On Wednesday, August 16, I had the pleasure of joining Dan Moren and Mikah Sargent as a guest along with Kathy Campbell on Clockwise to talk about:
Whether we speed up audio and video media, how we’d want Apple to change Disney Parks, our thoughts on new Apple Watch bands, and what we’re hoping to see from Apple’s Shortcuts.
Check out Clockwise in Apple Podcasts or listen to the episode below:
From Issue 99 of my Shortcuts newsletter:
Since the last issue at the end of July, we’ve seen two beta releases – and with it, a major change to Shortcuts automations in the form of Location automations gaining true background support.
Plus, App Shortcuts are coming to Apple Watch and HomePod – make sure to read up on the limitations, however.
Further, the Camera app actions teased in the developer sessions are now out – I got to test them in a real-life situation at a music festival this weekend.
Also, I made Apple Music’s new Discovery Radio into a shortcut, and released a set of Keynote shortcuts I’ve been using lately for some client work.
Otherwise, we’re looking ahead at the home stretch ahead of the full iOS 17 release coming in September – I hope apps are updating their App Shortcuts for Spotlight!
Until next issue, here’s what’s new in Shortcuts:
Read the full issue on MailerLite.
From Justin Pot for Popular Science:
The problem, if you’re a longtime Google Maps user, is all of the places you’ve saved in Google Maps over the years. These pinned locations come in handy, and switching to another map program often means starting over. Jumping from Google to Apple Maps would be a lot easier if there were a way to grab all your pinned places and take them with you. There is, it turns out, but it’s not exactly straightforward. The process will technically work on an iPhone or iPad, but I recommend you do it on a Mac, if possible.
Spoiler alert: he uses Shortcuts to process the JSON from Google Takeout – what a great idea.
Read the full article to get the shortcut and see the original Reddit thread.
Following up with the news that watchOS apps are gaining App Shortcuts support, here’s a quote from Apple’s WWDC’23 developer session “Spotlight your app with App Shortcuts” transcript (line breaks added):
Secondly, App Shortcuts are now supported on HomePod.
This requires an App Shortcut enabled app to be installed on a companion iOS or iPadOS device. Unlike running on iOS or iPadOS, where App Shortcuts can result in launching the app, on HomePod, App Shortcuts may not launch the app at all.
For example, by simply having my Demo app on my iPhone, I can say to my HomePod, “Hey, Siri. Summarize my groceries list with Demo.” HomePod support for App Shortcuts is available from version 16.2 and newer.
When designing App Shortcuts for HomePod, consider that it is a voice-only device. Make sure you are returning clear and concise dialog to be spoken by Siri, since there won’t be any corresponding visuals.
The IntentDialog class has an initializer that takes both a “full” and “supporting” string. The HomePod will use the “full” dialog, while visual devices like iPhone will use the alternate “supporting” dialog. This allows you to be more brief when a user can reference a visual output, but remain fully descriptive if no screen is available.
I’m glad Apple (and developers) are putting in the work to match the dialog to the device – and that HomePod is getting even better Shortcuts support this year.
Hidde van der Ploeg on Mastodon:
I’m pretty sure it’s new that watchOS-only apps can now enable shortcuts to the shortcuts app without having an iOS companion app 😍✨
I can indeed confirm this is new – Apple mentions it in their “Spotlight your app with App Shortcuts” developer session from WWDC’23. Here’s what they say in the video:
App Shortcuts now work on Apple Watch, but you should be aware of some limitations to get the best possible experience. App Shortcuts on Apple Watch must come from a watchOS app installed on the device itself. App Shortcuts from a paired iOS device cannot be run on the Watch. This means that if you have an iOS app installed on iPhone, but not the corresponding watchOS app, your App Shortcuts will not work from watchOS.
Flexible matching with Siri is not available on Apple Watch, so phrases must be spoken exactly. Apple Watch support was introduced in watchOS 9.2 and is available on all devices running that version or later.
