Category: Links

Quick thoughts that link out to other sites

How to transfer data from Google Maps to Apple Maps »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 15

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.

Tags Apple Maps, apps, Google Maps, Google Takeout, JSON, Linked, Shortcuts

Links News

App Shortcuts Work on HomePod in iOS 17 »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 15

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.

Watch the Apple developer session.

Tags App shortcuts, HomePod, iOS 17, Linked, News

Links News

Apple Watch Apps Can Provide App Shortcuts in watchOS 10 »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 15
1 Comment on Apple Watch Apps Can Provide App Shortcuts in watchOS 10 »

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.

Tags Apple Watch, Linked, News

Links

Automating with Shortcuts and macOS Folder Actions »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 14

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 to
Pretty 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.

Read the full story on Six Colors.

Tags Automation, Finder, Folder Actions, Linked, macOS

Links

Apple Music ‘Discovery Station’ goes live for subscribers »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 7

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.

Tags Apple Music, Links, News

Links Podcasts

Interactive Widgets Are Built Using App Intents: What That Means For Shortcuts »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 1

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.

Listen to the full episode and check out Iconfactory.

Tags App Intents, Iconfactory, Interactive Widgets, iOS 17, Linked, The Talk Show

Links

The must-try iPhone shortcut to help you remember everything »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 1

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.

Read the full article.

Tags Links, Reminders, Shortcuts

Links Podcasts

Automators Talk Personal Automation Fun »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date August 1

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.

Listen the podcast.

Tags Automators, Linked, podcast

Links

How to Get a Custom Alert When Your iPhone Reaches Full Charge »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 31

From MakeUseOf:

Are you worried about leaving your iPhone to charge for extended periods and what it can do to your battery life? While your device notifies you when the battery percentage drops below 20% and 10%, there’s no other way to know when it’s fully charged without manually checking.

But having to constantly check if your iPhone is fully charged can be an inconvenience. The good news is, with the built-in Shortcuts app, you can set up a custom alert that triggers when your iPhone reaches full charge. We’ll show you how to do it:

Read the full article.

Tags Automations, Battery, Charging, iPhone, Linked

Links

How to put two shortcuts in one small widget »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 31

From Cult Of Mac:

A lot of shortcuts come in pairs. I have one shortcut that sets my phone to light mode and bumps up the text size for taking screenshots; a corresponding one sets my phone back to dark mode and lowers the text size again. On my Mac, I have a shortcut that turns on my Podcasting focus, launches Logic, Chrome and Skype, and hides everything else; a matching one turns off the focus and opens all my other apps back up.

It’s natural that you might want to put two matching shortcuts in one small widget. Now, in iOS 17, that’s possible:

Read the full article.

Tags Cult of Mac, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, Linked, macOS Sonoma, Widget

Links

iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Option for Shortcuts Potentially Revealed in iOS 17 Code »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 31

From Steve Moser at MacRumors:

According to the code found in ‌iOS 17‌ beta 4, the Action button could have nine different options that users can customize and assign to different actions. While the code only lists feature names related to the Action button, we can infer what most of them will be able to do:
[…]
Shortcuts: As on the ‌Apple Watch Ultra‌, this option would let users run any shortcut they have created or downloaded from the Shortcuts app, such as sending a message, playing a playlist, or controlling smart home devices.

If the Action button is coming from Apple Watch Ultra, it will surely support Shortcuts – the question is, do we only get one shortcut for the button at all times? Apple definitely needs a more advanced interface for picking which shortcut works on the Action button – I suggest Focus modes.

Read the full article.

Tags Action button, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Ultra, iPhone, Linked, MacRumors, Steve Moser

Apps How To Links

How to change back to the old Twitter app icon on iOS »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 31

From TechCrunch:

As our Twitter apps are updating to now be called “X,” you might long for the old blue bird logo. It harkens back to a similar time, when Twitter certainly had its issues, but at least it was not owned by Elon Musk. Thanks to the shortcuts app on iOS, we can kid ourselves into believing that Twitter is still being run by a different short-sighted billionaire, rather than this even shorter-sighted one. Lucky us!

Here’s how you can change your X icon back to Twitter again:

As I joked on Twi…er, X… “Who’d have thought the world’s primary use case for Shortcuts would be app icon replacement”?

Read the full article (h/t 9to5Mac and iMore).

