iOS 16.4 and macOS 13.3 add new action options to the Shortcuts app

Apple has updated the Shortcuts app with several new action options in the latest iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, macOS 13.3, and watchOS 9.4 updates. Now, users can create shortcuts to find books, silence unknown callers, customize Stage Manager settings, and much more.

The Shortcuts app offers more than 300 built-in actions and works for users to create personal shortcuts to get things done from their favorite Apple apps like Maps, Music, Photos, Safari, Contacts, Calendar, Alarm, and utility apps with just a tap or by asking Siri. 

Users can create shortcuts to get directions to home or favorite cafe, tweet their recently played songs, send messages including screenshots, Siri to read notifications and alerts, make animated GIFs, and more.

Shortcuts app - iOS 16.4

Here are the new Shortcuts app actions in iOS 16.4, macOS 13.3, and watchOS 9.4

Update your iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS devices to the latest version and head over to the Shortcuts app to create the following shortcuts:

  • Find Books to search the library for books or PDFs by title, author, purchase date, or content type  iOS and macOS
  • Intercom broadcasts announcements to your home on iOS and watchOS
  • Set VPN connects, disconnects, or sets the On Demand setting for any VPN on iOS and macOS
  • Set AirDrop Receiving sets the AirDrop Receiving preference to Everyone, Contacts Only, or Nobody on iOS and macOS
  • Set Stage Manager enables or disables and changes the settings for ‌Stage Manager‌ on iPadOS and macOS
  • Set Announce Notifications toggles the Announce Notifications setting on iOS and watchOS
  • Set Silence Unknown Callers toggles the Silence Unknown Callers setting on iOS
  • Set Night Shift and Set True Tone toggle the display settings on iOS and macOS
  • Set Always-On Display toggles the Always-On Display on supported iOS devices
  • Find Apps finds and filters apps installed on macOS
  • Find Displays finds and filters displays on macOS
  • Shut Down, Restart, and Lock Display are now available on iOS and macOS
  • Log Out, Sleep and Put Display to Sleep are now available on macOS

iOS 16.4

New updates all include improvements to the existing shortcuts on the app. 

  • Move Window now allows moving a window to a display on macOS
  • Ask for Input has a new “Allow Multiple Lines” option, which can be disabled for single-line text input
  • Find ‌Photos‌ can now find screen recordings
  • Find Contacts now filters by birthday more accurately
  • Get Device Details can now get the OS build number
  • Get Device Details now rounds numbers, including the current battery level, volume, and brightness, to remove unnecessary decimal digits
  • Set Playback Destination now works when run from Siri
  • Play Music once again resumes currently playing music if no music is passed as input
  • Run AppleScript can now produce dictionaries as output from AppleScript records
  • Nothing now produces a variable with zero items, instead of producing no variable at all
    Repeat can now be set to run 0 times

via MacRumors

About the Author

Addicted to social media and in love with iPhone, started blogging as a hobby. And now it's my passion for every day is a new learning experience. Hopefully, manufacturers will continue to use innovative solutions and we will keep on letting you know about them.

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