App Shortcuts are also now discoverable on Apple Watch. Just like on iOS, the Shortcuts app on watchOS prominently features App Shortcuts available on the device.
Just to be clear, App Shortcuts will work on both standalone watchOS apps and companion watchOS apps.
Plus, you will run into issues if you’re trying to run App Shortcuts from the watch and the corresponding iPhone app doesn’t have a Watch app – developers, get to building your watch apps!
View the post on Mastodon and watch the moment from the Apple developer session.
From Jason Snell at Six Colors:
Folder Actions is pretty clever—you can run scripts when items are added or removed from a folder, when the folder is opened or closed, or when the window of that folder is moved in Finder.
Unfortunately, this is a feature that is wired directly into AppleScript. So in order to use a version of my existing shortcut with Folder Actions, I needed to write a three-line AppleScript script:
on adding folder items to this_folder after receiving added_items tell application "Shortcuts Events" to run the shortcut named "Apple Result Transcriptor" with input added_items end adding folder items toPretty dumb — for those keeping score we’ve now gone from Audio Hijack to AppleScript to Shortcuts in order to get what we want. (I could’ve rewritten my Shortcut in AppleScript, but… I don’t want to do that!) And yet also pretty brilliant, because I’m using a 21-year-old OS feature to run a Shortcut, an automation system that didn’t appear on the Mac until 2021.
Neat feature – and I agree with Jason’s conclusions at the end about Automations on the Mac.
From @polpielladev on Mastodon:
App launch day!
Today I am releasing my first-ever solo app on the App Store: QReate. A native and fast QR code editor to make stunning QR codes
To celebrate the launch, I have set a special reduced price of £2.99 for the next two weeks!
Looks like a handy resource for generating custom QR codes – I like the ability to add your own icon in the center.
View the post on Mastodon and get QReate on the Mac App Store.
From Niléana on Mastodon:
Just noticed something neat in macOS Sonoma: as you know, #Safari now shows favicons in your bookmarks bar. But if you rename a bookmark and add an emoji, that emoji acts as a custom favicon ✨
Neat – I just updated my whole group of Favorites folders in Bookmarks.
Something to note though – the emoji works best at the end. Either way you place it, Safari appears to inherit the space as well – if you prepend it, the space goes before the emoji and just creates more space for the whole bookmark[1]; if you append it, however, the space shows before your bookmark title and it doesn’t look great.
View the original GIF on Mastodon.
1. The extra space before the emoji isn’t ideal either and Apple should automatically remove this.
From Rogue Amoeba on Mastodon:
Testing MacOS 14? We’ve got test releases:
Basics: https://rogueamoeba.com/support/knowled…
SoundSource users, click here: https://rogueamoeba.com/support/knowled…
I’m super glad to have access on the betas to SoundSource for manual control over volume from my audio interface, and Loopback for combining audio feeds while streaming – and I’ve been meaning to use Audio Hijack for my member podcast as well.
View the original post on Mastodon and read the main support article for details.
Finally took the time to make my own Keynote theme and it’s surprising how much joy that brings me 😄
I’m a dork for this but once you set it up, you can create a new template using the Keynote action in Shortcuts 🙂
All you need to do is use Edit > Save Theme, then use the Create Presentation action and scroll to the bottom of the Templates list to the My Themes area!
As usual, this has prompted me to make this into a shortcut, as well as properly publish my set of Keynote shortcuts that I covered last year for iMore.
See Simon’s post and get my folder of Keynote shortcuts in the Shortcuts Library.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Keynote shortcuts:
Check out the folder of Keynote shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.
From Zac Hall at 9to5Mac:
Discovery Station is algorithmically based on a user’s music taste similar to Your name’s Station.
The key difference with the new station, however, is that it shouldn’t play songs from your library or playlists.
Plus, you can start the station using the Play Music action in Shortcuts – here’s my new shortcut to do just that.
