Orca Screen · Mac · The Loom replacement
Part of Orca SnapRecord the screen, press stop. The link is already on your clipboard.
Hit a shortcut, pick an area, a window or the whole screen, and after a three-second countdown you are recording: your mic, the system audio, and a camera bubble in the corner if you want one. A small floating bar shows the time and holds pause and stop. Press stop and the video uploads to your own Orca, the share link is copied, and the transcript with captions follows a few minutes later. Paste the link and go back to what you were doing.
Recordings need an Orca account to store them: the video, transcript and share page all live on your own Orca project. Orca Time on its own does not include that. macOS 14.4 or later; Snap asks for Microphone (and Camera, for the bubble) once.
Shortcut, talk, stop. The link does the rest.
The whole point is that stop is the last thing you do.
Pick what to record
⌥⇧R for an area, ⌥⇧W for a window, ⌥⇧S for the screen under the pointer. Or Record screen from Orca's More menu. Three seconds of countdown, Esc to think again.
Talk it through
Mic and system audio go in together, so the walkthrough has your voice and the app's sound. The menu bar mark turns red. The floating bar has pause, stop and cancel. Recordings stop themselves at 60 minutes.
Stop, and paste the link
The video uploads to your Orca, the link lands on the clipboard with a "Link copied" badge, and the page opens if you want it to. The transcript and captions arrive a few minutes after.
The share page
The video plays straight away. The words catch up.
The link works the moment the upload finishes, before any transcript exists, because that is the moment you want to send it. A few minutes later the same page has captions on the video, a summary of what the recording shows and the steps taken, and the transcript. Click any line and the video jumps there.
- Who watched, and when. In Orca's Recordings tab each recording shows its views and how many different people, with the last time it was opened. Opening it from Orca's own Open button does not count.
- Download the notes. The viewer can copy the transcript or download it as markdown, the same file Orca keeps for you.
- Nothing personal on the page. No email addresses, no ids. Revoke in Orca and the link stops working.
Ninety days, unless you say otherwise
Most recordings are for this week. The ones that aren't, you Keep.
A recording explaining one bug to one colleague does not need to live forever. So the video is deleted after 90 days, and the transcript stays. The onboarding walkthrough you send every new client is different: press Keep, in Snap's Recent list or in Orca's Recordings tab, and it stays until you unkeep it. Unticking puts it back on the clock from that moment.
Name it at stop, or later
Give the recording a title when you stop, or rename it afterwards from Orca. The share page, the markdown file and Notes all pick up the new name.
Retry, never lose it
The files stay on your Mac until the upload has definitely succeeded. If the connection drops mid-way, the recording shows Retry under Recent, and one click sends it again.
Your recordings go to your Orca. Nowhere else.
A screen recording is the most sensitive file you make all week. This is where it ends up.
Stored on your project
The video, the thumbnail and the transcript are written to your own Orca project in a private bucket. Playback uses short-lived signed links. Nothing goes through a third-party video host.
Paired, not logged in
Snap pairs with your Orca using a code from Settings, Connections, Meetings. No database key lives in Snap, and Record stays hidden until the pairing is done, because without it the recordings would have nowhere to go.
Permissions, asked once each
Screen Recording on the first capture, Microphone on the first recording, Camera only if you switch the bubble on. Standard macOS dialogs, granted once.
Why not Loom
Loom got one thing exactly right. This keeps that and drops the rest.
The thing Loom got right is the link being ready at stop. That is the whole habit: record, stop, paste. Everything else, the workspace, the library, the per-seat plan, the videos living on someone else's servers under someone else's retention policy, is the price you paid for that one moment.
Orca Screen keeps the moment. Stop, and the link is on the clipboard. But the recording goes to your own Orca project, the transcript goes into the same Notes as your meetings, and the summary is written by the same Orca that knows what the recording was about.
And it lives in Snap, the tool already on your menu bar for screenshots. Same shortcuts, same selector, same habit. A screenshot when a picture will do, a recording when it won't.
How it fits
Screen is Snap's other button, and Meet's fallback.
It records what the notetaker can't join, and everything you'd rather show than write.
Licensing
Snap to record it. Orca to keep it.
Included with Orca Snap
Recordings stored on your Orca account
- Snap comes with an Orca Time licence
- Record needs an Orca account to pair with
- 90-day keep, or Keep for good
One licence, the whole assistant
Recordings are stored by an Orca licence, £250 a month per licence, and that one licence is the whole assistant. This page is one part of it.
Orca Snap does the recording on the Mac. On Orca already? Pair Snap from Settings, Connections, Meetings and the Record buttons appear.
- Orca Inbox
- Orca Autopilot
- Orca Calendar
- Orca Book
- Orca Meet
- Orca Post
- Orca Brief
- Orca Notes
- Orca People
- Orca Chat
- Orca Plan
- Orca Clip
- Orca Mobile
- Orca Today
- Orca Screen You are here recording storage
Claude API usage, setup support and updates are in the monthly price. The pricing page has the one-off setup fee and the rate for six licences or more.
Also available: Orca Time, £2.79 per seat a month, with Orca Snap included.
Questions: chris@simmance.ai.
Questions people ask
Do I need Orca, or is Snap enough?
Both. Snap does the recording; Orca stores it, transcribes it and serves the share page. An Orca Time licence gets you Snap for screenshots, but Record stays hidden until Snap is paired with an Orca account.
How long until the link works?
As soon as the upload finishes. The page plays the video immediately and says "transcript coming" until the words arrive, usually a few minutes later.
Can I record a Zoom or Teams call with it?
Yes. Record the call window. System audio captures the other side and your mic captures you, and both go into the transcript. It is the fallback when Orca Meet can't join a meeting.
Is there a camera bubble?
Yes, off by default. Switch it on and it sits bottom-left as a circle, two sizes, drag it anywhere. Snap remembers your choice.
What happens to the local files?
They sit in Snap's recordings folder until the upload succeeds, then they are cleared. A failed upload keeps them and offers Retry.
Windows?
Snap on Windows is planned, and Record with it. Today Screen is Mac only, macOS 14.4 or later.
Show them, don't type it.
Part of Orca Snap · Mac, macOS 14.4+ · Recordings need an Orca account | See also Orca Meet, Orca Snap and Orca Notes