Themes, the Help menu and privacy in Macro by Zaweba
Macro by Zaweba has light and dark themes on Ctrl+T, remembers its window, and keeps help, feedback and updates on one menu, with no account or cloud.
Around the recorder and step editor, Macro by Zaweba keeps its extras simple. There are light and dark themes, switched with Ctrl+T. The window position is remembered. A Help menu gathers How it works, Send feedback, Report a problem, Check for updates, other Zaweba apps and the licence agreement. There is no account, no cloud, and nothing is sent unless you choose Send feedback.
For a program that sees everything you type while recording, that last point matters more than it might for most apps.
Light or dark
Ctrl+T switches between the light and dark themes. Dark is comfortable in a dim room or for long sessions editing steps. Light can be easier to read on a bright screen or next to a light program you are automating. Pick whichever makes the step list easiest for you to read, since reading steps is most of what you do in Macro once a recording is made.
Remembered window
Macro remembers where you left its window. While recording, it gets out of the way and a small bar at the top of the screen shows the count with Pause keystrokes and Stop buttons. Afterwards, it comes back where you had it, which is handy if you keep it on a second monitor beside the program you are automating.
What the Help menu offers
How it works is the place to start if you are new to the app.
Send feedback and Report a problem let you tell the makers what works and what doesn't. Check for updates sees whether there is a newer version. Other Zaweba apps points to the rest of the family, which includes Schedule by Zaweba, the task scheduler that can play your macros on a timetable.
The licence agreement is asked once on first start, and stays available in Help afterwards. Macro is free software under the EULA.
Privacy and what stays on your PC
Macro works offline and keeps everything on your own computer. Each macro is a .zmacro plain JSON file in your Macro folder. There is no account to sign into and no cloud copy.
That honesty runs through the app. Recorded keystrokes, including any passwords, are stored as plain text in the macro file. Macro warns you before the first recording, keeps the warning visible in the editor, and repeats it on export, where the warning is written into the file itself. To keep a password out, use the keystroke pause hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+P by default) while you type it; clicks are still recorded and the macro gets a note where keys were not.
Staying in control
Two safety features sit alongside the settings. A countdown appears before every replay, 3 seconds by default and adjustable from 0 to 10 in Tools > Settings, giving you time to click into the target window. And holding Esc for one second stops any replay in any program at any speed, releasing any key or button the macro was holding.
Small habits that help
Keep macros you share free of anything private, and check the steps before exporting. Run Check for updates now and then. And if something doesn't work as expected, Report a problem is there for exactly that, without you needing an account anywhere.
A quiet set of extras, then, around a tool whose real work is recording the boring clicks once so you never have to do them by hand again.
