When sharing from my blog, I’ve been having the tiniest problem for ages – for about one out of every ten posts, the images from my blog will simply not show up on Twitter, like the image below:
Thankfully blogger Deepak shared this solution on his site:
I discovered that adding a random query parameter at the end of the URL, that you’re going to share on X, works perfectly. X treats this as a new URL and re-fetches the card image. For example, you can add something like ?test=1 like below example, or whatever random query parameter you like. And then share this URL on X.
But don’t worry, adding the query parameter isn’t going to break the URL or affect the content shown on the page. It’s perfectly safe to use this.
THANK GOD. After a bit of testing, I’m going with ?refresh=true1 at the end of blog post URLs that are being troublesome – makes sense to me, and works well.
I’ve integrated the URL pattern into the shortcut from the header image – coming soon for members (or, you can just build it yourself from the photo). ↩
Naturally, I want to highlight the section on their new Shortcuts actions and Spotlight for Mac support in particular:
App Intents
We revamped our integration with Spotlight and the Shortcuts app. On macOS 26, actions can now be triggered directly from Spotlight. New actions include:
“Find Sheet” and “Find Group”, with configurable filters.
“Import File”, to convert any given text file into a sheet.
“Search in Ulysses”, to open the in-app search with a pre-defined search term.
Also:
Copy for Substack and Basecamp
You can now copy your texts for use on Substack and Basecamp.
Most formatting is supported; some limitations apply (images won’t work).
On Substack, we even support buttons (via raw source) and Spotify previews (via text links).
This will be good for my newsletter, which I don’t want to write within the Substack browser – I prefer a dedicated editor experience like Ulysses.
Today, my standing desk started to make a clicking sound and only showed zeroes on the display. It wouldn’t raise, but it would move down – there was clearly nothing wrong with the motor, but I didn’t want to continue lowering it in case it wouldn’t raise back up. While looking for replacements, I thankfully found this video that explains what to do – reset the motors:
If your desk loses power, it also loses its memory – which means it no longer remembers which position it is in. Therefore, your desk needs to find a reference point – that being the lowest position.
Pretty simple, but something I hadn’t run into before – I was not happy with the idea that I’d have to replace the entire controller for ~$400.
The video also highlights the importance of moving anything out of the way too – standing desk motors are powerful and won’t stop if something is in the way. I’ve had my desk lift itself off the ground because it caught on the drawers nearby, which could have been more serious if my desk was fully automated1.
Use these shortcuts to access all the sections of the app, make the most of Lists, perform advanced searches, and access elements of your profile:
Show my Timeline on X: Quickly access to your preferred Twitter timeline with one command.
Search on X: Asks you to enter a query, then opens the Search in X (formerly Twitter).
Explore on X: Opens the URL to the Explore tab of X where you can search for posts, plus see curated stories, hashtags, profiles, & topics in For You, Trending, News, Sports, & Entertainment sections.
Check my Mentions on X: Opens the URL to the Notifications tab of X where you can see your replies, likes, reposts, quotes, and follows. On the Mac, opens to mentions-only so you can reply back directly to people.
Chat on X: Opens into the Chat experience for X where you can send a new message, see recent messages, perform a search, or filter conversations by All, Unread, Groups, or Requests.
Open into a List from X: Presents a menu of your Lists on X, then opens the URL into into the corresponding list. Requires entering list IDs manually.
Open my Lists on X: Opens the URL to the Lists page for your given username. On import, asks you to enter your handle.
Create a List on X: Opens the URL to the Create button for Lists on X where you can add an Image, Name, Description, and whether the list should be Private before adding the list.
Open my Bookmarks on X: Opens the URL to the Bookmarks page on X where you can see posts you’ve saved and organize them into folders.
Create a Bookmark Folder on X: Opens the URL to the Create Folder endpoint for Bookmarks on X, where you can enter a title and description before adding the new folder.
Open my Likes on X: Opens the URL to the Likes section of your profile on X where you can see posts you’ve interacted with. On input, asks you to enter your handle.
Open my Profile on X: Opens the URL to your username on X – also copies the link in case you want to share it with someone else. On import, asks you to enter your handle.
