Issue 96 |
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What's New in Shortcuts |
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Welcome to Issue 96 of What's New in Shortcuts – this mid-month update is full of Shortcuts news as we head into the iOS 16.4 beta cycle.
Apple published more release notes looking back at what was fixed in iOS 16.3, plus the Shortcuts community discovered a new set of helpful actions (and bugs) from the newest developer betas.
In the Shortcuts Catalog, I published a new five-part series of blog posts on Mastodon Lists and interacting with the API using Shortcuts.
In the community, creators shared great shortcuts for Micropub posting, creative Alfred workflows, and inspirational ideas that resonate with how I think about Shortcuts.
Plus, Shortcuts-powered apps are always releasing new updates – I am a big fan of Raycast's confetti option 🎉
All that, and more – here's what's new in Shortcuts from February 11th-20th, 2023: |
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LOCK UP YOUR SHORTCUTS |
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Apple posts iOS 16.3 release notes for Shortcuts |
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On Tuesday, Apple published the release notes for Shortcut in iOS 16.3 – the only new feature other than update actions is a new “Allow Running While Locked” toggle:
This update includes a new checkbox in the Shortcuts editor’s Privacy tab that allows users to disable a shortcut from being run while the device is locked[...]
This was published just after releasing the security update to IOS 16.3.1 – I linked to the release notes (and past versions) over on my blog: |
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HOME OF THE FUTURE |
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iOS 16.4 brings HomePod Intercom to Siri Shortcuts |
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The folks at SmartApfel also wrote up a piece on the HomePod intercom feature, something that’s definitely unique for folks who have Apple’s smart speakers and might not’ve taken advantage of this feature often yet (like myself).
One thing you might miss about this action? It's available in Home Automations too:
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New ability to set the Icon type for a shortcut |
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...or, how shortcuts can now toggle between the Custom Icon that you set manually vs. the auto-generated icon for the shortcut based on the action.
For example, I’m seeing Safari for shortcuts that end in Open URL, for example; Martin here must’ve been using a shortcut that interacted with Shortcuts itself.
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FIX THE SHARE SHEET PLZ |
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Ongoing Share Sheet issues |
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Mark Van Alstine has also been gathering feedback about Share Sheet issues for folks who use Shortcuts.
I know I regularly see my list of shortcuts drop out, or the whole sheet has memory issues and app icons don't appear – this appears to be a bit better in iOS 16.4, but I do have almost 400 share sheet shortcuts across my entire giant library and it's still stuttering under that weight: |
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FOREGROUND THINE APP, DEVS |
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Apple adds new App Intents APIs for Shortcuts in iOS 16.4 betas |
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Finally, over the weekend, I also saw Apple Engineering Manager Michael Gorbach post a link to a new protocol available as part of the App Intents APIs that lets developers foreground their process when needed – I linked to all the details on my blog: |
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Last but not least, I'm also happy to report that I'm simply seeing the iPhone and iPad version of Shortcuts run a lot smoother.
My experience had gotten to the point where I was actively using both platforms less because of the many, many small slowdowns in the interface...
Using the first beta of iOS 16.4 actually feels smooth again for the first time in a long time (possibly since the switch to SwiftUI).
Time will tell if this quality level stays here, but simply opening apps and interacting with actions isn't slowing me down anymore – Shortcuts can actually keep up with me 😇.
As someone who has made this his full-time job, let me just once say: THANK GOODNESS! |
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Last week, I tried something a little bit new for and wrote up a series of blog posts covering the Mastodon Lists shortcuts I'd just published.
As a result, I produced these five stories—two freely available and the other three for members-only—that covers my thought process behind the shortcuts and how they work, complete with screenshots every step of the way.
I won't always create this many pieces for one set of shortcuts, but with Mastodon becoming a foundational part of my web experience—and having such a cool, open API—I figured this detail would be helpful to build off for the future.
Enjoy!
Note: these are decently advanced topics – I wanted to start by writing about the tools I'd built for myself, and I will be making other pieces that are more accessible for more beginner or intermediate workflows in the future.
