AppStories
Shortcuts Utility Apps Revisited
Mar 16, 2025
A playful look at music nostalgia leads into a lively discussion about the evolution of shortcut helper apps. The hosts highlight productivity boosts from utilities like Actions and AI Actions, showcasing their impact on iOS and macOS. They explore Shortery’s unique capabilities for managing webpage summaries and dive into innovative tools for automating workflows in Obsidian. They also introduce the Text Workflow app, emphasizing its text formatting features, while hinting at discussions about the iPad's relationship with web applications.
32:26
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Quick takeaways
- The podcast highlights how third-party shortcuts utility apps are innovatively addressing the limitations of Apple's native shortcuts on MacOS.
- Federico's interview reveals that web applications often provide more superior user experiences than native iPad apps, reflecting broader iPad ecosystem challenges.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Shortcuts Helper Apps
The podcast discusses the growing landscape of shortcuts helper apps, emphasizing the lack of significant updates to Apple's own shortcuts on the Mac platform since its rollout three years ago. Many third-party developers have stepped in to address the shortcomings by creating utilities that enhance user workflows. Examples include the Actions app, which provides a vast array of actions that integrate seamlessly into the shortcuts app, making it invaluable for power users. This evolution highlights a shift where external developers are now filling gaps that Apple has not addressed, showcasing innovation in shortcuts usability on MacOS.
