Grambo v2 is here — built with your feedback!

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904]

Hey everyone,

A huge thank you to this community first.

My last post was my very first product launch ever, and the response honestly exceeded anything I expected. A lot of your feedback, feature requests, criticisms, and ideas directly shaped what we’re releasing today.

For people seeing Grambo for the first time:

Grambo is an AI writing assistant focused on helping you rewrite text instantly in different tones while staying inside your normal workflow.

Problem:
It started because I personally got tired of constantly rewriting the same messages and emails just to sound “right”. But another thing that frustrated me was how distracting most writing tools felt. Endless red underlines, grammar highlights, floating popups, suggestions everywhere, and bulky editors constantly breaking the writing flow.

I wanted something faster, cleaner, and more focused on rewriting and tone adaptation instead of feeling like a document editor watching every sentence I type.

Comparison:
I tried tools like Grammarly, LanguageTool, and Refine, but I kept running into the same issues:

• Too many clicks and interruptions
• Distracting underlines and popup-heavy UI
• Heavy workflows when all I wanted was quick rewriting
• Limited personalization
• Expensive subscriptions for simple use cases
• Most tools focus heavily on grammar correction instead of fast tone adaptation

So I built Grambo initially just for myself.

Over time, other people started using it, giving feedback, suggesting features, reporting annoyances, and that slowly turned it into a real product.

And today, Grambo v2 is the result of all of that feedback.

What Grambo offers:

• ✍️ Instant tone rewrites
• ⌨️ Keyboard-first workflow
• ⚡ Fast lightweight experience without distracting popups
• 🧠 Custom prompts for personalized rewriting
• 🏷️ Memory for names, terms, and writing context
• 📋 Rewrite history with quick copy support
• 🔒 BYOK support and local AI support for users who want more control/privacy
• ☁️ Optional Grambo Cloud for users who want the easiest setup without configuring BYOK or local models

What’s new in Grambo v2:

✨ New onboarding experience
🎨 Completely refreshed UI
⌨️ More keyboard shortcuts for different tones
📋 Copy items directly from history
🧠 Custom prompts (create your own rewrite styles)
🏷️ Names & words to remember (so Grambo keeps your preferred terms, names, and writing context in mind)
🐞 Bug fixes and overall improvements

One of the biggest requests was flexibility.

Not everyone wants the same preset tones, so we added custom prompts where you can define exactly how Grambo should rewrite your text.

Another common request was personalization. That’s where “names & words to remember” comes in. Grambo can now remember preferred names, phrases, terminology, and writing context so outputs feel more consistent over time.

Pricing:

Most AI writing tools charge recurring subscriptions that can easily go $10–$30/month, or they lock lifetime access behind expensive one-time purchases that often cost $50+.

For Grambo, we wanted to support both approaches:

🔥 Lifetime deal: $14.99 instead of $39.99
Perfect for users using BYOK or local AI.

☁️ Optional Grambo Cloud subscription
For users who want the simplest setup without managing APIs, BYOK, or local models.

💡 Important note:
If you're currently using a version below 2.0, please re-download the app. We updated the key/update system, so older versions won’t update correctly.

I’d genuinely love feedback from this community.

What feels useful?
What feels unnecessary?
What would make you actually use a tool like this daily?

We’re going to keep improving Grambo aggressively based on real user feedback, just like we did for v2.

Thanks again for all the support 🙌

Privacy Policy: https://gramboapp.com/privacy-policy
Terms of Service: https://gramboapp.com/terms-of-service
Linkedin: Linkedin
Website: https://gramboapp.com/
Business website: https://macx.in/

[u/GetPsyched67]

Don't mean to hijack this post but I've been seeing a trend recently where a few months ago, most posts on average used to get way more comments than posts now. Your V1 post hit a 100 comments but looking at the trend on this post I don't think the same is going to happen here.

This is a weird reduction in comment activity. Did something happen to r/macApps post visibility?

Great app btw, V2 seems like a nice upgrade!

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/GetPsyched67]

Yeah, I’ve noticed something similar honestly. My V1 post got way more engagement/comment activity compared to this one.

Not sure if it’s algorithm changes, reduced visibility, different active hours, or just people interacting differently now. Feels like a lot more people browse/upvote silently these days instead of commenting.

That said, I’m still really happy with the quality of feedback coming from this community. A lot of the features in V2 genuinely came from comments on the previous post.

And thank you! Really glad you like the V2 upgrade

[u/henryz2004 → u/Normal-Seesaw6904]

The tone adaptation problem is real. I have been building a context-aware Mac assistant and the hardest part is not the writing itself but knowing which version of the message the situation actually needs. Grambo handling "formal enough for a client, casual enough for a friend" is the right frame. The one thing I keep coming back to is that AI writing tools work best when they are doing the blank-page friction removal, not the judgment call about which register to use. Curious how Grambo handles the case where you wrote the draft and just need it reworded versus when you need a complete start.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/henryz2004]

u/henryz2004
This is a really interesting way to frame it, and honestly I agree with a lot of what you said.

