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Shortcuts on Mac OS
- Thread starter Jonr515
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Have not used or coded any Mac Shortcuts as yet. And might not for quite a while.
While Automator and Shortcuts have some nice features that allow doing some things easily, neither is really great for more complex problems. I already have a bunch of shell scripts and AppleScripts that automate things that Shortcuts actions are not powerful enough to replace and don't plan to re-code at this time.
Big thing missing from Mac Shortcuts is Automations. But in my case, not that big a deal as I keep my Mac off when not using, so, the iPhone is a better device for setting up Automations as it's on 24/7 and always with me/near by.
And Shortcuts seems to be something that Apple is not really keen on supporting in a meaningful manner, despite what they say about it being the future on Macs. I've run into many bugs. Shortcuts that worked in one iOS release no longer works in the next major release. Too many inconsistencies and odd limitations (eg. can only search/select 26 Notes in a "Find Notes", but seems like no/very high limit for searches of Contacts, Reminders; can search for Reminders between two dates that are set programmatically, Calendar search does not allow programmatic setting).
On the other hand, I have an AppleScript that only solves 90% of a problem due to some obsoleted methods that prevent finishing the job, but the Shortcuts app can handle the last 10%. So I run the AppleScript and then the Shortcut on my iPhone to finish the job. Next time I need to run this AppleScript, I'll give the Shortcut on the Mac side a try (but won't need to run this for several months from now). Another inconsistency re: can do X on iOS but not on Mac and visa-versa.
While Automator and Shortcuts have some nice features that allow doing some things easily, neither is really great for more complex problems. I already have a bunch of shell scripts and AppleScripts that automate things that Shortcuts actions are not powerful enough to replace and don't plan to re-code at this time.
Big thing missing from Mac Shortcuts is Automations. But in my case, not that big a deal as I keep my Mac off when not using, so, the iPhone is a better device for setting up Automations as it's on 24/7 and always with me/near by.
And Shortcuts seems to be something that Apple is not really keen on supporting in a meaningful manner, despite what they say about it being the future on Macs. I've run into many bugs. Shortcuts that worked in one iOS release no longer works in the next major release. Too many inconsistencies and odd limitations (eg. can only search/select 26 Notes in a "Find Notes", but seems like no/very high limit for searches of Contacts, Reminders; can search for Reminders between two dates that are set programmatically, Calendar search does not allow programmatic setting).
On the other hand, I have an AppleScript that only solves 90% of a problem due to some obsoleted methods that prevent finishing the job, but the Shortcuts app can handle the last 10%. So I run the AppleScript and then the Shortcut on my iPhone to finish the job. Next time I need to run this AppleScript, I'll give the Shortcut on the Mac side a try (but won't need to run this for several months from now). Another inconsistency re: can do X on iOS but not on Mac and visa-versa.
I really want to make a shortcut that can eject all external drives currently mounted (to make it easier to "undock" my laptop from my USB-C monitor + external drives), but I can't figure out how to go about it - I found the "eject" command in the shortcuts app, and can set it to a currently-mounted drive, but when I run it I just get an error. I'm reasonably tech-inclined but find the shortcuts app really dense and hard to use.
I’m just starting out using Hazel, Shortcuts and automation. But I’m so overwhelmed that I’m struggling even with simple stuff…
Read the title and thought this was about keyboard shortcuts on macOS not the 'Shortcuts' app lol.
move along nothing to see here in my post.
move along nothing to see here in my post.
Found a use for Mac Shortcuts: editing Shortcuts for iOS.
Was making a fair amount of changes to some Shortcuts and found it much easier (obviously?) to do that via bigger screen, keyboard, trackpad of a Mac. Also can have multiple windows open on different Shortcuts, hop between them easily.
One downside was for Shortcuts that were for Apple Watch, as those actions are not available on Mac, so after doing most of the heavy lifting on Mac, switch to iPhone to add the missing Watch actions.
Also easier to rearrange things on the Mac (eg. which folder, order in folder).
Was making a fair amount of changes to some Shortcuts and found it much easier (obviously?) to do that via bigger screen, keyboard, trackpad of a Mac. Also can have multiple windows open on different Shortcuts, hop between them easily.
One downside was for Shortcuts that were for Apple Watch, as those actions are not available on Mac, so after doing most of the heavy lifting on Mac, switch to iPhone to add the missing Watch actions.
Also easier to rearrange things on the Mac (eg. which folder, order in folder).