Ever since Apple acquired the Workflow app team and transformed it into the Shortcuts app, we’ve been obsessed with finding ways to have our devices perform tasks automatically. This obsession has only continued to grow as now the iPad and even the Mac have support for Shortcuts. And while the Shortcuts app has been updated to provide plenty of “starter” Shortcuts, you might find yourself looking for something specific.
In the past, we’ve covered the most popular locations for trying to discover new, different, and exciting Shortcuts. These include the likes of MacStories, Christopher Lawley’s YouTube channel, and MacSparky. But honestly, there’s one person that stands above the rest (no disrespect intended), and that’s Matthew Cassinelli.
If you’ve never heard of Matthew, you’re in for a treat. He actually was part of the Workflow team before it was acquired by Apple, but opted to leave the team in favor of working on his own. Thankfully, Shortcuts fans everywhere have been able to enjoy this decision as Matthew continues to create easy-to-access Shortcuts.
This leads us to a recent announcement by Matthew, as he has introduced his “expanded Shortcuts Library”. The Library consists of more than 600 different Shortcuts and 150 “bundle shortcuts”. Here’s a blurb from Matthew’s announcement blog post:
The Shortcuts Library is updated from last year’s release, in which I consolidated my original larger library into 50+ shortcuts that each covered large areas of what’s possible with Shortcuts.
With the new release, I’m distributing 600 single shortcuts in the main library across 100 folder groups, plus I’ve developed a method to compile each folder into 150 bundle shortcuts made out of all the single shortcuts in that folder.
And if you thought that was pretty incredible, Matthew is also continuing to improve and update his Shortcuts Library. Over time, he is adding various “Custom Views”, providing everyone with grouped shortcuts based on difficulty (Simple, Average, or Complex).
Now, if you aren’t new to Matthew’s blog and his Shortcuts Library, then you might already know that there are different versions available. There are plenty of free shortcuts that you can explore, download, and try out for yourself. But if you sign up for the “Shortcuts Membership”, you’ll get access to the entire library, along with the aforementioned bundle shortcuts.
What can You Find in the Shortcuts Library?
Well, as we mentioned already, Matthew’s self-created library of Shortcuts consists of more than 600 downloadable shortcuts. Here’s a breakdown of the different categories that you’ll find:
Productivity
Calendars
Setup
Text
Note taking
Communications
Focus
Online work
Files
Task management
Image assets
Lifestyle
Music
Smart Home
Learning
Social
Health
Web browsing
Travel
Reminders
Podcasts
Entertainment
Needless to say, there’s so much to go through here that it can really seem daunting at first. So what we recommend that you do is to try and figure out exactly what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. From there, you can go through the different areas in the Shortcuts Library to see if Matthew has already created a shortcut for your task. It’s truly incredible and awe-inspiring to see what this library has to offer and to see so many different shortcuts available with just a few taps.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
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