Category: Shortcuts

Categories
Membership Shortcuts

New shortcut: Activate Claude Code (Subscribers Only)

Hello dear subscribers,

Here’s a new addition to the Shortcuts Library to try out if you’re playing around with Claude Code – Activate Claude Code, a simple launcher that automatically fills in the directory and launches Claude in the Terminal.

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Custom Shortcuts Membership Shortcuts

New shortcut: Send Quick Notes to Cursor (Subscribers Only)

Hello my dear subscribers,

Here’s a new shortcut I’ve added to the Shortcuts Library – my Send Quick Notes to Cursor shortcut, a tool designed to take anything you captured on-the-go in the Notes app and quickly open it in Cursor for Mac:

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Shortcuts Tips & Tricks

Pro-Tip: Close Your Shortcuts To Make Them Run Faster

Daniel Kuntz on X:

As much as I love shaders, I think a big reason “terminal UI” is trendy is because we’re fatigued by bloated, goopy, animation heavy frontend. It’s refreshing to use something instantaneous.

While he’s referencing using Claude Code, being “fatigued by bloated, goopy, animation heavy frontend” reminded me of the following:

The Shortcuts app runs slower if the shortcut is open because it has to animate the actions running.

Especially for long-running, complicated shortcuts with Repeat actions, your shortcut can complete significantly faster if you simply close it (or, don’t open it in the first place). Instead run it from the library view, Spotlight, or the Menu Bar on Mac and it won’t have to animate all the steps.

*~The more you know~*

View my quote post on X.

Follow-up: Daniel has a perfect reply:

Sounds like you need to hire a Tech Lead Manager to drive performance for internal frameworks and subsystems that enable action running on Apple platforms

Well-played.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Action Shortcuts for the Action Button

I’ve just added a new shortcut to the Shortcuts Library — my Action Button shortcut:

  • Action Shortcuts: Designed for running your shortcuts from the Action Button, this shows shortcuts from the visible app or by Focus Mode if not in an app. When in Work mode, also presents option to edit the shortcut. Also, using Orientation, sets DND if face-down and if upside down in pocket, opens Maps directions home.

Check out Action Shortcuts in the Controls folder on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Custom Shortcuts Shortcuts

Updated in the Shortcuts Library: Apple Music Replay shortcuts

I’ve just updated a folder in the Shortcuts Library — my set of Apple Music Replay shortcuts, adding the Replay 2025 playlist and the Replay All Time playlist added in June 2025:

  • Play my Replay All Time playlist: Plays the preselected Replay All Time playlist on Shuffle, which curates your top tracks across the years into a single playlist.
  • Play my Replay 2025: Plays the preselected Replay 2025 playlist on Shuffle. This time? Even more dance, plus more hip-hop.

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

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: WordPress shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of WordPress shortcuts. Use these to log in to your dashboard, manage your pages, update plugins, and quickly access your homepage:

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

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: X shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of shortcuts for X, “the everything app” – formerly Twitter.

Use these shortcuts to access all the sections of the app, make the most of Lists, perform advanced searches, and access elements of your profile:

  • Show my Timeline on X: Quickly access to your preferred Twitter timeline with one command.
  • Search on X: Asks you to enter a query, then opens the Search in X (formerly Twitter).
  • Explore on X: Opens the URL to the Explore tab of X where you can search for posts, plus see curated stories, hashtags, profiles, & topics in For You, Trending, News, Sports, & Entertainment sections.
  • Check my Mentions on X: Opens the URL to the Notifications tab of X where you can see your replies, likes, reposts, quotes, and follows. On the Mac, opens to mentions-only so you can reply back directly to people.
  • Chat on X: Opens into the Chat experience for X where you can send a new message, see recent messages, perform a search, or filter conversations by All, Unread, Groups, or Requests.
  • Open into a List from X: Presents a menu of your Lists on X, then opens the URL into into the corresponding list. Requires entering list IDs manually.
  • Open my Lists on X: Opens the URL to the Lists page for your given username. On import, asks you to enter your handle.
  • Create a List on X: Opens the URL to the Create button for Lists on X where you can add an Image, Name, Description, and whether the list should be Private before adding the list.
  • Open my Bookmarks on X: Opens the URL to the Bookmarks page on X where you can see posts you’ve saved and organize them into folders.
  • Create a Bookmark Folder on X: Opens the URL to the Create Folder endpoint for Bookmarks on X, where you can enter a title and description before adding the new folder.
  • Open my Likes on X: Opens the URL to the Likes section of your profile on X where you can see posts you’ve interacted with. On input, asks you to enter your handle.
  • Open my Profile on X: Opens the URL to your username on X – also copies the link in case you want to share it with someone else. On import, asks you to enter your handle.
  • Search posts from people I follow on X: Asks for a search query, then filters by People You Follow, then opens the URL to X to show you results.
  • Search my own posts on X: Using a X username inputted on import and a keyword entered when the shortcut is run, this shortcut takes the info, URL-encodes it into a X link, and opens into the app to show the results.
  • Find Quotes and Replies for this post on X: Gets a post link from input and reforms the URL with advanced search filters before opening it with X.
  • Open Settings on X: Opens the URL to the Account settings section on X where you can change your account information or password, download an archive of your data, or deactivate your account. Other sections in Settings include Monetization, Premium, Creator Subscriptions, Security and account access, Privacy and safety, Notifications, Accessibility, display, and languages, Additional resources, & Help Center.
  • Manage X premium: Opens the URL to the Premium section of X where you can manage your subscription, quick access features like Grok, Monetization, Analytics, X Pro, Media Studio, Hiring, Bookmarks Folders, and Top Articles, customize your profile with an expanded bio or theme, and verify your ID.

