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OpenAI Acquires Apple Shortcuts Creators to Bring Deep Mac Integration to ChatGPT

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OpenAI today said that it has acquired Software Applications Incorporated and its AI app, Sky. Software Applications Incorporated and Sky were created by a team of former Apple employees known for their work on Apple's Shortcuts feature and the Workflow app that preceded it.

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Ari Weinstein and Conrad Kramer, two of the founders of Software Applications Incorporated, also founded Workflow. Workflow was a popular iOS automation app before Apple acquired it in 2017. Weinstein and Kramer joined Apple when Workflow was acquired, and the app ended up serving as the backbone for the Shortcuts feature that's available across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Kramer left Apple in 2019 and Weinstein left in 2023, which is when the two teamed up to found their new company and start work on Sky. Sky didn't officially launch, but it is a Mac-based natural language AI assistant able to answer questions and complete tasks in any open Mac window.

OpenAI says that it plans to bring Sky's deep macOS integration into ChatGPT, with all members of the Sky team set to join OpenAI. That includes Weinstein, Kramer, and several other ex-Apple employees.
"We've always wanted computers to be more empowering, customizable, and intuitive. With LLMs, we can finally put the pieces together. That's why we built Sky, an AI experience that floats over your desktop to help you think and create. We're thrilled to join OpenAI to bring that vision to hundreds of millions of people." --Ari Weinstein, Co-Founder and CEO, Software Applications Incorporated
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OpenAI's Sky acquisition comes just a day after OpenAI announced ChatGPT Atlas, a new browser that's designed to compete with Safari and Chrome. ChatGPT Atlas can perform tasks on the user's behalf with ChatGPT's existing AI Operator features, but Sky could further enhance that functionality in the future.

Article Link: OpenAI Acquires Apple Shortcuts Creators to Bring Deep Mac Integration to ChatGPT
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/23/openai-shortcuts-creators/
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Sounds like Apple should have acquired them. Maybe Apple is working on a similar feature but I doubt it given these guys haven't gotten sued.
 
Ugh, wish Apple had bought them. I only trust an Apple feature to hover over top what I’m doing and help assist me. And yet I’ll need this as I’m having to use AI more and more to keep up with client expectations for turnaround time on development work. I’m starting to think I need to keep a separate Mac for work and personal. Or maybe a separate macOS boot partition, as I think that’s a thing? To segregate the deeper AI integration that I will inevitably have to embrace to keep up.
 
chelsel said:
This should be proof that AI is NOT REPLACING PROGRAMMERS. They literally bought a software company... because AI can not write good software. I will say "yet"... but it's far from writing good software anytime soon.
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I’ve used it to help write scripts and even a tiny iOS app but yeah… it’s really far away from legitimate programs. The very tiny iOS app I had it write took days on and off with both Claude and ChatGPT trying different prompts to fix error after error.

That was almost a year ago though, and I admittedly have a lot more success these days getting help writing scripts than I did 1-2 years ago though, so… I’m curious now how far their Xcode skills have come, but we’re still *nowhere* near replacing programmers.
 
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If screen-aware actions ship as advertised, ChatGPT could drive programs like Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for common tasks by voice. Deeper edits will still hinge on app-level APIs.
 
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photomaniac said:
If screen-aware actions ship as advertised, ChatGPT could drive programs like Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for common tasks by voice. Deeper edits will still hinge on app-level APIs.
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I wonder how voice commands will actually play out in Logic Pro, for instance. Most people familiar with the software know the keyboard shortcuts, but being able to use your voice to give complex commands like, "jump to the beginning of the last measure I recorded, and start recording on the guitar track" might save a little time.

Most people using Logic Pro are in an environment where giving voice commands would not bother others around them, so this could be useful in some studio situations. Apple would have to really open up their APIs give full access to OpenAI for it, though.

It's one thing to screw up a track because of your own error. It would be another thing to let AI screw it up—you have no one to blame, and no recourse.
 
Neil J. Squillante said:
Shortcuts is so arcane and outdated that I’m glad Apple didn’t bring these guys back. Apple should replace Shortcuts with automations created through Apple Intelligence prompts. In fact, you should be able to use any app with prompts instead of menus and toolbars. This is the promise of Sky but Apple should be able to do it better.
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For reference on what Apple is able to do:
They can't sync my unread count badge on the Mail app.
 
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