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 to install, and Brief's free tier stays useful — see pricing for the paid plans.
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 0.1.5 · 7.1 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 [email protected] — during the beta that reaches a human quickly.
Brief is honest about its requirements — it genuinely needs both devices.