Trending claims

Fact: The Apple Shortcuts app allows the use of Apple's AI models to make decisions or retrieve data from the internet within a shortcut.

Fact: For apps without direct Shortcuts support, shortcuts can be triggered by a notification from that app.

Statement: The author, Dave Gershgorn, has collected pocket knives since he was a teenager in the Boy Scouts.

Statement: The author created a shortcut that takes a screenshot of a knife, identifies it, searches for information online, and adds an entry to his 'Collections Database' app.

Statement: It took the author a few hours over two days to create his complex knife-cataloging shortcut.

Fact: Apple does not provide an effective method to determine if an app supports Shortcuts.

Fact: Many third-party App Store apps, such as time loggers, recipe apps, and delivery trackers, support Apple Shortcuts.

Fact: Apple Shortcuts can be scheduled to switch between focus modes based on location or time.

Fact: The Shortcuts app's Edit button allows users to select and order triggers and actions from a list.

Statement: The author's 'Morning' focus mode, active before 9 a.m., shows only a few apps like a gym app and podcast player, and excludes social media apps.

Users can edit any shortcut that does not behave as intended.

Advice: When creating a shortcut using natural language, focus on the desired outcome rather than the steps to achieve it.

The natural language feature for creating shortcuts may not correctly interpret complex commands and can miss features from third-party apps.

Automations are a feature of the Shortcuts app that run automatically when specific conditions are met.

The Shortcuts app has more than 20 kinds of triggers for automations, including battery level, opening an app, and connecting to a Bluetooth device.

Shortcuts can be triggered from a button on the home screen, in the Control Center, or from the share screen.

iOS 27 is available for anyone to download.

In iOS 27, the Shortcuts app prompts users with the question 'What do you want your shortcut to do?' upon opening.

Dave Gershgorn is a certified display calibrator through the Imaging Science Foundation.

Historically, iPhone apps could not take actions by themselves.