THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

AppleScript: Shortcuts Bridge or Crutch?

• John

At first, running AppleScript inside a Mac shortcut was fun. It opened up solutions to automation problems that weren’t possible with Shortcuts’ actions alone. That, in turn, has made Shortcuts for Mac more powerful and useful than the iOS and iPadOS versions in many ways, which is great, right? Right? Well, yes and no.

Here’s the thing. Shortcuts originated as Workflow, an app that was meant to democratize automation by making it easier and more accessible to more people, and in many ways, it has succeeded. So much so that Apple brought Shortcuts to the Mac and declared it the future of Mac automation.