I think the most exciting thing Apple announced at WWDC last week was Siri Shortcuts. It looks to me like a brand new way to interact with our iOS devices and I am way into it. It’s as if Workflow and Launch Center Pro had a baby and Apple built that into the operating system. Apple is also aiming to make Shortcuts more than just the sum of its parts by adding some AI to figuring out when you want to do these shortcuts.

In the first iOS 12 beta, Shortcuts isn’t really implemented, but there are a few apps (mostly Apple apps) that will appear in the Siri settings already. This only scratches the surface of what will be possible, but I’m trying out a few shortcuts already and the benefit is pretty amazing.

Being able to say “scale image” in the middle of writing a blog post for BirchTree, select an image to scale to 1080p, and paste it straight into my blog post is amazing.

Saying “show me my mail” opens Mail to my universal inbox takes me to the top level of Mail, no matter where I left off last time I was using the app.

Saying “show me my stats” shows me BirchTree’s daily stats, saving me a few taps in Safari.

There’s not a ton here yet, but the first few simple shortcuts I have been able to make have made iOS feel more personal than ever. I’m really excited to see what else is possible when iOS 12 actually comes out this fall and app developers have built in the hooks needed to make more possible with Shortcuts.