Category: Shortcuts

Categories
Custom Shortcuts Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Notion shortcuts

I’ve just added a set of new folders to the Shortcuts Library, all for Notion — a set for the main Notion app, menus of special Pages, and then Notion Mail & Notion Calendar:

Notion

My main set of Notion shortcuts are designed for the main app experiences – New Page would be great for the Action button:

  • Open my Notion home page: Opens the URL to the Home page in your Notion workspace, which shows recently visited pages, upcoming events, database views, and featured templates.
  • Create new page in Notion: Opens the URL to a blank new page in Notion.
  • Open Meetings in Notion: Opens the URL to the top-level Meetings page in Notion where you can see upcoming meetings, start transcribing, and browse past AI meeting notes.
  • Open Notion AI: Opens the URL for Notion AI so you can “Ask, search, or make anything…” – plus add context from with a Page from Notion. You can also attach files, choose a model, use Research mode, or start a Web search – as well as get started with a few shortcuts.
  • Open Notion Mail: Opens Notion Mail by checking if the app is present; if not, opens the URL.
  • Open Notion Calendar: Opens Notion Calendar by checking if the app is present; if not, opens the URL.
  • Open the Marketplace in Notion: Opens the URL for the template Marketplace, where you can find and purchase predesigned setups for Notion.
  • Get Help with Notion: Opens the URL to the Help and Documentation resources from Notion where you can search for anything and learn from Notion Academy.

Check out the folder of Notion shortcuts.

Notion Pages

For my set of Notion Pages shortcuts, you can copy different IDs and Views from various pages, then use the others to open into those pages – whether within one team, a whole teamspace, or your entire workspace:

  • Open page in Side Peek: Proof of concept of the URL pattern in Notion for taking a Page URL and opening it in Side Peek as a Subpage of a particular View.
  • Copy View from Notion link: Gets a URL from input, matches the URL structure for a page ID and the associated View ID, and copies the View identifier to the clipboard. Can also be set to extract both IDs in an array.
  • Copy ID from Notion link: Gets a URL from input, matches a 32-character string from the text (and gets the first item in case there’s also a View ID), and copies that identifier to the clipboard.
  • Open a single page in Notion: Opens a preset Page from Notion, using the corresponding ID to open the URL.
  • Open from a team Pages in Notion: Presents a preset list of Pages from particular workspace, then takes the corresponding ID and opens the URL in Notion.
  • Open a Teamspace in Notion: Use my shortcut “Copy ID from Notion link” to easily extract the ID for any Teamspace add it to the Text action below.
  • Open from my Teamspaces in Notion: Presents a menu of your Teamspaces to choose from, then takes the corresponding ID and opens the URL in Notion.
  • Open from my Workspace pages in Notion: Presents a menu of Teamspace titles to choose from, then a preset list of Pages from that workspace, then takes the corresponding ID and opens the URL in Notion.

Check out the folder of Notion Pages shortcuts.

Notion Mail

If you’re a Notion Mail user, you can use my set of Notion Mail shortcuts to open into the various pages on the Mac – I’m still trying to figure out the iOS URL scheme and unfortunately it’s not available on iPad:

  • Open Settings in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to the default Settings page for Notion Mail, which shows Inbox settings. Other options include Notion AI, Gmail filters, Snippets, Signature, and Account, plus links to Members and Plans for the Workspace.
  • Open Snippets in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to the Snippets section of Settings in Notion Mail where you can create new snippets, and edit existing snippets, plus change their icon or shortcut.
  • Open the Trash in Notion Mail: Opens the Trash can in Notion Mail where you can see recently-deleted emails and recover any before they expire.
  • Open Spam in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to the Spam section of Notion Mail so you can see if anything important slipped through and delete the rest.
  • Open Drafts in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to your unsent Drafts in Notion Mail where you can continue where you left off.
  • Open Sent in Notion Mail: Opens the URL to your Sent messages in Notion Mail, where you can see past emails of yours grouped by date.
  • Open All Mail in Notion Mail: Opens the link to the All Mail section of Notion Mail which shows unread, read, and archived emails.
  • Open Search in Notion Mail: Opens the link to the Search field in Notion Mail so you can start typing your query in the search box.
  • Search for emails in Notion Mail: Asks you to search for emails, then opens the URL into Notion Mail with your query.
  • Open the Inbox in Notion Mail: Opens the URL into the Inbox page of Notion mail to show your recent emails.

Check out the folder of Notion Mail shortcuts.

Notion Calendar

If you’re a fan of Notion calendar, you can use my set of Notion Calendar shortcuts to quickly jump into various sections of the website:

Check out the folder of Notion Calendar shortcuts.

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Check out the all the new folders in the Shortcuts Library:

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

Tune In to TBPN for Today’s Technology and Business News (With These Shortcuts)

If you haven’t heard of TBPN, the “Technology Brothers Podcast Network” is an increasingly popular show by hosts Jordi Hayes and John Coogan that covers the major news of the day in the technology and business world – almost like a CNN for Silicon Valley. Streaming live from 11 AM – 2 PM PST every weekday, TBPN is known for high-profile guest interviews, clippable moments shared on social media, and a somewhat-irreverent tone paired with a deep knowledge & passion for the space.

