On September 29, Apple published a detailed overview of what is new in Shortcuts across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS 27. One of the biggest changes is a broader set of automation triggers: depending on the device, a shortcut can now react to selected notifications, a keyboard connection, or a saved screenshot.
A new Shortcuts Storage action group can save, retrieve, delete, and append data between separate shortcut runs. This is important for more advanced workflows because they no longer need helper text files or third-party apps simply to preserve state.
Apple has also expanded system actions across Messages, Reminders, Photos, and VPN settings. Shortcuts can extract structured tables and lists from images, scan QR codes from files, and build more complex logic with Otherwise If. Notes actions gain Markdown support, while automations can sync between devices.
On supported hardware, Apple Intelligence can generate a shortcut from a natural-language description and power a more capable Use Model action, including access to current information from the web. Availability depends on the device, language, region, and Apple Intelligence limits, so not every feature will be available to every user immediately.