What’s new in Shortcuts
Learn about the new features in Shortcuts for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS.
Get complete step-by-step instructions and information on all the features in Shortcuts:
New in iOS and iPadOS 16.5, macOS 13.4, and watchOS 9.5
This update includes enhancements to existing actions and reliability improvements to editing and running shortcuts.
Updated Actions
Send Message now supports images and attachments when “Show When Run” is off
Make Rich Text From Markdown now displays a preview instead of an HTML file on macOS
Ask For Input now correctly uses the “Default Date” when asking for dates
Calculate now correctly computes Modulus operations for decimal numbers
Choose From List now supports “Select All Initially” when a dictionary is passed in as input, and works from Siri on watchOS when “Select Multiple” is on
Open URL correctly handles URLs that contain variables, and now works from the Action Button on watchOS
Take Photo runs more reliably when “Show Camera Preview” is off
New in iOS and iPadOS 16.4, macOS 13.3, and watchOS 9.4
This update includes new actions, enhancements to existing actions, and reliability improvements to the Shortcuts editor. A new option in the Shortcut editor allows selecting an app icon as an alternative to selecting a color and glyph for the shortcut.
New Actions
Find Books searches your library for books or PDFs matching a given title, author, genre, purchase date, or content type on iOS and macOS
Intercom broadcasts announcements to your home on iOS and watchOS
Set VPN connects, disconnects, or sets the On Demand setting for any VPN on iOS and macOS
Set AirDrop Receiving sets the AirDrop Receiving preference to Everyone, Contacts Only, or Nobody on iOS and macOS
Set Stage Manager enables or disables and changes the settings for Stage Manager on iPadOS and macOS
Set Announce Notifications toggles the Announce Notifications setting on iOS and watchOS
Set Silence Unknown Callers toggles the Silence Unknown Callers setting on iOS
Set Night Shift and Set True Tone toggle the display settings on iOS and macOS
Set Always-On Display toggles the Always-On Display on supported iOS devices
Find Apps finds and filters apps installed on macOS
Find Displays finds and filters displays on macOS
Shut Down, Restart, and Lock Display are now available on iOS and macOS
Log Out, Sleep and Put Display to Sleep are now available on macOS
Updated Actions
For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
Move Window now allows moving a window to a display on macOS
Ask for Input has a new “Allow Multiple Lines” option, which can be disabled for single-line text input
Find Photos can now find screen recordings
Find Contacts now filters by birthday more accurately
Get Device Details can now get the OS build number
Get Device Details now rounds numbers, including the current battery level, volume, and brightness, to remove unnecessary decimal digits
Set Playback Destination now works when run from Siri
Play Music once again resumes currently playing music if no music is passed as input
Run AppleScript can now produce dictionaries as output from AppleScript records
Nothing now produces a variable with zero items, instead of producing no variable at all
Repeat can now be set to run 0 times
New in iOS 16.3 and iPadOS 16.3, macOS 13.2, and watchOS 9.3
This update includes the ability to disable a shortcut from being run while the device is locked, enhancements to existing actions, and reliability improvements to editing and running shortcuts.
Updated Actions
For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
Find Reminders can now filter reminders due in the next or previous week
Log Workout now supports Ask Each Time for workout duration
Log Health Sample now supports Ask Each Time for values on watchOS
Find Health Samples now supports searching for health types in the editor
Get Contents of URL can now use variables for the file parameter for POST or PUT requests
Configure Focus Filter actions now correctly set the Focus Filter on iPhone when run from watchOS
Show Notes Folder action now correctly appears in the editor
New in iOS and iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1, and watchOS 9.2
This update includes new Books app actions, enhancements to existing actions, and reliability improvements to the Shortcuts editor and library.
