Shortcuts is one of those iPhone features I always recommend but rarely see people use. The reason is simple. While Shortcuts is incredibly powerful, creating one requires some technical understanding and takes time.
You have to connect dozens of system and app actions to create a shortcut. Apple is finally fixing this with iOS 27, announced at WWDC 2026. The company is using Apple Intelligence to make Shortcuts more approachable than ever, and the change is a big one.
How does the new Shortcuts work?
Instead of manually piecing together each step, you can now simply describe the shortcut you want in plain language. Apple Intelligence will reason over your description and assemble all the required steps for you, just like that.
Apple gave a handy example. Say you want to let your partner know what time you will get home every time you leave work. You could type something like “when I’m leaving work, message Pedro I’m on my way with my ETA.”
Shortcuts then pulls together the system and app actions you need. In this case, it creates an automation that runs when you leave your work address, calculates your ETA home with Maps, and sends it through Messages.
What if you need to change something?
It might be possible that Siri will not get the shortcut right on the first attempt. If you see something you need to tweak or add, you can just describe the change, and Shortcuts will make it for you.
It’s the kind of feature that turns a powerful but intimidating tool into something anyone can use. For people who love automation but hate the setup, this is a welcome change.
Although I remain skeptical about its ability to create complex shortcuts, like the ones I recommended in my favorite shortcuts article, I will say that there has never been a better time to try out Shortcuts.
