Apple shortcuts app8/7/2023 ![]() ![]() And with over 160 custom shortcuts currently available in the MacStories Shortcuts Archive, I think I’ve already provided a few examples of the app’s versatility. I don’t want to rehash years of coverage of Workflow (which you can find here) or describe all the changes in Apple’s relaunch of the app – I did that with a dedicated chapter in my iOS 12 review. I don’t think Shortcuts needs an introduction on MacStories. Shortcuts: A Different Breed of Automation Shortcuts and Scriptable represent the best that iOS automation has to offer today, and I’d like to explain why. In the nine months I’ve been using them, Shortcuts and Scriptable have complemented each other in different areas of my work on the iPad, allowing me to get more work done more quickly in a very busy period of my professional life. Besides the fact that one of these apps is made by an indie developer and the other by a large team at Apple, Shortcuts and Scriptable are based on profoundly different concepts: they’re at opposite ends of the iOS automation spectrum and they appeal to different kinds of users and needs. ![]() Shortcuts and Scriptable, on the other hand, are exciting new visions of what native iOS automation can do today, as well as what it may become over multiple iterations in the future. URL schemes can still be useful for specific tasks and quick actions, but, at least for me, they’re well past their prime. ![]() As much as dabbling with URL schemes got me (and others) started with automation on iOS, I don’t think that’s where the future of iOS automation is going, and I find myself launching apps via URL schemes less and less these days. In this story, I’m going to focus on two apps, each representative of its own category, that have helped me rethink my iOS automation setup and work faster on my iPad: Shortcuts and Scriptable. Over the past several years, three main types of automation gained traction on iOS: URL schemes, specifically with x-callback-url scripting native iOS features through IDEs such as Pythonista and Scriptable and Workflow, which was eventually relaunched by Apple as Shortcuts. Automation on iOS is different from automation on the Mac, but it can be just as powerful in its own context. If you’ve been reading MacStories long enough, my stance on this shouldn’t be surprising as it’s a topic I’ve covered time and time again. They’re vastly different from macOS, and they’ve always required a fresh mindset unencumbered by past preconceptions, but they exist and they’ve been helping users get more work done on iOS for years now. And that’s not to mention how iOS does not come with a shell, the built-in scripting languages of the underlying Darwin core of macOS, or its own scripting language to automate apps.īut that doesn’t mean iOS fails to offer any kind of useful automation tools, period. The fact of the matter is: if you’re used to a certain kind of automation – if by “automation” you strictly mean Apple Events-powered scripts and actions – then iOS has been, and likely will continue to be, a disappointment for you. There’s an argument to be made about why and how Apple should rethink Apple Events for Shortcuts, but I’m going to cover this later. As Brent Simmons recently described it, there is a special kind of beauty and freedom in the ability to fully script and control apps in the background, letting the computer do the work for you. The biggest factor to consider when comparing automation tools available on Apple’s two platforms is the lack of the Apple Events technology on iOS. Unlike others, I do not believe iOS automation is objectively inferior to its Mac counterpart in many ways, in fact, I prefer automating tasks and apps on my iPad. Shortcuts and Scriptable: The State of iOS AutomationĪutomation on iOS has always been different from automation on the Mac: for years, it has served a different purpose, and it’s always been based on a different set of technologies and sandboxing considerations.
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