New Actions
Books
Open Book, Play Audiobook, Change Book Appearance, Change Page Navigation, Change View in Books, Open Collection, Search in Books, and Turn Page are now supported
More
Switch Between Wallpapers sets the current wallpaper on iOS
Get Wallpaper returns all of the wallpapers added to the Lock Screen on iOS
Updated Actions
For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
Set Wallpaper Photo can now set photos for wallpapers that use iOS 16’s new widgets and customization options
Get Battery State can now check charging state (charging, connected to charger)
Edit Calendar Event can now set invitee status (declined or accepted)
Find Calendar Events can filter events by number of attendees
Find Health Samples can now return sleep phases (core, deep, REM) on iOS
Set Parked Car now accepts locations other than the current location
Speak Text runs more reliably when a shortcut is invoked as a part of an automation
Start Timer now prompts to select a duration when set to “Ask Each Time” and run via Siri
New in iOS and iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13.0, and watchOS 9.1
This update adds support for Share Sheet shortcuts on macOS, and includes new actions and reliability improvements to the Shortcuts editor and library.
New Actions
Clock
Open Tab is now supported
Create Alarm, Toggle Alarm, Get All Alarms, and Start Timer are now supported on macOS
Reminders
Open Smart List is now supported on iOS and iPadOS
Safari
Get Article using Safari Reader is now supported on macOS
More
Get Current Focus enables checking current Focus status
Configure Focus Filter actions allow setting Focus Filters for apps on macOS
Search in Shortcuts allows starting a search in the Shortcuts app
Updated Actions
For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
Send Email now supports rich text on macOS
Health actions can now run when the Health app is not installed
Configure Focus Filter actions now support Ask Each Time
Get Current Weather now correctly returns weather information when run from a Home automation
New in iOS and iPadOS 16.0 and watchOS 9.0
This update adds support for App Shortcuts to allow you to run shortcuts with no setup, and includes new actions and updates to the Shortcuts editor and library.
New Actions
Safari
Open Tab Group, Create Tab Group, Open View, Find Bookmarks, Open Bookmark, Find Reading List Items, Open Reading List Item, Show/Hide Reader in Safari, Close Tab, Create New Tab, Create New Private Tab, Find Tabs, and Open Tab are now supported
Maps
Get Parked Car Location and Set Parked Car are now supported
Clock
Open Tab is now supported
Notes
Delete Notes, Pin Notes, Open Notes Account, Change Notes Setting, Open Notes View, Create Folder, Delete Folders, Move Notes to Folder, Open Folder, Add Tags to Notes, Create Tag, Delete Tags, Open Tag, and Remove Tags from Notes are now supported
Open Mailbox, Search in Mail are now supported
Voice Memos
Search Voice Memos, Open Folder, Open Recording, Delete Folders, Play Recording, Create Folder, Change Playback Setting, Delete Recordings, and Create Recording are now supported
Reminders
Create List and Search in Reminders are now supported
Files
Search in Files is now supported
More
Configure Focus Filter actions allow setting Focus Filters for apps
Create Shortcut, Delete Shortcuts, and Open Folder are now supported with Shortcuts
Optimize File Size of PDF compresses the images inside a PDF, resulting in a smaller file size
Remove Image Background removes the background of images, keeping the subject only
Set Flashlight can now control the flashlight on watchOS
Set Personal Hotspot toggles the status of Personal Hotspot on iOS
Updated Actions
For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
Find Calendar Events filters events by invitee status (declined or accepted)
Create Note and Append to Note now support Rich Text
Find Notes no longer has a limit to how many notes can be retrieved at a time
If conditionals now correctly match the “ends with” condition
Shazam It can recognize music when a shortcut is invoked via Siri
View Content Graph has an improved interface for content graph browsing
Shortcuts editor
For those building custom shortcuts, some changes have been made to the shortcut editor:
New keyboard shortcuts are available on iPadOS for faster editing
Icon search lets users find shortcut icon glyphs by name
Quick controls in the shortcut document menu include: Rename, Choose Icon, Duplicate, Move, Add to Home Screen, and Export File
Next Action Suggestions can now be dragged and dropped into a shortcut
Improved performance and reliability