I’m a fan of the way TBPN has given a breath of fresh air to technology coverage, simultaneously innovating on top of cable TV news, video & audio podcasts, and livestream formats in a new media organization for the current era. When things like AI are changing within a single week, the show provides a spotlight for understanding what’s going on as things move so quickly – and they demonstrate a better grasp of how to spread their content than any organization I’ve seen lately. The show has even evolved into a de-facto part of the technology media circuit, where having your startup’s news broken on TBPN is an indicator of success (much like getting coverage on TechCrunch).

With the show’s 3-hour runtime and multiple formats, it’s reasonable that an average listener won’t always engage with the entirety of each show, so it sure would helpful if there was some sort of way to access everything as needed… like a shortcut perhaps.

Me being me, I built a folder of shortcuts for TBPN for Apple’s Shortcuts app. These shortcuts let you listen to the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, watch the livestream or put the feed up on your TV, plus follow the team on X. Plus, as you’ll soon learn, the show is heavily sponsored by Ramp, so I created a cheeky shortcut for anyone to learn more from their website.

I also wrote a blog post about the technique for opening the TBPN livestream, which involves adding /live to any YouTube channel URL.

Check out the shortcuts in the TBPN folder of my Shortcuts Library, and view the blog post on YouTube livestreams. Plus, follow TBPN directly on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and X.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: TBPN shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of shortcuts for TBPN, the tech & business news podcast.

Use these shortcuts to watch the video podcast, tune into episodes on the go, and find the show on X – plus check out Ramp, of course:

  • Watch TBPN TV: Takes the RSS feed for TBPuTube channel and opens the most recent item. Includes option to AirPlay to the Apple TV, or opens in full-screen on Mac.
  • Watch TBPN Live: Opens the /live URL of TBPN’s YouTube channel, which redirects to either the current livestream or the page of recent streams.
  • Play TBPN on Apple Podcasts: Finds and plays the latest episode of TBPN in the Apple Podcasts app. Also follows the show if you’re not already.
  • Open TBPN on Spotify: Opens the deep link into Spotify for the TBPN podcast.
  • Open TBPN on X: Opens the link into @TBPN’s profile on X, either on the web or into the mobile app.
  • Open Jordi Hays on X: Opens the X profile for cohost Jordi Hays.
  • Open John Coogan on X: Opens the X profile for cohost John Coogan.
  • Save time and money at Ramp dot com: Opens to the website for Ramp, the main sponsors of TBPN.

Check out the folder of TBPN shortcuts in the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Feedback Gear Shortcuts

Dual Capture and Landscape Selfies for iPhone Need Shortcuts Support

On iPhone 17 models, Apple has added new hardware and software updates for advanced Camera features like Dual Capture and Center Stage, which allow capturing footage in more dynamic ways than ever.

Quickly accessing new features like this and forming muscle memory is critical to user adoption & long-term habits, which is why Apple should expand the Camera app’s Shortcuts support to everything new – something I’ve requested directly via the Feedback app in issue FB20772988 (Add Dual Capture and Selfie Video to Camera actions in Shortcuts).

Dual Capture and Selfie Rotate on iPhone 17

With any iPhone 17, you’re now able to capture both front-facing and rear-facing footage at the same time in a Dual Capture experience. This an awesome merging of hardware and software that creates a personal capturing experience I’ve loved since the Frontback days – a memory that says “here’s where I am”, but also “here’s who I am” (and “here’s who I’m with” too).

Plus, the selfie sensor has been expanded to a square size to allow both portrait and landscape capture, enabling features like a Selfie Rotate button to shoot in landscape while holding the phone vertically,1 as well as Center Stage functionality that automatically expands the shot depending on how many people are paying attention in-frame.

On The Stalman Podcast, Apple iPhone Product Manager Megan Nash specifically mentioned that holding the phone vertically created better eye gaze, which is otherwise awkward and often prevents people like me from filming themselves:

“You’ll notice people in the photos have better eye gaze because the camera preview is centered with the front camera, rather than being off to the side when you rotate iPhone to horizontal.”

These are incredible additions to the lineup and the primary reason I was excited to upgrade this year, both of which will make everyday content creation easier and also more dynamic.

Expand Camera’s App Shortcuts Support

I’m proposing that Apple add these features into the Camera app’s Shortcuts support, either in the form of expanded App Shortcuts or an overhaul to the Camera actions.

Currently, in Shortcuts, the Camera app has a single action, Open Camera, that opens the camera in a specified mode. As of writing, you’re able to choose from Selfie, Video, Portrait, Portrait Selfie, Photo, Cinematic, Slo-Mo, Time-Lapse, Pano, Spatial Video, and Spatial Photo.

Crude rendering by yours truly.

The simplest update would be to include options for Dual Capture and Landscape Selfies, allowing a quick addition to existing functionality. This would build upon the curated App Shortcuts experience, and make these new features immediately available via Siri, on the Lock Screen, in Control Center, and on the Action button nicely – the simplest and most likely outcome.

Overhaul Camera’s App Intents Support

However, I propose Apple give the Camera app a deeper App Intents review and consider splitting up the Open Camera action in alignment with the Camera app redesign, building out the longstanding Take Video and Take Photo actions from Workflow and including additional functionality as parameters.

