I want to use it from time to time only to realize it can't do the things I want it to do (like pinging a find my device or item)
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Shortcuts App to Get Revamp With Apple Intelligence Integration
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sounds perfect. every time I don't use this for awhile and need to create a new automation, I forget how
About the shortcuts app that only works half the time.
I'm the kind of user who would use it, and I barely use it, because it can't do half the things I think of. And if it can, it has unnecessary restrictions like confirmation popups.
If it actually worked, I would use the heck out of it. It is overly compromised.
Im with you but I think I also have limited cases for voice assistants and that’s usually in the car. In that regard while Google on my android phones will answer a fact question better. Siri does better with understanding me. So if I ask for directions or if I ask it to play a song it works much better. It trips up on 3rd party music but overall in the car Siri is so much easier to use than Google. Anyone have the opposite experience? This is especially true when dictating messages and receiving them.
There are only two things I really need in Shortcuts:
1. Trigger Shortcuts from Home-App inkl. all home triggers like "last person left home". And I mean full functionality Shortcuts including creating files and starting other Shortcuts.
2.Some kind of exception-handling. Or, at least, some way to do "if value is null". For example when trying to read from a dictionary with a label that doesn't exist.
Of course some basic features would be welcome to like setting the irrigation time for an irrigation system. But I don't know if this has to be solved by Apple or the device producer.
Edit: The if-clauses problem: What do you mean? For me they work correctly but the order of the arguments is weird.
It's lacking so much in functionality. Focus on whats missing first then upsell us with an AI integration that will never materialise...
What functionality is missing (and compared to what) to me it has some intents that I wish would exist in various apps but for the most part I cans find a product on the market in android or iOS that’s better even though I love seeing shortcuts improve.
I also wish shortcuts can do more things in background.
I use Shortcuts to toggle on/off "Silence Unknown Callers." But I have been Suggesting to Apple for literally years that this should be a function available in the Control Center.
If you want to see the potential of shortcuts, here's a great one which creates collages from your photos:
routinehub.co
it's a work of beauty. It also shows how much effort is needed to work around its shortcomings.
RoutineHub - Photo collage
Beautiful, dynamic photo collages. Way beyond grid/ horizontal/ vertical!
routinehub.co
it's a work of beauty. It also shows how much effort is needed to work around its shortcomings.
Agreed, I’ve tried to use it on a regular basis but its clearly half-baked and the failure rate of scheduled shortcuts was a dealbreaker.
You're quite optimistic - I'd bet a case of beer that it's more like 95% - and for the 5% who do use it, it can't do enough.
Shortcuts is a nice idea, they never followed through. It can do a few things, but often it's limits or lack of function prohibit it from being really useful.
I mostly agree.
I currently have 3 shortcuts:
- Turn off Wi-Fi - because Apple doesn't let users turn off Wi-Fi radio via Control Center
- Turn off Bluetooth - because Apple doesn't let users turn off Bluetooth radio via Control Center
- Clear Clipboard - because there's no system wide button to clear clipboard, and Apple in their infinite wisdom made clipboard contents persist across reboots on iOS/iPadOS.
I use a Shortcut every single night when falling asleep.
It's a sleep timer with a volume fade out (over 30-60 seconds I think) of the audio source (vs an abrupt stop).
It's amazing and allows me to drift off and not get woken or disturbed by an abrupt stop.
(extremely first world problem, but it was one I had)
It's a sleep timer with a volume fade out (over 30-60 seconds I think) of the audio source (vs an abrupt stop).
It's amazing and allows me to drift off and not get woken or disturbed by an abrupt stop.
(extremely first world problem, but it was one I had)
I have so many ....
Three go into settings to the appropriate page (unfortunately they can't actually run the action):
* Delete Safari cookies
* Software update
* Backup
Some like the poster above are for the control centre:
* Toggle WiFi
* Toggle Bluetooth
* Get name of current app and open its settings page
One for each of my Philips Hue bulbs as adding them to Home would give "accessory could not be reached" half the time, but turning the light on/off using the Hue API works 100% of the time. So that I don't have to run a shortcut and wait for it to ask me the scene name, I have one for each scene which then calls my "scene master" shortcut to activate it. My light ones work the same way - they also just contain an action to call my "bulb master".
Lots for an app called Telefant which can send commands to my Logitech Harmony remote. One for each activity (such as "turn TV on") and then some which ask for a number and will change to that TV channel or radio station. Plus one which toggle pause/play for the TV (if on) and toggles mute to the AVR. This is linked to a triple back-tap so I can tap my phone when I receive a call.
One which triggers when a specific email is received (sent by Google Calendar for certain events) which gets the event duration and turns on DND until it's finished. I wish calendar events could trigger focus modes, but this works instead.
One which trawls my calendar for flights and reads them out. I put info in the note field such as departure airport and destination which it reads.
