From What’s New in Apple Intelligence on Substack:
On Wednesday, Apple introduced the new MacBook Pro with Touch support on its fancy PROLED XDR Display, marking the first time a Mac has gotten the OLED displays we’re now familiar with on iPhone and iPad – not to mention Touch control. […]
Small but noticeable change with the new MacBook Pros.
From What’s New in Apple Intelligence on Substack:
On Monday, October 26, Apple released iOS 27.2 – along with iPhone Duo and Shortcuts updates, there were a handful of new Siri AI features that improve the experience – recall, more sources, Excluded Apps, granular text selection, and more languages. […]
Forgive me for having fun with this header image…
From What’s New in Apple Intelligence on Substack:
The iPhone Duo has been out since Friday and we’ve seen massive waves of app updates, tons of experimentation from device owners, and folks like me who’re still trying to get their hands on one. […]
Gathered everything I could find over the weekend – lots more to come once I get my own device!
If you’re looking to check for iPhone Duo availability at your local Apple Store, check out the dedicated shortcut available in the Apple Store app – or get it here from my Shortcuts Library.
Currently, Apple’s iPhone Duo has a delivery wait time until January 25 – three full months out. However, local Apple Stores are getting inventory on a rolling basis, meaning the best way to get an iPhone Duo is checking the Apple Store app regularly for new inventory.
During the ordering process, once you’ve selected your model, upgrades, cell plan, and Apple Care, above Continue you’ll see the option to “Show delivery and pickup details.”
From there, you can see the next delivery options, or pick-up details. If there is no stock at your local store, you’ll see “Currently unavailable” and the option to “Check another store.”
Once you tap “Check another store,” you’ll be taken to an iPhone Availability screen where you check different models, different stores, or switch to deliver. In the middle, however, you’ll see “Create a Siri Shortcut to check product availability” with an “Add to Siri” button.
Tap that, then press Done to save the shortcut, or press Change Voice Phrase to switch from “Hey Siri, check to see the availability of this product” to your own custom phrase, or press “Edit in Shortcuts” to open it directly in the Shortcuts app.
When run, the shortcut reads “Here are the details for the availability of your item,” plus shows a visual snippet of the device model, “pick up near you,” and delivery dates.
I recommend giving the shortcut a custom name like “Check iPhone Duo availability” and seeing whether your preferred choice is in stock a few times a day for a better chance at getting one – I’ll be doing the same.
If you get an iPhone Duo using this method, let me know!
Get the shortcut in the Apple Store folder in my Shortcuts Library.
I’ve just updated a folder in the Shortcuts Library — my set of Apple Store shortcuts accounting for the new actions available in the app:
Plus, my previous set:
Check out the folder of Apple Store shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.
From Stephen Robles (@stephenrobles) on X:
iPhone Duo gets a new Shortcuts automation: When Duo is Opened and/or Closed! pic.twitter.com/vEQzWsRoLz
— Stephen Robles (@stephenrobles) October 22, 2026
Plus from Viticci:
You love to see it. I’ll have to start brainstorming Hinge automations.
From matt palmer (@mattyp) on X:
Here's how to use Grok Bot with the action button on your iPhone
1. Open Settings
2. Search for Action Button
3. Swipe to Shortcut
4. Tap Choose a Shortcut
5. Search for Grok Bot
6. Tap Start Voice Chat under Grok Bot
7. Press the Action Button to start a voice chat https://t.co/4UaVC9WVZY pic.twitter.com/2hQKA8UjHq— matt palmer (@mattyp) October 21, 2026
From What’s New in Apple Intelligence on Substack:
On Saturday, I saw the following post come across my feed ranking the iPhone action button options: […]
I made my own iPhone action button tier ranking for this issue – and after I posted it on X, it also went viral with over 4 million views.
From What’s New in Apple Intelligence on Substack:
In this issue, I’ve curated a huge variety of articles and community reactions to the HomeView announcements, plus my quick take at the end: […]
From yours truly on X:
Holy moly, I missed this – my work is in the keynote!
My first App Intents client was Structured 😇 pic.twitter.com/qVFqBKfZAm
— Matthew Cassinelli (@mattcassinelli) June 9, 2026
Hello members (and future members)! I am excited to announce a new Partner addition to my Membership – AppDab!
Built by Morten at Atterdag Apps, AppDab lets you manage your apps and all the resources around them, whether that is builds, testers, certificates, devices, or provisioning profiles. Here’s how it’s described:
With AppDab you can manage your apps and all the resources around it, be it builds, testers, certificates, devices or provisioning profiles.
AppDab is offering 50% off your first year of AppDab Intelligence to active members – here’s the summary:
Manage your App Store Connect and Apple Developer resources in one place, with support for builds, testers, certificates, devices, and provisioning profiles. AppDab also continues to expand its support for Siri Shortcuts, the CLI, and MCP.
