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Guest appearances Links Siri Shortcuts

Guest spot: Automators #70 – Matthew Cassinelli and Changing Your Shortcuts Usage

Last Friday, the episode of Automators that I recorded with Rosemary Orchard and David Sparks dropped — and it’s a great hour-and-a-half conversation about the current state of Shortcuts.

Rose, David, & I haven’t talked since the release of iOS 14, so this is a dive into how I’ve been applying those features, my latest breakthrough with my shortcuts, and my updated Shortcuts Library.

Rose & David are my kind of people, so this conversation was naturally a blast — listen to the full episode:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #023

I’ve finally done it! My whole Shortcuts library has been fully rebuilt according to my new system and I’m truly loving it – plus I figured out another level of what should go on my true Home Screens, so that’s been really exciting and already proving itself out in usefulness.

Thankfully David Sparks and Rosemary Orchard swooped in at just the right time and had me as a guest on the Automators podcast – look for the excellent conversation this Friday when the episode drops!

Until then, here’s two more of my new shortcuts and some great Shortcuts tips I found in the community – plus, look for the fully-updated Shortcuts Catalog coming very soon:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #022

Hey there,

There’s a good amount of Shortcuts news this week, but there’s no pressure to learn it all right away – take what you want now and save the rest for later.

I’m putting together a bit more of a guided path through Shortcuts for folks like you soon, so absorb what sticks now and I’ll reinforce it with some good lessons down the line:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #021

After the amazing results from the survey I sent around, I’ve made a few changes to this newsletter – first by moving it to Wednesday afternoon (PST) instead of Sunday evenings.

I’m also going to create less single-serving shortcuts and fewer but more powerful shortcuts that solve particular use cases & provide more continued utility over time.

In many ways, it’ll be the same content, condensed into bigger shortcuts that handle multiple tasks in one tool.

In addition, I’ll be taking some of the writing here and building it out more on my blog & other channels, then linking back to that each week – for example, I’ll be pausing my Scripting series here and turning it into more useful blog posts.

That being said, you’ll still see lots of inklings of future content in the newsletter in smaller tips as we go.

Thank you so much for being a subscriber and/or a member – with this helpful feedback and my new approach, I’m truly more excited than ever to synthesize and translate what I know into useful resources for you all:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #020

This week was somewhat quiet on the Shortcuts front – there’s likely a new version of iOS coming out soon so we’re in the calm before the storm – but that won’t stop us from having fun with it.

This week I’ve got a set for better note-taking habits, working through Item actions in the Scripting category, links to Automations, some of my streaming shortcuts, and handwriting shortcuts for Members:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #019

Believe it or not, we’re still just out of the second full calendar week of 2021 – it’s felt way longer than that though thanks to ~current events~.

This week was a bit quiet on the technology news front, but that just means more room for building up new routines with Shortcuts – here’s how I’m using it to gain momentum and avoid doing the same work twice:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #018

Hello all – I’m assuming 2021 did not start off the way many of us expected.

I hope you all are taking care of yourselves and your loved ones as much as possible, which is always important but even more so during stressful times. Engage as needed, take breaks, and do what needs to be done:

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Siri Shortcuts

Announcing the Shortcuts User Group

Hello Shortcuts friends!

If you’d like to be part of a community of people talking about and sharing Siri Shortcuts, you’re welcome to join my new Shortcuts User Group on Slack.

I’ve been running this small community for about a year now, consisting of a cohort of people who are interested in Shortcuts and want to learn from other people directly about how to integrate Siri Shortcuts into their lives.

If you join, you’ll get a chance to see how other individuals are using Shortcuts in creative ways, get ideas or inspiration on your own automations, and be able to check in with a group of like-minded folks.

We have channels for things like:

  • getting help & asking questions,
  • sharing your own shortcuts or write-ups, and
  • having places to just talk and have fun.

The community is open for anyone to join, although I do ask new members to be intentional and try to invite friends who’d want to actively participate over trying to grow the community as large as possible – these tend to work best when we all get a chance to know each other a bit. ?

Subscribers to my website membership will also be added to a private members-only channel so I can share the exclusive content there and chat with members directly.

Thanks for checking the Shortcuts User Group out – I look forward to meeting you in there!

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #017

Happy New Year!

I managed to hold off from working too much this last week and made sure to take more of the holiday off properly, which helped me get a little more perspective on last year and this upcoming one.

I hope you’re all giving any new endeavors the time they need to grow – I’m trying to take things slow and trust the process this year:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #016

The end of this long year is finally here – hopefully everyone gets a chance at some downtime and rest.

Looking back, I am so glad that this Catalog I’ve created was a bright spot for me out of 2020. It took a lot of work, but I came out of this year with a permanent and linkable way for me to deliver my shortcuts along with extra information about the complexity that each entails – something I couldn’t otherwise do at scale before.

