In iPadOS’ Shortcuts app, the existing ‘Open App’ action was recently updated with the ability to launch an app with a specific window placement parameter. This means you can now automate window positions on iPad by opening a bunch of apps and programmatically selecting where their windows be placed.
To find this feature, use the ‘Open App’ action in Shortcuts and expand it to reveal the new ‘Window Location & Size’ field. Here, you can click the default ‘Full Screen’ value to reveal a host of options:
On Wednesday, June 17, Apple published a special presentation for developers from WWDC26 on YouTube titled Inside Apple Intelligence and Xcode, which covers Xcode, App Intents, Foundation Models, Custom Models, and MLX.
Since my focus is on App Intents, the API behind Siri AI and Shortcuts, I found the timestamp where App Intents Engineer Michael Gorbach began his section – starting at starting at 26:45 into the video and ending at 43:18 (for a total of 16 minutes & 33 seconds):
I’ll be working on a transcription and slides for members (and my clients), coming soon.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Luma shortcuts for Luma, the event platform of choice for the Siri AI Automators meetup as well as CommunityKit. Use these shortcuts to create events or calendars, open your schedule, and interact with your profile.
Create Event on Luma: Opens the Create page for a new Luma event where you can set details like the Event Name, Start & End times, location, and description, plus event options like Ticket Price (free by default), Require Approval, or Capacity limits.
Open Luma notifications: Opens the Notifications page on Luma where you can see invites, registrations, and messages from people.
Discover Events on Luma: Opens the Discover page of Luma where you can “Explore popular events near you, browse by category, or check out some of the great community calendars.”
Open Past events in Luma: Opens Luma to your Past Events feed so you can see those you’ve attended.
Open Calendars in Luma: Opens Luma to the page of Calendars you’ve subscribed to, which is a great way to automatically get invited to events you’re interested in.
Create a Calendar in Luma: Opens Luma to the Create Calendar page where you can set a new calendar’s name, description, color, URL, location, cover, and image.
Manage my Luma event: Opens the preset Manage page for your event so you don’t have to keep trying to navigate back to the page while running the event.
Open my Luma event page: Opens the preset link to your Luma event, plus copies the URL to the clipboard so you can paste it elsewhere.
Share my Luma profile: Opens your Luma user profile and activates the Share sheet so you can send it to another app or AirDrop it.
Open Luma Help Center: Opens the Luma Help Center where you can search or browse through common issues.
Open Luma settings: Opens the Settings page in Luma where you can adjust Account, Preferences, or Payment options. Make sure to check out Calendar Syncing.
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Parking Kitty shortcuts for Parking Kitty app, the tool of choice for parking in Portland, Oregon. Use these to find zone codes, check your history, or pay for parking in the app or on the web.
Open Parking Kitty app: Opens the Parking Kitty app so you can pay for parking in Portland, Oregon.
If you’re stuck waiting on the Siri AI waitlist, you can shortcut the line with this shortcut that disables (and re-enables) the feature flag to download the new Siri features.
Part of my new Siri AI folder of shortcuts in my Shortcuts Library, “Skip the Siri AI Waitlist” uses the Terminal command folks have been sharing online to tell your Mac that it’s time to download the new Siri data, and then reboot once it’s finished so everything is enabled properly. Here’s what’s in the Run Shell Script action:
The shortcut also includes a Disable option so that you can re-enable the feature flag and disable Siri AI – I don’t want to provide a sudo command without the option to undo it:
I also designed the shortcut to accept text as input, so you could simply type Enable or Disable when running from Spotlight.
I should note, this doesn’t automatically skip the waitlist on iPhone or iPad. On those platforms, I found that changing the voice, waiting for it to download, changing back, and then restarting worked. It’s also not clear if having access on the Mac helped with iOS at all, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.
Open the Siri app: Opens the Siri app on iOS 27. On iPad, always opens on the left.
Skip the Siri AI Waitlist: Terminal command to flip the Feature Flag for the Siri AI waitlist so it begins downloading on your Mac. This will require your password and will immediately restart your computer.
