The arrival of Apple Intelligence in the Assignments app provides a new option for automation on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. The integration of artificial intelligence for shortcuts means you have access to advanced language models that can be safely used in your automations.
The biggest difference with traditional commands is that you can now work with natural language instead of just predefined actions. This makes the Assignments app much more accessible for less tech-savvy users.
Apple Intelligence for Assignments
The power of Apple Intelligence in the Shortcuts app lies in its access to three different AI models, each with unique benefits. The on-device model runs entirely on your iPhone, iPad or Mac and can process simple requests without internet. For more complex tasks, the system uses Private Cloud Compute, which uses Apple’s servers while ensuring your privacy. You can also choose to integrate with ChatGPT for even more advanced options.
The biggest difference with traditional assignments is that you can now not only combine fixed actions. You can now instruct the AI model in plain language, making the Shortcuts app more accessible to less technical users. For example, you can ask for a weather summary in a fun style with emojis, or compare a meeting transcript with your own notes to make sure you haven’t missed anything.
Availability of AI in shortcuts
Apple Intelligence has been available in the commands app since iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26. Do you want to use the functions in Dutch? Then you must have iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1 and macOS 26.1 or newer installed. Apple Intelligence in Shortcuts is available on all devices that support Apple’s artificial intelligence. You can read what these are in the highlighted article below.
Intelligent actions: the building blocks of smart commands
Apple has added a complete suite of new intelligent actions to the Shortcuts app that directly access Apple Intelligence functionality. These intelligent actions are a new category within the app and include capabilities such as summarizing text with Writing Assistant, generating images with Image Playground, and analyzing visual content with Visual Intelligence.
The main new action is ‘Use Model’, which lets you interact directly with Apple’s AI models. This action not only accepts textual input, but can also handle variables, calendar events, reminders, photos, and outputs from previous actions in your command. The model understands these different data types and can process them in natural language, which greatly expands the possibilities.
What makes these intelligent actions powerful is that they can be combined with existing commands. For example, you can retrieve the weather, ask the AI model to create a funny summary, and send or save that summary by email. The AI models automatically optimize their output for the next action, ensuring smooth integration.
Practical applications that save time
The possibilities of Apple Intelligence in Shortcuts are nearly endless, but a few practical examples best illustrate its power. One of the most valuable uses is summarizing long documents and PDFs. You can create a command that opens a PDF, sends the content to the AI model with instructions to summarize key points, and then saves the result to Apple’s Notes.
Creative applications are also possible. You can create an assignment that analyzes ingredients from your refrigerator and then… vegetarian recipes generates. Or a system that travel confirmations from your email, for example Booking.comstructures the information and automatically creates an itinerary with dates, times and addresses. The AI models can even add emojis and emotional tone to texts, making your communication more personal.
Integration with Spotlight and automations on Mac
On the Mac, Apple Intelligence in Assignments takes on an extra dimension through deep integration with Spotlight. In macOS Tahoe, you can run commands directly from Spotlight without having to open the Shortcuts app. This makes it possible to use a simple key combination (command⌘ + spacebar) to access all your intelligent automations.
Spotlight in macOS Tahoe has a new tasks overview where you can perform hundreds of actions immediately. These tasks are linked to Shortcuts actions, making all the capabilities of Apple Intelligence available through Spotlight. For example, you can select a document in the Finder, open Spotlight, and immediately run a command that summarizes or translates the document, all without switching apps.
The new personal automations are also a solution for Mac users. You can have commands run automatically based on events such as a specific time, saving a file to a specific folder, connecting an external display, launching an app, or changing the battery status. Combined with Apple Intelligence, this means your Mac can respond intelligently to your work patterns without you having to take any action yourself.
A practical example is an automation that is triggered when you save a PDF to a certain folder. The command can automatically analyze the document, generate a summary, extract relevant keywords, and add this information to a spreadsheet or database. Or an automation that activates when you get home (detected via WiFi connection) and gives you a spoken overview of open tasks and upcoming appointments.