And now for something completely different...

I have got so tired of manually removing utm tags from URLs when copying and pasting links when sharing. I have tried to find a simple app or plugin that removes them all but could not find anything up to date or free.

So I decided to spend an hour writing my first mac app to do this, with the help of claude.ai and their Sonnet 3.5 model.

And one hour later I have a fully working app that runs in the background of my mac, and automatically removes the tagging whenever I copy and paste anything into the system clipboard.

It works really well and I am sharing it with you here, with complete beginner instructions for installing on your own machine (mac only - apologies!).

I highly recommend all of us try coding with AI. Learning to code is a journey of very small steps to build confidence, until you start to believe you can, until you realize not only you can but you are. For a really beginner introduction try to get this working and please give me feedback if it you get challenges.

Below I copy the contents of the README.md instructions for convenience.

If successful, please celebrate on LinkedIn and tag me in the post!

Beginner Instructions

UTMRemover is a macOS application that automatically removes UTM parameters from URLs when they are copied to the clipboard. This app runs in the background and helps keep your links clean and free of tracking parameters.

Prerequisites

• A Mac running macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later
• Xcode 13 or later (free on the Mac App Store)
• Git (usually pre-installed on macOS, or install from https://git-scm.com/)

Installation and Setup Guide

1. Install Xcode

If you haven't already installed Xcode:

1. Open the App Store on your Mac.
2. Search for "Xcode" and click "Get" or the download icon.
3. Wait for Xcode to download and install (it's a large application, so this may take some time).
4. Once installed, open Xcode to complete the installation of additional components.

2. Clone the Repository

1. Open Terminal on your Mac.
2. Navigate to the directory where you want to store the project.
3. Run the following command to clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/eusholli/mac-utm-remover.git        

4. Navigate into the project directory:

   cd mac-utm-remover        

3. Open the Project in Xcode

1. In the mac-utm-remover directory, double-click the UTMRemover.xcodeproj file to open it in Xcode.
2. If prompted, click "Trust and Open" to open the project.

4. Configure the Project

1. In Xcode's project navigator (left sidebar), click on the project name (UTMRemover).
2. In the center pane, select the "UTMRemover" target under the "TARGETS" section.
3. Go to the "Signing & Capabilities" tab.
4. In the "Team" dropdown, select your personal team or Apple ID.

- If you haven't added your Apple ID to Xcode yet, click "Add an Account" and follow the prompts.

5. Build and Run the App

1. In the top-left corner of Xcode, ensure "UTMRemover" is selected next to the play button.
2. Click the play button or press Cmd + R to build and run the app.
3. You should see a small link icon appear in your Mac's menu bar.

6. Export the App

1. In Xcode, go to Product > Archive.
2. Once the archive is created, click "Distribute App".
3. Choose "Copy App" as the distribution method.
4. Follow the prompts, keeping the default settings.
5. Choose a location to save the exported .app file.

7. Install the App

1. Locate the exported .app file in Finder.
2. Drag the .app file into your Applications folder.
3. Right-click on the app in the Applications folder and select "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper for the first run.

8. (Optional) Set Up Automatic Launch

1. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups.
2. Select your user account.
3. Click on "Login Items".
4. Click the "+" button and select the UTMRemover app from the Applications folder.

Usage

Once installed and running, UTMRemover will automatically remove UTM parameters from any URL you copy. You can verify this by copying a URL with UTM parameters and then pasting it somewhere - the UTM parameters should be gone.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues:

• Ensure you have the latest version of Xcode installed.
• Try cleaning the build folder in Xcode (Product > Clean Build Folder) and rebuilding.
• Check that you've correctly set up your signing team in the project settings.
• If you see any code signing errors, try closing and reopening Xcode, or restarting your Mac.

Contributing

Feel free to fork this project and submit pull requests with improvements or bug fixes. Here are some ideas for contributions:

• Add support for removing other types of tracking parameters
• Implement a whitelist/blacklist feature for specific domains
• Create a preferences window to customize the app's behavior

License

[MIT License](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

Acknowledgements

This project was created with the assistance of Claude.ai and the Sonnet 3.5 large language model. Special thanks to the open-source community for inspiration and resources.