8 Tips for Optimizing Shortcuts for macOS from Club MacStories

As part of Club MacStories, Federico Viticci published an Automation Academy guide on Tips for Optimizing Your Shortcuts for macOS Monterey.

In the post, Federico explains some tips he’s developed over the last six months working on the Mac that are super useful for Shortcuts users, especially if you’re coming from the iPad — things like changes with variables, how to use actions native to Mac from the Automator experience, and innovative ways to utilize AppleScript (that I’m definitely going to adopt myself and integrate into my own shortcuts).

Here’s the list of techniques:

  1. Check Your Current Platform
  2. Right-Click to Choose Variables
  3. Get the Title of a Webpage
  4. Get the Text Selection of a Webpage
  5. Check If a Specific App Is Running
  6. Pass Multiple Variables to AppleScript
  7. Check the Frontmost App
  8. Modifying a File with Quick Actions and Overwriting the Original Version

In the intro, Federico included this line:

Grab your favorite note-taking app, open the Shortcuts app for Mac, and let’s get started.

I should have listened right away, because I ended up pulling up Craft halfway through and jotting a ton down. ?

The linked post is exclusive for Club MacStories members, so sign up to get access and then read the full Automation Academy post.

Posts You Might Like

What’s New in Shortcuts in iOS and iPadOS 18.2, macOS 15.2, watchOS 11.2, and visionOS 2.2 »
iOS 18.2 brings new Fitness and Stocks actions, Get Current App for scripting, and new macOS support for a set of existing actions.
Tasks to-do app gets major update with collaboration, more »
Developer Mustafa Yusuf has released a huge update to Tasks 3 – the folks at 9to5Mac have a write-up on everything that's new.
Send Your Feedback to Apple About App Intents
If you're a developer working on App Intents, the team at Apple wants to hear from you – see this post from engineering manager Michael Gorbach.
Apple iOS 18 Siri AI Update Will Let Users Control Features in Apps With Voice »
Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reports on new Siri-focused features coming at WWDC, including mentions of App Intents as a potential basis for these upgrades.