Now, over this break, I am taking some time to recharge… and use some of that space to organize my documentation around all things Siri Shortcuts. This new handbook will act as the foundation for future content around my videos, streams, podcasts, & this newsletter, as well as freelance writing for iMore that I’ll be starting up again in the new year – every bit I add makes me more excited.

So thank you all for joining me along the way, and I look forward to teaching you all as much as I can!

_P.S. Please feel free to respond to these newsletters with what you want to see – we’re all in this process of learning what it means to use Shortcuts in 2021 together._

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Offsite Podcasts

Smart Tech Today 59: Rosemary Orchard’s Smart Home Setup ?

On this episode of Smart Tech Today, I had a guest host Rosemary Orchard while Mikah was out – here’s what we talked about:

  • Our hands-on impressions of Apple’s AirPods Max,
  • Google Stadia on iOS, and
  • Rosemary’s smart home setup
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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #015

Another fun week for Shortcuts users is complete – did any of you set up new shortcuts for the Home Screen once iOS 14.3 came out?

I want to see screenshots of your Home Screens—shortcuts or not—so reply to this email with yours and share some inspiration!

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Siri Shortcuts

What’s New in Shortcuts? Issue 14

View the original issue.

This is the week! Once iOS 14.3 drops, millions of people will update their smartphones and suddenly be able to create their “app ideas” by adding them as shortcuts to their Home Screen.

The main change? The limitation where “custom icons always open into Shortcuts first” is now gone!

Shortcuts added to the Home Screen actually behave like you’d expect, opening into apps immediately – plus they run all the scripting actions perfectly, just like the Shortcuts widget.

I’ve tried to capture my excitement in a video – look for it soon on YouTube. But until then, here’s what’s new in Shortcuts this week:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #014

This is the week! Once iOS 14.3 drops, millions of people will update their smartphones and suddenly be able to create their “app ideas” by adding them as shortcuts to their Home Screen.

The main change? The limitation where “custom icons always open into Shortcuts first” is now gone!

Shortcuts added to the Home Screen actually behave like you’d expect, opening into apps immediately – plus they run all the scripting actions perfectly, just like the Shortcuts widget.

I’ve tried to capture my excitement in a video – look for it soon on YouTube. But until then, here’s what’s new in Shortcuts this week:

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Offsite Podcasts

Smart Tech Today 57: IoT Decor for the Holidays

On this episode of Smart Tech Today, Mikah and I talked about tips for automating holiday decorations, how to enable COVID-19 exposure notifications, and the updated Flic 2 smart buttons.

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #013

Welcome to Issue 13 of “What’s New in Shortcuts?”

As the betas of iOS 14.3 keep chugging along with the promise of better Home Screens coming soon, the community has rediscovered some new features that snuck in around iOS 14.1.

Plus, I’ve got some tools I put together for my own workflow – and a fun one for getting in the Christmas spirit.

Over on Reddit, we’ve got more creative uses of Shortcuts – and for members, I’ve updated my Routine checklists to use Reminders and Notes (which I’m quite excited about, not going to lie ?).

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #012

Welcome to Issue 12 of “What’s New in Shortcuts?”

In the wake of last week’s awesome “Add to Home Screen” update, I’ve been sharing lots on podcasts – make sure to catch both the latest Smart Tech Today and my appearance on Clockwise for my more-detailed take on the news.

Plus, members get to see how I went all out on my Home Screens – but first, here’s what’s new:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #011

Welcome to Issue 11 of “What’s New in Shortcuts?”

These last two weeks have so much potential that it’s hard to grasp…

Shortcuts are now fully interactive on the Home Screen, the community-favorite action Set Wallpaper is back, and there are so many ways to tweak your devices that it will surely take some time.

So settle in over the long weekend, take note of areas you’d like to improve, and add some Shortcuts onto your Home Screens – it’s time to customize!

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #010

Welcome to Issue 10 of “What’s New in Shortcuts?”

Hello all – the big news this week is the return of Set Wallpaper in the iOS 14.3 beta!

It was present in a handful of betas in early iOS 13 days, but was removed and hadn’t come back… until now. Hopefully Apple’s resolved any issues and smoothes out the process in future betas, but I’m excited for it to roll out to the wider community – I have a feeling it’ll be popular.

Other than that, I’ve got new tools for new devices, links to the beta actions on my site, and shortcuts for my new favorite app Craft – enjoy:

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Newsletter

What’s New in Shortcuts – Issue #009

Welcome to Issue 9 of “What’s New in Shortcuts?”

Hello all – hope you had an excellent weekend too! ?

I’ve got lots of fun Shortcuts goodness coming soon, so until then let’s jump right in: