Hands-on with the iOS 12 Shortcuts beta: the ability to hook into system events is a big upgrade, but it is otherwise similar to the original Workflow app
One of the more exciting things that users are looking forward to in iOS 12 is the new Shortcuts app. Tweets: @viticci , @viticci , @stroughtonsmith , @stroughtonsmith , @lorenzolade , @livbem , @viticci , @stroughtonsmith , @viticci , @viticci , and @stroughtonsmith Tweets: Federico Viticci / @viticci : More highlights from Shortcuts beta: - Scriptable Do Not Disturb (!!) and other device settings - Third-party URL schemes fully supported - Show Result for Siri with Magic Variables - New payment actions based on SiriKit pic.twitter.com/qwyiBFM7eb Federico Viticci / @viticci : There are no Clock triggers (or any automated triggers whatsoever), and only HomeKit scenes can be configured in Shortcuts. https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Oh wow! Shortcuts runs on iOS 9 and higher, TestFlight confirms http://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Shortcuts + Siri is about the closest to a commandline that iOS is gonna get anytime soon, but it's still immensely powerful. Especially when different teams at Apple decide they want to integrate support for all kinds of crazy things http://twitter.com/... @lorenzolade : Yep confirmed, all my workflows are now in shortcuts pic.twitter.com/pNdBWmlHSE Louie Livon-Bemel / @livbem : Some example Shortcuts I've written that use this feature: PiP any video, speed up videos, populate your calendar with your class schedule, export attendees from a Facebook event Federico Viticci / @viticci : Indeed. Multiple Siri shortcuts can be placed in a custom shortcut, though they won't be chained by input and output. https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Shortcuts (left), Workflow (right). I am so happy to see this full app intact. And not only that, it can do even more things that they would never be able to do as a third-party developer. Gotta be one of Apple's best app acquisitions (since, like, Final Cut Pro) http://twitter.com/... Federico Viticci / @viticci : Absolutely. All my API workflows are working out of the box, no changes necessary. https://twitter.com/... Federico Viticci / @viticci : The Siri Watch face in watchOS 5 will suggest custom shortcuts at specific locations/time based on previously detected patterns. https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Wow they really let the Workflow folks go nuts with the power of private API. Knowing the team, this app is only gonna get more powerful http://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
When Apple previewed Siri Shortcuts in June's overview of the feature, the pitch was a separate Shortcuts app arriving on the App Store in the fall. This beta hands-on is the first concrete read on what that app actually contains — and the answer is that it is recognizably Workflow, the automation app Apple acquired, now wired into the operating system itself.
The delta over the original app is narrow but consequential: scripted system settings like Do Not Disturb, full support for third-party URL schemes, Magic Variables feeding results back into Siri, and new payment actions built on SiriKit. That system-level access is what separates Shortcuts from a rebranded Workflow, and it is the thread the later coverage follows.
First-order effects
- Power users testing the beta — Federico Viticci among the most visible — gain scripting control over device settings like Do Not Disturb, turning automations that previously stopped at apps into ones that govern the phone itself.
- Third-party developers get two immediate integration paths: their URL schemes are fully supported inside Shortcuts, and SiriKit-based payment actions let transactional apps plug into Siri-driven routines.
Second-order effects
- Standalone automation and launcher utilities on iOS now compete against a free, native app with deeper system access than any third party can obtain, pressuring them to differentiate on cross-platform reach or niche workflows.
- Apps that publish well-designed URL schemes and actions become more discoverable and more useful inside Siri routines, shifting integration incentives toward exposing automation surfaces rather than guarding them.
Third-order effects
- The pattern across the corpus points at Shortcuts becoming a durable OS layer rather than an app: by iOS 14.3, shortcuts run from the home screen without opening the app, eroding the line between a shortcut and an app icon.
- If the arc holds, manual drag-and-drop building gives way to generated automations — the endpoint visible in Apple's announced AI-powered workflow creation for iOS 27 — making the 2018 system-event hooks the foundation stone of user-defined OS behavior.
The trend: iOS automation is migrating from a third-party utility into a first-party OS capability, with each release widening system access until workflows become a primary way users operate their devices.