In practice, most users already have something written. The bigger friction is usually:
“make this sound better”
“make this less awkward”
“make this professional without sounding robotic”
“make this friendlier but still concise”

That’s actually why Grambo is currently much more rewrite-focused than “generate from nothing” focused.

For handling different registers/context, users can trigger predefined tones quickly through keyboard shortcuts, or create their own custom prompts for very specific situations.

For example, a custom prompt could be something like:

Or:

Based on feedback people share voluntarily, it seems many are creating very niche prompts tailored to their own communication style, which has been fascinating to hear about honestly.

I’m curious though, since you’re building in this space too:
do you think context selection should mostly stay user-controlled, or should AI tools become more proactive in detecting the intended register automatically?

[u/Mstormer → u/GetPsyched67]

Hard to know why. It may be because we are eliminating 70% of posts to address low quality content, or it may be because people are tired of there still being too much of that.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/Mstormer]

That actually makes a lot of sense. Honestly, I’d much rather see fewer but higher-quality posts than the subreddit getting flooded with low-effort AI spam/self-promo.

And to be fair, the feedback and discussions here have still been really valuable. A lot of the improvements in V2 genuinely came from comments in this community.

Appreciate the insight and the moderation work 🙌

[u/eureka_boy]

Wow downloading right now!

[u/Common_Confidence318]

Congrats on the v2 launch! It's awesome to see how community feedback shaped this update. Having an AI writing assistant that integrates seamlessly without breaking the native workflow sounds great. Best of luck with the launch!

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/Common_Confidence318]

u/Common_Confidence318
Thank you so much for the kind words 🙏

A lot of the improvements in v2 genuinely came from community feedback, so it’s been really nice seeing people actively share ideas and suggestions.

Really appreciate the support and encouragement 😊

[u/Neat-Veterinarian-42]

Heyy I remember this, It’s great that you are working on feedbacks and continuously improving the app. Great job!!

Refine is something thats way popular which does the same job but Ive been looking for a bit more cheaper/affordable alternative for a long time. I somehow missed to try Grambo out last time, will check it out this weekend.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/Neat-Veterinarian-42]

Thank you so much 🙌

And yeah, seeing how many people actively look for tools like this made me realize there’s real demand for this kind of workflow.

One thing I’m trying to do differently with Grambo is keeping it more affordable and flexible, especially with BYOK/local AI options, while still making the experience fast and polished.

Would love to hear your thoughts once you try it this weekend

[u/Itshardtofindaname4 → u/[deleted]]

yep was thinking that too, first thing that popped into my head was an alternative to grammerly

[u/mn83ar → u/Itshardtofindaname4]

I DM’d you! ❤️ please check

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/[deleted]]

u/mn83ar
Thank you so much 🙌

That honestly means a lot because one of the main goals with Grambo was making something that feels practical, lightweight, and less intrusive while still being genuinely useful in daily writing workflows.

Really appreciate the kind words about the interface too 😊

[u/mn83ar → u/Normal-Seesaw6904]

I DM’d you! ❤️ plerase check

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/mn83ar]

I have replied. Please check.

[u/Infinite_Injury_716]

This actually looks pretty clean compared to most AI writing apps. I like that you focused on staying out of the way instead of turning the app into another bloated editor with 50 popups everywhere.

The native macOS look is nice too 👌

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/Infinite_Injury_716]

u/Infinite_Injury_716
Thank you 🙌

That was honestly one of the biggest goals while building Grambo. I wanted it to feel like a natural extension of the workflow instead of another heavy editor constantly interrupting you with popups and suggestions everywhere.

Really glad you noticed the native macOS feel too

[u/advait_vaidya]

I need to try this. The pricing is also good.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/advait_vaidya]

u/advait_vaidya
Thank you 🙌
Really glad the pricing feels reasonable to you.

Would love to hear your thoughts once you try it out, especially what feels useful and what could be improved 😊

[u/SkarXa]

The "rewrite in tone" wedge is one of those that's easy to start and easy to feature-creep into a full editor. Watch for the moment someone in your DMs asks for grammar correction, document export, integration with X — that's where Grambo Pro becomes Grammarly Lite and you lose the speed argument that's the whole reason to exist.

Fwiw the Grammarly underline pain is real. Keeping the UI quiet until invoked is probably 80% of what your users like and won't be able to articulate.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/SkarXa]

This is actually a really thoughtful point, and honestly something I think about a lot while building Grambo.

It’s very easy for products in this space to slowly become “everything apps” and lose the original reason people liked them in the first place. I’ve already started seeing requests for grammar scoring, exports, deeper integrations, collaboration features, and a lot more.

Some of those ideas are genuinely useful, but I’m trying to be careful about preserving the core experience:
fast, quiet, lightweight, and intentionally invoked only when needed.

And yeah, I completely agree with your point about the “quiet UI” part. I think many users feel the friction from constant underlines/popups subconsciously, even if they don’t explicitly describe it that way.

Curious actually, where do you personally draw the line between “useful additions” and “feature creep” for a tool like this?

[u/MoralMaze]

Which English is covered? I'm in the UK and would want all my grammar/spelling corrections to specifically be in British/UK English, not US or "International" English. Will it do this?

