Sidehoe for Mac
The iMessage assistant that remembers every name, every birthday and every excuse you’ve already used. It runs on your Mac, reads your texts and dating apps, and never sends a word without your yes.
Previously, on Sidehoe
Then the footnote said: “Sidehoe is a parody and not a real product.” The same day, we started building the real thing: every feature from the video and the site, running on your own Mac.
Everyone waiting on you, sorted by how long you’ve left them, with what they last said and how to open.
Priya · Attachment: 1 Image9 days
Maya · wish me luck at the half marathon tomorrow!! 🏃♀️2 daysSidehoe lives in iMessage. When someone texts you, it suggests a reply and sends it only when you say so.
It checks what she said about when she’s free (“saturday at 4pm, SFMOMA?”), checks your calendar, and books it when you agree.
Every detail they’ve mentioned, filed under their name, plus what you told them.
Priyalikes hikingName Guard checks every message Sidehoe sends against the thread it’s going to, and flags slips you typed yourself.
Plans agreed in your threads go on a Sidehoe calendar. Overlaps get caught, and one text moves the second date.
Dinner with Chloe · Foreign Cinema8:00 PMDinner with Jen · also Foreign Cinema8:00 PMTone Control rewrites the same reply anywhere from distant to alarming. Try it.
Sidehoe flags a message when it’s already gone out word for word. There is no group.
Tinder, Hinge and Bumble have no API, so Sidehoe reads them the way you would: through iPhone Mirroring on your Mac, with on-device text recognition. It only types when you say yes.
Want sharper replies? Log in with your ChatGPT account and Sidehoe writes with your own plan. No API keys, no extra bill. Prefer total privacy? Keep Apple’s on-device model.
After 47 days of silence, Sidehoe archives the thread and says nothing. After six months, it might ask if you want to try again.
Liliana · last texted in MarchiOS doesn’t allow apps to read iMessage or other apps. A Mac signed into your Apple ID can, and a Mac mini on a shelf is perfect. You talk to Sidehoe from your phone.
Drag Sidehoe to Applications on a Mac that’s signed into your iMessage and stays on.
Grant Messages access, pick where Sidehoe texts you, choose on-device AI or log in with ChatGPT, and let it build your roster. Optional: connect iPhone Mirroring for dating apps.
“who’s waiting?”, “schedule a date with Linda”, “what should I say to Priya?” Reply yes, no, 2, or edit: your own words.
No Sidehoe servers, no Sidehoe account, no analytics. Pick Apple’s on-device model and nothing leaves your Mac, or log in with ChatGPT and your own plan does the writing. We don’t want to see it either.
Every reminder arrives as a shipping update. You order a lot of packages now.
In the Dock, Sidehoe is a calculator. A working one. Type your passcode, press =.
Only you can open it. Handing someone your laptop remains, as ever, a risk.
Sidehoe texts you. Anything to anyone else waits for your yes.
For the hobbyist.
Free
For the overcommitted.
Free during the betaLess than one of the dinners.
The original.
Pricing varies
A Mac with Apple silicon on macOS 26 Tahoe or later, Messages signed into your Apple ID, and either Apple Intelligence turned on or a ChatGPT plan. Dating apps need iPhone Mirroring with an iPhone on iOS 18 or later. Run Sidehoe on one Mac per Apple ID.
It’s a real app named after a parody. The original video and site were made by Strive Haus as a joke; this Mac app was built independently, starting the same day, and isn’t affiliated with them.
Not to us: there’s no Sidehoe server. With the on-device model, nothing leaves your Mac. If you log in with ChatGPT, the messages needed for each reply, rewrite or nudge are sent to OpenAI under your account, like pasting them into ChatGPT yourself. Sorting your threads and remembering facts stay on your Mac either way.
Sidehoe opens ChatGPT’s own sign-in page in your browser. After you log in, requests run through OpenAI’s official app server using your ChatGPT plan (Plus, Pro, Business…), so they count toward that plan’s usage limits. Sidehoe never sees your password. It keeps its own login, separate from any other app, and you can log out in Settings.
No. It texts you. Anything going to someone else waits for your “yes” (or a 👍 tapback), after Name Guard has checked it.
macOS keeps your iMessages behind Full Disk Access. Sidehoe opens the Messages database read-only; it never edits or deletes anything.
Through iPhone Mirroring: it opens the app on your mirrored iPhone, reads the screen with on-device text recognition, and taps and types only when you approve a reply. Dating apps may not love automation; use it at your own discretion.
No. iOS doesn’t let apps read your texts or other apps. Your iPhone is where you talk to Sidehoe; a Mac does the reading.
You’ll get every text twice. Pick the Mac that’s always on (a Mac mini is ideal) and run it there.
Quit it from the menu bar, delete it from Applications, and remove ~/Library/Application Support/Sidehoe. The dates it added live in a “Sidehoe” calendar you can delete.
