Every year, Apple honors the very best apps and games of the year through the App Store Awards — a recognition of exceptional user experience, design, and innovation from developers across the world. With 45 App Store Award finalists across 12 different categories, these apps and games have helped users accomplish more, be more creative, and better connect with friends and family. This year, the App Store Awards include a new Apple Vision Pro category, highlighting stunning achievements in the world of spatial computing. App Store Award winners chosen from this distinguished group of app and game developers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Excellent set of apps.
Next year, I want to see one of my clients’ apps in this list after building an Apple Intelligence integration for them… ??♂️
For anyone in the US, the folks at Elgato have their pre-Black Friday sale live starting today – you can get discounts from 13% up to 30% on products like the Wave Mic and Arm, Key Light, or Stream Deck Mk. 2.
Here’s a full list of discounts – I have tried and utilize everything here in my setup in one color or another, except the Video Capture cable (only because I simply haven’t needed it):
On Wednesday, November 20, on the Clockwise podcast, I joined hosts Dan Moren and Mikah Sargent with guest Kathy Campbell to talk about:
How we deal with physical media, the most tech heavy restaurants we’ve patronized, tech that ended up disappointing us, and the social media networks of yesteryear that we’d bring back.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Bluesky shortcuts for accessing the different parts of the Bluesky social network.
Use these to switch to different tabs in the app or on the web, access your Lists, and open any profile:
Open Bluesky Search: Opens the Search page on Bluesky where you can enter your query, find suggested accounts, and discover new feeds.
Open Bluesky Home: Opens the Home feed on Bluesky so you can see your Discover & Following feeds, plus any pinned Lists.
Open Bluesky Chat: Opens the Chat tab of Bluesky so you can see your messages, start a new chat, and change your chat settings.
Open Bluesky Notifications: Opens the Notifications tab of Bluesky so you can see mentions, follower requests, and engagement such as likes and reposts.
Open Bluesky Feeds: Opens to the Feeds tab of Bluesky, showing My Feeds and the Discover New Feeds section.
Open Bluesky Lists: Opens the Lists tab of Bluesky, showing your user-created lists and letting you create a new one.
Open from my Bluesky lists: Given a dictionary of Bluesky List names and unique IDs (from the URL), this prompts you to choose from your lists and opens it to the feed view.
Open Bluesky settings: Opens Bluesky to the Settings tab, letting you manage multiple accounts, change basic settings, and adjust advanced account settings.
Do you ever frame screenshots inside Apple device frames? Then you’ve probably used Federico Viticci’s ‘Apple Frames’ shortcut. Unfortunately, the shortcut has been broken in recent months, and now we know that an iOS 18 bug is the cause.
Federico shared this with me a few betas ago and it’s still not fixed… ?
Even if you’re not using the new Action Sharing, backing up your Stream Deck profiles is just good practice – I will back up my entire setup regularly, plus individual profiles as I finish or update them.
I’ve also long used my shortcut “Open Stream Deck Backups” to quickly access the folder on macOS as well, since I found myself not remembering the location of the default destination where these are saved.
Amazon recently added App Shortcuts support to their iOS and iPadOS apps, making an “Open Amazon” action available in Shortcuts and automatically generating 14 App Shortcuts you can use with Siri and Spotlight.
Screenshots combined side-by-side showing the Open Amazon action with no destination, then the list of destinations, and then one where the destination is selected.
The “Open Amazon” action contains a parameter where you can select the Destination you want to open – Amazon offers the following destinations:
Search
Your Orders
Cart
Today’s Deals
Buy Again
In-Store Code
Your Lists
Inspire
Your Account
Amazon Lens
Amazon Fresh
Whole Foods Market
Pharmacy
When making this “Open Amazon” action available, Amazon has preconfigured their App Shortcut so that Shortcuts automatically generates an instance of that App Shortcut for each destination, making it available in Spotlight, Siri, and Shortcuts as soon as the app is installed.
That way, rather than asking you which destination to open each time, you can specify a destination up-front with your trigger phrase and jump right to that page in the Amazon app – try saying “Open Today’s Deals in Amazon” (if you have the app installed) and it should immediately work, without any extra setup.
Screenshot of the top three App Shortcuts for Amazon.
When you search in Spotlight for Amazon, you’ll also see the top three results displayed as App Shortcuts for Spotlight – you can see icons for Search, Your Orders, and Cart.
Screenshot of an individual App Shortcut result for “Your Orders” shown as a Top Hit in Spotlight.
