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Automate macOS 12 with the Shortcuts app
Little Helpers
Low-code or, even better, no-code solutions are en vogue. These products are designed to enable users to automate small tasks without programming or scripts, removing the need for tedious manual work.
Apple Shortcuts are already old acquaintances on iOS and iPadOS. Whereas users formerly needed to download the Shortcuts app from the App Store manually, it became an integral part of Apple's mobile operating systems in version 14. With macOS Monterey 12, Apple has now also added Shortcuts to its desktop operating system.
Almost Identical
Apple helps newcomers with a brief introduction [1]. If you have already familiarized yourself with the app on mobile devices, you will immediately feel comfortable with it on macOS, too. Apps use Apple's SwiftUI GUI framework on both platforms and share the codebase.
Because you can store your individual shortcuts in iCloud, many of your automation shortcuts can be used across both platforms – as long as you use actions that exist for both macOS and iOS. If the feature set is not enough, you can use AppleScript, JavaScript for Automation (JXA), or shell scripts to extend the shortcuts on macOS – but more about that later.
Importing Automator Workflows
Shortcuts is not Apple's first attempt to automate macOS. The Automator app has been an integral part of the operating system since Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), which was released in 2005. In recent years, however, Apple has not seriously maintained this application. In direct comparison to Shortcuts, the user interface seems pretty much outdated, and the learning curve is steeper. For the time being, the two apps coexist, but Apple is not expected to continue support permanently for both automation tools in parallel.
If you have already created workflows in Automator, you
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