibility as things evolve and change. Thankfully, a lot of popular apps use the Accessibility API to do innovative things these days, and devs are more likely to support it than they were in the past. In the early days, things were a lot rougher.
Ighor July
How do you decide which new features or extensions belong in PopClip without making the app feel more complicated?
Nick Moore
I’m always keen to add capabilities i.e. things that a popclip action can do. I’m more reluctant to change the core interaction model of PopClip. For example, I get requests for PopClip to have a radial menu option, which I’m sure would be cool, but then it would be a different app. A relevant example is probably subfolders. People asked for subfolders for years and years I resisted that for a long time. But I eventually found a design that felt right for PopClip and shipped it this month. I dislike apps with overstuffed prefs windows full of inscrutable options. A developer should figure out how the thing should work and not cop out by making everything a setting!
Ighor July
How has user feedback influenced its development? Were there any important features or decisions that came directly from users?
Nick Moore
Hugely. For example, adding the original Spelling, Search, Open Link and Dictionary actions was a user suggestion. And nearly every extension idea came from a request or user submission.
Ighor July
What advice would you give to independent developers who hope to maintain and support their apps for ten years or longer?
Nick Moore
Work on an app that you want to use yourself. Don’t chase trends, don’t rush to support the latest thing, or add new features just for the sake of newness. Remember that every feature you add is a feature you have to maintain. And every option you add is now two variant features you have to maintain. Focus on reliability, simplicity and the core experience and usefulness of the app. Listen to the users but trust your own judgement and don’t be afraid to say no. Patiently build a core user base and keep them on board — word of mouth is worth more than any advertising.
This interview is part of the developer interview series connected to My Mac Apps Story, Part 4.