View the full article on 9to5Mac and get my folder of Apple Music shortcuts in the Shortcuts Library.
I’ve just updated a folder in the Shortcuts Library — my set of Apple Music shortcuts:
Check out the folder of Apple Music shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.
Craig Hockenberry of Iconfactory speaking on The Talk Show #382, starting at 1:13:23 (transcribed and lightly edited for text):
I see a lot of opportunities there for developers to make the widgets just come alive. I think it’s a great little thing that they’ve done.
The side effect of this, I think is—even kind of probably better in the long term—is that that way you do this is something that’s sort of like a little shortcut. And it’s gonna expose a lot of developers to the Shortcuts technology.
So like that button that’s on your widget that says, oh, play this radio station? Well, I’m obviously gonna write a shortcut that says, play this radio station. So you can automate that. So, like, if I go into my Focus mode, or if I get home, it starts playing the radio station on the kitchen HomePod.
And for me that’s the thing that really is powerful because it takes that interaction and makes it something that you can use throughout your life. That’s for me the most interesting thing, that’s why we’re talking about vision OS and all these other things is interactions that fit into your life, are really – that’s the goal.
That’s the thing I love doing the most.
Lovely sentiment – Craig gets it.
New in the fourth developer beta and second public beta of iOS 17, Apple has added an “Open Camera” action for the Camera app that allows users to pick between camera modes and immediately open to any preset using Shortcuts.
The new “Open Camera” action can be set to switch between the following modes:
I’ve built a folder of shortcuts for each action, available now as part of my membership program in pre-release ahead of iOS 17.
These actions are highly welcome to the set of Media actions available by default in Shortcuts, as well as my collection of photography shortcuts built off of them.
View the folder of Camera app shortcuts in my Shortcuts Library.
In the betas for iOS and iPadOS 17, Apple has updated the Automations feature in Shortcuts so that triggers can “Run Immediately” rather than the default “Run After Confirmation.”
In effect, Automations are, well, actually automatic now, rather than triggers that require manual confirmation – here’s the breakdown:
In Shortcuts, all Automation types—except Arrive, Leave, and Before I Commute in the current betas—now have a new “Run Immediately” option.
Update: As of iOS developer beta 5, Location automations also run immediately!
That means automations from Messages, Email, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth now join the rest of the Automation triggers as true automations, alongside the new Transaction automation for Apple Wallet and the Display automation & Stage Manager automations on iPadOS.
For the Wi-Fi automation trigger, there’s also an additional dialog that lets you toggle whether to Run After Connection Interruption, with the following explainer text beneath:
If you reconnect to a Wi-Fi network within 3 minutes of being disconnected, this automation will not run again.
To ensure user safety, Apple also requires that these automation types always notify you—the “Notify When Run” toggle does not appear if you switch to “Run Immediately”—so that you know for sure when something has happened on your device. Personally, I think this is a worthy trade-off – otherwise, how would you ever know that the Automation triggered successfully?
Further, the confusingly-named “Don’t Ask Before Running?” prompt has been renamed across all Automations to “Run After Confirmation,” making it much clearer what’s actually happening with each option.
Finally, you might also notice that Apple removed a step when initially creating an automation. Previously, you’d always have to pick between Personal Automations and Home Automations.
Now, the Add button starts you off in a Personal Automation by default—with a new Search field at the top as well.
Home Automations are simply found at the bottom of the list as an alternate option (you can still create Automations in the Home app as always).
It’s not clear currently if the Location automations for Arrive, Leave, and Before I Commute will be exempt from true automation capabilities in the the final release of iOS and iPadOS 17.
That’s because, in the first developer beta, the Location automations were truly automatic – but, crucially, that option was removed and has not been available in any subsequent betas.
Hopefully we see the return of this capability in future betas, and Shortcuts can fully shed the misnomer status this feature has earned from being named “Automations” without having all of the triggers be truly automatic – otherwise, I’ll have to rename this piece.