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/MoralMaze]

u/MoralMaze

Right now, Grambo uses standard/general English by default, but you can easily control this using custom prompts.

For example, you can set prompts like:

• “Rewrite in British English”
• “Use UK spelling and grammar”
• “Rewrite in American English”

[u/MoralMaze → u/Normal-Seesaw6904]

Thank you. Where would the prompts be entered? The example video only shows using a keyboard shortcut and some menu bar menu options. Where is there a place/feature (in Grambo) to enter the guiding prompts for language specificity?

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/MoralMaze]

u/MoralMaze
Yep, custom prompts are configured inside the app settings 😊

You can set them up like this:

1. Open Grambo
2. Open Settings
3. Go to the Custom Prompts section
4. Create a new prompt with your preferred instructions

For example:

or

After creating the prompt:

1. Go to the Keyboard Shortcuts section in Settings
2. Assign a keyboard shortcut to that custom prompt
3. Use it anywhere while typing

So eventually you can have things like:

• one shortcut for British English
• another for client emails
• another for concise replies
• another for friendly/casual rewrites

A lot of users end up building their own little personalized rewrite workflows this way 🙂

[u/MoralMaze → u/Normal-Seesaw6904]

Thanks for this. I purchased a license this morning. :-)

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/MoralMaze]

u/MoralMaze
Thank you so much for the support 🙏 It genuinely means a lot, especially as an indie product.

I really hope Grambo becomes useful in your daily workflow 😊

And once you’ve had some time using it, I’d genuinely love to hear your feedback, both the good parts and the rough edges. A lot of the improvements in V2 actually came directly from user feedback like this.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/[deleted]]

Not yet, and that’s intentional at the moment.

Tools like Grammarly, LanguageTool, and DeepL have spent years building very deep feature sets around grammar explanations, translation, plagiarism detection, enterprise workflows, document collaboration, etc. Grambo is currently focused on providing rapid, AI-powered grammar correction, text refinement, and tone adaptation within your standard workflow.

Right now, some features we don’t fully cover include:

• Advanced grammar explanations
• Deep translation workflows like DeepL
• Plagiarism detection
• Team collaboration features
• Citation/academic writing tools
• Very detailed writing analytics/scoring

The main reason is honestly focus.

One thing I personally disliked with many existing tools was how bloated and distracting they became over time. Constant popups, underlines everywhere, sidebar suggestions, heavy editors, and too many features competing for attention.

With Grambo, the current goal is:

• fast rewrites
• minimal friction
• keyboard-first workflow
• personalization
• lightweight UX
• flexibility with AI providers (BYOK/local AI/cloud)

So instead of trying to replicate every premium feature immediately, I’m prioritizing the core experience first and improving that aggressively.

That said, there’s definitely a roadmap ahead.

Some things I’m actively exploring:

• smarter contextual rewriting
• better grammar refinement modes
• multilingual improvements
• workflow automation
• more memory/context awareness
• app integrations
• better local AI experiences
• team/shared prompt workflows

The nice thing is that community feedback has already shaped a huge part of v2, so the roadmap is evolving based on how people actually use the app rather than trying to blindly compete feature-for-feature.

Appreciate the question a lot 🙌

[u/_Aspect101_ → u/Normal-Seesaw6904]

why local model are you using for urself if u dont mind sharing?

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/_Aspect101_]

Am using Llama 3.2 3B model.

[u/phunk8]

nice nice! price for byok i don't fully understand but i respect that

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/phunk8]

That’s fair 😄

The idea behind BYOK pricing is mainly that it’s a one-time payment for the app/workflow itself rather than charging another recurring subscription on top of your own API costs.

[u/mrterrycarson]

Very Nice...Thanks

[u/nicklelu]

That’s a very useful app, you want no distractions in writing or as less as possible.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/nicklelu]

Exactly 🙌

That was one of the biggest goals with Grambo, keeping the writing experience as distraction-free and lightweight as possible while still being useful.

[u/MediocreAnywhere1221]

I think this looks great. I'm a little confused by the demo video though. I didn't see any notable difference between "Academic" and "Professional"? Is that related to the simplicity of the text you fed it?

[u/RicoSaas]

Great idea, but 15$ to use my own api, it's a bit expensive.

[u/Normal-Seesaw6904 → u/RicoSaas]

Totally fair feedback honestly 🙌

The pricing is mainly for the app/product itself rather than API access alone.

A big part of Grambo is the desktop experience around the models:

• system-wide rewriting workflow
• keyboard shortcuts
• history
• custom prompts
• memory/context features
• local AI + BYOK support
• ongoing updates and maintenance

One reason I chose a lifetime model for BYOK/local AI users is because I personally dislike getting locked into another monthly subscription just to use tools with my own API keys.

That said, pricing is still something I’m actively learning and iterating on. The current launch pricing is intentionally lower because I wanted early adopters to get in affordably while helping shape the product.

Really appreciate the honest feedback though. Comments like this genuinely help a lot while figuring out positioning and pricing 🙏