# Quick answers for Mac: Ask a quick question. Get the answer, not ten links.

> Quick answers on Mac from ctrlhq's power bar: ask who holds an office, what something is or where it is, and get a short sourced answer from DuckDuckGo and Wikipedia.

Some questions don't need a browser tab: who the prime minister is, what a company does, where a landmark is.

Press ⌘⇧Space and ask. ctrlhq looks it up on DuckDuckGo, then Wikipedia, and shows a short card: the answer, a picture when there is one, a few lines of summary and where it came from. Return copies it; ⌘Return opens the source.

Ask "who is the current prime minister of India" and the card leads with the name, taken from Wikidata's record of who holds the office now.

## What you get

- **The answer first.** "Who is the prime minister of India" leads with "Narendra Modi", then the summary. For people, places and things you get the short version straight away.
- **Always sourced.** Every card says where it came from (DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia, Wikidata), with a link to read the rest.
- **Copy in one key.** Return copies the answer, so you can paste it into the message you were writing.
- **More when you want it.** More opens the full summary and a few facts, like when something was founded or where someone was born.
- **web for anything.** Type web before any search, like "web tesla model y", to look it up even when it doesn't read like a question.
- **Only questions leave your Mac.** Tasks, sums, passwords and file searches never go anywhere. Only text that reads like a question, or follows web, is sent.

## How it works

1. Press ⌘⇧Space from any app.
2. Ask who, what or where, or type web and what you want to know.
3. Read the card, press Return to copy the answer or ⌘Return to open the source.

Shortcut: ⌘⇧Space

## FAQ

### Where do the answers come from?

DuckDuckGo's Instant Answer API first, which mostly draws on Wikipedia. If it has nothing, ctrlhq asks Wikipedia directly. For "who is the current…" questions it also asks Wikidata who holds that office now.

### What can't it answer?

It's not a search engine or a chatbot. It won't answer weather, news, prices, sports scores or opinion questions. When there's no quick answer, the last row still searches the web for you.

### Are my tasks or passwords sent anywhere?

No. Only text that reads like a question (who, what, where, or ending in ?) or that follows web is sent. Tasks, sums, reminders, passwords and file searches stay on your Mac.

### Is it free? Do I need an account?

Yes, it's free, and no account or key is needed. DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia and Wikidata are free public services.

### Can I turn it off?

Yes. Settings › Integrations › Quick Answers has an on/off switch. With it off, nothing you type is sent anywhere.

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Part of ctrlhq, the productivity app in your Mac's notch: $24.99 once (launch price, regular $29), no subscription. Native, about 17 MB. Download: https://ctrlhq.app/download · All features: https://ctrlhq.app/features