The Shortcuts app has always been an amazingly powerful automation tool for users who know what these very words mean. But now, it may finally become an approachable tool that delivers on its true potential for users of all kinds. Here’s why.
Even before Apple acquired Workflow in 2017 and turned it into Shortcuts in 2018, this app was one of the most impressive tools ever released on iOS. It abstracted away much of the complexity that made macOS’s excellent Automator so intimidating to some users, while preserving a level of firepower and inter-app connection that had always felt impossible (or even forbidden) on the iPhone and the iPad. The original Workflow app was a marvel of engineering, allowing users to chain together actions from different apps into a single tap. It won an Apple Design Award in 2015 for its innovation, and Apple quickly recognized its potential, acquiring it two years later. The integration into iOS was gradual, with Shortcuts being introduced as a separate app in iOS 12, then becoming a system-level feature in later versions. Over the years, Apple added support for Siri, the ability to share shortcuts via iCloud, and even integration with the Apple Watch. Yet, despite all these improvements, the app remained largely the domain of enthusiasts. The learning curve was steep, and while Apple provided a gallery of pre-made shortcuts, these templates often didn't match the specific needs of users. The app required users to think in terms of actions, triggers, and variables—concepts familiar to programmers but foreign to most people.
And while Apple has continued to improve on Shortcuts over the years, including its recent integration with AI models, much of its functionality and benefits have remained limited to a subset of users. Once you learn how Shortcuts works, and particularly if you’ve got (or develop) some familiarity with programming, you can just make magic with it. Just ask Federico Viticci and the MacStories team, and Stephen Robles, who have spent years showing just how far Shortcuts can go. I couldn’t possibly begin to describe just how much I’ve learned from them. They have demonstrated shortcuts that automate entire workflows: building blog posts, generating reports, controlling smart home devices, managing emails, and even creating custom art. Their work has inspired thousands of users to dive deeper, but the core issue remains: the initial barrier to entry is too high for the average person. The typical iPhone user might not even know where to start when faced with a blank shortcut editor screen. The app is powerful, but power without accessibility is wasted potential.
But as appealing as it is to believe that any regular user is just a nudge away from becoming the next great Shortcuts master, that has just never quite been true for the larger iPhone, iPad, and now Mac user base. Which is frustrating. But that doesn’t mean these less technically inclined users don’t have needs that go beyond “turn these photos into a GIF” and “turn off the living room lights when I leave home”. In fact, the workflows they could benefit from might be the kind even the most advanced Shortcuts users would find challenging to build. Consider a teacher who wants to automatically collate student submissions from email, rename them based on a class roster, and upload them to a shared drive. Or a small business owner who needs to generate an invoice PDF from a spreadsheet, email it to a client, and log the transaction in a database. These are real-world tasks that cry out for automation, but building them in Shortcuts today would require understanding of scripting, regex, and APIs. The average user simply doesn't have the time or inclination to learn that.
That’s why a report from Bloomberg today made me even more excited for next month’s WWDC. When mentioning an upcoming upgrade to Shortcuts, the report noted: “The version now in testing lets users create shortcuts simply by describing what they want them to do. Currently, users need to manually build shortcuts within the app or download them from Apple’s gallery. In the updated app, users are presented with a prompt asking, “What do you want your shortcut to do?” along with a text field to describe the request. The system then automatically builds and installs the shortcut on the device.” This is a fundamental shift in how users interact with automation. Instead of being a tool for building logic, Shortcuts becomes a tool for fulfilling requests. The underlying AI interprets natural language, understands the available actions and app capabilities, and constructs a sequence of steps to achieve the desired outcome. This is reminiscent of the way Apple’s Neural Engine handles on-device machine learning tasks—fast, private, and efficient. The AI models that power this feature are likely trained on millions of shortcut combinations and user scenarios, allowing them to handle diverse requests, from simple to highly complex.
This question, “What do you want your shortcut to do?” is the key to what Shortcuts was always meant to be: not an automation creativity exercise (even though it can absolutely be a fun one), but rather a solution hub for creating tailor-made bridges between apps, files, and information, in ways that are different for every single iPhone, iPad, and Mac user, regardless of their technical proficiency. Having an input field where users can describe, in plain language (even by voice!), the result of what they need, and then have Shortcuts do the work to get them there, feels like one of the most beautiful and elegant examples of what Steve Jobs famously said during WWDC 1997: “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.” In fact, that’s one of the most beautiful and elegant examples of what personal computing has always been about. The computer should be an extension of your intent, not a puzzle you have to solve to achieve a task.