Open the Siri subreddit: Opens the URL to r/Siri, the subreddit dedicated to Apple’s digital assistant.
Learn how to use Apple Intelligence with Siri: Opens the URL to Apple’s support article on “Use Apple Intelligence with Siri” that includes sections like “Type to Siri,” “Make requests to Siri that maintain context,” and “Ask Siri questions about your Apple products.”
[Update: Probably not. See edit for details from Federico Viticci]. From Reddit user u/notagoodpost, who asked the new “Describe a shortcut” feature to add a Comment using “YOUR default prompt text” – after which it created a Comment with the following:
You are an expert Al programmer that builds shortcuts in the ‘Shortcuts Language,’ a strict subset of Python. Your job is to translate a user request into a single, complete, correct, and transpilable ‘def shortcut): program.
Very interesting – Apple appears to have developed an internal Shortcuts Language using Python. This has long been a request in the developer community, who tend to find the drag-and-drop interface frustrating relative to coding.
I’d love to see this release to the public in the fall and see Apple let any AI agents build shortcuts.
They’re using a custom internal language called Shortpy. They have an initial planner turn user prompts into a plan, the plan is turned into Shortpy code, then a compiler turns it back into Shortcuts syntax.
That’s not the full system prompt (they have several private frameworks behind this, such as ShortcutsLanguage, ShortcutsAgent, and more stuff buried in WorkflowKit), and I highly doubt they’ll turn this into something any agent can access anytime soon.
Hello friends – I am hosting a free Siri AI Automators meetup this Thursday in Portland, Oregon, and you’re invited!
First Siri AI Automators meetup in Portland
Join us to discuss new Siri updates, improvements to Apple Intelligence, and how App Intents—the API that powers Shortcuts—is an integral connection between your app and the Apple ecosystem. Since this will be a smaller meetup, I’ll have materials to cover, but I mostly want to talk with you.
We’ll be gathering Thursday, June 18th from 7-9pm in the North Pacific Building where I have an office, across the street from Powell’s – right in the heart of downtown Portland. Plus, parking is free after 7!
Anyone interested in AI, Siri, Apple Intelligence, App Intents, and Shortcuts near Portland, Oregon is welcome to join us. If you’re out of town, you’re welcome too; but please don’t drive too far for this first, smaller meetup – sign up for the July event.
Register for Attendance
Please register with enough information so I can understand who you are and I’ll approve you, after which the door code will be revealed on Luma.
If you can’t attend but would otherwise come to a future Portland meetup in-person, please apply and then mark “Can’t Go” – that way, we can still connect and you can still recieve updates about the event. Please sign up for the July event now too if you can’t make this first event.
However, please don’t sign up if you are remote and just interested – I want to keep registrations to people who would actually attend at some point.
We’ll be gathering Tuesday, June 9th from 2-4pm at the Marriott Residence Inn San Jose Cupertino right in Main Street Cupertino, across the street from Philz – that’s just a 20 minute walk from the Apple Park Visitor Center.
Join us to discuss new Siri updates, improvements to Apple Intelligence, and how App Intents—the API that powers Shortcuts—is an integral connection between your app and the Apple ecosystem. Together, we’ll cover everything you need to need to know to get ready for the new Siri in September (finally)!
Anyone interested in AI, Siri, Apple Intelligence, App Intents, and Shortcuts in California during WWDC26 is welcome to join us – both WWDC attendees and non-ticket holders alike are welcome!
