Scratch
Rephrase with Apple Intelligence
Scratch can rewrite your text without sending it anywhere. The model runs on your Mac through Apple’s Foundation Models framework, so the buffer never leaves the device.
Requires macOS 26 on Apple silicon with Apple Intelligence enabled in System Settings.
Turn it on
Open Settings → Intelligence and switch on Use Apple Intelligence for rephrasing. If your Mac can’t run the model, the toggle is disabled and Scratch explains why inline (older macOS, Intel, or Apple Intelligence turned off in System Settings).
The rephrase menu
With rephrasing on, a rephrase button appears in the buffer’s footer, next to copy and export. Click it — or press ⌘K — to open a menu of your rephrase templates plus a Custom… entry for a one-off rewrite.
Pick a template and Scratch rewrites your text in place:
- If you have a selection, it rewrites the selection.
- If nothing is selected, it rewrites the whole buffer.
The rewrite lands in a single edit, so ⌘Z reverts it cleanly. Press Esc to close the menu.
Templates
Everything in the menu is a template — a label and an instruction sent verbatim to the on-device model. Scratch ships four to start, and they’re yours to edit or delete like any other:
| Template | What it does |
|---|---|
| Concise | Make the text more concise without changing its meaning. |
| Professional | Rewrite in a clear, professional register. |
| Grammar | Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation only. |
| Markdown format | Reformat unstructured text into clean Markdown — headings, lists, code blocks — without changing the wording. |
You can keep up to twelve templates in total.
In Settings → Intelligence → Rephrase templates:
- Pick a template on the left to edit it on the right.
- Click Add template for a new one.
- Give it a short label (up to 32 characters). The label is what you see in the menu.
- Write the instruction (up to 1,000 characters). Treat it like a system prompt: tell the model what to do and what to return.
- Edits commit when you click out of the field or press Enter. Delete removes a template.
- Restore defaults brings back any of the four built-ins you’ve deleted, without touching your own templates.
A good instruction is direct and ends by stating the output shape. For example:
Rewrite the text as a single-sentence summary. Preserve key nouns. Return only the rewritten text, no preamble.
Templates only appear in the menu when Use Apple Intelligence for rephrasing is on.
One-off custom rewrites
Choose Custom… in the menu to open an inline prompt. Type the rewrite you want — for example, “make this two bullets” or “translate to French” — and press Enter.
The instruction is used once and discarded. Save it as a template instead when you want to re-run the same prompt.
What stays on-device
The buffer text, the instruction, and the rewrite all stay on your Mac. Nothing about a rephrase is transmitted, and buffer content never appears in Scratch’s local diagnostic logs. See privacy in the app for the full picture.