Search my own posts on X: Using a X username inputted on import and a keyword entered when the shortcut is run, this shortcut takes the info, URL-encodes it into a X link, and opens into the app to show the results.
Open Settings on X: Opens the URL to the Account settings section on X where you can change your account information or password, download an archive of your data, or deactivate your account. Other sections in Settings include Monetization, Premium, Creator Subscriptions, Security and account access, Privacy and safety, Notifications, Accessibility, display, and languages, Additional resources, & Help Center.
Manage X premium: Opens the URL to the Premium section of X where you can manage your subscription, quick access features like Grok, Monetization, Analytics, X Pro, Media Studio, Hiring, Bookmarks Folders, and Top Articles, customize your profile with an expanded bio or theme, and verify your ID.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Meta AI shortcuts for interacting with Meta AI, the assistant from the makers of Facebook and Instagram.
Use these for Meta AI on the web – quickly start a new chat, browse Vibes creations, generate an AI image or video, and access features of AI Studio where you can create your own AI chatbot.
Open Meta AI: Opens the URL for Meta AI so you can ask anything, choose from one of their suggestions, or scroll down to browse Vibes.
Talk with Meta AI: Opens the URL for the Talk feature in Meta AI, activating voice mode on your device right away so you can begin speaking your prompt.
New chat with Meta AI: Opens the URL to a new chat with Meta AI, focusing on the keyboard so you can start typing your prompt right away.
Open Vibes from Meta AI: Opens the URL to the Vibes page of Meta AI where you can browse and watch creations from others.
Create media with Meta AI: Opens the URL to the Create tab of Meta AI, where you can view your own creations and create something new by describing your image. “You can create images and videos to inspire others.”
Open the AI Image Generator from Meta AI: Opens the URL for the AI Image Generator from Meta AI where you change options like aspect ratio or aesthetics along with your prompt. Capabilities listed include “Create images,” “Create an image of yourself,” “Edit images,” “Restyle images,” “Animate images,” and “Analyze images.”
Open the AI Video Generator from Meta AI: Opens the URL for the AI Video Generator in Meta AI, where you can create, remix, and share AI videos. Capabilities listed include “Create custom animations,” “Edit images,” “Extend videos,” “Get more done,” “View your creations,” and “Restyle and edit.”
Show my notifications from Meta AI: Opens the URL for the Notifications page for Meta AI where you can see interactions on your creations.
Show my profile on Meta AI: Opens the URL for your profile on Meta AI. On import, asks you to enter your username.
Show demos from Meta AI: Opens the URL for AI Demos from Meta, where you can “[e]xplore the latest AI experiments from Meta, where bold ideas meet the edge of research, creativity, and technology.”
Show Meta AI Studio: Opens the URL to the AI Studio from Meta (hosted on Instagram.com) where you can create your own AI or “find and interact with AIs created by others.”
Create an AI with Meta AI Studio: Opens the URL to the Create an AI page in Meta AI Studio, where you can “make an AI for deep conversations, help with specific topics or just for fun,” “craft a specific voice for your AI and give it capabilities like search and image generation,” and “chat privately or make an AI public for others to discover.”
Show my AIs in Meta AI Studio: Opens the URL for “Your AIs” in Meta AI Studio, where you can manage AIs that you’ve created.
If you’re intrigued by Google’s release of Gemini 3 Pro, you can try out the assistant with one button press by adding one of the Gemini app’s shortcuts to the Action button on your device.
I’ve released a set of shortcuts in my Shortcuts Library to demonstrate what’s possible with the Gemini app (and on the web), but here’s how to add it yourself without setting up a custom shortcut first:
List of actions for the Action Button
Within the Settings app, the Action Button option1 lets you choose between various actions the hardware button can take:
Silent Mode: Switch between Silent and Ring for calls and alerts.
Focus: Turn Focus on to silence notifications and filter out distractions.
Camera: Open the Camera app to capture a moment.
Visual Intelligence: Learn about the world around you and get more information about what you see.
Flashlight: Turn on extra light when you need it.
Voice Memo: Record personal notes, musical ideas, and more.
