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Features flowy is a powerful macOS application designed to make animated screen recordings and video editing effortless. It aims to streamline your creative process so your project is ready as soon as the recording is finished, without needing extensive setup.

Key features include:

  • High-Quality Screen Recording: It supports recording your entire screen or specific windows in stunning detail, with all native resolutions and customizable frame rates. Exported videos are at the highest quality.
  • Integrated Camera & Microphone Support: You can overlay your camera feed, with its position and size modifiable during editing. It also records audio from your microphone and/or system audio, making it suitable for tutorials and reaction videos. Users have specifically noted its ability to record system audio without needing additional drivers.
  • Automatic Effects: flowy automatically applies effects and animations based on your cursor movements and interactions, saving time on manual setup.
  • Advanced Video Editing: The app includes precision editing tools such as timeline scrubbing, video trimming, and background editing.
  • Dynamic Visual Effects:
    • Zoom Effects: It automatically creates smooth zoom effects based on interactions, which can also be edited later.
    • Background Effects and Custom Background options.
    • Pointer Effects and Customizable Cursor Effects: You can highlight actions with customizable cursor styles, sizes, and animations. There’s also a Cursor Tilt feature.
  • Versatile Export & Sharing: Recordings can be embedded into any aspect ratio and targeted for various platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, X (Twitter), Reddit, Shopify, and Notion, supporting both vertical and wide formats.
  • User-Friendly Interface: flowy features a clean and intuitive design, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced video editors. It also offers Keyboard Quick Actions for faster creation and editing.
  • No Watermark: There is no mention of a watermark on exported videos, implying a clean output.

However, the current version of flowy (as discussed in the sources) does have some limitations:

  • It does not yet support pausing recordings, though this feature is planned for future updates.
  • It does not offer automated storage or AI-optimized video recordings.
  • The cursor feature currently only includes the regular cursor variant, not others like text or grab.
  • Some users have suggested UI polish to align more with Apple’s native app guidelines and improvements to the editing interface, such as repositioning the play button.
  • The developer is actively working on bug fixes for issues like window recordings and plans custom exporting options in future updates. Version 1.2 includes potential bug fixes for Intel Mac systems.

Price

The “flowy Screen Recorder & Editor” macOS app is available for $19.99. This is a one-time purchase that grants you a lifetime license for use on all your Mac devices linked to the same iCloud account used for payment; it is explicitly stated that there is no subscription.

The developer ran a “free forever” promotional offer from July 16-19, which caused some confusion due to time zone differences. As a remedy, the developer proactively reached out to affected users who commented or messaged, providing them with promo codes for a lifetime license. The app’s price reverted to $19.99 after this promotional period.

AI Alternatives

The “flowy Screen Recorder & Editor” macOS app does not incorporate AI features for automated storage or optimized video recordings. The developer explicitly states that flowy is not a direct competitor for Loom because Loom offers AI features and storage, whereas flowy focuses on creating presentations and good-looking screen recordings.

Users and discussions in the sources mention several alternative screen recording and video editing tools, which some consider competitors to flowy:

  • Screen Studio: This is frequently mentioned as a direct alternative, though many users perceive it as significantly more expensive than flowy. Flowy is seen as a more affordably priced option that fills a similar niche.
  • Loom: As noted, Loom offers AI features and automated storage, setting it apart from flowy.
  • ScreenSage: One user identifies ScreenSage as flowy’s “real” competitor, praising flowy’s price point.
  • Focusee.
  • Cleanshot X: While one user keeps it for screenshots, it’s mentioned as a potential comparison point for video recording.
  • Record Go: One user expressed distrust in “fancy” apps after a negative experience with Record Go.
  • Borumi.com.
  • Snagit: An older screen recording tool, with one user suggesting flowy might be snappier.

In summary, while flowy provides powerful and intuitive screen recording and editing capabilities, it currently focuses on manual control and user-driven effects rather than AI-powered automation or cloud storage features, which some competitors like Loom provide.

Think of flowy (the macOS app) as a master painter’s brush and palette. It gives you all the tools to create a beautiful, polished visual piece, relying on your skill and direction for the final artistic touches, rather than an AI that automatically generates the art for you.