A new way to use your computer. Instead of typing, clicking and searching, you say what you want. ahsk writes it, cleaned up, in whatever app you are in; one shortcut (⌘ Space on the Mac, Win + Space on Windows) opens any app, file, site or command; and on the Mac, Alan does tasks for you in Calendar, Reminders and Messages.

Who is Alan, and what can he do?

Alan is the part of ahsk that does things, not just types them. On the Mac, hold fn + Option and say what you want done: move a meeting, set a reminder, text someone, answer the email on your screen. He acts and then offers Undo. Anything that cannot be taken back, like sending a message, waits for your OK first. He also remembers how you work, such as how long your meetings run.

What can the launcher do?

Press ⌘ Space (Win + Space on Windows) over any app and type. Half a name opens an app or finds a file. A keyword and a search goes straight to the site: g for Google, yt for YouTube, gpt for ChatGPT, cl for Claude, ps for Perplexity. It does sums, runs commands like sleep, lock and empty trash, and on the Mac also clean, dark mode, awake 2h and remind. Anything else, it asks AI.

How is ahsk different from ChatGPT or Claude?

ChatGPT and Claude live in a tab: you open it, copy text in, and paste the answer back. ahsk works where you already are. It writes into the app you are using, answers from one shortcut, and on the Mac Alan acts in your own calendar and messages. And when you do want ChatGPT or Claude, the launcher takes you there with your question already typed.

How much does ahsk cost?

Your first 10,000 dictated words are free, with no card required, which is enough to find out whether ahsk fits how you work. Invite a friend and you get 10,000 more words while they start with 5,000 extra. Pro is €9.99 a month for unlimited dictation and every feature, and you can cancel any time.

What platforms is ahsk available on?

macOS 14 (Sonoma) and above, Windows 10 (1809) and Windows 11, and iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 and above. One account covers all three. Alan is on the Mac; the launcher is on Mac and Windows; dictation is everywhere. Linux is not planned.

Does ahsk work offline?

No. Speech is turned into text in the cloud, and Alan and the launcher’s AI answers need a connection too. It is built to stay quick on slow connections, and a dictation that fails is kept so you can retry it.

How does ahsk protect my privacy?

Your speech is sent to our transcription provider, turned into text, and then discarded. We never store your audio and we do not keep transcripts on our servers. Your dictionary, learned words and Alan’s memory stay on your device. Nothing you say is used to train AI models, and you can revoke permissions or delete your account at any time.

By Jithin Kumar Palepu · 2026-10-24 · 8 min read

How to Get Interactive On-Screen Guides on Mac

To get interactive on-screen guides on a Mac, you use software that reads your current application interface and highlights UI elements directly on your…

To get interactive on-screen guides on a Mac, you use software that reads your current application interface and highlights UI elements directly on your display. Instead of switching windows to read text manuals, an interactive guide overlays visual pointers over buttons and menus while speaking instructions. Ahsk provides this capability through Alan, pointing at exact controls step by step until you complete the task.

Key Takeaways

Static documentation forces users to switch contexts, whereas interactive guides highlight controls directly over the active macOS interface.
Ahsk includes Alan, an assistant on Mac 6.15 that inspects active software, points to specific buttons, and speaks instructions out loud.
In internal menu-reading benchmarks, verifying native menu commands improved target selection accuracy for commands like ⌘T from 0/5 to 10/10.
Ahsk offers 20 interactive guides per month on its free tier and 150 guides per month on the Pro plan for €9.99 per month.
Alternative visual utilities, such as the Displays for macOS tool running on macOS 10.9 or later, focus on display resolutions rather than live workflow guidance.

What is an interactive on-screen guide?

An interactive on-screen guide is an assistive software layer that identifies interface elements on your screen and points to them sequentially while explaining each step. Instead of generating abstract text instructions, the guide locates buttons, input fields, and menu dropdowns inside the app you currently use. On macOS, this system reads native application states, highlights the target control with a visual callout, and updates its advice as you click through a workflow.