My thanks to Morten for participating – I’m excited to see what you build with a smoother App Store Connect workflow!
Learn more about the Membership, learn about AppDab, get AppDab on the App Store, or sign up for a membership below:
Check out the members-only Discounts page for AppDab’s redemption link in the App Store.
Interested in becoming a partner? Register your app or service here.
Hello members (and future members)! I am excited to announce a new Partner addition to my Membership – Pop Out Timer!
Built from developer Jeremy Provost, Pop Out Timer for iPhone & iPad lets you, well, pop out a timer and use it in picture-in-picture across the OS – plus features 11 different shortcuts for controlling timers, stopwatches, and pomodoros. Here’s how it’s described on the App Store:
Pop Out Timer uses picture-in-picture to provide an always on-screen, floating timer, stopwatch, pomodoro, or clock. Perfect for presentations, workouts, cooking, studying, or any task that needs precise timing while using a full-screen app.
While in picture-in-picture you can move the window around to any corner, flick it off screen, or resize with a pinch.
Pop Out Timer is generously offering the first year of the subscription free, saving you $3.99 while giving you Pop Out Timer for a full year.
My thanks to Jeremy for participating – make sure to check out the app and get your free subscription!
Learn more about the Membership,get Pop Out Timer on the App Store, or sign up for a membership below:
Check out the members-only Discounts page for Pop Out Timer’s redemption link to the App Store.
Interested in becoming a partner? Register your app or service here.
From yours truly on YouTube:
I’m excited to share a new addition to my membership program – discounts on great apps with Shortcuts support.
Sign up for the membership program.
Current apps:
- Together Board
- Plinky
- Paku
- Progress
- Tasks
- MindNode
- Cuevello
- One Sec
- Auralog
- Pop Out Timer
- Email Me
- Monologue
See the full Shortcuts Catalog.
Browse the Shortcuts Library.
Check out the Action Directory.
Check out the launch announcement post and watch the video on YouTube.
Hello members (and future members)! I am excited to announce a new Partner addition to my Membership – Monologue (part of Every)!
Built from developer Naveen Naidu and designed by Lucas Fischer, Monologue for iPhone & Apple as well as Mac lets you dictate freely with great access points and a retro design – plus capture using Shortcuts. Here’s how it’s described on the App Store:
Monologue is voice dictation that writes the way you talk-so your messages, emails, and notes come out clear, polished, and sounding like you.
Write what you meant to say
Most dictation apps get the words down. Monologue gets the intent right-matching your tone (casual, professional, or anything in between) and cleaning up the “uhs,” filler, and awkward phrasing automatically.
Monologue is offering 3 months free off the annual subscription of $144/year, saving you $43.20 while giving you smart dictation for a full year – here’s the summary:
Turn speech into clean text anywhere — dictation, voice notes, and bot-free meeting notes for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. 100+ languages, works offline, agent-ready. Members get 30% off Monologue Pro’s annual plan for the first year.
My thanks to Naveen for participating – Monologue has been active on my Mac since the day I bought it in February, so I highly recommend it.
Learn more about the Membership, learn about Monologue,get Monologue on the App Store, or sign up for a membership below:
Check out the members-only Discounts page for Monologue’s redemption link.
Interested in becoming a partner? Register your app or service here.
Mark Zuckerberg has posted a long manifesto about his views on AI (about a 33-minute read according to Instapaper):
I believe everyone should have access to superintelligence, and I wrote a long piece about Meta's philosophy and values for building a positive future for everyone. https://t.co/2ZoNZXZ39T
— Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) August 10, 2026
Here’s the opening:
We are fortunate to live at an incredible moment in history. In the next few years, people will be able to use superintelligence beyond human capacity to create and discover extraordinary new things, build new businesses, express new ideas, learn new concepts, and advance our health and quality of life. As we get closer to this moment, it is important to develop a philosophy for how we can best use superintelligence to ensure it improves all of our lives, work, communities, freedom and safety.
The defining questions of our age are who will have access to superintelligence and what will we direct it towards. Will it be centralized and restricted to a few institutions, or will it be a tool that empowers everyone?
We propose a philosophy based on individual empowerment as the source of prosperity, invention as the primary purpose of superintelligence, and balance of power as the foundation of safety.
Read the manifesto on the Meta site and follow Zuck as @finkd on X.
Hello members (and future members)! I am excited to announce a new Partner addition to my Membership – Email Me!
Built from developer Manuel Escrig , Email Me for iPhone is a self-explanatory app for the common pattern of emailing yourself. Here’s how it’s described on the site:
The fastest capture a thought by voice or text.
Record a voice memo, let AI transcribe it, and send it straight to your inbox.
Note to self, evolved.