Take Video could include modes (and App Shortcuts) for Video, Cinematic, Slo-Mo, and Timelapse, each with dependent parameters for front-/rear-facing cameras, zoom levels and rotate options, extra features, and video formats. Take Photo could include modes (and App Shortcuts) for Photo, Selfie, Portrait, Spatial, Pano, with the same additional functionality as parameters for each mode2

Adding both options as separate actions would deliver add long-desired functionality to the Camera apps’ existing actions and enable a wide array of creator-focused shortcuts based on hyper-specific shooting modes. Plus, these actions could still be turned into App Shortcuts, enabling everyday users to quickly access Dual Capture or landscape-in-portrait selfies on their new iPhone 17 as needed.

Apple – please make it easier to take landscape selfies!3

If you want to see this update, please duplicate my report4 in the Feedback app to signal to Apple that multiple users want this changed.

  1. FYI according to the Alt Text on the Apple Support website, it is officially called “the Selfie Rotate button.” ↩
  2. There may need to be some slight fudging of “modes” to make a pleasant App Shortcuts experience here, otherwise having both “normal,” “Selfie,” and “Landscape Selfie” versions of each as additional options might be too much – I can see why they might’ve chosen to avoid this route originally. That being said, they should go further with more actions rather than pulling back. ↩︎
  3. There’s got to be a better way to say “enabling landscape selfies while holding iPhone vertically” (from 3:35) – I propose “landscape selfie” as the generic term. ↩︎
  4. On iPhone 17, new Camera modes like Dual Capture and Selfie Rotate let users record from both cameras or film landscape selfies while holding iPhone vertically. These features aren’t available in Shortcuts or App Shortcuts, making them harder to access quickly.The simplest improvement would be adding Dual Capture and Selfie Video options to the existing Open Camera action. Longer term, Camera could gain full App Intents support by splitting Open Camera into Take Photo and Take Video actions with parameters for mode, camera, and format.Results Expected:I am expecting to find all Camera functionality, including Dual Capture, Selfie Video, and future modes, available in the Shortcuts app or App Shortcuts experiences for use from the Lock Screen, Control Center, or Action button. ↩

 

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Apple Intelligence shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my simple set of Apple Intelligence shortcuts for the new Apple Intelligence features added to Shortcuts in iOS 26.

Use these to ask Apple’s on-device or Private Cloud Compute models, talk to ChatGPT, utilize Writing Tools, generate images with Image Playground, and create Memories in Photos.

  • Use Model: Allows you to enter a request, asks which model to prompt, then lets you ask Follow Up questions, and shows you the final response.
  • Pass through Writing Tools: For a given input, asks you to describe your change – then, creates a summary, key points, list, and table, plus proofreads, rewrites, and adjusts the tone. Produces Markdown-ready text, complete with auto-generated title.
  • Create with Image Playground: Asks you to describe an image or takes an image from input, then to choose an art style, then creates an image and shows it to you (plus saves it to Image Playground).
  • Create Memory in Photos: Asks you to describe a memory to create, then uses Apple Intelligence and the Photos app to generate a Memory for you.

Check out the folder of Apple Intelligence shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Links News Shortcuts

What’s New in Shortcuts for iOS 26 »

From Apple Support:

New in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26

This update includes enhancements to the Shortcuts app across all platforms, including new intelligent actions and an improved editing experience. Shortcuts on macOS now supports personal automations that can be triggered based on events such as time of day or when you take actions like saving a file to a folder, as well as new integrations with Control Center and Spotlight.

New Actions (Editor’s note: shortened for sake of space)

  • Freeform
  • Image Playground, requires Apple Intelligence*
  • Mail
  • Measure
  • Messages
  • Screen Time
  • Sports
  • Photos
  • Reminders
  • Stocks
  • Use Model, requires Apple Intelligence*
  • Visual Intelligence, requires Apple Intelligence*
  • Voice Memos
  • Weather
  • Writing Tools, requires Apple Intelligence*

Updated Actions

For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:

  • “Calculate Expression” can now evaluate expressions that include units, including real time currency conversion rates, temperature, distance, and more
  • “Create QR Code” can now specify colors and styling
  • “Date” can now specify a holiday
  • “Find Contacts” can now filter by relationship
  • ”Transcribe Audio” performance has been improved
  • “Show Content” can now display scrollable lists of items, like calendar events, reminders, and more

Shortcut Editor

For those building custom shortcuts, updates have been made to the shortcut editor:

  • Improved drag and drop and variable selection
  • Over 100 new icon glyphs are now available, including new shapes, transportation symbols, and more
  • Rich previews of calendar events, reminders, and more
  • The ability to choose whether shortcuts appear in Spotlight Search

macOS Improvements

Spotlight

Shortcuts can now accept input, like selected text from an open document, when being run from Spotlight.

Automations

Shortcuts can now be run automatically based on the following triggers:

  • Time of Day (“At 8:00 AM, weekdays”)
  • Alarm (“When my alarm is stopped”)
  • Email (“When I get an email from Jane”)
  • Message (“When I get a message from Mom”)
  • Folder (“When files are added to my Documents folder”)
  • File (“When my file is modified”)
  • External Drive (“When my external drive connects”)
  • Wi-Fi (“When my Mac joins home Wi-Fi”)
  • Bluetooth (“When my Mac connects to AirPods”)
  • Display (“When my display connects”)
  • Stage Manager (“When Stage Manager is turned on”)
  • App (“When ‘Weather’ is opened or closed”)
  • Battery Level (“When battery level rises above 50%”)
  • Charger (“When my Mac connects to power”)
  • Focus (“When turning Do Not Disturb on”)

Control Center

Shortcuts can be added as controls to Control Center and the menu bar, including Run Shortcut, Open App, and Show “Menu Bar” Collection

View the full release notes from Apple Support

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

Updated in the Shortcuts Library: TV app shortcuts

Hey members! I’ve just updated new folder in the Shortcuts Library — my set of TV app shortcuts.