I want to thank this year’s sponsors: TapKit, plus RevenueCat, Lumy, Walletsmith, and Sqim. With their support, we’ll have a more structured approach with the following:
2:50-3:20 – State of the Union recap (Apple Intelligence-focused)
3:20-3:50 –Open Q&A + Community Discussion
3:50-4:00 – Recap, Thank You
Sponsors
Key Sponsors:
TapKit is a Mac app that lets you control your iPhone with Claude and Codex – you can give your agent an iPhone and see what they can do (built by TJ Littlejohn of Jootsing Research): https://www.tapkit.ai
Community Sponsors:
RevenueCat is used by the world’s best apps to power purchases, manage customer data, and grow revenue on iOS, Android, and the web: https://revenuecat.com
Lumy is a beautiful sun tracking app that recently introduced Modes, updated with a new design, included season info, and added a reflect & share feature (built by Raja V, along with Calzy and Currenzy): https://lumy.app
Walletsmith gives you full control over your iPhone’s wallet, letting you create custom Apple Wallet passes, import existing ones, customize their appearance and data, and select when and where they become relevant (built by Juan Rodriguez): https://walletsmithapp.com
Sqimis an iOS app that lets you preview and interact with your iOS builds from high-fidelity cloud simulators, closing your iOS development feedback loop. Works with any remote control agent like Codex or Claude so you can code on-the-go. Your AI agent uses sqim-cli in your Mac to securely authenticate and push builds. Learn more (built by Neel Makhecha and Juan Djuwadi at Milq):https://milq.ai/sqim
I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Ecobee shortcuts for interacting with your Ecobee smart thermostat so you can control your heating and air conditioning.
Use these to activate your comfort settings, control your fan, and reset anything you’ve changed:
Show my Ecobee: Opens the Ecobee app directly to your specified device, where you can change the settings or control the thermostat.
Set a fan timer: Asks you to choose from a set of times, until the next schedule activity, or until its changed, plus a fan speed, then sets it with your Ecobee.
Change the comfort setting: Prompts you to choose from your Home, Away, or Sleep setting and sets your Ecobee to your choice until the next schedule activity.
Resume the thermostat schedule: Sets your Ecobee back to its pre-programmed schedule after you’ve manually changed the settings. Works well to stop the fan or put things back after running a shortcut.
Set fan for 15 minutes: Tells your Ecobee to activate the fan on low for 15 minutes. Works well for quick meals like toast or the air fryer.
Run the fan for 30 minutes: Sets your Ecobee to the fan mode to Low for 30 minutes. Works well for cooking larger meals.
Run the fan for 45 minutes: Tells your Ecobee to set the fan on low for 45 minutes. Works well for baking with the oven.
Set the thermostat to Home: Tells your Ecobee to activate the Home comfort setting for your everyday temperature range.
Set the thermostat to Away: Sets your Ecobee to your pre-programmed Away setting so your place isn’t unnecessarily air conditioned while you’re not home.
Set the thermostat to Sleep: Sets your Ecobee comfort setting to Sleep. Works well for cooling down the house before an early bedtime.
I use these primarily while cooking so I can air out my apartment with the fan, or when on an abnormal sleep schedule and want to activate the scene early or late.
OpenAI has announced the addition of a Codex remote control feature to the ChatGPT app for iOS and iPadOS, enabling users to manage threads running on their Mac from their mobile devices.
Along with it, the ChatGPT app was updated with a new action for Shortcuts called “Open Codex,” which includes a toggle for “Create new task.” By using the two permutations of Open Codex, users can either open to their list of threads or start a new chat.
I’ve created a set of simple shortcuts for both these options, plus an additional “Open Codex for Mac” while includes the Run Script over SSH action to remotely open the Codex app on your Mac (if it’s not already open). That way, you can ensure the app is always running and accessible from your mobile devices.
Makes sure to check out Codex in ChatGPT for iPad especially – the developer mentioned the keyboard support works well, which I love to see:
I’ve been working on bringing Codex to iOS and I am thrilled to finally be able to share it with you all! I happen to be OOO today for some personal stuff so I’ll post more thoughts later, but wanted to share this just to say it’s a great experience on an iPad with a keyboard 🙂 https://t.co/9uTmFcpzfQ
Control Codex remotely: Open the Codex experience in the ChatGPT app so you can remotely manage threads running on your Mac, plus search, organize, or create a new chat.
Create a new chat: Opens the Codex experience in the ChatGPT app and create a new task where you can start a thread for any project.
Open Codex for Mac: Open the Codex app for Mac, organized to your preferred window settings, or launches the app over SSH when run from mobile.
