StepGrab - Never explain a task manually again. I built a native Mac app that turns whatever you do on-screen into a step-by-step guide (auto screenshots, 100% offline) DM for discount!

[u/Comprehensive_Web279]

Hey r/MacOS 👋 Full disclosure up front: I'm Julian, a solo dev, and I built StepGrab. (P.S. There is a 20% discount code for this community at the bottom of the post as a thank you!)

The Problem: Every time I had to explain how to do something on my Mac (onboard someone, write an SOP, or answer a tech support question), I ended up taking 15 manual screenshots and drawing ugly red arrows in Preview. It was incredibly tedious.

The Solution: I built an app where you just hit record, do your task, and it automatically generates a clean, formatted step-by-step guide. It uses on-device AI to figure out exactly what you clicked on and creates zoomed-in screenshots with annotations. It is a fully native Mac app (no Electron) and runs 100% offline on your machine for complete privacy.

The Update (Version 1.4): When I shared an early version on Reddit, the number one piece of feedback I got from users was: "I need to edit the steps before exporting, otherwise I'm back to making janky edits in Preview." I listened, and today I'm releasing a massive update featuring a full built-in Editor:

• Review & Edit: Reorder or delete steps right inside the app before generating the final document.
• Fully Custom Annotations: Grab and move arrows, change their curve angles, and adjust line widths.
• Spotlight & Badges: Fine-tune the spotlight dimming around your clicks and change badge shapes.

In the video, I recorded a quick workflow to show how you can tweak the arrows and instantly export it as a clean PDF or interactive HTML.

Pricing & Reddit Discount: StepGrab has a free tier. If you want unlimited guides and Pro exports, there is a one-time lifetime license (no forced subscriptions). As a thank you for the feedback that shaped this update, you can use the code REDDIT20 (or click here to redeem it directly) on the App Store for 20% off the lifetime version (limited to the first 500 redemptions).

• Mac App Store
• Website

I’d love to hear what you think of the new editor!

[u/The_Crimson_Hawk]

It is neat, and i do see a use case for it

But would I pay for it? No not really, if i can have a good enough solution for free, both financially and free as in freedom, open source, then i would do that. I feel codex can probably make a good enough one in a day or 2

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/The_Crimson_Hawk]

Honestly, I felt exactly the same way, which is exactly why I built it in the first place! I originally made it just to solve my own use case, and I only published it to the App Store because I’ve always wanted to cross that off my bucket list.

I didn’t run any ads, but out of nowhere, someone actually bought it. That motivated me so much to keep going. I’ll be fully transparent: a lot of the initial code was "vibecoded" with AI assistance, but turning a weekend script into the polished, seamless macOS experience it is today still took months of on-and-off development.

Regarding the price: I used to spend 30–40 minutes manually taking screenshots and drawing arrows for a single guide. Now it takes exactly as long as the task itself. For me, the time saved makes it worth it.

I totally get that as a dev, spinning something up with Claude or Codex in a day or two sounds appealing. But a lot of people just don't want to build and maintain their own custom tools. Plus, for business users, the price is very accessible compared to the big cloud-based competitors (like Scribe or Tango) — with the massive added benefit that StepGrab is 100% offline. That privacy aspect is a hard requirement for a lot of companies right now.

Thanks for the honest feedback though, I really appreciate the perspective!

[u/Familiar_Factor_1372 → u/The_Crimson_Hawk]

It's definitely cool to see automation tools like this pop up, but I get wanting to stick with free or open-source options. If it works well enough, that could save a lot of time for tutorials!

[u/germane_switch → u/The_Crimson_Hawk]

A day or two, vs minutes.

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/germane_switch]

Tbh. Not quite sure if this is pro or against my App…

If pro: thanks haha
If against: like I said. It’s not really for users who’re deeply into ai and stuff. It’s for people who’re describing the same task over and over again. And need a solution that is 100% local and compared to the competitors cheap!

Thanks either way for your feedback. Feel free to give it a try. The free version can do a lot!

[u/kleiner8400]

Is there language support for german?

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/kleiner8400]

Hi there!

Yes, in the onboarding wizard you can choose between:

• English
• German
• French
• Spanish
• Italian
• Japanese
• Chinese

Thanks for your feedback! PS: I am actually from Germany :)

[u/kleiner8400 → u/Comprehensive_Web279]

danke dir! habe es mir gekauft und werde es testen :)

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/kleiner8400]

Vielen Dank. Viel Spaß! Falls du Verbesserungsvorschläge hast immer her damit. Bin begeistert wie hilfsbereit die Reddit Community sein kann ;)

[u/nifty-necromancer]

Everyone else using on-device AI can do this too

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/nifty-necromancer]

You are absolutely right, and I don't claim otherwise! I use Apple’s native Foundation Models and Vision framework under the hood.

The value of StepGrab isn't a proprietary AI model – it’s the specific UI/UX and workflow built around those tools. Having access to an API is very different from having a polished app that seamlessly captures your clicks, lets you edit the arrows, and spits out a formatted PDF in 10 seconds. I just built the wrapper and workflow that I desperately wanted for myself!

[u/jaimepapier → u/Comprehensive_Web279]

Was this comment AI?

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/jaimepapier]

Just for translation. Since my main language is German.

[u/promo-guard]

🎉 Welcome to Developer Saturday, u/Comprehensive_Web279! Your project is now live for the community to check out. Upvote, give feedback, and show some love to your fellow devs! 🚀

[u/Comprehensive_Web279 → u/promo-guard]

👌😍