Going further, searching for any specific destination will return the App Shortcut for that instance of the action – tap it and you’ll be taken into the correct spot in the app as well. Plus, all the parameterized versions of the App Shortcut will be available via search, not just the first three.
Finally, if you check the Amazon section in the App Shortcuts category of the Shortcuts app, you’ll see the a larger list of App Shortcuts available to select from and run – Amazon makes everything up to “Your Account” available here. Tapping on those lets you create a custom shortcut, plus use Add to Home Screen to put that destination onto your Home Screen.
I’ve taken a moment to create individual custom shortcuts for all the possible destinations and have made the folder of Amazon app shortcuts available in my Shortcuts Library – that way anybody can download them to change the trigger phrase, add it to their Shortcuts widget, or create a custom icon of their choosing.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Amazon app shortcuts for launching into Amazon’s iOS and iPadOS apps using the native actions provided by Amazon.
These are automatically available as App Shortcuts if you have the Amazon app; I made these so standalone versions are available, and you can use these to add them to your Shortcuts widget:
Show Amazon home: Opens the Amazon homepage, which redirects to the main page of the app when opened on mobile.
Launch Amazon to Search: Opens the Amazon app to the Search field, bringing up the keyboard automatically so you can type your query right away.
Open my Amazon orders: Opens the Amazon app to the Orders page so you can track upcoming packages, search through past deliveries, and start a return.
Open my Amazon cart: Opens the Amazon app to the Cart tab so you can what you’ve added so far, check the subtotal, and find items saved for later.
Show my Amazon account: Opens the Amazon app to Your Account so you can see previews from categories like Your Orders, Buy Again, Keep Shopping For, and other account details.
Open Today’s Deals on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app so you can find Today’s Deals in the For You, Lightning, and Can’t Miss offers categories.
Show Amazon videos: Opens the Amazon app to the Inspire tab, where you can watch videos from Amazon creators about products related to you.
Buy Again on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app to the Buy Again section where you can repurchase past orders, check Subscribe & Save options, and filter by Deals, Favorite Reorders, and “Get it with fast delivery.”
Show my In-Store code: Opens the Amazon app to the In-Store Code that can be scanned for deals at Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go stores.
Show Amazon Lens: Opens the Amazon app to the Amazon Lens, where you can use your camera to scan barcodes and find pantry, health, & beauty products.
Show Amazon Fresh: Opens the Amazon app to the Amazon Fresh page where you can order groceries for local delivery.
Show Whole Foods on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app to the Whole Foods Market page where you can find and order food from your nearby store.
Show Amazon Pharmacy: Opens the Amazon app to the Pharmacy page where you can find medications and refill prescriptions.
Action Sharing is a game-changer for my Shortcuts Catalog. I’ve never been able to nail down the workflow for updating shortcuts that I’ve added while also sharing them with members, since it required updating at the folder/profile level.
Now, I can attach Stream Deck actions directly to each shortcut!
I’ll have to spend some time updating my workflow, but this may make the difference so I can finally release everything in full.
This is welcome improvement for the Dial actions, which had seen limited developer adoption.
This will still take some consideration for some use cases, though, since there’s left, right, and click options for each Dial – plus thinking through what happens as you continue to spin.
This update includes enhancements to the Shortcuts app across all platforms, including many updated or new actions and an expanded set of App Shortcuts available in the shortcut editor.
New actions
App Store
“Open Page” is now available on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Control Center
“Show Control Center” shows and hides Control Center on iOS and iPadOS, which can be triggered from Action button, Apple Pencil Squeeze, Back Tap, Home Screen, Widgets, and more
Finder
“Get Info” is now available on macOS
Health
“Open Data Type”, “Search in Health”, and “Open View” are now available on iOS and iPadOS
“Open Sleep Schedule” is now available on iOS
Messages
“Check In” starts a new Check In session in Messages on iOS, and watchOS
Shortcuts
“Move Shortcut” and “Rename Shortcut” are now available on all platforms
Spotlight
“Search” initiates a Spotlight search on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Text
“Trim Whitespace” removes whitespace characters from text on all platforms
Tips
“Open Collection” is now available on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS
Tags are a great way to organize your articles with increased flexibility over folders, and are now live across all platforms.
Instapaper will continue to support both Folders and Tags to organize articles, and we’ve made it easy to convert folders into tags.
