Widgets and What Apple's Recent Expansion of App Intents Might Mean for the Shortcuts App
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Widgets and What Apple's Recent Expansion of App Intents Might Mean for the Shortcuts App
In my macOS Sonoma review, I described widgets as the glue that ties Apple’s OSes together. I’m sure some readers thought to themselves, “Yes, but isn’t it really the App Intents framework that ties all of this together.” That’s right, but not in the way I mean, which I thought would be worth exploring a little more.
Over the past few years, Apple has released a lot of features that are built on a common foundation: App Intents. That’s a framework from the company’s Shortcuts team that allows developers to offer parts of their apps outside of the apps themselves. Examples include Shortcuts actions, Siri shortcuts, App Shortcuts, Spotlight search, Focus filters, Live Activities, and of course, widgets.