Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Siri Shortcuts, Screen Time, and iMessage Screen Effects Coming to macOS This Year

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,256
39,056



iOS apps and features including Shortcuts, Screen Time, and iMessage effects will be coming to macOS later this year, after they're first unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in June. The information was shared today by 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo, who spoke with people familiar with the development of macOS 10.15.

siri-shortcuts-duo.jpg

The major update to macOS, which is expected to launch in the fall, will include support for Siri Shortcuts. Apple updated the previous Workflow app for iOS to become Siri Shortcuts in September 2018, alongside the release of iOS 12. It allows you to create multi-step automations that you can initiate with a simple Siri command.

Today, Shortcuts has expanded to numerous third-party apps like American Airlines and Caviar. Later this year, Mac computers will get "system-wide" support for Siri Shortcuts, according to today's report.

Secondly, macOS 10.15 will see the addition of Screen Time, which tracks your device usage and reports back to you at the end of each week with statistics on what apps you use the most. Parents can use the feature to limit the time their kids spend in certain apps, and people trying to take a break from social media can set time limits on apps like Instagram and Twitter.

On macOS, this feature will work essentially the same as it does on iOS. It'll be housed in a new panel in System Preferences to customize its settings, and an overlay will appear when time limits are exceeded, where you can close the app or bypass the Screen Time lock with a passcode.

Lastly, macOS will be getting iMessage screen effects that have been exclusive to iPhones and iPads for a few years. These include full screen effects like Echo, Balloons, Confetti, and Lasers. On current versions of macOS, when an iPhone user sends these effects and they're read on a Mac, the iMessage screen on Mac simply states "Sent with [Effect Name]" below the message.

Today's news follows previous reports about Apple's plans to tie the iOS and macOS ecosystems more closely together. This includes letting developers release universal apps that work across iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, which could happen by 2021. Last year at WWDC, Apple also ported a few iOS apps to macOS for the first time, including Home, News, Voice Memos, and Stocks.

Article Link: Siri Shortcuts, Screen Time, and iMessage Screen Effects Coming to macOS This Year
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/19/siri-shortcuts-screen-time-macos/
  • Like
Reactions: RandomDSdevel
MacRumors said:
people trying to take a break from social media can set time limits on apps like Instagram and Twitter.
Click to expand...

Realistically, how many people actually use apps to access social media on MacOS? (9to5mac made the same point about being able to limit use of social media apps, but about the iOS feature and the rewriting here is a little awkward)

If this isn't baked into safari and capable of monitoring usage of individual websites/URLs, its a failure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hsotnicam8002 and Amadeus71
nicho said:
Realistically, how many people actually use apps to access social media on MacOS? (9to5mac made the same point about being able to limit use of social media apps, but about the iOS feature and the rewriting here is a little awkward)

If this isn't baked into safari and capable of monitoring usage of individual websites/URLs, its a failure.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it would work that way since it already does on iOS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: martyjmclean and jonblatho
Screen time on Mac: oh god. I’ve been dreading this. I always have a sense of happiness about my relatively low screen time on iOS devices. Secretly knowing that if a Mac one came out I’d be shamed. The day has come.

iMessage screen effects: they better take over the WHOLE screen when a notification comes in, don’t limit it to the message window by default. I seriously want to spam my colleagues with full screen confetti and lasers as they work.

Siri shortcuts: will we be able to trigger Automator stuff or is this the sign that’s going?

What iOS only features will be left to port into macOS with all these leaked?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prpolo, martyjmclean and kalsta
To run Mac OS you need a Mac. Does Apple still make Macs?

The top of the line Mac Pro is 6 years old with 4+ year old hardware. The Macbook Pro has keys that stick. The Mac mini is MIA. The iMacs have 5200RPM hard drives that I had in my Mac 10 years ago and replaced with SSDs. Shouldn't all Mac come standard with SSDs in 2019?. I am still using my 2008 Mac Pro and am waiting for a compelling upgrade.

How does the worlds most valuable company forget to do what brought them to the dance?
I guess the heroin of iPhone profit has killed the golden Apple of innovation. "Can't innovate my ass" is right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost, Zaren, neliason and 13 others
headlessmike said:
I'm sure it would work that way since it already does on iOS.
Click to expand...

Limiting app categories blocks the respective URLs in safari? Or you mean that Safari respects the downtime setting which is not the same thing? Since apple chooses to share 2 app names out of the category and has no way of finding out what the "more" consists of, it's hard to test. And safari can't be set to overcome downtime either, btw.

But anyway... much more granular controls over URLs for screen time would be a 100% necessity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back