If Apple does this right, an AI-powered Shortcuts app that understands what users are trying to do and turns that into a working shortcut, regardless of how complicated it may be under the hood, could finally make Shortcuts as useful to regular users as it has long been to those in the know. And of course, for users who already know their way around the app, the ceiling is about to get even higher, which is just as exciting. Imagine being able to describe a complex multi-step workflow—like “Every morning, fetch the weather forecast, compare it with my calendar events to see if I need to leave early, and if so, send a text to my partner and order an Uber to work”—and have Shortcuts build it instantly. That’s the kind of vision that this update promises. The AI might even be able to suggest improvements or optimizations that the user hadn’t considered, making the automation even more effective. And because the AI runs on-device, privacy is preserved; your requests and data never leave your phone, in line with Apple’s long-standing commitment to privacy.
The implications for accessibility are also profound. Users with disabilities who might struggle with the fine motor skills required to drag and drop actions in the Shortcuts editor can now simply speak their automation needs. Voice control could become the primary input method for creating shortcuts, making the power of automation available to everyone. Furthermore, the AI could be trained to handle regional variations in language and context, adapting to different cultures and languages. This is not merely a convenience feature; it is a democratization of technology. Just as the iPhone made the internet accessible to the masses by simplifying the web experience, so too can AI-powered Shortcuts make automation accessible to the masses.
Of course, there are challenges ahead. The AI must be robust enough to handle ambiguous or poorly phrased requests. It must also be able to gracefully fail when a request cannot be fulfilled, offering alternative suggestions or partial automations. Users will need to have confidence that the generated shortcut does exactly what they intended, especially when it involves sensitive data like contacts or financial information. Apple has a good track record with on-device intelligence, but this is a new frontier. The company has been investing heavily in machine learning and AI, as seen in features like Photos’ object recognition, Siri’s natural language processing, and on-device dictation. The Shortcuts integration could be the most advanced demonstration of Apple’s AI capabilities to date, potentially setting a new standard for how users interact with their devices.
Looking back, the evolution of Shortcuts from a niche developer tool to a system-wide automation engine has been remarkable. In 2020, Apple added support for custom widgets that could run shortcuts. In 2021, they introduced app shortcuts that could be triggered from the app’s icon menu. In 2022, they integrated shortcuts into the system’s Share Sheet and made them available on the Mac with macOS Monterey. Each iteration added power, but the complexity remained. Now, with the AI-powered natural language interface, Apple is finally addressing the core friction point. This move also aligns with the broader industry trend towards generative AI and natural language interfaces. Microsoft is adding Copilot to its Office suite, Google is integrating Gemini into Workspace, and Apple is bringing similar intelligence to its ecosystem. Shortcuts is a perfect candidate for this transformation because it operates on a system level, connecting apps and data in ways that other AI assistants cannot.
Some might worry that this shift could make manual shortcut creation obsolete, but that is unlikely. Power users will still enjoy the granular control and ability to fine-tune every action. The AI-generated shortcuts can serve as a starting point, which users can then edit and customize. The Shortcuts editor will remain for those who want to tweak the logic, add conditions, loops, or variables. The AI might even offer to explain why it chose a particular sequence, helping users learn the underlying mechanics over time. In this sense, the AI becomes a teacher as well as a builder, gradually increasing the user's proficiency and confidence.
The release of this feature is expected with iOS 27, which will be announced at WWDC 2026. Beta versions are likely to follow, with a public rollout in the fall. Given the scale of the change, Apple is probably testing it extensively to ensure stability and reliability. The feature could be one of the headline additions to the new operating system, alongside other enhancements to Siri, Messages, and Health. Shortcuts is already deeply woven into the fabric of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, and this upgrade will only deepen that integration. It is not an exaggeration to say that this could be the most significant update to Shortcuts since its inception.
For businesses and developers, the implications are huge. Enterprises that rely on custom workflows can now empower non-technical employees to create automations without IT intervention. This could boost productivity and reduce the burden on support teams. Apple’s ecosystem has always been known for its user-friendly design, and this move reinforces that philosophy. The company understands that the future of computing is not just about raw power, but about how easily that power can be harnessed. By removing the barriers between intention and execution, Apple is setting a new standard for what operating systems can do.
In summary, the upcoming iOS 27 update to Shortcuts represents a paradigm shift. It transforms the app from a tool for the technically inclined into a universal assistant that can turn any spoken or typed request into a working automation. This is the fulfillment of a vision that began with Workflow over a decade ago. It is a testament to Apple’s commitment to making powerful technology accessible to everyone. The combination of on-device AI, natural language processing, and deep system integration creates a feature that is both elegant and revolutionary. As we await the official unveiling at WWDC, the excitement is palpable. For longtime fans of Shortcuts, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. For newcomers, it’s an invitation to discover the power of automation without needing to learn a new skill. iOS 27 is about to make Shortcuts what it was always meant to be: the magic that happens when you tell your device what you need, and it just works.
Source: 9to5Mac News