These are redesigned for my new approach to building shortcuts, which is less targeted at separate actions and includes a more-bundled approach – each shortcut provides more functionality in a targeted area.

My favorite is the new Watchlist shortcut – I’ve been working on a version of this for the year or so! Enjoy:

  • Open into the TV app: Presents a menu of sections in the TV app and opens the deep link into the app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac – options include Home, Search, Store, Sports, Apple TV+, and Library. When run from Apple Watch, opens the Apple TV app.
  • Add to my TV watchlist: Accepts a list of TV shows or movies, scrapes the results from Apple’s Marketing Toolbox, and lets you pick where to send the media – with options to open into the TV app, add to your Watchlist, send to Reminders, or copy the links.
  • Open sports in the TV app: Presents a menu of Sports sections available in the TV app, include overall Sports, plus MLS Season Pass and Major League Baseball, as well a dedicated section for your favorite home team.
  • Browse the TV Store: Presents a menu for opening into the TV app to the Store section, either directly using a deep link, using the iTunes actions in Shortcuts, or Apple’s RSS feeds for top movie and TV content – plus categories for dedicated “rooms” in the TV app for special content.
  • Open from Apple TV Plus: Presents menu options for opening into the Home, Shows, Movies, and Upcoming sections of Apple TV+ in the TV app, plus categories for genres.

Check out the folder of TV app shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

 

Categories
Offsite Podcasts Shortcuts

Members-Only Podcast #3: New actions in the iOS 26 beta

From episode 3 of my freshly-rebooted members-only podcast:

Spoken-word episode of my article titled “Shortcuts gains actions for Apple Intelligence, Messages, and Notes checklists in iOS 26 beta,” available on MatthewCassinelli.com.

This content is marked as members-only – you’ll need a membership to access it.

View the archive of members-only podcast episodes.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Emoji Game for Apple News+

I’ve just added a new shortcut to the Shortcuts Library to my set of Apple News shortcuts – a new shortcut for the Emoji Game in Apple News+.

Here’s how Apple describes the game:

“The object of this logic and word puzzle is to complete several phrases with as few moves as possible. Each emoji may be interpreted directly, through association, or in combination with other emoji. When you attempt an answer or expand a clue, it counts as a move.”

You can also do any of the following:

  • Try an answer: Consider the various definitions or associations for the emoji, then drag the most appropriate emoji (or group of emoji) to complete each word or phrase.For example, a “pear” emoji 🍐 could complete “DISAP_ _ _ _,” but interpreted as “fruit” it could complete “_ _ _ _ _ FUL.”Letters relating to emoji may appear nonconsecutively in an answer. For example, dragging an “earth” emoji 🌍 to “L_ _ _N _ _E ROPES” completes the phrase “learn the ropes.”Interpret grouped emoji as a whole. For example, a single 🐠 could mean “fish,” while 🐠🐠🐠 might mean “school.”
  • Expand a clue: Tap [Eye icon]. This counts as a move.
  • Reveal answers: Tap [Three Dots icon], then tap Reveal. The answers you didn’t find are shown. The puzzle doesn’t count in your Scoreboard stats and streaks.

Get the Emoji Game shortcut, check out the folder of Apple News Plus shortcuts, and browse the full Shortcuts Library – or read about Emoji Game from Apple Support.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts News Shortcuts

Apple Releases “Hold That Thought” Shortcut for Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), which Apple highlighted in their press release showcasing accessibility features coming in the next year – plus a new Accessibility shortcut called Hold That Thought:

New features include Accessibility Nutrition Labels on the App Store, Magnifier for Mac, Braille Access, and Accessibility Reader; plus innovative updates to Live Listen, visionOS, Personal Voice, and more.

Near the end of the release, Apple explains their new shortcut, plus the addition of the previous Accessibility Shortcut to Vision Pro:

The Shortcuts app adds Hold That Thought, a shortcut that prompts users to capture and recall information in a note so interruptions don’t derail their flow. The Accessibility Assistant shortcut has been added to Shortcuts on Apple Vision Pro to help recommend accessibility features based on user preferences.

Here’s how Apple describes the shortcut:

Interruptions can cause you to forget tasks and affect productivity, especially for neurodivergent individuals.

When you run this shortcut, you have two options: Capture and Recall.

Run the shortcut and select Capture to capture a screenshot of what you’re doing, any calendar events in the next hour, current open webpage in Safari (Mac only), and Clipboard contents. You’ll then be prompted to write short notes about what you are doing and what you are about to do. Run the shortcut again and select Recall to find the last created note with all the captured information. All notes will be saved with the title “Hold that thought” and the date and time saved.

Run this shortcut using Siri, or add it to the Control Center, Action button or to the Home Screen for quick access.

I love this idea, and the core concept matches the inspiration for my currently-secret app idea that I teased at the end of my Deep Dish Swift talk.