Static help documentation presents steps outside your working context. When you search for instructions in a browser, you must read a paragraph, memorize the button label, switch back to your project, and scan the window to find that button. If an interface changes during an update, text documentation quickly becomes obsolete.

Interactive guides remove the need to translate written descriptions into visual locations. The software checks what is visible on your screen right now. If a button sits behind a nested menu, an interactive guide identifies the parent menu first. It directs your attention to that specific element, waits for your action, and reveals the next step only when you are ready.

Why do static Mac help articles fail?

Static Mac help articles fail because modern desktop interfaces contain nested options, adaptive layouts, and duplicate icon designs that text descriptions cannot clearly disambiguate. When documentation tells a user to click an icon or access a submenu, it cannot confirm whether that menu item is hidden, disabled, or relocated by the developer. This disconnect forces users to spend time troubleshooting the guide rather than finishing their actual task.

Traditional Help Flow:
[Encounter Problem] -> [Open Browser] -> [Search Web / AI Chat] -> [Read Static Text] -> [Switch Windows] -> [Scan Screen to Match Label] -> [Click Incorrect Control]

Interactive Guide Flow:
[Encounter Problem] -> [Ask Ahsk Alan] -> [Visual Callout Appears on Screen] -> [Click Highlighted Button] -> [Done]

A common failure occurs with common keyboard shortcuts and identical iconography across different macOS applications. For example, tabs and text formatting tools often share similar glyphs. In tests conducted on Ahsk Mac 6.15.2, pointing at controls based purely on visual inspection failed five out of five times (0/5) when distinguishing between lookalike controls for the ⌘T command. By updating the software to read native application menu commands directly, detection accuracy improved to ten out of ten (10/10).

Static guides also cannot detect whether your operating system environment matches the author's setup. A troubleshooting guide written for macOS Sonoma might reference keyboard shortcuts that behave differently on external hardware. For instance, a user on Apple Discussions reported inconsistent results when trying to use the Cmd + F1 screen mirroring shortcut on Sonoma 14.5 with a MacBook Pro M3 Max and an external display. Static articles cannot detect these hardware variations, whereas on-screen guidance verifies what is visible on your screen before directing you where to click.

How does on-screen guidance compare to documentation and chat?

Interactive on-screen guides differ fundamentally from static documentation and text-only AI chatbots by operating directly inside your visual workspace. While browser articles provide broad documentation and chatbots generate narrative summaries, an on-screen assistant identifies the exact coordinate of a control on your display.

The table below contrasts how each method handles interface navigation, context switching, and workflow completion on macOS.

Feature	Static Knowledge Bases	Web AI Chatbots	Ahsk Alan On-Screen Guides
Interface Context	None; manual window switching required	None; copy-paste or text prompts required	Reads active macOS window and menu commands
Visual Targeting	Generic screenshots or static diagrams	Text descriptions only	Direct visual pointer on your screen
Audio Guidance	None	Text-to-speech reading full text walls	Step-by-step spoken instructions
Error Handling	User must diagnose mismatching layouts	User must type new prompt	User presses ⌘↩ to skip or Esc to cancel
Monthly Quota	Unlimited public browsing	Varies by provider subscription	20 guides/mo free; 150 guides/mo on Pro

When users consult chat assistants, they receive lengthy paragraphs describing where settings might live. You still have to interpret terms like "overflow menu" or "inspector panel." An on-screen guide eliminates that interpretation step by placing visual indicators directly over the relevant control.

How do you launch an interactive guide on macOS?

You launch an interactive guide on macOS by summoning Ahsk, speaking your question aloud, and following the visual pointers that appear directly over your target application. The assistant analyzes the active window, speaks the first instruction, and marks the necessary button with an on-screen callout. You advance through the process at your own pace until the task is complete.