Recognize Music: Find out what song is playing nearby or on your iPhone with Shazam.
Translate: Translate phrases or have a conversation with someone in another language.
Magnifier: Turn your iPhone into a magnifying glass to zoom in on and detect object near you.
Controls: Quickly access your favorite Control.
Shortcut: Open an app or run your favorite shortcut.
Accessibility: Quickly use an accessibility feature.
No Action
Choose a shortcut for the Action Button
If you select “Choose a shortcut” for your Action Button, you’ll be presented with a specialized menu to help make your selection. There you’ll find options from Shortcuts including a search field, a set to Get Started, My Shortcuts (if you have any), and a set of App Shortcuts automatically provided by your apps.
If you search for or scroll down to Gemini, then tap into the results, you’ll see six shortcuts (I’ve linked my equivalents for reference):
Talk Live with Gemini is the best option for a Siri-like experience, so choose that to your Action Button – now Gemini is a single press away!
Gemini shortcuts in Siri, Spotlight, & Shortcuts
Gemini’s App Shortcuts are also available to trigger from both Siri, Spotlight, and the Shortcuts app.
You can activate any of these actions when searching for Gemini, by typing the title or speaking the trigger phrases, or by running them from the Gemini folder inside Shortcuts under “App Shortcuts.”
You can even add actions like Talk Live to Gemini directly to your Home Screen, plus spaces like the Shortcuts widget or Control Center for quick access as well.
If you have a set of custom shortcuts like mine, those will show up in Spotlight under Shortcuts as well.
Gemini shortcuts for the web
Gemini also has an expanded set of features that are not yet available natively in Shortcuts, but are only accessible via shortcuts using web links. To help integrate these features into my Shortcuts workflows, I’ve also included Gemini shortcuts for features like Gems, settings, and links to reference documentation.
—
Gemini is an extremely impressive assistant with the release of Gemini 3 Pro and worth trying out regardless of which assistant you use regularly. With the rumors that Apple might power the new Siri using Gemini technology on the back-end, it’s intriguing to see how Siri might improve on top of a platform like App Intents – the very API that Google is using to make these App Shortcuts for Gemini available.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Gemini shortcutsfor Google’s AI. Use these to start and find chats, open into custom gems, and open into various settings for the assistant.
Use the first set of six shortcuts to interact with the Gemini app on your phone – the rest currently open on the web:
Gemini app
Talk Live with Gemini: Opens the Gemini app to the Talk Live chat mode where you can speak conversationally with the AI.
Type Gemini prompt: Opens Gemini to the Ask Gemini chat menu with the keyboard activated, ready for you to type your prompt right away.
Open Gemini mic: Opens the Gemini app and activates the microphone so you can speak out a single prompt and confirm the query before asking.
Open Gemini camera: Opens the Gemini app and activates the device camera so you can scan your surroundings and take a photo for the AI to analyze.
Share image with Gemini: Opens the Gemini app and activates the photo picker so that you can choose an image from your gallery to add to your prompt.
Share file with Gemini: Opens the Gemini app to the File picker so you can attach any documents like PDFs to your prompt for analysis.
Gemini for Web
Open Google Gemini: “Gemini 3 Pro is here. It’s our smartest model yet—more powerful and helpful for whatever you need: Expert coding & math help; Next-level research intelligence; Deeper understanding across text, images, files, and videos.”
Search for chats with Gemini: Opens the link to Gemini search, which puts the keyboard into focus immediately so you can just start typing your query. Also shows recents chats.
Brainstorm with Gemini: “Find inspiration easily. Fresh ideas for parties, gifts, businesses and more.”
Code with Gemini: “Level up your coding skills. Get the help you need to build your projects and learn as you go.”
Learn with Gemini: “Here to help you learn and practice new concepts. Tell me what you’d like to learn, and I’ll help you get started.”
Write with Gemini: “Elevate your writing. Get clear, constructive feedback, from grammar to structure.”
Show my activity in Gemini: “Keeping your activity lets you pick up chats where you left off anytime and helps improve Google services, including AI models. When this setting is off, Google still saves chats for 72 hours to respond to you and help keep Gemini safe.”