I do have a few suggestions for improvements to the shortcut, however:

  • Remove the errant space in the Choose From Menu prompt between “Capture” and “or” – it says “Capture or recall last stopping point?”
  • For both “? Capture” and “? Recall” options Choose From Menu, Apple should add Synonyms for “Capture” and “Recall” – the emoji can cause issues when dictating to Siri (in general, I avoid emoji in Menus for this reason).
  • Utilize the “Find Tabs” action for iOS instead of simple not adding any functionality for Safari on mobile; Apple’s use of only “Get Current Safari Tab” for Mac reminds me that they still have not added the set of Safari iOS actions added back in 2022 to macOS, and their absence in this shortcut furthers my belief that these highly-sought actions are deprioritized simply because the team doesn’t use iOS as often and this Mac action is “good enough”.
  • The second “Recall” option just opens the note, but I’d rather see that last item I saved – Apple should have gone further to isolate the recent item and display the recalled information, not just open it again. I tried to Recall from my Apple Watch and the shortcut simply failed.
  • The flow of an alert, a 5-second countdown before a screenshot, and two prompts might be too long for most neurodivergent people to capture information effectively while in the process of being interrupted.

To improve the shortcut as it is today, I’d simply remove the Show Alert and Wait actions, and assign this new shortcut to the Action button – that way you can immediately take a screenshot, then answer the prompts, and move on.

Going further, I’d love to see a new version of this next year once Apple Intelligence ships in full, which utilizes “Get On-Screen Content” and accesses all the data available from apps for Personal Context.

Get “Hold That Thought” for Shortcuts, view the announcement from the Apple Newsroom, and check out past updates from GAAD.

Categories
Developer Shortcuts

How Apple Will Win the AI Race: My Talk on App Intents & Apple Intelligence

Last Tuesday, I gave a talk to over 300 developers at Deep Dish Swift about Apple Intelligence, where I made the following claim:

Apple will win the AI race

I’m an expert on App Intents, the API that powers the yet-to-be-seen features of Apple Intelligence – Actions and Personal Context. After designing implementations with my clients, and seeing the trends around AI-assisted coding, hearing rumors of an iOS 19 redesign, and seeing the acceleration effects of artificial intelligence, I believe Apple is skating to where the puck will be, rather than where it is now.

I’ll leave the thesis for the talk – but if you’re building for any Apple devices, you’ll want to understand how important App Intents is to the future of the platform:

Watch the 54-minute talk from Deep Dish Swift on YouTube Live.

Categories
Developer Shortcuts

Tune In To My Apple Intelligence Talk via Deep Dish Swift Live

I’m super excited to be giving my talk on Apple Intelligence live tomorrow at Deep Dish Swift – if you’re interested in tuning in to the conference stream, follow Deep Dish Swift on YouTube:

Check out Deep Dish Swift live and learn more about the conference.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Perplexity shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Perplexity shortcuts for asking Perplexity to do research for you.

Use these to open the sections of the website, ask questions in new threads on iPhone and iPad, interact with the Mac app using keyboard shortcuts, go deeper on the Perplexity experience, and interact with the API:

Website

  • Open Perplexity AI: Opens the website for Perplexity AI in your default browser.
  • Open Perplexity Discover: Opens the Discover page from Perplexity, which curates top stories for you and summarizes them.
  • Open my Spaces in Perplexity: Opens the Spaces section of Perplexity, where you can create research and collaboration hubs built on top of Perplexity search.
  • Open Perplexity Library: Opens the Library section of Perplexity, where you can see Threads and Pages around searches you’ve performed.

iOS and iPadOS app

  • New Search in Perplexity: Opens Perplexity to a new, blank search using the Auto mode.
  • New Pro Search in Perplexity: Opens Perplexity to a new, blank search set to Pro mode, which acts as your conversational search guide. “Instead of quick, generic results, Pro Search engages with you, fine-tuning its answers based on your needs.”
  • Ask Perplexity: Prompts you to “Ask anything” before opening into Perplexity to search for your query.
  • Play Perplexity Discover: Immediately starts a Live Activity session for Perplexity Discover, using stories drawn from the Discover feed and spoken by ElevenLab’s voices.
  • Summarize articles with Perplexity: Creates a series of Threads in Perplexity for URLs shared as input, either from the Share Sheet or by detecting what’s on screen. Includes logic for multiple links, opening each URL in the background until the final query.

Mac app

  • Set up Perplexity for Mac: Opens the Mac app for Perplexity AI, resizing the window to 1024×770 and moving it to the center of the current display.
  • New Thread in Perplexity: Simulates the keyboard shortcut for Command + Shift + P, which activates the Perplexity search bar from anywhere.
  • Voice Mode in Perplexity: Simulates the keyboard shortcut for Command + Shift + M, which activates the Perplexity voice mode in a popover window.
  • Upload File in Perplexity: Simulates the keyboard shortcut for Command + Shift + U, which activates the Perplexity upload process and shows a Finder window where you can select the file to upload.
  • Voice Dictation in Perplexity: Simulates the keyboard shortcut for Command + Shift + D, which activates the Perplexity voice dictation in the search bar so you can enter a query hands-free.
  • Screen Capture with Perplexity: Simulates the keyboard shortcut for Command + Shift + 0, which activates the Perplexity screen capture and prompts whether to capture an Area, Window, or Fullscreen.
  •  

Deep Dive

  • Open my Perplexity account settings: Opens the Perplexity website to Settings > Account, where you can change general settings like the Appearance, as well as subscription details or system settings.
  • Edit my Perplexity profile: Opens the Perplexity settings to the Profile section, where you can tell Perplexity information about yourself and your preferences to inform results.
  • Read the Perplexity blog: Opens the Perplexity blog, where you can see stories and announcements from the team on new updates or changes to the service.
  • Open the Perplexity discord: Opens the deep link into Discord for the Perplexity channel using the unique ID and channel ID.
  • Show the Perplexity Supply store: Opens the website for Perplexity Supply, the clothing line for fans of Perplexity.

