# Shortcuts 57 Hacker News commenters recommended Shortcuts and 35 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Free Apple app that automates tasks on iPhone and Mac, strong for simple workflows. Common caveat: the clumsy editor gets hard to maintain for complex shortcuts. ## Why people recommend it - Automates repetitive tasks on phone (6 comments): "It's turned the app into something I practically never used to something that's actually got me automating repetitive tasks on my phone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49612805)) "Shortcuts and Automations would be your best friends there to achieve this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46514278)) "I find it very boring to create automations manually, this will help a lot" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716810)) - Integrates with Siri and Apple Intelligence (4 comments): "It nicely complements the layers Apple has been building for years: App Intents, Shortcuts, Spotlight/Siri surfaces" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47169866)) "you'd be surprised what cool things you can do when using Shortcuts with Siri" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46514291)) "Pairing Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence lets a grandma do some powerful work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45942209)) - Powerful access across the system (4 comments): "I find the shortcuts extremely powerful all over different parts of the system, but I wish the contours of what it can and can't do were less opaque." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008798)) "The permissions and secure app integration models are all there, and it's reasonably stable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47580208)) "iOS Shortcuts has access to the same context: Mail, Calendar, Files." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46297731)) - Works with other apps (4 comments): "I parse the text using some apple shortcuts and inject things like tasks into my daily memos" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48949141)) "I've even setup a few iOS shortcuts that connect into my Obsidian notes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47131476)) "This one works great with TextExpander and iOS Shortcuts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47803930)) ## What people warn about - Editor is clumsy and frustrating (6 comments): "My biggest problem with authoring shortcuts is that the editor goes out of its way to obliterate context while you're working." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47582801)) "It's a horrendous app that combines all the worst parts of a scripting language with all the worst parts of a visual language" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46536246)) "Apple designed Shortcuts to look like a shiny toy demo, and it gets awkward fast once you leave the happy path." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47579578)) - Poor code reuse and maintainability (3 comments): "Once you have anything complex, you're going to need code reuse and its a sad story with shortcuts as provided by Apple." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47579574)) "Shortcuts just doesn't make sense. Even the simplest things are hard to do and the scripts are totally unmaintainable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47582395)) "the way you assemble shortcuts leaves a lot to be desired for anything nontrivial" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48173398)) - Unclear limits and missing features (3 comments): "I find the shortcuts extremely powerful all over different parts of the system, but I wish the contours of what it can and can't do were less opaque." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47008798)) "Shortcuts is a wonderful idea in principle while in practice anytime I try to do something with it some part is missing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181619)) "Shortcuts has a few massive flaws that would give me pause enshrining it as middleware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48450347)) - Flaky, breaks and loses compatibility (3 comments): "There seems to be something about how intents get triggered by Shortcuts on iOS that feels flaky to me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47981006)) "It stopped working a few hours later. I resolved to never waste time on that POS again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47231507)) "I have zero confidence in Apple respecting my time by committing to compatibility" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47580141)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Hammerspoon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hammerspoon.md): 61 recommend - [Tasker](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tasker.md): 12 recommend - [Automator (macOS)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/automator.md): 7 recommend - [Noodlesoft Hazel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hazel.md): 7 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Shortcuts", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-shortcuts/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).