Expressions

About

Expressions is a Mac app for working with regular expressions. Type a pattern and see what it matches in your sample text as you write it. You can save useful expressions, examples, and patterns in a library to reuse later, and open the built-in reference sheet with cmd+r when you need syntax help. Expressions uses ICU regular expressions, the standard used by Apple frameworks.

The app highlights pattern syntax and text groups, and you can switch between groups with cmd+shift+} or cmd+shift+{. For complex patterns, enable the "Allow whitespaces and comments" option to split a pattern into smaller parts and add comments. The interface is minimal, with no buttons to navigate, and it offers a full screen view and both dark and light modes.

Expressions is available from the website, the Mac App Store, and Setapp. Website and Mac App Store purchases are one-time payments for the current major version, and a free trial is available. The app requires macOS 12 or newer and supports both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. According to the website, Expressions is private by design: it does not collect usage analytics, telemetry, or the text and patterns you work with, and everything you type stays on your Mac.