I’m super excited for this – my biggest problem with Instapaper long-term was that any effort I spent organizing items into folders was lost once they went into the archive. Here’s a post from 2015 where I mention it, for example.
Now, I can tag & organize stories in the best read-it-later format available – Instapaper.
Plus, they’re adding a new multi-column view, seen here:
Cyberpunk 2077 and its spy-thriller expansion Phantom Liberty will be coming to Mac. Taking full advantage of Apple silicon and advanced technologies of Metal, the world of the dark future is available to Mac gamers for the very first time. Players can enjoy advanced features like path tracing, frame generation, and built-in Spatial Audio for even more immersive gameplay and stunning visuals.
Available early next year on Macs with Apple silicon, the Ultimate Edition will launch on the Mac App Store, GOG.com, Steam and Epic Games Store.
Looking forward to this – and glad to see another AAA game come to the Mac. Hope it’s a tipping point for the platform.
Unlock the power of automation with 15 new iPhone shortcuts! Learn how to automatically reply to texts, change wallpapers, and even transcribe podcasts with iOS 18. I’ll walk you through automating spam text replies, setting custom wallpapers based on Wi-Fi, and more.
Additions to Apple Intelligence include English (India), English (Singapore), German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and “others” yet to be announced.
The feature will launch in American English, when it arrives as part of the iOS 18.1 update. The company previously announced that localized English support for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. will arrive later in 2024, with support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish coming in 2025.
For anyone counting, that’s 16 other countries besides the default U.S. English version.
On the iOS 18 page on their website, Apple has linked to a document titled “New features available in iOS 18.” This document provides an in-depth look at all the categories of new features in iOS 18, grouped by “Apple Intelligence,” “Key Features,” and “Even More.”
When I come across detailed guides like this, I like to import all of the information into Craft, then use its grouping and backlinking features to create a more-digestible version with a complete table of contents – something I’ve done for the Shortcuts developer sessions and the latest WWDC keynote, for example.
With this iOS 18 guide, I’ve imported and grouped all the new features into a single doc in Craft for my own personal use, which I’ve also made available for members of my website to browse and peruse.
However, I wanted to share the full outline of iOS 18 features here as a public reference – plus you can still find all the details for each feature in Apple’s PDF.
Here’s that full list:
What’s new in iOS 18
Apple Intelligence
Writing Tools
Rewrite
Style
Proofread
Summarize
Describe
Compose
Image Playground
Image Playground app
Create Images with Concepts
Create Images with People You Know
Create Images with Characters
Create Images with Photos
Create Images with Text
Suggested Concepts
Quick Previews
Preview history
Image Playground library
Animation style
Illustration style
Sketch style
Messages experience
Deep integrations
Siri
Personal context understanding
In-app actions
Onscreen awareness
More resilient request handling
Maintains conversational context
Product knowledge
Glowing edge light
Type to Siri
Predictive text in Siri keyboard
Suggestions in Siri keyboard
More natural voice
More visually rich responses
ChatGPT integration
Focus
Reduce interruptions
Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing
Genmoji
Genmoji
Mail
Mail Priority messages
Preview summaries
Thread summaries
Smart Reply
Messages
Smart Reply
Summaries
Notes
Transcription summaries
Image Wand
Notifications
Priority notifications
Notification summaries
Announce Notifications support
Phone
Call summaries
Photos
Natural language photo and video search
Create your own Memories
Clean Up tool
Key Features
Customization
More flexible placement
Unique page layouts
Dark icons
Tinted icons
Larger icons
Control Center
Redesigned Control Center
Groups of controls
Controls gallery
Controls on your Lock Screen
Controls with the Action button
Photos
Biggest-ever design update
Collections
Recent Days
Groups in People & Pets
Trips
Wallpaper suggestions
Collection view options
Pinned Collections
Hide screenshots from your library
Months and Years highlights
Expanded content types in Utilities
Customize the Photos app
Clean Up tool*
Edit albums in folders
Album attribution
Edit in light or dark mode
Smart copy and paste edits