Show apps connected to Gemini: “Bring it all together with Gemini and your favorite apps. Go from tons of tabs to one conversation. Gemini can now access info from new sources, starting with Maps, YouTube, Flights, and Hotels so you can bring your ideas to life easier and faster.”
Show my instructions for Gemini: “Share info about your life and preferences to get more helpful responses. Add new info here or ask Gemini to remember something during a chat.”
Show my public links from Gemini: “You can share chats or an individual prompt & response. Once you do, you can manage public links that you’ve created and see their details here.”
Show my subscription for Gemini: “The best of Google AI in one membership. Google AI Pro: Get more access to new and powerful features to boost your productivity and creativity. Google AI Ultra: Unlock the highest levels of access to the best of Google AI and exclusive features.”
Create a gem for Gemini: “Example: You are a horticulturist with a background in natural lawns and native plants, and you help people plan low water gardens. Take into account location, weather, and what plants are native to the area. You are knowledgeable, casual, and friendly.”
Open a gem in Gemini: Presents a menu of pre-filled gems, including Brainstormer, Coding Partner, Learning Coach, and Writing Editor. On import, asks you to fill in the title and identifier for a custom gem.
Explore gems in Gemini: “Gems are custom versions of Gemini that give you tailored responses. You can customize a premade Gem or you can create a new gem from scratch using instructions you set. You’ll find all your Gems here where you can edit them any time or you can start chatting right now with a premade Gem.”
Learn about Gemini 3 Pro: “Gemini 3 Pro is our most advanced reasoning Gemini model, capable of solving complex problems. Gemini 3 Pro can comprehend vast datasets and challenging problems from different information sources, including text, audio, images, video, PDFs, and even entire code repositories with its 1M token context window.”
Try Gemini in Google AI Studio: “Google AI Studio and Gemini API empower developers to build with Gemini, our next generation family of generative AI models.”
Try Gemini in Vertex AI: “Train high-quality custom machine learning models with minimal machine learning expertise and effort.”
View Gemini in the Model Garden: “Gemini 3 Pro is designed to tackle the most challenging agentic problems with strong coding and state-of-the-art reasoning capabilities. It is the best model for complex multimodal understanding. Compared to Gemini 2.5 Pro, it improves significantly on complex instruction following and delivers outcomes with better output efficiency.”
If you’re looking to pick up some Elgato gear as part of your Black Friday shopping, make sure to check out their deals starting Thursday, November 20 with additional sales on Black Friday itself on November 28.
Elgato has an email form on their website where you can sign up to be notified when deals go live. These are usually the best deals of the year, especially for bundles – specific deals are currently under wraps, but you’ll be able to save up to 30%.
If you’re not sure what to get, check out the Elgato gear that I use under my Elgato tag – I have a bunch of posts from the past few years.
Stephen Robles has 17 new real-life use cases for putting the Use Model action for Apple Intelligence to work in Shortcuts:
18 NEW Apple Intelligence Shortcuts, with AI-generated packing lists, dynamic birthday texts, smart “remember anything” to Notes, Apple Music automations, and more!
My @interaction Poke shortcut for Apple Watch Ultra’s action button.
Dictate Text + Send Message – nice & simple, and a neat use of the Action Button (on either iPhone or Apple Watch).
For anyone who doesn’t know, Poke is “your proactive AI assistant that turns your emails into action” and is known on X for their AI’s cheeky-but-well-done personality as well as smooth integrations.
There are new Find Conversation and Find Messages actions for Shortcuts that I haven’t seen anyone play with yet – those could be an interesting addition to this workflow.
Also the Messages automation could be fun – you could flash the lights when you get a Poke message, for example.1
I’ve just added a set of new folders to the Shortcuts Library, all for Notion — a set for the main Notion app, menus of special Pages, and then Notion Mail & Notion Calendar:
Notion
My main set of Notion shortcuts are designed for the main app experiences – New Page would be great for the Action button:
Open my Notion home page: Opens the URL to the Home page in your Notion workspace, which shows recently visited pages, upcoming events, database views, and featured templates.