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

Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Meta AI shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Meta AI shortcuts for interacting with Meta AI, the assistant from the makers of Facebook and Instagram.

Use these for Meta AI on the web – quickly start a new chat, browse Vibes creations, generate an AI image or video, and access features of AI Studio where you can create your own AI chatbot.

  • Open Meta AI: Opens the URL for Meta AI so you can ask anything, choose from one of their suggestions, or scroll down to browse Vibes.
  • Talk with Meta AI: Opens the URL for the Talk feature in Meta AI, activating voice mode on your device right away so you can begin speaking your prompt.
  • New chat with Meta AI: Opens the URL to a new chat with Meta AI, focusing on the keyboard so you can start typing your prompt right away.
  • Open Vibes from Meta AI: Opens the URL to the Vibes page of Meta AI where you can browse and watch creations from others.
  • Create media with Meta AI: Opens the URL to the Create tab of Meta AI, where you can view your own creations and create something new by describing your image. “You can create images and videos to inspire others.”
  • Open the AI Image Generator from Meta AI: Opens the URL for the AI Image Generator from Meta AI where you change options like aspect ratio or aesthetics along with your prompt. Capabilities listed include “Create images,” “Create an image of yourself,” “Edit images,” “Restyle images,” “Animate images,” and “Analyze images.”
  • Open the AI Video Generator from Meta AI: Opens the URL for the AI Video Generator in Meta AI, where you can create, remix, and share AI videos. Capabilities listed include “Create custom animations,” “Edit images,” “Extend videos,” “Get more done,” “View your creations,” and “Restyle and edit.”
  • Show my notifications from Meta AI: Opens the URL for the Notifications page for Meta AI where you can see interactions on your creations.
  • Show my profile on Meta AI: Opens the URL for your profile on Meta AI. On import, asks you to enter your username.
  • Show demos from Meta AI: Opens the URL for AI Demos from Meta, where you can “[e]xplore the latest AI experiments from Meta, where bold ideas meet the edge of research, creativity, and technology.”
  • Show Meta AI Studio: Opens the URL to the AI Studio from Meta (hosted on Instagram.com) where you can create your own AI or “find and interact with AIs created by others.”
  • Create an AI with Meta AI Studio: Opens the URL to the Create an AI page in Meta AI Studio, where you can “make an AI for deep conversations, help with specific topics or just for fun,” “craft a specific voice for your AI and give it capabilities like search and image generation,” and “chat privately or make an AI public for others to discover.”
  • Show my AIs in Meta AI Studio: Opens the URL for “Your AIs” in Meta AI Studio, where you can manage AIs that you’ve created.

Check out the folder of Meta AI shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Shortcuts

Try Gemini instead of Siri with these Action Button shortcuts

If you’re intrigued by Google’s release of Gemini 3 Pro, you can try out the assistant with one button press by adding one of the Gemini app’s shortcuts to the Action button on your device.

