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Shortcuts app?
- Thread starter iObama
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Pretty much confirmed that workflow will become shortcuts app on release day. Siri now has a page: https://www.apple.com/siri and if you click on the shortcuts app link, it opens workflow: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id915249334?mt=8
I applied for it the day it was released and got access several days later (the same day everyone else who got access did). AFAIK, that was the only wave of invites Apple ever issued.
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Its not a problem. They are simply not including it in the iOS 12 build. It is not like the Stocks or Weather apps. They likely figure its not going to be used by a wide segment of users so why clutter things up with it. Relax, use the WorkFlow app (which is nearly the same thing) and wait for it. It'll probably be available Monday.
You're right. There are some shortcuts there. I'm guessing the app has more customization. The shortcuts listed in Settings -> Siri -> shortcuts only have a few suggestions listed. Since I skipped this beta I don't have much insight on how it should work.
This was, in my opinion, a mis-step by Apple. There are Siri Shortcuts, which are those suggestions you're seeing in Settings>Siri and Search and sometimes on the lockscreen. Those are initiated by code within apps that "donates intents", i.e., makes certain app actions available on a stand alone basis (e.g., ordering coffee as an action from the Philz app that was demonstrated at WWDC). Once app developers make those intents available, you'll start seeing more of those (most of the ones you see now are from Apple's own apps).
Then there is the Shortcuts app. That allows you to create chains of actions that can be triggered by Siri, by pressing a widget button, etc... Those actions can be things you can do now on a stand alone basis, but allows you to chain them all together. So, let's say I have a routine I do every time I'm headed home from a business trip (text my wife, select and play my favorite podcast, get directions for my route home), instead of doing those as one offs, I can simply say "Heading Home" to Siri and all those actions are run sequentially. I have a canned message to my wife that includes my travel time home, so she'll know when I should arrive. That message is triggered automatically and I don't even have to confirm it for it to send.
I wonder if the app will show up before Monday. It's already out in the wild for beta testers so it's not like it's a big secret. I installed Workflow hoping to see it updated to Shortcuts but no luck... yet.
I'm looking forward to them flipping the switch so I can start creating Shortcuts to be used on my HomePod. That's where Shortcuts will be the most powerful, I think. It'll make the HomePod competitive against Alexa and Google Home with thousands of apps in the world's biggest App Store accessible via Shortcuts that can be activated by voice with HomePod.
I'm looking forward to them flipping the switch so I can start creating Shortcuts to be used on my HomePod. That's where Shortcuts will be the most powerful, I think. It'll make the HomePod competitive against Alexa and Google Home with thousands of apps in the world's biggest App Store accessible via Shortcuts that can be activated by voice with HomePod.
My advice: don’t wait for Shortcuts, start creating on Workflow. You may be able to do 90 to even 100% of what you need to do depending on what you’re trying to do. At the very least, you can just leave placeholders for the actions that aren’t in Workflow but are in Shortcuts.
I've downloaded the Workflow app and started playing with it. From what I've seen in videos this is almost the whole Shortcuts app, just with a different name, icon, and no direct integration with Siri.
Pretty much correct. There are some system things you can’t access yet also, but most of these are things Siri can do already (volume, brightness, etc).