Open Meetings in Notion: Opens the URL to the top-level Meetings page in Notion where you can see upcoming meetings, start transcribing, and browse past AI meeting notes.
Open Notion AI: Opens the URL for Notion AI so you can “Ask, search, or make anything…” – plus add context from with a Page from Notion. You can also attach files, choose a model, use Research mode, or start a Web search – as well as get started with a few shortcuts.
Open Notion Mail: Opens Notion Mail by checking if the app is present; if not, opens the URL.
Open Notion Calendar: Opens Notion Calendar by checking if the app is present; if not, opens the URL.
Open the Marketplace in Notion: Opens the URL for the template Marketplace, where you can find and purchase predesigned setups for Notion.
Get Help with Notion: Opens the URL to the Help and Documentation resources from Notion where you can search for anything and learn from Notion Academy.
For my set of Notion Pages shortcuts, you can copy different IDs and Views from various pages, then use the others to open into those pages – whether within one team, a whole teamspace, or your entire workspace:
Open page in Side Peek: Proof of concept of the URL pattern in Notion for taking a Page URL and opening it in Side Peek as a Subpage of a particular View.
Copy View from Notion link: Gets a URL from input, matches the URL structure for a page ID and the associated View ID, and copies the View identifier to the clipboard. Can also be set to extract both IDs in an array.
Copy ID from Notion link: Gets a URL from input, matches a 32-character string from the text (and gets the first item in case there’s also a View ID), and copies that identifier to the clipboard.
Open from a team Pages in Notion: Presents a preset list of Pages from particular workspace, then takes the corresponding ID and opens the URL in Notion.
Open a Teamspace in Notion: Use my shortcut “Copy ID from Notion link” to easily extract the ID for any Teamspace add it to the Text action below.
Open from my Teamspaces in Notion: Presents a menu of your Teamspaces to choose from, then takes the corresponding ID and opens the URL in Notion.
Open from my Workspace pages in Notion: Presents a menu of Teamspace titles to choose from, then a preset list of Pages from that workspace, then takes the corresponding ID and opens the URL in Notion.
If you’re a Notion Mail user, you can use my set of Notion Mail shortcuts to open into the various pages on the Mac – I’m still trying to figure out the iOS URL scheme and unfortunately it’s not available on iPad:
Open Settings in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to the default Settings page for Notion Mail, which shows Inbox settings. Other options include Notion AI, Gmail filters, Snippets, Signature, and Account, plus links to Members and Plans for the Workspace.
Open Snippets in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to the Snippets section of Settings in Notion Mail where you can create new snippets, and edit existing snippets, plus change their icon or shortcut.
Open the Trash in Notion Mail: Opens the Trash can in Notion Mail where you can see recently-deleted emails and recover any before they expire.
Open Spam in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to the Spam section of Notion Mail so you can see if anything important slipped through and delete the rest.
Open Drafts in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to your unsent Drafts in Notion Mail where you can continue where you left off.
Open Sent in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to your Sent messages in Notion Mail, where you can see past emails of yours grouped by date.
Open All Mail in Notion Mail: Opens the link to the All Mail section of Notion Mail which shows unread, read, and archived emails.
Open Search in Notion Mail: Opens the link to the Search field in Notion Mail so you can start typing your query in the search box.
If you’re a fan of Notion calendar, you can use my set of Notion Calendar shortcuts to quickly jump into various sections of the website:
Open to a Month in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then extracts just the year and month values, then opens the URL in the Month view in Notion Calendar. Defaults to next month.
Open to a Week in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then gets the start of the week and opens the URL to the Week view in Notion Calendar. Defaults to the start of next week.
Open to a Day in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then extracts the month, year, & day values, then opens the URL to the Day view in Notion Calendar. Defaults to tomorrow.
Open to any Date in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then a view mode, then opens the URL for that view. For Week view, shows from the start of the week.
I’ve just updated my folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Remote Login shortcuts for using the Run Script over SSH action to perform remote login actions for your Mac devices.
Use these to set up a dictionary of the IP addresses for your Mac devices, then run the shortcuts or use Siri to wake or sleep the devices. Includes individual options for my Mac mini and MacBook Air:
Wake my Mac: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake. Asks to pick between your Mac devices using my shortcut “Get the IP Addresses for my Macs.”