API

  • Open the Perplexity API docs: Opens the URL for the Perplexity API documentation, so you can quickly reference how to get started or learn about the API.
  • Open the Perplexity API reference: Opens the Perplexity API website to the API reference, starting with Chat Completions, you can test your commands against the API and see what’s working.
  • Get my Perplexity API key: Stores your API key for Perplexity. Store the result as base64-encoded text so it’s not readable as plain text, which is then decoded as this is run.
  • Manage my Perplexity API keys: Opens the Perplexity website to your API settings, where you can manage API keys and payment details.

Check out the folder of Perplexity shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

 

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

Immediately Browse Apple News’ Food Recipe Catalog With These Shortcuts

New in iOS 18.4, Apple is making a new Food section available to Apple News+ subscribers, creating a curated browsing and recipe experience within the app. Located on iPhone under the Following tab and Food section, or in the Food section of the sidebar on iPad and macOS, this new category curates stories for you based on your chosen interests and browsing history, plus provides an entire Recipe Catalog and cooking experience for recipes with ingredients & instructions.

The entire experience for News+ Food is fantastic, albeit somewhat buried inside the News app – that’s why I’ve built a set of shortcuts to quickly access the sections from anywhere. In my folder of Apple News Food shortcuts, you can find shortcuts to access the main Food section, the Recipe Catalog, and two curated sections that are shown within the category for Healthy Eating and Kitchen Tools & Techniques.

You can use these with Siri, place them in a Medium widget, or even add them as Controls in Control Center or the Lock Screen – the Recipe Catalog would work great using Add to Home Screen as well, as Stephen Robles demonstrated in his video that highlights the Food feature.

So far, the News team at Apple has only ever created the Show Today Feed and Show Topic actions, and relied on the concept of “donations” (where an action only becomes available after the user interacts with a particular section) for sections like Magazines, Puzzles, and now the Recipe Catalog. Along this route, I’d love to see the Saved Recipes section available as a donated action, as well as being able to open directly to a saved recipe would make a lot of sense. But, going further, I wish the News team would adopt a full suite of actions like Get Recipes, Find Recipe, Save/Unsave Recipe, Cook Recipe, and Read The Story (for a recipe).

Get the folder of Apple News Food shortcuts in my Shortcuts Library (requires iOS 18.4).

Categories
Custom Shortcuts Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Apple News+ Food shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Apple News Food shortcuts for the new Food section in Apple News+, available in iOS 18.4.

Use these shortcuts to browse stories from the Food, Healthy Eating, and Kitchen Tools & Techniques sections, as well as open directly to the Recipe Catalog.:

  • Open Food in News+: Opens to the new “Food” section in Apple News+ that curates stories and recipes for you.
  • Open Recipe Catalog in News: Opens the News app to stories from the Recipe Catalog feature, new in the new Food section in Apple News+.
  • Show Kitchen Tools and Techniques: Opens the section for Kitchen Tools & Techniques in the new Food section for Apple News+ subscribers.
  • Show Healthy Eating stories: Opens the News app to stories about Healthy Eating, located in the new Food section for Apple News+ subscribers.

Check out the folder of Apple News Food shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Messages Conversations shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Conversations shortcuts that take advantage of the Open Conversation action available in iOS 18.4.

Use these to open from any conversation, choose from your pinned chats, or open into any group chat or solo conversation:

  • Open a conversation: Prompts you to choose from all your conversations in Messages, listed in chronological order from recent to oldest, then opens your choice.
  • Open from my pinned conversations: Presents a menu of nine conversations to open in Messages, matching your list of nine pinned conversations from within the app.
  • Show the group chat: Opens the conversation in Messages for your primary group chat, so you can text them all the details.
  • Open chat with Mom: Opens the Conversation in Messages with your mother, so you can ask when’s a good time to call her.
  • Open chat with Dad: Opens the conversation with your father, allowing you to see your past messages.
  • Open chat with Sibling: Opens the Messages conversation with your sibling, so you can stay better-connected.
  • Open the Family thread: Opens the conversation for your Family group chat so you can keep up with everyone.

Check out the folder of Conversations shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts Tips & Tricks

Pro-Tip: Shortcuts Has Its Own Suite of AppleScript Commands

Many people don’t know that the Shortcuts app can be automated on the Mac using its dedicated scripting dictionary.

This requires a bit of meta thinking, but that means both the application itself and all the shortcuts contained within it are available to control remotely via AppleScript and applications like Script Editor – as well as triggered via devices like the Stream Deck, which I use every day at my Mac mini.

In order to make these methodologies more accessible, I wanted to share instructions here on how to access the AppleScript dictionary for Shortcuts, plus share a copy of the commands so everything is freely available on the web.

Here’s how to access Shortcuts’ scripting dictionary:

  1. Open the Script Editor app
  2. In the Menu Bar, select File > Open Dictionary (or press Command + Shift + O)
  3. Browse through the dictionaries until you find Shortcuts’ (or type “Shortcuts” on the keyboard to navigate there directly), then open the Dictionary.
  4. There, you’ll see Standard Suite and Shortcuts Suite; under Shortcuts Suite, you’ll find the “Classes and Commands for working with Shortcuts.”