Follow these steps to start and navigate an interactive guide using Ahsk Docs guidelines:

Open the target application: Bring the app you need help with to the front of your desktop. Ensure the window is visible and active.
Trigger the assistant: Press the Ahsk launcher shortcut to activate voice input.
Ask your question: Say "How do I..." followed by your intended goal, such as configuring export settings or setting up text formatting.
Follow the on-screen marker: Alan inspects your display, places a visual highlight on the first button or menu, and speaks the instruction.
Navigate or skip steps: Click the highlighted element. If you already know a particular instruction or want to bypass it, press ⌘↩ to skip to the next step.
Dismiss the guide: Once you complete the workflow, or if you wish to exit early, press Esc to remove the visual overlays.

How does Alan locate UI elements without guessing?

Alan locates UI elements without guessing by parsing the macOS accessibility tree and reading native application menu structures rather than relying exclusively on screen pixels. By querying the software's active menu bar, the assistant verifies the real internal labels and key equivalents of every command. This prevents the system from confusing visually identical icons, ensuring that visual callouts attach to the correct interface element every time.

Application UI Check:
[Inspect Native Menus] ---> [Match Target Action] ---> [Read Keycaps & Controls] ---> [Display Visual Callout]

To assist with keyboard navigation, the guide displays shortcuts as clear keycap graphics right on your screen. If an action can be performed faster with a keyboard combination, you see the exact modifier keys beside the target button.

Furthermore, prolonged focus on detailed software configurations causes eye strain and cognitive fatigue. To promote sustainable focus, Alan tracks continuous usage and suggests taking a short break after 90 minutes of active work.

Users can explore these workflows across varied scenarios outlined on the Ahsk use-cases page. The free edition includes 20 interactive guides each month alongside 10,000 words of voice dictation. For heavier daily workflows, upgrading to Ahsk Pro costs €9.99 a month and expands guide availability to 150 interactive sessions per month.

When should you use display management tools instead of guides?

You should use display management tools instead of interactive guides when your issue involves monitor arrangement, physical screen resolution, or multi-device mirroring rather than in-app navigation. Display utilities control how macOS outputs video signals to external monitors, whereas interactive guides assist with software controls inside applications. Distinguishing between hardware configuration and software navigation prevents installing the wrong category of software.

For example, specialized utilities manage physical monitor configurations without software guidance. The utility Displays for macOS operates on macOS 10.9 or later and allows users to replace default resolution names like "1680 x 1900 (60 Hz)" with custom text labels. The software, notarized by Apple for Intel and Apple Silicon M series processors, provides monitor configuration options via a 15 days Free Trial under version 1.9.10 released on 01/10/2021. This utility manages your monitors, but it will not show you how to navigate menus inside third-party apps.

Similarly, external hardware mirroring fulfills different operational needs. According to an analysis published by Grammaropolis, modern screen-mirroring protocols support 1080p and 4K mirroring, but running AirPlay and third-party mirroring apps can consume up to 30-50% more battery than usual. Mirroring your screen to another device helps share a view, but it does not tell you which button to click. When your goal is learning an unfamiliar tool, an on-screen guide provides direct visual direction without taxing system resources through continuous display streaming.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if an app has lookalike icons?

Ahsk reads the active application's menu bar commands directly. In benchmark testing for commands like ⌘T, reading native menu structures improved control targeting from 0/5 to 10/10, preventing Alan from pointing at lookalike buttons.

Can I skip an on-screen step if I already know it?

Yes. You can press ⌘↩ at any point during an active guide to skip the current step and advance to the next action immediately.

How do I close an interactive guide?

You can dismiss an active guide at any time by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard, which clears all visual highlights from your screen.

How many interactive guides can I use for free?

Ahsk includes 20 interactive guides per month on its free tier, which also includes 10,000 words of dictation. The Pro plan provides 150 guides per month for €9.99 monthly.

Does Alan support keyboard shortcut displays?

Yes. When a menu item or control has an associated shortcut, Alan renders the key combination directly as keycaps on your screen alongside the visual pointer.

Download the latest release from the Ahsk homepage, trigger Alan with your shortcut, and ask how to complete your first task.