I’ve released a set of shortcuts in my Shortcuts Library to demonstrate what’s possible with the Gemini app (and on the web), but here’s how to add it yourself without setting up a custom shortcut first:

List of actions for the Action Button

Within the Settings app, the Action Button option1 lets you choose between various actions the hardware button can take:

  • Silent Mode: Switch between Silent and Ring for calls and alerts.
  • Focus: Turn Focus on to silence notifications and filter out distractions.
  • Camera: Open the Camera app to capture a moment.
  • Visual Intelligence: Learn about the world around you and get more information about what you see.
  • Flashlight: Turn on extra light when you need it.
  • Voice Memo: Record personal notes, musical ideas, and more.
  • Recognize Music: Find out what song is playing nearby or on your iPhone with Shazam.
  • Translate: Translate phrases or have a conversation with someone in another language.
  • Magnifier: Turn your iPhone into a magnifying glass to zoom in on and detect object near you.
  • Controls: Quickly access your favorite Control.
  • Shortcut: Open an app or run your favorite shortcut.
  • Accessibility: Quickly use an accessibility feature.
  • No Action

Choose a shortcut for the Action Button

If you select “Choose a shortcut” for your Action Button, you’ll be presented with a specialized menu to help make your selection. There you’ll find options from Shortcuts including a search field, a set to Get Started, My Shortcuts (if you have any), and a set of App Shortcuts automatically provided by your apps.

If you search for or scroll down to Gemini, then tap into the results, you’ll see six shortcuts (I’ve linked my equivalents for reference):

  1. Type Gemini prompt
  2. Open Gemini mic
  3. Talk Live with Gemini
  4. Use camera with Gemini
  5. Share image with Gemini
  6. Share file with Gemini

Talk Live with Gemini is the best option for a Siri-like experience, so choose that to your Action Button – now Gemini is a single press away!

Gemini shortcuts in Siri, Spotlight, & Shortcuts

Gemini’s App Shortcuts are also available to trigger from both Siri, Spotlight, and the Shortcuts app.

You can activate any of these actions when searching for Gemini, by typing the title or speaking the trigger phrases, or by running them from the Gemini folder inside Shortcuts under “App Shortcuts.”

You can even add actions like Talk Live to Gemini directly to your Home Screen, plus spaces like the Shortcuts widget or Control Center for quick access as well.

If you have a set of custom shortcuts like mine, those will show up in Spotlight under Shortcuts as well.

Gemini shortcuts for the web

Gemini also has an expanded set of features that are not yet available natively in Shortcuts, but are only accessible via shortcuts using web links. To help integrate these features into my Shortcuts workflows, I’ve also included Gemini shortcuts for features like Gems, settings, and links to reference documentation.

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Gemini is an extremely impressive assistant with the release of Gemini 3 Pro and worth trying out regardless of which assistant you use regularly. With the rumors that Apple might power the new Siri using Gemini technology on the back-end, it’s intriguing to see how Siri might improve on top of a platform like App Intents – the very API that Google is using to make these App Shortcuts for Gemini available.

Get the Gemini app, learn more about Gemini 3 Pro from Google, and get my folder of shortcuts for Gemini from my Shortcuts Library.

  1. Located beneath Accessibility and above Apple Intelligence & Siri, in blue. ↩
Categories
Custom Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Gemini shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Gemini shortcutsfor Google’s AI. Use these to start and find chats, open into custom gems, and open into various settings for the assistant.

Use the first set of six shortcuts to interact with the Gemini app on your phone – the rest currently open on the web:

Gemini app

  • Talk Live with Gemini: Opens the Gemini app to the Talk Live chat mode where you can speak conversationally with the AI.
  • Type Gemini prompt: Opens Gemini to the Ask Gemini chat menu with the keyboard activated, ready for you to type your prompt right away.
  • Open Gemini mic: Opens the Gemini app and activates the microphone so you can speak out a single prompt and confirm the query before asking.
  • Open Gemini camera: Opens the Gemini app and activates the device camera so you can scan your surroundings and take a photo for the AI to analyze.
  • Share image with Gemini: Opens the Gemini app and activates the photo picker so that you can choose an image from your gallery to add to your prompt.
  • Share file with Gemini: Opens the Gemini app to the File picker so you can attach any documents like PDFs to your prompt for analysis.

