Apple's macOS 27 adds 'Describe a Shortcut' to make Mac automations easier to build

Shortcuts has shipped on the Mac since macOS Monterey, but Engadget reports that it remains one of the more overlooked utilities on the platform, partly because choosing actions and connecting them can look like a job for experts. The new text-based prompt lowers that barrier, though Engadget notes the feature does not always produce a working result.

The app works by building scripts that handle tasks across a user's devices. Apple's own example is a shortcut that texts a spouse with an estimated arrival time based on traffic when the user leaves work. More elaborate versions can pull together a calendar and a weather forecast into a morning summary of the day ahead.

Creating a shortcut takes only a few seconds in the current build. A user opens the Shortcuts app on the Mac and clicks the plus button to enter a prompt, according to Engadget, which advises supplying as much detail as possible. A request such as "Clean up my Downloads" is likely to be too vague for the app to interpret, while something like "Every Friday, move anything in my Downloads folder older than 30 days into a folder called Archive" is more likely to yield a shortcut that runs as intended. The example also illustrates the kind of chore people tend to skip; the result can be checked immediately by opening the folder to see what was moved, and if too much was moved, the prompt can be re-entered with tighter conditions.

Apple Intelligence can also be used inside a shortcut to condense text. Engadget gives the example of a prompt that takes the contents of the clipboard, summarizes it in three sentences and saves the result to a new note, which a user could run after copying a long article or email.

Shortcuts that are not part of a daily routine can be easily forgotten, and the app offers ways to keep them in view. Selecting a shortcut and clicking Edit leads to the Shortcut Details menu, marked with an information icon, where a keyboard combination can be assigned. To place a shortcut in Control Center or the menu bar, a user opens Control Center at the top right of the screen, chooses Edit Controls and adds the action from the Shortcuts app. Engadget also points to the Automation tab as a way to set up shortcuts that run on their own when needed.

Shortcuts is not the only macOS 27 feature that acts on a user's behalf. Visual Intelligence has its own key combination, Shift + Command + Space, after which the user selects a window on screen and asks Siri questions about it or has Siri take an action, such as adding an event to a calendar. Engadget suggests trying it on an email with a date buried in the text. Siri can also run shortcuts by voice.

Both Shortcuts and Siri AI depend on Apple Intelligence, which limits support to Macs with an M1 chip or later; Intel-based Macs cannot use them. Engadget adds that some limits apply when Apple's AI models are used in Shortcuts, and that more complex prompts can reach those limits sooner.