For reference, here’s what is documented in the command set:

Shortcuts Suite

Classes and Commands for working with Shortcuts


application n [see also Standard Suite]

ELEMENTS

contains shortcuts, folders.

—-
shortcut n : a shortcut in the Shortcuts application

ELEMENTS

contained by application, folders.


PROPERTIES

name (text, r/o) : the name of the shortcut

subtitle (text, r/o) : the shortcut’s subtitle

id (text, r/o) : the unique identifier of the shortcut

folder (folder) : the folder containing this shortcut

color (RGB color, r/o) : the shortcut’s color

icon (TIFF image, r/o) : the shortcut’s icon

accepts input (boolean, r/o) : indicates whether or not the shortcut accepts input data

action count (integer, r/o) : the number of actions in the shortcut


RESPONDS TO

run.

—-

folder n : a folder containing shortcuts

ELEMENTS

contains shortcuts; contained by application.

PROPERTIES

name (text) : the name of the folder

id (text, r/o) : the unique identifier of the folder

—-

run v : Run a shortcut. To run a shortcut in the background, without opening the Shortcuts app, tell ‘Shortcuts Events’ instead of ‘Shortcuts’.

run shortcut : the shortcut to run

[with input any] : the input to provide to the shortcut

→ any : the result of the shortcut

—-

To keep this post as reference material, I’ll share methods for utilizing these AppleScript commands here on my blog using my AppleScript tag.

To learn more about scripting, check out Apple’s documentation for Navigating a Script Dictionary – that’s part of the now-archived Mac Automation Scripting Guide which provides more insight into how Script Editor and AppleScript can be used across macOS.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: MacStories shortcuts

Apropos of something admirable, I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of MacStories shortcuts for interacting with MacStories.net, the premiere independent website for Apple news, app reviews, and Shortcuts coverage.

Use these shortcuts to access different parts of the site, find and listen to MacStories podcasts, show the website’s social media profiles, and dive into Club MacStories content.

MacStories is the website that introduced me to Shortcuts originally, and I learned so much from the Workflow tag back in the day – check it out:

  • Open MacStories.net: Opens the main homepage of MacStories.net, showing the latest stories from Federico Viticci and friends.
  • Show stories from MacStories RSS: Pulls 25 items from the MacStories main RSS feeds and asks you to choose which to open in Safari.
  • Show MacStories podcasts: Opens the Apple Podcasts link for the MacStories channel, where you can discover and follow podcasts from the network.
  • Play a MacStories podcast: Presents a menu of MacStories shows, then plays the next episode from the selected show based on the preselected custom sort order (or default order from the Podcasts app).
  • Open MacStories on Flipboard: Opens the MacStories account on Flipboard so you can read stories from Federico Viticci and friends.
  • Show the Setups on MacStories: Opens the Setups page on the MacStories website where the team shares about their devices and desk setups in-depth.
  • Show Reviews on MacStories: Opens the Reviews category on the MacStories website where the team posts app coverage and reviews.
  • Show the Shortcuts Archive on MacStories: Opens the Shortcuts Archive page on the MacStories website where the team hosts over 300 shortcuts freely available to download.
  • Open Club MacStories+ on Discord: Opens the deep link into the General channel in the private Discord for members of Club MacStories. Join Club MacStories for access: https://club.macstories.net
  • Show the Shortcuts tag on MacStories: Opens the tag page on the MacStories website for stories marked with “Shortcuts.”
  • Show the Workflow tag on MacStories: Opens the tag page on the MacStories website for stories marked with “Workflow,” the original version of the Shortcuts app – these stories introduced me to the app before I joined the team. So, uh, thanks Federico!
  • Open MacStories on Mastodon: Opens the MacStories profile in the Mastodon app or on the web.
  • Open MacStories on Bluesky: Opens the MacStories profile in the Bluesky app or on the web.
  • Open from Club MacStories RSS feed: Given your custom Club MacStories RSS feed, this will retrieve the 25 latest items published for members-only and asks you which links you want to open.
  • Open Club MacStories: Shows the main homepage for Club Macstories, the members-only portion of the MacStories website with weekly newsletters, community events, and private stories with more advanced techniques.
  • Open Club MacStories on Discord: Opens the deep link into the General channel in the private Discord for members of Club MacStories. Join Club MacStories for access: https://club.macstories.net
  • Advertise on MacStories: Opens the “Advertise” page on the MacStories website where brands can learn more about how to sponsor the website and advertise to the passionate group of MacStories readers.

Check out the folder of MacStories shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Actions Custom Shortcuts

Apple Music Replay: Save Your Listening History From Kids Music With These Shortcuts

Apple has just released their Apple Music Replay feature for 2024, curating stats and visualizations around your listening habits from the last year on the web and in the app for the first time.

It’s always interesting to see your top tracks and artists, but some folks like Halide designer Sebastiaan de With have already run into a common problem – their children’s music is mixed in with their own:

The children’s music is gaining ground on my Apple Music replay. The burden of being a parent

[image or embed]

— Sebastiaan de With (@sdw.bsky.social) December 3, 2024 at 10:00 AM

 

Thankfully, Apple recently built a feature for the Music that lets you choose whether to Use Listening History, available in the form of a Focus Filter applied to a specific Focus mode.