Manuel is offering 3 months free on top of the annual subscription of $12.99/year, saving you ~$3.25 while giving you Email Me for those three months, plus another year. Here’s how he describes the Shortcuts support:
Email Me Note, Email Note to Recipient, Quick Note, Email Me Reminder Text, Email Me Last Image, Create Text Note and Create Audio Note.
Background sending: Sending actions don’t need to open the app. Trigger them from Siri, an Automation, the Lock Screen or a locked device. Notes are queued and sent silently, with spoken confirmation.
Siri support: Use phrases such as “Email Me Note,” “Quick Note,” or “Send a note with Email Me to [recipient].”
Control Center, Lock Screen and Action Button: On iOS 18 or later, add one-tap controls for text notes, audio notes, clipboard notes, the last photo, document scanning and the camera.
Automations: Actions can be combined with other apps or triggered by time, location, Focus mode or NFC tags. For example: “When I leave work, email me my clipboard.”
Share Sheet: Send text, photos and files from other apps directly through the iOS Share Sheet and Actions menu.
My thanks to Manuel for participating!
Learn more about the Membership, learn about Email Me,get Email Me on the App Store, or sign up for a membership below:
Check out the members-only Discounts page for Email Me’s redemption link to the App Store.
Interested in becoming a partner? Register your app or service here.
Hartley Charlton from MacRumors, reporting on a story from Reuters about a now-removed guide on Apple’s website:
Reuters first spotted the Chinese-language guide on Apple’s support site on August 8, which explained how eligible Mac users in mainland China could connect Qwen, Alibaba’s family of generative AI models, to Siri and Writing Tools. According to the document, the extension required macOS 26.6 or later, needed users to sign into their own Qwen account, and specified that Alibaba was barred from using submitted materials to train or improve its models.
Siri would be able to lean on Qwen for more detailed responses to certain requests, including analysis of photos and documents, while Writing Tools could use it to generate text and images. No equivalent guide was published for the iPhone or iPad.
Read the story on MacRumors and read the report from Reuters.
Apple has a new splash screen for Shortcuts in iOS 27 beta 5 that covers the three major updates to the app: Describe a Shortcut, Broad World Knowledge (in Use Model), and Unified Automations:
What’s New in Shortcuts
Describe a Shortcut
Describe what you want to do and Shortcuts will assemble all the actions for you. All of your shortcuts are summarized automatically using Apple Intelligence.
Broad World Knowledge
The Use Model action can now get up-to-date information on anything in your shortcut using the web.
Unified Automations
Automations are now built directly into your shortcuts, including the ones you share. To create an automation, tap the Add button.
I appreciate the extra clarity around Automations, which isn’t otherwise obvious inside the app – many people thought their automations disappeared.
From Ben Lovejoy at 9to5Mac:
Apple has revealed that the new Siri AI features in China will use Alibaba’s Qwen models instead of Google’s Gemini models. The Chinese government requires Apple to work with a local AI company, and Apple has now published a Chinese-language guide explaining how users can connect Siri and Writing Tools to Qwen.
That arrangement is a sharp contrast with Apple’s stated privacy architecture everywhere else. Siri requests can run on-device, through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers, or through Google infrastructure dedicated to Apple. Apple says those systems are designed so that neither Apple nor Google can access or retain users’ interactions.
The China-specific setup appears to have a meaningful difference: Mac users need their own Qwen account and must sign into it. That requirement suggests the same privacy guarantees may not apply, although Apple has not publicly explained the full data-handling model yet.
This is the uncomfortable tradeoff at the center of Apple’s AI strategy. Apple can preserve its preferred privacy model when it controls the infrastructure and the rules. In China, local regulatory requirements determine which model can be used—and may also determine how much privacy the system can promise.
The feature may still be useful: Qwen can provide more detailed Siri responses, analyze photos and documents, and help Writing Tools create text or images. But the important question is not only whether Siri works in China. It is whether Apple can offer the same privacy boundary there that it treats as a defining part of Siri AI everywhere else.
Hello members (and future members)! I am excited to announce a new Partner addition to my Membership – Auralog!
Built from developer Adrian Eves, Auralog for iPhone lets you track migraines, log triggers, and see what conditions put you at risk for another migraine – plus, I helped Adrian with his Shortcuts integration. Here’s how it’s described on the App Store:
The effortless way to beat migraines. Zero effort logging. Maximum insight. Each migraine you track keeps the next one at bay. The smartest migraine app ever built.
Auralog helps you take control of your migraine and headache history without extra hassle – even in the middle of an attack.
Adrian is offering 50% off the annual subscription of $19.99/year, saving you $9.99 while giving you Auralog for a full year. My thanks to Adrian for participating – please test the Shortcuts support and send us feedback!
Learn more about the Membership, learn about Auralog,get Auralog on the App Store, or sign up for a membership below:
Check out the members-only Discounts page for Auralog’s redemption link to the App Store.
Interested in becoming a partner? Register your app or service here.