Getting started
Snag (App Store name "Snag: Hands-Free Capture") catches what you type or say and sends it where you work: your Snag account, your notes, your tasks or your own server. With Snag Pro it also asks your agents things by name and lets you approve what they want to do.
Requirements
| Device | iPhone only. No iPad or Mac app. Portrait only. |
| iOS | 18.0 or later |
| Name on the Home Screen and in Siri | Snag |
| Account | None needed. Captures are kept in your Snag account, which lives on the iPhone. See Your Snag account. |
Install
- Open the App Store and search for "Snag: Hands-Free Capture".
- Tap Get.
- Open Snag. The set-up starts by itself.
Testers on TestFlight get Pro included. See Plans.
First-run set-up
The set-up has five screens, then a finish. Skip (top right) is on every screen and ends the set-up at once. Back (top left) is on screens 2 to 5. The dots at the bottom show the step.
- Say it. Snagged. What Snag does. Tap Get started.
- Where should your snags go? One pick, and it becomes the default:
- Apple Notes, Todoist, Obsidian, Something else, and last "Just keep them in Snag".
- Tapping a service that is not set up runs its set-up. Only a finished set-up picks it; a cancelled one leaves the last pick. The set-up ends on "Connected." and Done, with no default question: the pick is the answer.
- Todoist shows a spinner while Snag checks its sign-in. If the check fails, the row reads "Couldn't load Todoist. Try again"; tap it to check again.
- Apple Notes offers "Get the shortcut" when a ready-made shortcut is published; otherwise its set-up shows how to make one.
- Something else opens Add a connection with every service Snag can send to. Picking it also turns on Snag Control (see The two tabs).
- "Just keep them in Snag" sends nowhere else: captures stay in your Snag account.
- Continue stays off until something is picked. "You can change this any time in Settings."
- A couple of permissions. "Each is asked once, when you tap Allow."
- Microphone: "To hear you when you tap the mic or say "Snag this"."
- Speech recognition: "To show your words as you speak."
- "Snag asks for Photos, Reminders and notifications the first time it needs them." Notifications are never asked during the set-up.
- A granted permission shows Allowed. Tap Continue.
- Hands busy? The Siri phrases: "Hey Siri, Snag this" and the Action button (Settings > Action Button > Controls > Snag this). With Snag Control on, "Hey Siri, ask Snag..." too. Tap Continue.
- Try one. Tap the mic, say anything, tap again. This capture is real: it goes to your pick. When it has arrived the card says, for example, "That's in Apple Notes. Say "Hey Siri, snag this" any time.", or for "Just keep them in Snag": "That's saved in Snag. Add a place to send them any time in Settings." If it is still waiting, the card says why (waiting for signal, sign in needed). Tap Done.
- You're set. "Captures go to your Snag account" (or the service you picked). With Snag Control on, it adds "Control lives in the second tab when you want it." and, on Free, "Free covers capture. Pro adds Snag Control, on the phone and in CarPlay, and unlimited smart captures." Tap Done.
Finishing or skipping marks the set-up done. Run it again from Settings > Switching > Run the set-up again.
The two tabs
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Capture | The capture card, "Waiting on you" (Pro, only when an agent waits), and Recent. See Snag Capture. |
| Control | Snag Control: agents, approvals and voice commands. Pro only; on Free the tab shows what it does and "Snag Control is a Pro feature." See Snag Control. |
The Control tab shows once Snag Control is turned on: by picking Something else in the set-up, buying Pro, adding an agent, Settings > Advanced > Show Snag Control, or opening a Control link, widget or CarPlay's Ask an agent. Until then Settings has no Approvals section and Add a connection has no Advanced group. An iPhone that already had agents, voice commands or Pro before this version starts with it on.
The gear in each tab's header opens Settings, which starts with Plan and Connections.
Full and hands-free
Snag has two ways of capturing.
| Full | Hands-free | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | The capture card on the Capture tab | A sheet over the app, the Live Activity, or the car screen |
| Sound | Silent: no tones, nothing spoken | A tone, "What's on your mind?", then "Snagged. Add more, or done?" |
| Ending a recording | Tap stop, then edit and Send; or Send now | Stop talking, or tap Done |
| Silence | Never stops by itself | Stops after the quiet set in Settings > Voice > Stop after quiet |
What picks the mode:
- Opening Snag from the Home Screen or the app switcher always shows the full app.
- "Hey Siri, Snag this", the Action button and the Snag this control always run hands-free. While Snag is on screen, the hands-free sheet comes up; otherwise the Live Activity shows the capture.
- CarPlay runs its own hands-free screen. See CarPlay.
- With headphones or car audio connected while Snag is open, Snag offers hands-free (below).
There is no setting that makes Snag open in hands-free mode.
The headphones and car-audio offer
When headphones, AirPods or CarPlay audio connect while Snag is open (and nothing is recording), a banner appears at the top:
- Title: "AirPods in. Go hands-free?" for AirPods, otherwise "Headphones in. Go hands-free?". CarPlay audio counts as headphones here.
- Line: "Snag will talk you through it. Exit any time."
- Go hands-free opens the hands-free sheet and starts listening.
- Not now hides the offer for the rest of the day.
It shows at most once a session. A Bluetooth car kit that is not CarPlay looks the same as a headset to iOS, so it gets the headphones wording. Turn the offer off in Settings > Switching > Offer hands-free with headphones.
While CarPlay is connected the phone shows "On the car screen" instead of the app, with "I'm a passenger" to use the phone. See CarPlay.
Next
- Snag Capture: every way to capture.
- Destinations: connecting your own tools.
- Privacy: what stays on the phone.
Next: Snag Capture