In Settings, in the Focus section, you can apply a Focus Filter to a specific Focus by choosing which mode from the list and scrolling down to Focus Filters, which Apple says lets you “Customize how your apps and device behave when this Focus is on.”

When you select “Add Filter,” you’ll see a popover of App Filters and System Filters that let you pick which filters to use to customize during this Focus. Apple’s description explains “Selected apps will be notified when this Focus turns on or off,” immediately activating the filter outside the app and updating things like the widget experience or background tasks.

For the Music app, there’s a Focus Filter for “Use Listening History” where you can “Choose if music played will influence recommendations and mixes, appear in Recently Played, or be shown to others on Apple Music.”

Adding the Focus Filter will apply it to the current Focus, whether it’s set off to ignore your habits or enabled to track your listening history whenever the Focus is enabled. For someone like a parent, they could create a “Home” mode separate from their own “Personal” mode and disable listening history while at home but enable it while listening on their own.

In iOS 18, Apple also added a Set Music Focus Filter action to the Shortcuts app that enables automated control over one’s listening history. With a Shortcuts action, users can add or clear the Focus Filter from any focus mode as needed, plus enable it or disable it on the fly without fully designating a Focus mode just for this feature.

In my set of Apple Music Replay shortcuts, I built two shortcuts that take advantage of it: Enable Listening History and Disable Listening History, which you can run to pick a Focus mode and toggle the setting as needed.

Adding this functionality in Shortcuts essentially makes the “Use Listening History” feature available separately from a Focus Filter, letting you toggle it on for any period of time and turn it off manually again when you’re done.

Plus, if you want to go even further, Automations in Shortcuts can give you control over whether to Use Listening History in almost any context, from triggers like location-based automations to whether you pressed the Action button while holding your iPhone horizontally while driving.

I also built shortcuts to Toggle Listening History for any Focus mode that works really well as a Control in Control Center, as well as a shortcut to Clear the Focus Filter from any Focus mode should you be done with the feature entirely.

Plus, since I enjoy listening to my Apple Music Replay playlists, I built a set of shortcuts for each year to shuffle the songs and let me quickly jump back into all my favorite songs ever since I first got an Apple Music subscription – as well as a new shortcut to show Apple Music Replay on the web.

Check out the folder of Apple Music Replay shortcuts in my Shortcuts Library and check out Sebastiaan’s post on Bluesky.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Apple Music Replay shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Apple Music Replay shortcuts for the Apple Music Replay experience, from accessing playlists to manage your listening history.

Use these shortcuts to add Music Focus Filters to control whether to Use Listening History, jump into the Replay experience on the web, or play from your past Apple Music Replay playlists:

  • Enable listening history: Asks you to pick a focus mode, then sets the Music Focus Filter for “Use Listening History”” to ON so anything you listen to will be tracked and added to Apple Music Replay.
  • Disable listening history: Asks you to pick a focus mode, then sets the Music Focus Filter for “Use Listening History”” to off so you can listen to anything without it being added to your Apple Music Replay.
  • Show Apple Music Replay: Opens the website for Apple Music Replay where you can visualize your past year of music listening habits.
  • Play my Replay 2024: Plays the preselected Replay 2024 playlist on Shuffle. The biggest change for me in 2024? My top 5 songs are Dance tracks.
  • Play my Replay 2023: Plays the preselected Replay 2023 playlist on Shuffle. This year, my top tracks are full of electronic and Fred Again – plus, Mall Rat from The Sims (which I listening to on repeat jokingly and then not jokingly while doing chores).
  • Play my Replay 2022: Plays the preselected Replay 2022 playlist on Shuffle. My top tracks of the year were full of Kraughnbin and Foals.
  • Play my Replay 2021: Plays the preselected Replay 2021 playlist on Shuffle. My top track of the year was “Treat People With Kindness” from Harry Styles, something I needed to remember after 2020 and the start of 2021.
  • Play my Replay 2020: Plays the preselected Replay 2020 playlist on Shuffle. Apparently during lockdown, I listened to Lockdown and Make It Better by Anderson .Paak a lot – for some reason.
  • Play my Replay 2019: Plays the preselected Replay 2019 playlist on Shuffle. My top artists included Vulfpeck, Big Wild, and Tycho.
  • Play my Replay 2018: Plays the preselect Replay 2018 playlist on Shuffle. Top tracks include ‘Til Its Over by Anderson .Paak, which reminded me this was the year I first got a HomePod.
  • Play my Replay 2017: Plays the preselected Replay 2017 playlists on Shuffle. Top tracks include Cash Machine, which I found infinitely funny/enjoyable during the same year when the company I worked at got sold to Apple.
  • Play my Replay 2016: Plays the preselected Replay 2016 playlist on Shuffle. My top tracks of the year—not even joking—were Burn The Witch, Can’t Keep Checking My Phone, Daydreaming, Better Strange, and Bored to Death. Uncanny.
  • Play my Replay 2015: Plays the preselect Replay 2015 playlist on Shuffle. Top tracks include Dreams, Let It Happen, and Eventually…
  • Toggle listening history: Asks you to pick a focus mode, then toggles the current Music Focus Filter setting for “Use Listening History” so you can switch whether or not to Use Listening History for a chosen focus with an existing filter. Works well as a Control in Control Center.
  • Clear listening history filter: Asks you to pick a focus mode, then clears the Music Focus Filter and removes all settings for “Use Listening History” for that Focus.

Check out the folder of Apple Music Replay shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.