Sleep my Mac: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake. Asks to pick between your Mac devices using my shortcut “Get the IP Addresses for my Macs.”
Wake my MacBook Air: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your MacBook Air to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake.
Sleep my MacBook Air: Sends a remote command to a Mac to go to sleep immediately.
Wake my Mac mini: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac mini to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake.
Sleep my Mac mini: Runs a shell script or sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac to go to sleep immediately. Works well with Stream Deck.
Run Script over SSH demo: Example shortcut that demonstrates the capabilities of Run Script over SSH to control your Mac remotely (and Run AppleScript when not triggered remotely).
Get the IP Addresses for my Macs: Outputs a predefined dictionary of the title and IP address for each of your Mac devices. On import, asks you to enter the IP addresses.
Modeled after the iPod Sock, the AirPods Beanies are a set of 4 cloth sleeves for your AirPods, one in each color – my partner and I have been sharing them for the last four years. Designed to slide over the AirPods case, the sleeve protects them in your pocket from scratches or dings, plus gives it a bit of grip to avoid sliding out of your pocket when sitting back in a chair.
On the actual iPhone Pocket itself – I am not immediately in love with the price, or the aesthetics, or reality of what it’s like to use this product. But that’s not really the point – it’s a collaboration with a designer, and an exploration of a product.
The Crossbody Strap is designed to attach to select Apple cases for a convenient and hands-free way to wear iPhone.
Beautifully crafted from 100 percent recycled PET yarns, the smooth, narrow woven straps drape comfortably across the body.
Embedded flexible magnets with stainless steel sliding mechanisms allow you to effortlessly adjust the length for the perfect fit, while keeping both straps securely and neatly aligned.
Perhaps we’ll see something similar from Apple themselves in response to the iPhone Pocket? AirPods Socks?
“iPhone Pocket is a collaboration between Apple and ISSEY MIYAKE. Based upon a mutual respect and shared approach to design, it’s inspired by the concept of “a piece of cloth” and features a singular 3D-knitted construction designed to fully enclose iPhone, while expanding to fit your everyday items.
Featuring a ribbed mesh structure with the qualities of the original pleats patented by ISSEY MIYAKE, iPhone Pocket is a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone. When stretched, the open textile subtly reveals its contents and allows you to peek at your iPhone display. Born out of the idea of creating an additional pocket, while also being playful and versatile, iPhone Pocket is available in a short strap length (in eight colors), and a long strap length (in three colors), suitable for a variety of wearing styles – handholding, tying onto bags, or wearing directly on your body.” ↩
Nooo, the App Store logo is cleverly made from 3, tilted app icons. I made a little 3D printed model to visualize it, makes for a cool desk ornament https://t.co/OLXPBE33gZpic.twitter.com/agcncxvEdZ
Edit: More updates from Edward Sanchez, former designer at Apple – the original version is indeed a 3D rendering:
I hereby raise a challenge to any 3D artist to correctly recreate the app store icon based on the Instruments icon mesh – and show a 360 rotation of it. It’s surprising, and as you can see, not sticks. I can’t share the source, but I can reward the winner with a like and retweet. pic.twitter.com/fejVd5yTTt
If you’ve seen any linked posts on my blog, you’ve probably seen Stephen Robles – a prolific content creator who’s made a massive impact in the Shortcuts community the last few years. Just last week, Stephen announced that, thanks to the support of his community, he’s gone solo and left his job to pursue YouTube & his Shortcuts membership full-time.
My congratulations to Stephen – he’s an amazing person, a hard worker, and has given me so value with his Shortcuts work.
Become a member of the community and gain access to my ShortcutsGPT, Shortcut of the Week, searchable Shortcuts database, priority Shortcuts requests, and more!
It’s the idea that there’s a personal data trove that you have. And then you’re asking the model to query the contents. […] You know about all this stuff, now do stuff with it.
And if you can do that on device, it’s really powerful. [I]t’s hard to do that in the cloud because you would actually need to upload it to Private Cloud Compute. And that’s a lot of data. So what you want is some parsing to happen on device.