Automations actually being automatic will be a big deal for Shortcuts users in iOS 17 – in many ways, the feature has been hamstrung for its entire existence, because many users try it out, then get disappointed when it’s not truly automation.
Going forward, Automations will be a pillar for new users and pro users alike to get a lot of value from building in Shortcuts – all without even doing anything themselves, since everything happens automatically.
Next? We need Automations on Mac.
In the iOS and iPadOS 17 betas, Apple has introduced three new Automation triggers you can use in the Shortcuts app – Transaction, Display, and Stage Manager.
Here’s how Apple’s tip text describes each:
Transactions work with Payment, Transit, Access, or Identity passes, plus you can select which card, which category of payment, or even specific Merchants.
The automation starts with an optional “Receive Transaction As Input”, allowing you to extract details about the transaction, including the card or pass, merchant, and amount – this is an incredibly powerful trigger when combined with things like expense tracking, budgeting, or travel apps.
The Display automation works with the iPad Pro’s external display support, allowing actions to be kicked off when you plug in or disconnect a monitor cable.
The automation starts with an optional “Receive Display As Input” that allows you to extract the manufacturing Name of the device and adjust your flow accordingly — I have both Dell and LG monitors in separate rooms in my house, so I could use an If action to change my shortcut behavior depending on which room I’m in.
Finally, the Stage Manager automation works with the system feature being toggled on or off, either from Settings, the Control Center widget, or the Shortcuts actions themselves that can Toggle Stage Manager in any shortcut.
I haven’t personally implemented this automation for my own setup yet, but I’m consider simply using Open App multiple times to “set the stage” each time I activate it with my most common apps – but I’ll have to test more during the beta season.
Overall, these three new automations are highly welcome. The Transaction automation will surely get the most use and can apply to almost every iPhone user, and the iPad automations for Displays and Stage Manager are great additions for iPad productivity – there’s much value to be captured with all three of these.
Plus, each automation can Run Immediately (instead of requiring you to Run After Confirmation), meaning they’re true background automations – very nice.
I also think the presence of Display and Stage Manager are either a hint or justification for Automations in Shortcuts for Mac – I hope Mac users get the opportunity to automate their devices with these triggers in the future.
From Kurt Knutsson of the CyberGuy Report over on Yahoo:
With the power of technology at our fingertips, it’s becoming easier to manage daily life, even for those grappling with issues such as short-term memory loss. Apple’s “Remember This” shortcut is one such tool that acts as an invaluable assistant for memory support and mindfulness.
This shortcut lets you quickly build a visual and textual log of your daily activities and serves as a handy digital journal.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on setting it up and using it effectively.
I missed sharing about this shortcut when it was originally released by Apple back in May – worth checking out for sure.
From Rosemary Orchard and David Sparks on Automators on Relay FM:
Rose and David share a collection of their favorite personal automations ranging from task and project management to home automation.
My pals Rosemary and David talked about their latest automation adventures on, well, Automators – highly recommend the show.
From Issue 98 of my Shortcuts newsletter:
Welcome to Issue 98 of What’s New in Shortcuts!
Since the last issue in mid-July, news has been a bit quiet on the Shortcuts front thanks to a delayed second public beta – developer beta 3 was a bit rough, and now beta 4 is out today along with the public beta late in the he day.
As such, I held off on a few stories related to beta features that I have yet to cover, so my Automations and Widget coverage are coming tomorrow morning instead.
However, I did discover a new action in the betas, plus uploaded my new Threads scraping tool to the Library too – shortcuts are live now, and stories on those are coming later this week as well.
Otherwise, I published a couple of holdover posts on Threads, a few interesting tips related to power user features you might use if you’re a Shortcuts fan, and a series of linked posts to check out.
Until next issue, here’s what’s new in Shortcuts:
