Brief is two apps. The Mac app does the reading — iMessage only lives on your Mac. The iPhone app is where you review what it caught. Both are free during the beta.
Brief sits in your menu bar and scans on a schedule. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a warning. On first launch it walks you through granting Full Disk Access — the one permission macOS requires before any app can read Messages.
Version 0.1.2 · 7.2 MB · signed & notarized (Developer ID)
The iPhone app is where the queue lives — review what Brief caught, then send it to Reminders or Calendar in a tap. During the beta it's distributed through TestFlight, Apple's official beta tool. You'll need the TestFlight app first; the link below walks you through it.
TestFlight beta · limited to 100 testers
Use the same account on your Mac and your iPhone — that's what links them. Then open the Mac app and hit Scan Now. The first scan takes a minute or two; after that Brief runs on its own schedule and your phone fills up with only the things that matter.
That's the whole setup. If something doesn't work, email hello@justbriefme.app — during the beta that reaches a human quickly.
Brief is honest about its requirements — it genuinely needs both devices.