Automations (also time limited so they only run at appropriate times) for when I connect my phone to a charger overnight which reads out my events for the next day, tells me my step count and stairs-climbed count, before going into DND when connected to power (bed time!) and one which is similar but turns off DND and also gives me the weather (wake up time).
A very complex one, also containing Applescript (MacOS only) which goes into my calendar, gets certain events, and uses the start and stop times to create a formatted timesheet with total hours in a Numbers sheet.
Some which just run Translate (has to be Apple's despite what one sets for the default translation app - boo) and wait for me to dictate text then display the translated text and speak it in the foreign language I pick.
Some which change Focus modes but also do more, such as change some settings
Two from routinehub by the amazing twilsonco:
* Photo collage https://routinehub.co/shortcut/17870/
* Gemini via API https://routinehub.co/shortcut/17624/
And more.
So, yeah, I use shortcuts. I probably make up for quite a few who don't 😁
Three go into settings to the appropriate page (unfortunately they can't actually run the action):
* Delete Safari cookies
* Software update
* Backup
Some like the poster above are for the control centre:
* Toggle WiFi
* Toggle Bluetooth
* Get name of current app and open its settings page
One for each of my Philips Hue bulbs as adding them to Home would give "accessory could not be reached" half the time, but turning the light on/off using the Hue API works 100% of the time. So that I don't have to run a shortcut and wait for it to ask me the scene name, I have one for each scene which then calls my "scene master" shortcut to activate it. My light ones work the same way - they also just contain an action to call my "bulb master".
Lots for an app called Telefant which can send commands to my Logitech Harmony remote. One for each activity (such as "turn TV on") and then some which ask for a number and will change to that TV channel or radio station. Plus one which toggle pause/play for the TV (if on) and toggles mute to the AVR. This is linked to a triple back-tap so I can tap my phone when I receive a call.
One which triggers when a specific email is received (sent by Google Calendar for certain events) which gets the event duration and turns on DND until it's finished. I wish calendar events could trigger focus modes, but this works instead.
One which trawls my calendar for flights and reads them out. I put info in the note field such as departure airport and destination which it reads.
Automations (also time limited so they only run at appropriate times) for when I connect my phone to a charger overnight which reads out my events for the next day, tells me my step count and stairs-climbed count, before going into DND when connected to power (bed time!) and one which is similar but turns off DND and also gives me the weather (wake up time).
A very complex one, also containing Applescript (MacOS only) which goes into my calendar, gets certain events, and uses the start and stop times to create a formatted timesheet with total hours in a Numbers sheet.
Some which just run Translate (has to be Apple's despite what one sets for the default translation app - boo) and wait for me to dictate text then display the translated text and speak it in the foreign language I pick.
Some which change Focus modes but also do more, such as change some settings
Two from routinehub by the amazing twilsonco:
* Photo collage https://routinehub.co/shortcut/17870/
* Gemini via API https://routinehub.co/shortcut/17624/
And more.
So, yeah, I use shortcuts. I probably make up for quite a few who don't 😁
Shortcuts is rather annoying in multiple respects, particularly how it works with 3rd party things, and the full organization. Hoping for improvement.
Apple Intelligence is vaporware. They flat out lied from the beginning to appease their investors.
Apple is working on a revamped version of its Shortcuts app that features Apple Intelligence integration, reports Bloomberg.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Shortcuts app, the tool lets users create custom workflows or actions – called shortcuts – to perform tasks automatically or with minimal interaction. Actions can include anything from sending messages to controlling smart home devices. The app emerged out of Apple's 2017 acquisition of Workflow, which was rebranded as Shortcuts the following year.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the new version that Apple is working on will let users create actions using Apple Intelligence models. In practice, this could let users create actions with the help of AI – by issuing voice commands in natural language, for example. This should make the process easier and less intimidating for casual users.
Microsoft already has Copilot+ for Windows, which does something similar. For macOS, third-party AI agents like TaskGPT aim to offer an equivalent experience, but Apple Intelligence can't yet point to a comparable AI tool in its suite of features. That's mainly because Siri has yet to leverage large language models (LLMs) – something the company is planning to rectify.
The Shortcuts app revamp was reportedly planned to be released this year, but delays could see it appear in 2026, so there's a possibility it won't feature in macOS 26 or iOS/iPadOS 26 when they launch in September.
Article Link: Shortcuts App to Get Revamp With Apple Intelligence Integration
Most people never used AppleScript when it was around. However, those who used it had real uses for it.
Just because you don't use something does not mean it is useless.
I only use Shortcuts for file conversions.
And then, in a form of self-fulfilling prophecy, Apple decides that since most people aren't using these apps, the problem must be that most people didn't want them, and so they let the apps languish, and eventually drop them altogether.
A simple "If a light is Off then turn it On" and vice versa. Basically a toggle. On iOS and iPadOS it works. On macOS it stopped working when Sequoia was released.