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How HN took it
7 positive, 30 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 33 critical, out of 72 comments about the project. Thread score -0.28.
Execution: 1 for, 13 againstIdea: 1 for, 6 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 4 againstDocs: 0 for, 4 againstPricing: 3 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Local-only, privacy-respecting design
From 2 comments
The screenshot shows the (corrected) example sentence: > Sometimes I still make mistakes with articles and prepositions, but my grammar is getting better every day I practice. In…
cjs_ac on HNSevere limitations? You sound like an a*hole tbf. The tool clearly provides the value, and it's a magnificent display how something like a simple LLM can be used to make your…
menaerus on HN
One-time pricing without subscription
From 2 comments
Holy crap, a local-only app with one-time purchase *and* a free demo? You don't see that very often these days
utf_8x on HNVery cool product. And thank you for not making it a subscription. > Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Feel free to sent us an email at support@refine.sh Should be…
wkjagt on HN
Promising first release
From 1 comment
This is precisely what I've been hoping somebody would build. In my initial testing, it works well. I can even mix sentences with different languages, and it still makes correct…
InsideOutSanta on HN
Objections
Suggestions are unreliable and rewording is erratic
From 3 comments
The screenshot shows the (corrected) example sentence: > Sometimes I still make mistakes with articles and prepositions, but my grammar is getting better every day I practice. In…
cjs_ac on HNThis is precisely what I've been hoping somebody would build. In my initial testing, it works well. I can even mix sentences with different languages, and it still makes correct…
InsideOutSanta on HNNeat idea. I see why the fluency feature is off by default. It constantly rewords things, adds random quotations, or does something pretty silly https://imgur.com/oVSWmtN The…
Nicell on HN
Does not work in many apps such as Chrome, Slack, VS Code
From 3 comments
Wonderful! I've given it a go, works in Apple's Notes app, but it does not seem to trigger suggestions in Chrome, Firefox or Slack. It does however highlight misspellings there.…
jasekt on HNCouldnt make it to show suggestions in vscode/cursor. I would like to use the tool, but i'd expect it to work consistently across all widgets in the system (i.e. like…
Inviz on HNI've installed it to give it a try but it does absolutely nothing in any application I use. I did give it required permissions.
nusl on HN
Weak support for British and other English variants
From 3 comments
The screenshot shows the (corrected) example sentence: > Sometimes I still make mistakes with articles and prepositions, but my grammar is getting better every day I practice. In…
cjs_ac on HNSo apparently the tool is slanted toward American English where the non-word practise is properly treated as a spelling error like colour. If you use these words in writing for…
dreamcompiler on HNI have to go with GP here, being able to set the language to en_UK and en_US and getting the right corrections based on this setting is a minimal requirement for an English…
jonathanstrange on HN
Mac-only release
From 1 comment
I'm a Linux adherent, but I can't understand how a "normie tool" like this wouldn't release to Windows first. You're hitting <15% (<30% for US) of the market. Even if you only…
zamalek on HN
Requests
Support for more English dialects and languages
From 3 comments
How well does it handle standard international English? So many of the tools I've seen seem to only support American English.
smcleod on HN> English is a bastard of a language and getting messier every day as new nations adopt it is their standard language. I disagree strenuously with this idea, because it suggests…
cjs_ac on HNNice product! Does it support other language like Chinese?
valorantPanda on HN
Vim, Emacs or editor integration
From 2 comments
I would pay 50$ a year if this had a vim integration.
atmosx on HNNo API to hook into one's favorite tools, such as emacs.
diekhans on HN
Tone checking
From 1 comment
Does this do tone? That is the single largest feature of Grammarly’s Slack plugin that I absolutely loved, and if my work allowed it, I’d have it again.
sgarland on HN
Windows support
From 1 comment
I'm a Linux adherent, but I can't understand how a "normie tool" like this wouldn't release to Windows first. You're hitting <15% (<30% for US) of the market. Even if you only…
zamalek on HN
Questions
How does it compare to LanguageTool and Harper
From 2 comments
Does anyone know how this compares to other products in its field, such as LanguageTool and Harper? LanguageTool can be hosted locally, and Harper runs entirely as an extension,…
Deukhoofd on HNHas anyone tested how this works in comparison to locally-hosted LanguageTool?
odo1242 on HN
Does it need an internet connection or API key
From 2 comments
I'm missing some information on how this works (a LLM? which? Do I need to bring an API key? Does this work offline?) and what I can expect in terms of performance/battery hit.
Yeri on HNI tried it and it worked pretty well. I'm curious about the principle behind it. Is there any model or API being called?
lessurliu on HN
Privacy and future data collection
From 2 comments
Isn't privacy a concern? How do consumers ensure that data is not going to captured in a future update without it being open source or having third party security audits?
mirrormaster on HNThere is no guarantee that this software will not occasionally start acting as a keylogger. If somehow this happens (let's assume not intentionally), will it be the direct…
reconnecting on HN
Alternatives named
LanguageTool
From 3 comments
Does anyone know how this compares to other products in its field, such as LanguageTool and Harper? LanguageTool can be hosted locally, and Harper runs entirely as an extension,…
Deukhoofd on HNLanguagetool is an open source tool you can run as a local spelling and grammar checker. It's different to Grammarly - less AI and more rules based. I often use both tools at the…
mcapodici on HNYou can use a local instance of LanguageTool in a docker container for this: https://github.com/gardner/LocalLanguageTool
gardnr on HN
Harper
From 2 comments
Worth to mention as another alternative: Harper[0] [0]: https://writewithharper.com/
smartmic on HNDoes anyone know how this compares to other products in its field, such as LanguageTool and Harper? LanguageTool can be hosted locally, and Harper runs entirely as an extension,…
Deukhoofd on HN
Grammarly
From 1 comment
I'm really wondering if/why Grammarly still has a business case, in this age of LLMs.
amelius on HN
Apple Intelligence Writing Tools
From 1 comment
Seams weird to not have "How does this compare to Apple Intelligence Writing Tools" at least in the FAQ. Maybe refine is better or has more features, but the page doesn't even…
planb on HN