The transformation of automation
Apple rolled out improvements in Shortcuts, including the capacity to create them and the ability to use Spotlight to identify and invoke them. And since the Shortcuts you do create can sync across all your devices, users will be able to build powerful productivity shortcuts on one device and use them on another, where they’re supported. This integration is, of course, also reflected by the Liquid Glass UI, which should create a real sense of familiarity as you move from Mac to tablet to iPhone.
Spotlight is evolving
Apple also announced big changes in Spotlight search on the Mac, including intelligent actions built around Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence, as well as Spotlight actions and quick keys; the latter automatically surface actions you might want to take with a Spotlight-selected item and commit those actions from within the search. This is powerful — you can find an item, change and save it, and share it, all from within Spotlight. The software can also learn from what you do, offering personalized actions for what you might want to do.
“During a search, all results — including files, folders, events, apps, messages, and more — are now listed together and ranked intelligently based on relevance to the user,” Apple said. N”ew filtering options rapidly narrow searches to exactly what a user is looking for, like PDFs or Mail messages. Spotlight can also surface results for documents stored on third-party cloud drives. And when a user doesn’t know exactly what they’re searching for, Spotlight’s new browse views make it easy to scan through their apps, files, clipboard history, and more.”
This story originally appeared on Computerworld