7 Basic iPhone Tricks I Built With iOS 27’s Revamped Shortcuts App
A Wired contributor explores new automation features in the iOS 27 Shortcuts app, powered by Apple Intelligence. The article provides practical examples of how users can automate daily habits and information gathering.
Why it matters
As AI integration becomes standard in consumer operating systems, understanding how to leverage these tools can significantly impact personal productivity and digital well-being.
When iOS 27 lands this fall, Siri AI might be the most tangible change for many users, with its improved capabilities and stand-alone app. Even so, Apple Intelligence integration into the Shortcuts app has me humming “Zero to Hero” from Disney’s Hercules.
Called “Describe a Short,” it lets you say what you want it to do conversationally, then the app generates an automation flow. You can also tweak it by sending a follow-up prompt in the app; the manual scripting option remains available for power users. Since I was testing this app through the iOS 27 beta, I experienced a couple of glitches where the automations didn’t generate perfectly. Even so, this new Shortcuts feature was incredibly fun to tinker with. After a few tries, I generated automations that actually feel useful as part of my daily smartphone habits.
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