Video speed control
Creative stories
Smart suggestions
Messages
Text effects
Text formatting
Messages via satellite
iMessage over satellite
SMS over satellite
Satellite connection in Dynamic Island
Emoji and sticker Tapbacks
Send Later
RCS (Rich Communication Services)
Low Quality Image Mode improvements
High-quality Images
Mail
Transactions category
Updates category
Promotions category
Time sensitive
Grouped by sender
Quick action
Recategorization
Safari
Highlights
Location highlights
Summary highlights
Music highlights
Movie and TV show highlights
Person highlights
Redesigned Reader
Distraction Control
Passwords
Passwords app
Passwords and passkeys
Sign in with Apple
Wi-Fi passwords
Verifications codes
Sorting
Syncing
End-to-end encryption
Windows support
Maps
Hiking and walking
Hikes
Turn-by-turn navigation
Create and save walking and hiking routes
Topographic maps
Discover and save places
Gaming
Game Mode
Wallet
Event tickets
Pay with installments
Pay with Rewards
Apple Pay on Chrome and Windows PC
Tap to Cash
Tap to provision
AirPods
Siri Interactions
Voice Isolation
Personalized Spatial Audio for gaming
Reduced gaming audio latency
In-game voice quality
Notes
Audio recording
Live transcription
Phone call transcription
Math in Notes
Access Math Notes from Calculator
Collapsible sections
Highlighting
PDF inline search
Journal
State of Mind integration
Log mindful minutes
Insights view
Streaks
Calendar
Stats
Search and sort
Export and print
Widgets
Quick Actions
Audio transcription
More formatting options
Shortcuts
Apple TV
InSight
Enhance dialogue
More dynamic subtitles
Home
Hands-free unlock with home keys
Guest access
Pair Matter accessories without a hub
Control robot vacuum cleaners in the Home app
Electricity usage and rates
Privacy & Security
Improved Contacts preferences
Redesigned Privacy & Security settings
Accessory Setup Kit
Blocking sensitive content for children
Even More
Accessibility
Eye Tracking
Music Haptics
Vocal Shortcuts
Vehicle motion cues
AirPlay
Spatial Audio
Apple Account
Share Sign in with Apple credentials
Calculator
Math Notes
Typed math
Variables
Graphing
Adjust numbers
Works with Notes
Math Results
History
Editable expressions
Portrait scientific calculator
Unit conversions
Calendar
View reminders in Calendar
Edit reminders in Calendar
Create reminders in Calendar
Updated Month view
Refreshed look
Camera
5-second timer
Continue playing music when taking a photo
Adjust flash settings via touch and hold
Next-gen Portraits enhancements
CarPlay
Spatial Audio
Accessibility
Continuity
Continuity Camera with Apple TV 4K
Family Sharing
Family Sharing invitations
Recommended for your family
Files
Desktop and documents in the Cloud setup
Keep downloaded
Expanded external drive file formats
Erasing an external drive
Fitness+
For You in Summary
For You
Explore
Library
Search
Awards
Freeform
Scenes
Send a copy
Snap to Grid
Handwriting recognition
Improved diagramming
Math Results
iCloud
Settings redesign
iCloud Mail
iCloud Mail cleanup
Manage old email
Unsubscribe and delete
Keyboard
Keyboard Unified picker
Inline stickers and Memoji
Searchable stickers
Multilingual keyboard
Language detection
Locked and Hidden Apps
Locked apps
Hidden apps
Hidden apps folder
Seamless authentication
Move to iOS
Faster migration
Cabled migration
Improved Wi-Fi migration
Tips during migration
Dual SIM labels
Voice memo migration
Music
SharePlay on more devices
Phone
Call recordings
Call transcripts
Call history search
Keypad search
Live caller ID lookup
Live Voicemail
Dual SIM in Control Center
Automatic Mic Mode
Podcasts
Chapter scrubbing
Better playback control
Share from transcripts
Search suggestions as you type
Reminders
Calendar integration
Recently deleted list
Subtasks in Smart Lists
Multi-language grocery lists
SharePlay
Ask to share
Draw to highlight
Remote control
iPhone to iPhone, iPad to iPad
Privacy friendly
SharePlay on more devices
Tips
Tips sharing
Weather
Easier-to-find Feels Like temperature
Home and work locations
Prominent wind gusts and direction
261 Features Coming to iOS 18
Plus, for fun, I removed all the categories and groups to create a single-file list of all the features – assuming I didn’t miss anything, there’s 261 features coming to iOS 18 (according to the list Apple provided):
On Sunday, September 8, on the Mac Power Users podcast, I had the pleasure of joining hosts David Sparks and Stephen Hackett – here’s the show notes:
Matt Cassinelli joins the show to discuss his background with Workflow and Apple and how it led to him becoming the “Shortcuts Guy.” The group then discusses Apple’s automation tools across its platforms, and how those tools have extended to the web.
