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:
Log in to my dashboard on WordPress: Opens the URL for /wp-login for your WordPress site, then, on Mac, presses Command + to shift focus into the text area and then enters Full Screen.
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 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.
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.
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.
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):
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.
—
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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:
Open to a Month in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then extracts just the year and month values, then opens the URL in the Month view in Notion Calendar. Defaults to next month.
Open to a Week in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then gets the start of the week and opens the URL to the Week view in Notion Calendar. Defaults to the start of next week.
Open to a Day in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then extracts the month, year, & day values, then opens the URL to the Day view in Notion Calendar. Defaults to tomorrow.
Open to any Date in Notion: Asks you to pick a date, then a view mode, then opens the URL for that view. For Week view, shows from the start of the week.
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.
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.
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.
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.
FYI according to the Alt Text on the Apple Support website, it is officially called “the Selfie Rotate button.” ↩
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. ↩︎
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. ↩︎
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. ↩
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.
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”)
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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).