Gemini for Web

  • Open Google Gemini: “Gemini 3 Pro is here. It’s our smartest model yet—more powerful and helpful for whatever you need: Expert coding & math help; Next-level research intelligence; Deeper understanding across text, images, files, and videos.”
  • Search for chats with Gemini: Opens the link to Gemini search, which puts the keyboard into focus immediately so you can just start typing your query. Also shows recents chats.
  • Brainstorm with Gemini: “Find inspiration easily. Fresh ideas for parties, gifts, businesses and more.”
  • Code with Gemini: “Level up your coding skills. Get the help you need to build your projects and learn as you go.”
  • Learn with Gemini: “Here to help you learn and practice new concepts. Tell me what you’d like to learn, and I’ll help you get started.”
  • Write with Gemini: “Elevate your writing. Get clear, constructive feedback, from grammar to structure.”
  • Show my activity in Gemini: “Keeping your activity lets you pick up chats where you left off anytime and helps improve Google services, including AI models. When this setting is off, Google still saves chats for 72 hours to respond to you and help keep Gemini safe.”
  • Show apps connected to Gemini: “Bring it all together with Gemini and your favorite apps. Go from tons of tabs to one conversation. Gemini can now access info from new sources, starting with Maps, YouTube, Flights, and Hotels so you can bring your ideas to life easier and faster.”
  • Show my instructions for Gemini: “Share info about your life and preferences to get more helpful responses. Add new info here or ask Gemini to remember something during a chat.”
  • Show my public links from Gemini: “You can share chats or an individual prompt & response. Once you do, you can manage public links that you’ve created and see their details here.”
  • Show my subscription for Gemini: “The best of Google AI in one membership. Google AI Pro: Get more access to new and powerful features to boost your productivity and creativity. Google AI Ultra: Unlock the highest levels of access to the best of Google AI and exclusive features.”
  • Create a gem for Gemini: “Example: You are a horticulturist with a background in natural lawns and native plants, and you help people plan low water gardens. Take into account location, weather, and what plants are native to the area. You are knowledgeable, casual, and friendly.”
  • Open a gem in Gemini: Presents a menu of pre-filled gems, including Brainstormer, Coding Partner, Learning Coach, and Writing Editor. On import, asks you to fill in the title and identifier for a custom gem.
  • Explore gems in Gemini: “Gems are custom versions of Gemini that give you tailored responses. You can customize a premade Gem or you can create a new gem from scratch using instructions you set. You’ll find all your Gems here where you can edit them any time or you can start chatting right now with a premade Gem.”
  • Learn about Gemini 3 Pro: “Gemini 3 Pro is our most advanced reasoning Gemini model, capable of solving complex problems. Gemini 3 Pro can comprehend vast datasets and challenging problems from different information sources, including text, audio, images, video, PDFs, and even entire code repositories with its 1M token context window.”
  • Try Gemini in Google AI Studio: “Google AI Studio and Gemini API empower developers to build with Gemini, our next generation family of generative AI models.”
  • Try Gemini in Vertex AI: “Train high-quality custom machine learning models with minimal machine learning expertise and effort.”
  • View Gemini in the Model Garden: “Gemini 3 Pro is designed to tackle the most challenging agentic problems with strong coding and state-of-the-art reasoning capabilities. It is the best model for complex multimodal understanding. Compared to Gemini 2.5 Pro, it improves significantly on complex instruction following and delivers outcomes with better output efficiency.”

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

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

Updated in the Shortcuts Library: Remote Login shortcuts

I’ve just updated my folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Remote Login shortcuts for using the Run Script over SSH action to perform remote login actions for your Mac devices.

Use these to set up a dictionary of the IP addresses for your Mac devices, then run the shortcuts or use Siri to wake or sleep the devices. Includes individual options for my Mac mini and MacBook Air:

  • Wake my Mac: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake. Asks to pick between your Mac devices using my shortcut “Get the IP Addresses for my Macs.”
  • Sleep my Mac: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake. Asks to pick between your Mac devices using my shortcut “Get the IP Addresses for my Macs.”
  • Wake my MacBook Air: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your MacBook Air to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake.
  • Sleep my MacBook Air: Sends a remote command to a Mac to go to sleep immediately.
  • Wake my Mac mini: Sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac mini to wake up, then simulates keystrokes to keep it awake.
  • Sleep my Mac mini: Runs a shell script or sends a remote command via the IP address of your Mac to go to sleep immediately. Works well with Stream Deck.
  • Run Script over SSH demo: Example shortcut that demonstrates the capabilities of Run Script over SSH to control your Mac remotely (and Run AppleScript when not triggered remotely).
  • Get the IP Addresses for my Macs: Outputs a predefined dictionary of the title and IP address for each of your Mac devices. On import, asks you to enter the IP addresses.

Check out the folder of Remote Login shortcuts on 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.