What the ring offers

The ring changes with what you’re holding. Shift opens the save ring; Alt (⌥ Option) switches to the actions ring, and ⌘ (Ctrl on Windows) to the AI ring.

Images

The Save ring for a picture: Original, PNG, JPG, WebP, PDF, Copy, Save as…, No metadata

Option	What it does
Original	Saves the full-size file behind the picture you see (see below).
PNG / JPG / WebP	Saves the image converted. Use PNG or JPG for WebP and AVIF images that other apps won’t open; WebP for a smaller file.
PDF	Saves the picture as a one-page PDF, at its full size.
Copy	Puts the image on the clipboard as PNG.
Save as…	Saves the original and asks you where.
No metadata	Saves the original without its hidden data: camera, location, dates, captions. The picture itself isn’t touched.

The Actions ring for a picture: Crop, Edit, Redact, Annotate, Background, Compress, Open, Copy link

Tap Alt for the picture tools. Each opens a small window on the page, and Save applies it to the full-size original. Editing tools has the details: selecting and changing what you’ve drawn, undo and redo, Copy, the bigger window, and the keys.

Tool	What it does
Crop	To a ratio or an exact size; turn and flip.
Edit	Brightness, contrast, fade, saturation, vibrance and warmth.
Redact	Cover or blur what to hide; Find text marks every line for you.
Annotate	Arrows, pen, text, boxes, circles, highlights and numbered steps.
Background	The picture (or its cut-out subject) on a colour or gradient, with a shadow.
Compress	JPG or WebP, with the new size shown before you save.
Open · Copy link	Open the original in a tab, or copy its address.

How Halo finds the original

Most sites show you a smaller copy. Halo knows how many of them name their full-size files. That covers Google Images, Pinterest, X, Reddit, Amazon, Wikipedia, Unsplash, Shopify and WordPress stores, Next.js and Cloudinary images, and YouTube thumbnails. It also picks the largest size a page offers (srcset). If a guess doesn’t exist, Halo falls back to the next best, and in the end to the copy you see.

Video

Option	What it does
Video	Saves the video as one MP4 (details below).
Frame	Saves the frame you’re looking at, at the video’s full resolution, as PNG.
Copy frame	Puts that frame on the clipboard.
Audio	Saves just the sound, as an .m4a, exactly as the video carries it.
Mute	Saves the video without its sound. The picture is copied untouched.
Cover	Saves the video’s poster image, when it has one.
Subtitles	Saves the video’s own captions as an .srt file, when it has them.

Tap Alt for the video tools. Each opens a small window with its own player; see Editing tools.

Tool	What it does
Trim	Just the part you want, as an MP4, a GIF or the sound.
Split	Into separate clips, or one video with pieces left out.
Speed	0.25× to 4×, voices kept natural.
Compress	A smaller MP4, with about how big it will be shown first.
Frame grid	12 moments from across the whole video on one image, each with its time.
Link @ time · Open · Page link	Copy a link that starts at this moment, open the video file, or copy the page’s address.

Many videos aren’t one file: the page streams them in pieces (HLS or DASH). Halo rebuilds the video from the pieces the page has already loaded and joins the sound and picture. It converts VP9 and AV1 to H.264 when needed, so the MP4 plays everywhere, QuickTime included.

If the ring says “play it, then try again”, the page hasn’t loaded the video yet. Play a second of it and drag again. Live streams and protected (DRM) video offer frames only.

YouTube

Option	What it does
Frame / Copy frame	The frame you’re on, as PNG.
Transcript	Saves the transcript, as YouTube shows it, as a Markdown file with timestamps.
Copy script	Puts the transcript on the clipboard.
Link @ time · Page link · Clip · Studio	Actions: a link at this moment, the video’s link, YouTube’s own Clip tool, and Studio (for your own videos).
Summarise (⌘ / Ctrl)	The video’s key points, from its transcript, on the clipboard as Markdown; Save as file on the card keeps them.
Translate (⌘ / Ctrl)	The transcript in your browser’s language, with its timestamps and chapters, saved as Markdown.

Summarise and Translate run on your computer, with the AI built into Chrome. They appear when your Chrome has it (recent Chrome on most computers). The first time, Chrome downloads its model once: if the card says Download it, click it. Halo doesn’t download YouTube videos. YouTube doesn’t allow it.

Instagram grids

A profile grid or Reels tab shows only thumbnails; the video isn’t in the page until you open the post. Drag a video tile anyway: Video asks Instagram for that post’s video, the way Instagram’s own site does with your login, and saves it. Cover saves the thumbnail. If Instagram doesn’t answer (logged out, or a private post), the card says so: open the post and drag the video there.

AI tools

Tap ⌘ (Ctrl on Windows) while the ring is open. Most run on your computer: the picture never leaves it. The ✦ tools run in Halo’s cloud and cost credits (a licence includes 100; more are on the Unlock page): HD cutout and Upscale 4× send the one picture, Transcribe only the video’s sound, and Halo keeps neither (the Privacy page says what our providers keep). The first time you use one, Halo downloads what it needs once (2.9 MB for text, 5 MB for Upscale, up to 91 MB for cutouts) and keeps it.

The AI ring for a picture: Remove BG, Copy cutout, Copy text, Upscale 2×, HD cutout ✦, Upscale 4× ✦, Lens, Colours

Option	What it does
Remove BG	Saves the picture as a PNG with the background removed.
Copy cutout	Puts that cutout on the clipboard.
Lens	Opens Google Lens in a new tab with the picture’s address, to search for it. (That tab is Google’s; Halo sends Google nothing itself.)
Colours	Copies the picture’s 5 main colours as hex codes.
Copy text	Reads the words in the picture (English) and puts them on the clipboard.
Upscale 2×	Saves the picture at twice its size, sharpened by an AI model rather than just stretched. Takes pictures up to 2048 px (768 px on computers without a graphics card Chrome can use).
Remove BG / Frame text (on a video)	The same, for the frame of the video you’re on.
HD cutout ✦	A sharper cutout from a stronger model in Halo’s cloud, for busy pictures. 1 credit.
Upscale 4× ✦	Four times the size, from a stronger model in Halo’s cloud. Pictures up to 1440 px. 2 credits.
Transcribe ✦	For a video: writes down what’s said, with timestamps, as a Markdown file; the card also offers Subtitles (.srt). 1 credit per started minute, up to 90 minutes.

Links and files

Option	What it does
Save / Save as…	Downloads what the link points to: a PDF, a ZIP, any file.
Open · Copy link	Actions.

Getting started

Guides

What the ring offers

Images

How Halo finds the original

Video

YouTube

Instagram grids

AI tools

Links and files

​Images

​How Halo finds the original

​Video

​YouTube

​Instagram grids

​AI tools

​Links and files

Images

How Halo finds the original

Video

YouTube

Instagram grids

AI tools

Links and files