Mac app Tangerine converts files when you hold Shift and drag

A new Mac app called Tangerine lets you convert a file without opening anything. You hold the Shift key, drag the file, and a circular menu appears around your cursor with the options for that file type. Pick one, and the converted file lands in the same folder as the original. It costs $29.99, with a free trial.

What it does

The circular menu is called a radial menu or action wheel. It shows only the choices that fit the file you are dragging. It works on your desktop or in any Finder window, which is the Mac's file browser.

Beyond swapping formats, the wheel offers some editing tools. The app can do the following:

• Redact video and image content
• Bleep audio
• Compress media
• Trim videos and annotate images
• Remove metadata and split or merge PDFs

Dragging with the Command or Control keys opens extra wheels. These hold specific tools and quick actions such as AirDrop. In total, the app has 275 conversion options, 26 file tools and 6 file actions.

Price and requirements

Tangerine was launched recently by an independent developer. The full app is $29.99. The free trial gives you 20 conversions. After that, the app locks you down to just the action wheel. It runs on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 13 or later. Apple silicon means the Mac chips Apple has built itself, rather than older Intel models.

Who it is for

The app is aimed at people who convert files often. The usual routine is to open a dedicated app or use a slow web tool. Web tools can carry privacy risks, since you upload your file to a site you may not know. Tangerine offers a quicker way to do the same job from the desktop. The material does not say how the app handles your files behind the scenes, so that is worth checking before using it on sensitive documents.

For someone who converts a file once in a while, $29.99 may be hard to justify.

A free alternative

One free option is OpenShelf. It is an open-source menu bar app, meaning its code is public. It uses a similar drag-and-drop action wheel to convert or edit files. It can also hold files on temporary floating shelves. It will not necessarily match every Tangerine feature, but it may cover what you need.

What to do

Start with the Tangerine trial and use your 20 conversions on real files you handle each week. If you find yourself wishing for more, the paid version may be worth it. If not, try OpenShelf before spending money.