But that’s the dream, right? Is that your phone knows about your stuff and then the LLM that’s running can make uh distinctions based on your stuff.
And ideally the model could potentially, and I know this is wild, I don’t think they’ve talked about it, but ideally the model could query your personal context, get a bunch of related data out, and then send that in a query to the private cloud and have it process it, right? You could have a kind of cherry picking your personal data model on device that then kicks it to the more powerful model to process it and intuit things about it.
There’s lots of ways you could do this. It’s a great idea. It was a great idea in 2024 when they showed it, but they got to do it – is the challenge there.
In reply to Jason, cohost Myke Hurley said the following:
So, I’m just going to make a little prediction. These[…] things that I’ve spoken about, we will see iOS 27 before [they] ship.
I believe they will have stuff – like, I believe they will have [releases] in the spring like it has been rumored, but I don’t think all of these things.
I think particularly the Personal Context thing… we may never see that.
For what it’s worth Apple has done this and named it Queries. Shortcuts users might better understand this as the Find actions, which allow actions to find and filter data from apps before using it in their shortcuts.
Introduced for developers alongside the App Intents API in 2022, Queries are how intents/actions retrieve entities/data from apps. In their most recent session “Get to know App Intents” from 2025, they explicitly say the following – a phrase that caught my attention in regards to the “new Siri” we’ve been waiting for:
Queries are the way the system can reason about my entities
Apple has also been building out their ability to index and query these entities through their Spotlight support, as well as now Visual Intelligence.
The 3D Marvel films on the AVP look better than anyone has ever seen them before. The capabilities of the VisionPro are really unique and we remastered all the films for this format.
And:
Our goal was to match the color and brightness of the 2D HDR versions but for 3D. The Vision Pro delivers basically perfect stereo contrast so no ghosting, HDR color, UHD resolution and we did some work on the older titles as well.
With 3D movies, Disney’s storytelling will also leap off the screen like never before with remarkable depth and clarity for an unprecedented in-home 3D experience on Disney+ with Apple Vision Pro.
Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now streaming on Disney+ and watching it in 4K 3D with Spatial Audio on Apple Vision Pro is just awesome 🤩
Feels like sitting in a private cinema with a giant screen and insane clarity. Add AirPods and you’re fully immersed 🍿 pic.twitter.com/s4k7DKbpyb
From the Apple Developer documentation (break added):
With visual intelligence, people can visually search for information and content that matches their surroundings, or an onscreen object.
Integrating your app with visual intelligence allows people to view your matching content quickly and launch your app for more detailed information or additional search results, giving it additional visibility.
And:
To integrate your app with visual intelligence, the Visual Intelligence framework provides information about objects it detects in the visual intelligence camera or a screenshot. To exchange information with your app, the system uses the App Intents framework and its concepts of app intents and app entities.
When a person performs visual search on the visual intelligence camera or a screenshot, the system forwards the information captured to an App Intents query you implement. In your query code, search your app’s content for matching items, and return them to visual intelligence as app entities. Visual intelligence then uses the app entities to display your content in the search results view, right where a person needs it.
To learn more about a displayed item, someone can tap it to open the item in your app and view information and functionality. For example, an app that allows people to view information about landmarks might show detailed information like hours, a map, or community reviews for the item a person taps in visual search.
Use visual intelligence to quickly learn more about what’s in front of you, whether in your physical surroundings or on your iPhone screen.
To learn more about your physical surroundings using your iPhone camera on models that have the Camera Control, just click and hold it to do things like look up details about a restaurant or business; have text translated, summarized, or read aloud; identify plants and animals; search visually for objects around you; ask questions; and more. […You can also] access visual intelligence by customizing the Action button or Lock Screen, or opening Control Center. See Alternate options to using the Camera Control.
To learn more about the content on your iPhone screen across your apps, simply press the same buttons you use to take a screenshot. You can search visually, ask questions, and take action, like turning a flyer or invite into a calendar event.
They discussed how Gurman got started covering Apple, the stories resurfacing this week around the Siri update being powered by Google’s Gemini, and the iPhone 17 lineup.