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START HERE FOR MASTODON LINKS |
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How to extract Mastodon instance & handle data using Shortcuts |
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In the first piece, I wrote about the Get Component of URL action and how you can use it with Mastodon links to scrape the Instance and Handle data out using Shortcuts.
This is a foundational piece that's free to the public, which the other stories reference and build off of: |
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GIVE ME LISTS OR GIVE ME DEATH |
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How to use Mastodon’s API to open your Lists with Shortcuts |
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Next was the main function I was trying to achieve — extracting List data from Mastodon, letting me pick from all my Lists, and then opening onto the direct page for a single List.
Thankfully, the API wasn't too complicated – and I'll be able to reuse this new process I've created as a function in my other shortcuts: |
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SAVE TO LISTS FROM ANY LINK |
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How to save Mastodon accounts to Lists using Shortcuts |
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Once you've got your List shortcut, you'll also want to save all the accounts you follow to those Lists.
However, Mastodon limits on which pages you're allowed to add people, so I built this shortcut that works with any URL – it even detects which Lists the account might already belong to: |
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Custom Shortcuts in Craft using Alfred |
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Finally, the carrot at the end of the stick: I built all these methods just so I could open my Lists in Ivory.
I had originally discovered the URL scheme from a helpful hint, and set out to build off of the Mastodon API and automatically generate my deep links.
Then, once I completed my folder of shortcuts, I worked backwards and teased out all of these blog posts separately.
Once I got to the Ivory story, I also wanted to explain the various stages of building out from a single reformatted link to a link scraper to a link menu to a link dictionary to an API-generated link list – it's a piece I'll likely reference often.
You'll want to read all the blog posts to get the full effect (everything's linked internally in this Ivory story), plus you should get the Mastodon Lists shortcuts to try the shortcuts for yourself as you read along. |
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Custom Shortcuts in Craft using Alfred |
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Sridfhar Katakam shared his blog post where he explained how he's used Shortcuts + Alfred + Craft together.
Alfred controls the whole workflow and calls Shortcuts when the key trigger is activated – then the shortcuts power features like accessing the Daily Note in Craft: |
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COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER |
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Why Mastodon is so much easier to automate in the Shortcuts app than Twitter or Instagram |
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This post from 1 Thing A Week resonated with me – it covers how Mastodon is significantly easier to work with in Shortcuts than any other social network.
In case you can't tell from what I've produced so far this year, he's right — I'd have loved to do this all for Twitter, but it was never accessible to me in Shortcuts since it required deeper authorization.
Now, with Mastodon, there's virtually no limits — I'm still just getting started: |
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📼 Videos You Should Watch |
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ONE BUTTON TO RULE THEM ALL |
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Staying Focused with Shortcuts |
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Francisco Yira has shared a thread where he walks through three Shortcuts-enabled apps—Stay In Session, One Sec, and Endel—to power his "productivity" stack that he uses daily.
Pomodoros, app automations, and generative soundscapes definitely work for me — check out his suggestions:
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AUTOMATIC CALENDAR SHORTCUTS |
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App Shortcuts for Fantastical with iOS 16 |
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The folks at Flexibits have posted on their blog about their app Fantastical's new App Shortcuts.
In it, they cover how to find their App Shortcuts, which actions are auto-generated for you, and how to take advantage of the Fantatical actions to build your own custom shortcuts: |
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SIRI CONFETTI CANNON |
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Open Raycast Confetti by URL |
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Ivan Campos posted this great little video where he uses Raycast's URL raycast://confetti to make an explosion of confetti on his screen.
In his action, he's using Run Script over SSH to execute the URL, but Open URLs in Shortcuts could also achieve the same result on a local Mac: |
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🤖 Shortcuts You Should Get |
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#HASHTAG #HASHTAG #HASHTAG |
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Hashtag manager |
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Martin has shared a version of his hashtag manager that makes it easy to group up lists of commonly-used tags and retrieve them for your posts:
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PUBLISH YOUR OWN SHORTCUTS |
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Thibault Maekelbergh's Shortcuts |
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Thibault Maekelbergh (holy cow what a cool name) has shared a dedicated page on website that houses all of his Shortcuts.