P.S. I just so happened to publish a guide on this method a few days ago.

Tags Add to Home Screen, Icons, Linked, Shortcuts, TechCrunch, twitter, X

Apps Links

Test This iOS 17 Soundboard App With Interactive Widgets »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 20

From @leomehlig:

iOS 17 only alert ⚠️‼️🔊

Using the new interactive widgets, I’ve built a soundboard app, which you can use right from your lock and Home Screen (turn on sound to hear them).

Early beta is already on TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/tAISw1v8 pic.twitter.com/mPgdW7UEch

Back in June, I saw this tweet from Leo Mehlig, developer of Structured, teasing a new soundboard app he’s working on that uses the new interactive widget capabilities – in theory, this could even work from an iPhone on StandBy… 😋

View the demo video in the tweet or join the TestFlight.

Tags Audio, Interactive Widgets, iOS 17, Linked, Sound, Soundboard, Structured, Widgets

Links

How to Open Threads Profiles from Mastodon and Twitter Directly in the Threads App »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 5

Federico Viticci of MacStories:

Instagram just rolled out Threads, the company’s new text-based social network that’s been advertised over the past few weeks as an alternative to Twitter. I’m trying out Threads (you can find my account at threads.net/@viticci) and in the process of setting up the list of people I want to follow, I immediately run into an annoying issue that I fixed with a shortcut.
[…]
However, when I click on profile URLs from the popular app Ivory, I get an error because the app thinks I clicked on a Mastodon profile URL:
[…]
It’s not any better on the Twitter website: after logging in with my account and clicking on some profile URLs, I was presented with Threads webpages that do not have a Follow button at all:

Federico solves the problem with OCR and, of all things, Back Tap – and it works really well.

View the story on MacStories.

Tags Linked, Mastodon, Shortcuts, Threads, twitter

Links

Send Your Feedback to Apple About App Intents

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 5

Michael Gorbach, engineering manager on the Shortcuts team:

For those that have adopted App Intents in their apps, or are considering it: What are the main frustrations / limitations you have hit? FB numbers are great, but in this case not required!

Now’s the perfect time after 2 developer betas and the public beta on the horizon – if you have something to voice to Apple about App Shortcuts, now is the time!

View the post on Mastodon.

Tags App Intents, Developer, Feedback, Linked, Michael Gorbach

Links

How to build an App Intents Spotlight integration using Shortcuts »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 5

Antoine Van Der Lee on his blog SwiftLee:

App Intents have been new since iOS 16 and offer a programmatic way to service your app’s content and functionality to Siri and the Shortcuts app. New in iOS 17 is the option to surface App Shortcuts integrated into Spotlight, making your app’s functionality even more discoverable.

App Intents are the engine behind many features like Widgets and Live Activities. By using them smartly, you’ll create a reusable framework for your app’s functionality. For example, the App Intent we’re creating for Spotlight Shortcuts could be reused for interactive widgets

What a great walkthrough – here’s the sections:

View the full post on avanderlee.com (via Justin Ferrell).

Tags App Intents, Developer, Linked, Shortcuts, Spotlight

Links

ShortCircuit provides customized ChatGPT experience in a premium app »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 4

Joe Fabisevich on Mastodon:

After 10 days of App Store rejections I’m so excited to say, Short Circuit is finally in the App Store! 28 days ago I started built a prototype of Siri powered by ChatGPT, and was immediately drawn to the idea of a premium-feeling iOS, iPad, and Mac app for ChatGPT. This amazing technology deserves a good user experience, and we gave it one.

Partnering with @Soroush to make that happen has been a dream, and I’m so excited to share Short Circuit with you.

Make sure to check out features like the Side Chats, the multiple Personality profiles you can add, and custom level of Creativity in your responses.

Read the full thread on Mastodon and get Short Circuit on the App Store.

Tags apps, ChatGPT, Linked, Short Circuit

Links

Fantastical gets updated Shortcuts actions »

Post author By Matthew Cassinelli
Post date July 4

Jason Snell for Six Colors:

Flexibits just released Fantastical 3.7.9, which adds a bunch of new Shortcuts actions, including the ability to filter events from a given Calendar Set in a given date range, and the ability to generate a simple schedule for a given day.

Read the post on Six Colors and get the Fantastical update (via Zsolt Benke on Mastodon).

Tags apps, Fantastical, Linked