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Apple Releases Golden Master Version of iOS 12 Shortcuts App

robbyx said:
So it builds the macro based on observing your behavior? It’s still a macro. And I’m sure it’ll never build macros that include functionality you won’t want. After all, Siri is so smart. Yeah right. You’ll need to edit and tweak the shortcuts.

We’ll see how it all works, but it doesn’t look like a particularly compelling or useful feature to me. I’m not interested in creating macros. I want to say “hey Siri, log this meal in MyFitnessPal” or “hey Siri, what’s my checking account balance”, etc. Frankly, what you describe above is complicated and will alienate most users. Just like hardly anyone uses Automator on the Mac.

I don’t want Siri pestering me with suggested “shortcuts”, nor do I want to have to build macros, or whatever you want to call them.
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Can't the banking app "suggest" a siri shortcut where you ask for your checking account balance?
 
blackcrayon said:
Can't the banking app "suggest" a siri shortcut where you ask for your checking account balance?
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Maybe? We shall see!

I have no doubt that Siri will improve and become more useful. I see Shortcuts as a stopgap, an attempt to show some innovation on the Siri side, but it's not terribly interesting. Google's Assistant making a dinner reservation, now that was interesting!

Shortcuts are glorified macros. I'm reserving judgment until I see the feature in action with enough apps that support it. That said, I don't want to have to create a shortcut for my bank balance. I just want to talk to my phone. I want to say "hey Siri, transfer $1000 from checkings to savings" or "hey Siri, paypal Jane $500" or "hey Siri, reserve a table for 2 at my favorite restaurant on friday", etc.

Shortcuts are a string of actions, whether Siri suggests them or not. Maybe it's me and the way I live my life, but I can't think of a lot of instances where this feature will be useful.
 
Defthand said:
Shortcuts sounds like an odd companion for Apple’s recreational iOS. On the Mac, productivity seekers and power users use Apple Script and Automator sparingly. I can’t imagine a significant number of phone users will conceive worthwhile scripts for their life routines. Hell, most people can’t or won’t program a thermostat. And a larger question awaits: even if you can program scripts for Life’s small routines—like ordering your morning Latte—why would you want to detach yourself from the simple activities and human interactions that punctuate your existence?
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Therein lies the answer ... the majority of iOS users are completely connected to the internet and thusly the lack of human interactions does punctuate their existence ;)
 
Tens of my apps are updating to include Shortcuts support these days! Let's all hope this is finally the time for good Siri app integration! :eek:
 
I have had iOS 12 beta since beta 1 and I haven’t had the shortcuts app on my phone ?? How do I get it ?
 
fabian9 said:
Mhhh having re-read the post, no, I don’t think I did?
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The other poster mentioned that the Shortcuts app has been updated while currently the Workflow app (its predecessor) has not and cannot do the same feature/functionality without a companion app which even then still invoked the user to manually proceed an action. I think you’re agreeing as well by stating Shortcuts will continually get new features - so you’re both on the same page. It just seemed to me you replied without realizing that you both were on the same page? Then again maybe my perception is way off; which usually it is.

Cheers and let’s get this Apple stock up up and away already ;)
 
sgtaylor5 said:
It’s in Settings, Siri and Search, top of the list
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I thought it was going to be a separate app? That looks like a limited selection of things. I thought the Shortcuts app lets you string together multiple tasks with a nice interface?
 
macduke said:
I thought it was going to be a separate app? That looks like a limited selection of things. I thought the Shortcuts app lets you string together multiple tasks with a nice interface?
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Correct. The options on the iPhone are basic. For more advanced stuff ( third party apps) you'll need the Shortcuts app
 
EDIT: if you have workflow, you can update the app and it will be re-badged into the shortcuts app!
 
Justanotherfanboy said:
There’s nothing “mind-blowing” about pretending you understand technology that you likely read one Wired article about like 10 years ago...

When you’ve been in the tech industry as long as I have- you start to recognize it.

The idea that passwords & encryption will be “useless in the age of quantum computing... no matter how strong your password or the encryption” is not even some half-baked fallacy that some believe & some don’t. It’s categorically false.
That’s not even a narrative I’m aware is being purported.*
You’re spreading FUD. Hopefully, it sounds preposterous enough that nobody believes you.

To be fair: there was a brief, hypothetical discussion many years ago about quantum computing being able to instantly crack passwords, if there were ZERO safeguards in place & it (the computer) could pass all combinations simultaneously, as an array... thus instantly passing the correct one over on “first guess”, since that first guess would contain every possible guess.
It was more researchers marveling at how much data could be passed at once after the advent of quantum computing, than genuine concern about security, as even then (and certainly now) secure content that is password protected actually DOES have safeguards; one of them being that you can’t pass an array of guesses as a single attempt.

*Edit: I stand corrected!
Google tells me (hidden amongst all the results bearing titles like “quantum computing won’t invalidate encryption”), apparently there is a Republican from Texas that shares your opinion that this poses some looming new insurmountable security hazard.
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Thank you for this clarification, yet you manage to turn this into a political rant at the very end, albeit. We're ALL humans, even more specifically, Americans (if you live in the USA). We would be much more effective united than we ever would be, if divided.
 
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Mixed feelings about this.
My inner nerd likes them (but still thinks the flow control is seriously limited), but the normal me thinks that Siri should be smart enough to do this stuff without the user creating a unique phrase. I can see most people giving up on it...

And the worst part: If you can't remember the exact phrase you used to set it up, it's not going to work (this applies equally to Siri Shortcuts and the Shortcuts app). Siri isn't even smart enough to guess that that's what you meant. Sigh...
 
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FYI, you can override standard Siri commands. So you can set something like "Play podcasts" for Castro/Overcast, and if Amazon updates Audible for it, you could do the same for audiobooks.
 
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Having seen seen the public release finally, I can see where Shortcuts are headed. Non-geeks won’t be able to program potential macros themselves. They’ll depend on geeks to do the heavy lifting. Currently, there are free shortcuts from the community but Apple will soon encourage that community to sell their creations like iMessage stickers.
 
ipedro said:
watchOS 5 does exactly that.
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No, it really doesn’t work for open walk. I’m still almost a mile into the walk at a decent clip when I remember to start. When I get home, I do get a reminder to stop. Probably works for running, though.
 
harriska2 said:
No, it really doesn’t work for open walk. I’m still almost a mile into the walk at a decent clip when I remember to start. When I get home, I do get a reminder to stop. Probably works for running, though.
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Yes, it does. I walk my dog about 10k every day. At close to 1k, it’ll pop up prompting me to initiate a walk workout, giving me credit for what i’ve walked up to that point.
 
ipedro said:
Yes, it does. I walk my dog about 10k every day. At close to 1k, it’ll pop up prompting me to initiate a walk workout, giving me credit for what i’ve walked up to that point.
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I think mine doesn’t work because it is too slow, I have a Series 1, very slow on OS5
 
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