Apple has once again pushed the boundaries of innovation with the unveiling of its AI-powered Shortcuts app at WWDC 2025. This groundbreaking app harnesses the power of Apple Intelligence, allowing users to tap into on-device large language models (LLM) and AI models for a seamless and personalized experience.
The Shortcuts app is designed to revolutionize the way users interact with their devices. By leveraging AI, users can create shortcuts that generate responses and feed them into other shortcuts. For instance, a student can create a shortcut that compares their audio transcription of a lecture to their notes, highlighting key points they may have missed. This AI-assisted functionality can also tap into ChatGPT to provide further responses that integrate seamlessly into the shortcut's input.
Apple's intelligent actions are a new type of shortcut enabled by Apple Intelligence. These actions include dedicated functions such as summarizing text with AI (Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools) and creating images with Image Playground. These features are available for testing starting Monday, showcasing Apple's commitment to continuously improving its AI capabilities.
The AI-assisted Shortcuts app follows Apple's announcement last year of an AI-enhanced upgrade to its virtual assistant, Siri. The upgrade aimed to offer more personalized features and support, although the launch was pushed back due to unforeseen delays. At WWDC 2025, Apple continued to make AI promises, including the introduction of an updated version of its Shortcuts app for scripting and automation.
These AI-driven changes have the potential to make Shortcuts more accessible to users who may have previously avoided the app due to its technical nature. Popular shortcuts today can help users create custom memes or GIFs, take meeting notes, track time spent on certain activities, create playlists, save PDFs, find out where a photo was taken, set location-based reminders, speed dial a friend, combine screenshots, shorten URLs, download files, save items to read later, and more.
The Shortcuts app update could also serve as a temporary solution to Apple's delays in fully upgrading Siri with AI capabilities. By leveraging AI-assisted automation, users may find using their iPhones more efficient, provided they are willing to invest time in creating shortcuts.
In conclusion, Apple's AI-powered Shortcuts app is set to revolutionize the way users interact with their devices, making it easier than ever to harness the power of AI for personal and professional tasks. With its seamless integration of AI models and intelligent actions, Shortcuts is poised to become an indispensable tool for users of all skill levels.