v1.16.0: 20+ new features!
Hi everyone. I'm super super excited to share what I've been working on the last few weeks.
After a mini burnout, I was able to get back to building and added a lot of new and useful features. I can't wait to talk about it.
TL;DR: Lots of new features!
- Inline Whisper: use Whisper in any text field
- 7 new plugins: Shell Access, FFmpeg, AppleScript, Kagi Search, Brave Search, Perplexity Search, You.com Search
- Custom App Icon
- Support Function Calling for Groq, MistralAI & other services
- Support local vision model (llava via Ollama)
- Customize AI Service & model for AI Assistant
- “Default” as an option for Command & Assistant
- Better UX for AI Commands & Assistants
- Instant AI Command: press a shortcut key then ask AI about anything
- Alternative Profile for AI Command
- AI Command supports custom System Instruction
- Import from ChatGPT
- Import/Export BoltAI data
- BoltAI Database Maintenance
- Add “official” support for LM Studio
- Regenerate using different AI Service/Model
- Dark theme for code blocks
- Remember sidebar & state
- Hide Models
- Highlight Search Keyword
- Launch at Login
- Huge performance improvement!!
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There are so many new changes, I don't know where to start. Let's start with the most voted feature requests: Inline Whisper
Inline Whisper
The Inline Whisper feature allows you to activate OpenAI's whisper transcription within any textfield on your Mac. Learn more...
Here is a simple demo video:
7 New AI Plugins
AI Plugin has been my primary focus for a while now. In this release, I've added 7 more plugins:
- New Web Search Plugins: Kagi Search, Brave Search, Perplexity Search and You.com Search
- Shell Access Plugin: allows AI to use bash command. WARNING: Always double check the command.
- FFmpeg Plugin: allows you to edit audio & video using ffmpeg command.
- AppleScript Plugin: allows BoltAI to control your computer using AppleScript
In the next version, I will add support for custom plugin development. It's more challenging than I thought.
Follow this guide to learn more on using AI Plugin in a chat
Added "Function Calling" support for more AI models
The AI Plugin feature requires the AI model to support Function Calling capability.
Previously, this feature is limited to OpenAI's models only.
In this version, I've extended this capability to more AI services. Here is the list of services you can use AI plugins:
- OpenAI & Setapp
- Azure OpenAI Service
- Anthropic Claude 3
- Groq (recommended to use with
llama3-70bonly link) - Mistral AI (limited to a few models)
- Together AI (limited to a few models)
- OpenRouter (only OpenAI's models are supported)
Features for Pro Users:
BoltAI's pro users love the AI Command & AI Inline features. These features integrate deeply with the OS and provide better user experience, but it also the most challenging to implement.
In this release, I've improved some of the feature to make your life easier.
Local Vision Model
BoltAI now supports local vision model (only llava via Ollama for now).
Added official support for LM Studio
AI Inline supports custom AI Service & Model
This feature is long overdue. In the early days, BoltAI support OpenAI models only. And it becomes a technical debt.
I'm happy to share that I've added support for custom AI Service & Model, including a new option "Default", where it always follow the default service you set in Settings > Models.
Default AI Assistant
Set an assistant as default and new chats will always use this assistant.
Go to Settings > Assistants. Right-click on an AI Assistant and choose Set as Default.
AI Command's Alternative Profile
AI Command's Alternative Profile allows you to run the same command with a different configuration profile. Learn more...
Customize Instant Command
In BoltAI, an AI Command consists of pre-defined configuration, system instruction and behavior. An Instant Command* allows you to type your prompt and start chatting right away.
More customization
UI & UX has always been my top priority for BoltAI. In this version, I've added App Icon customization & better code block theme support.
Customize App Icon:
Customize Code Block theme & fonts:
Data import & export
Another most voted feature is to support iCloud sync. Unfortunately, it requires too much effort and I wasn't able to make much progress on this feature yet.
In the meantime, you can transfer your data from one device to another with this data import & export feature.
You can learn more about the feature here: https://boltai.com/docs/chat-ui/import-export
In this release, I also added the ability to import your ChatGPT data. Enjoy a seamless transition from ChatGPT to BoltAI! Read the step-by-step guide: https://boltai.com/docs/chat-ui/import-from-chatgpt
Improved user experience
I'm quite happy with the overall UI & UX of BoltAI. But there are certain areas where the experience is not quite good yet.
In this version, I'm trying to address some of them.
Easier to switch AI service & model mid-conversation
Quickly regenerate with another AI service/model configuration.
Hide unused AI models
Some AI services like OpenRouter & Together AI support a lot of models. It can be overwhelming to find the right model.
In this version, you can choose which model to show when starting a new chat, or when switching to another model.
Highlight search keyword
It's a minor feature but I find it super useful.
Easier to manage AI Commands/Assistants/Prompts
You can already do bulk update AI Commands & Assistants but it's a bit hard to discover. In this verison, I've added an "action button" to improve the discoverability.
Launch at Login
Another useful quality-of-life feature ✌️
Huge performance improvement
I spent a few days optimize the overall performance of BoltAI and I can say it's a lot faster now.
Closing Thoughts
After more than a year working on BoltAI, I started to understand what it is, and who it's for.
Recently OpenAI launched the official ChatGPT app for macOS. And just yesterday, Apple announced Apple Intelligence with system-wide AI integration.
I must admit, it did stress me quite a bit.
But on second thought, I believe this is actually a positive news. More people will be able to leverage AI in ther day-to-day job. And when they understand the limitation of an AI system, they will naturally find a better alternative that solve their niche problems better.
That's where BoltAI can fill the gaps I think.
And lastly, thank you all for your support messages. BoltAI is nothing without its fans 🫶