On it, he shares a few shortcuts like Flatten Folder, Scale Image to 50%, and File to Shell – check out the full list:
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YOUR DAILY WEATHER API |
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Open Weather API requests |
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Mastodon user Maradatscha shared this shortcut that taps into the Open Weather API, which he's also set up using Personal Automations.
Technically, this could also be done in Home Automations using the Get Contents of URL action too: |
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PACKING LIST MADE EASY |
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Travel checklists for OmniFocus |
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Aday, an App Interaction Designer at Brainly, has shared a quick video demoing his trip prep and packing list shortcuts, built for OmniFocus: |
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NO READING LIST? NO PROBLEM |
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Add to Reading List from anywhere |
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Paul Douglas shared this sentiment on Mastodon that I fully agree with – Shortcuts is built to fill the gaps between your apps.
If you're ever running into a situation where you can't access a feature you should be able to... consider turning to Shortcuts as a way to get around that blocker and reach your goal. |
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BUILD ONCE, RUN ANYWHERE |
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Shortcuts Are Cross-Platform |
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Slava Grimalsky shared this other sentiment that I also think highlights a vastly underrated benefit of working in Shortcuts — many tools you build are immediately cross-platform:
Apple's Shortcuts are super powerful, and I did not expect that scenario I built will run both in MacBook and iPhone with the same result.
Here's the Extract Text to Notes shortcut he built: |
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THERE'S A SHORTCUT FOR THAT |
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Prototyping mini app ideas |
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@Mal_loc shared this tweet that caught my eye, because I'm basically prototyping new "app ideas" constantly.
But for me, they've just become "Shortcuts ideas" – I often don't need an app when I've got my own shortcuts for the same thing: |
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BRAIN FOG TACTICS |
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How to deal with Brain Fog |
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In a helpful thread about dealing with brain fog, @TheLifePuzzler shared this tip for Shortcuts users (for post-shower idea capture):
Pro documentation tip: Set up a quick capture for voice recordings or notes with the Shortcuts app on iPhone. This way you can capture voice by tapping on the back of your phone when having wet hands.
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AI ASSISTANCE WITH SHORTCUTS |
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Generating QR codes |
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This tweet from @profoundlyeric also caught my eye – ChatGPT actually recommend using Shortcuts to generate QR codes, a tip which is otherwise apparently buried on Google: |
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DON'T TALK TO ME BEFORE I'VE RUN MY SHORTCUTS |
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Starbucks Coffee Reorder |
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@SaadSorathia has discovered reordering from Starbucks using Shortcuts, and, if you haven't yet, you should try it too.
Even better, order something for a friend, then easily reorder their favorite next time you see them 🙌
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SLOW YOUR BEEF |
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Cross-Posting to Twitter and Mastodon |
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Twitter user @SlowBeef (love it) has posted their seemingly first shortcut ever – and it's a great cross-posting tool for Twitter & Mastodon.
I love building quick shortcuts like this on my iPhone in my downtime too – and I've been forgetting to post to Twitter lately, so I may need to make my own...
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GIVE US SETTINGS SHORTCUTS PLZ |
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Shortcuts should be able to control every feature in Settings |
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I agree with @simonhamp on Twitter that it's time for Shortcuts to get actions that control all the options available in the Settings app.
One of the most common sentiments that I've seen since the app become Shortcuts is confusion over why Apple's own automation app can't control particular settings controls.
I really hope this is something we'll see at WWDC this year with a concentrated effort – if not, a steady stream of releases—like the new actions in iOS 16.4—are certainly welcome as well. |
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PEOPLE ARE SMART ENOUGH TO GET IT |
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No More Notification Banners |
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In a slightly more colorful request, @mikesuszek (and many other Twitter users who I don't link to each week) suggests that Apple will get rid of the notification banners from Shortcuts.
Also, for what it's worth, the banners are much less obtrusive on iPhone 14 Pro devices – that being said, whether or not this experience sucks absolutely should not be determined by a hardware upgrade. |
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That's all for this newsletter! Next issue is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28th — see you then... 👋
But before you go, one last funny tweet:
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