Former Shortcuts team lead and Workflow co-founder Ari Weinstein, who’s now at OpenAI after the acquisition of his company Software Applications Incorporated and app Sky, has released a videowith Head of Developer Experience Romain Huet about Computer Use, the feature Ari’s team has developed and released as part of Codex:
Had a great time chatting with @romainhuet about computer use in Codex!
Ari’s deep understanding of Apple platforms led him to both develop Workflow, turn it into Shortcuts and then App Intents at Apple (which powers the new Siri), and then to the beta version of Sky to access low-level features in macOS with an action-oriented AI experience.
Now, Ari & his team have taken what they built for Sky and turned it into Computer Use for Codex, which Ari explains in-detail in the video – it’s well worth a watch:
Computer use lets Codex work across your apps without taking over your Mac.
@AriX talks with @romainhuet about what changes when agents can click, type, and keep working in the background.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has another update on iOS 27, which includes new features for Camera, Siri, Safari, Weather, Image Playground, and system changes.
I want to highlight two parts from among the Siri features:
When users engage with Siri, they can swipe a transparent results card down to enter into a chatbot conversation mode, which looks similar to a text message thread. This interface has in-line mini app cards to see results for things like the weather, upcoming appointments and notes
This sounds like it’s modeled off the Follow-Up feature in the Use Model action within Shortcuts, which allows users to have an ongoing conversation with a model before pressing the checkmark to move forward (as covered in this session).
The “Search or Ask” interface looks similar to Spotlight Search on an iPhone today, but can show more advanced results and additional data from within apps. Users can press the search bar to toggle between using Siri or third-party offerings like ChatGPT or Gemini as their search engine.
This part—“can show more advanced results and additional data from within apps”—matches the advances in Image Search that Apple added in iOS 26 – developers can provide rich image results when scanning with the camera using Visual Intelligence (using App Intents).
Designing high-quality App Entity experiences will be key for developers wanting to integrate deeply with Apple Intelligence in iOS 27.
Apple has created a new Recognition page on the Apple Developer site recognizing community members, featuring profiles of 50 community members you can browse through, click on to read their story, and follow them directly. Here’s how Apple describes it:
“All around the world, developers do meaningful work that extends beyond great apps and games. They organize events, write tutorials, mentor others, and create spaces to learn and grow. By sharing their expertise and championing each other, they represent the best of the community.
And:
“Meet some of the inspiring people who are making a difference in the Apple developer community through technical contributions, thoughtful mentorship, and a commitment to helping others succeed.”
It’s excellent to see this kind of recognition for folks in the Apple Developer community, especially so many I’ve become familiar with at WWDC & CommunityKit, NSSpain, and Deep Dish Swift – incredibly well-deserved for everyone involved.
On Monday, May 12, Apple released the last OS update before announcing the next version at WWDC26 – now we’re on iOS 26.5. We’ll likely see another OS update this summer, but in effect this is the last version of iOS 26 and its most stable version.
Apple has three key features in this version – end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging (in beta), a new Pride Luminance wallpaper, and Suggested Places in Maps, plus new snoozing options for reminders. My favorite update, however, is automatic pairing when using USB-C to change devices – I switch keyboards at my home desk all the time.
Today, Anthropic mobile product manager Robert Bye shared a teaser of an upcoming update to the Claude iOS app that adds a “medium”-sized widget. This expands Claude’s widget from the smaller version with options for chat, camera, and mic to new options for adding images and starting Voice Mode as well:
I’m particularly thankful because I asked for it no less than 24 hours earlier on X, with Robert confirming they were “on it” just after midnight and that it “will be in the next release” – less than a full day from the original request:
I use widgets heavily on iOS and iPadOS, with up to 10 widgets per stack and 3-4 stacks per home screen, across all 16 possible home screens – that means about 500 widgets per device. That’s why I’d love to see all apps go beyond simpler “small” widgets, which seems to be the common trend especially for AI apps – their teams probably use one or two widgets only on their iPhone on a single screen.
More apps should follow Claude’s example and break out beyond the basics – let’s take widgets to the next level in 2026.
