The iOS software Shortcuts (previously known as Workflow) is widely used for automating and scripting various tasks. With the release of macOS Monterey earlier this year, Apple debuted the desktop version of Shortcuts in response to its success and the needs of Mac customers.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Apple has not included automated triggers on the Mac Shortcuts program like they do on iOS or iPadOS, so users must manually launch shortcuts on their Mac.
The good news is that you may avoid this situation by using an app called Shortery. We’ll take a look at Shortery, a tool for automating shortcuts on the Mac Shortcuts program, and provide a rundown of the steps for doing so.
In other words, what exactly is shorterism?
New in macOS Monterey, Shortery is an automation tool for keyboard shortcuts. It integrates with Mac Shortcuts to automate the execution of your custom shortcuts on Mac in response to a variety of events.
Since the Mac version of Shortcuts doesn’t include an Automation tab, this feature from Shortery brings it closer to the functionality of the Shortcuts app for iOS and iPadOS. As of this writing, Shortery only supports seven different triggers to activate shortcuts, which is far fewer than the available triggers in the Shortcuts iOS and iPadOS apps.
The Mac Shortcuts software, for instance, allows you to schedule the “Reflect on the Day” shortcut to run at a predetermined time each day, allowing you to keep track of your daily accomplishments and upcoming plans.
Macintosh Shortery Tutorial
The Mac app Shortery is an external program. You’ll need to get it onto your Mac before you can use it. To download Shortery from the App Store, please click the button below.
Get Shorty Here!
Launch Shortery once it has finished installing. To do so, either open Spotlight Search (Command + Space bar) and type “Shortery” into the search field, or access the Launchpad and launch the app directly.
The program will prompt for Finder permission as soon as it launches. Allow access by clicking the OK button.
After launching Shortery, select the Trigger tab and then the Add Shortcut Trigger button from the app’s main window.
On the right side of the screen, you should see a popup labeled “Configure Shortcut Trigger” open up.
To get the complete list of available Shortery triggers, click the ellipsis (…) next to Trigger Type. Then, select the event that will activate your shortcut from the drop-down.
Choices available are:
When an app is opened or closed, a custom shortcut is activated.
A time-based shortcut can be executed. The timer’s repeat interval can be set at your discretion.
With Wake on Sleep/Wake from Sleep, a shortcut is activated whenever your Mac enters or exits sleep mode.
When you log in to your Mac, or log out, a shortcut is executed.
A keyboard shortcut can be used to launch an application on a Mac.
The transition from a light to dark theme, for example, can be used to activate certain shortcuts.
When you plug in your Mac’s power adapter or when the battery level changes, Power Status will notify you and launch the appropriate shortcut.
After making your selection, you can give your new shortcut a name by tapping the Name area. Then, click the arrow next to Shortcut and choose the shortcut you wish to automate. If the list of shortcuts is missing, you can bring it up again by clicking the Reload Shortcut List button.
Mark the box labeled “Enable Trigger” to activate it. The window’s bottom half will now update to reflect the trigger you selected and the options and settings available for that trigger. Adjust these settings to your liking.
When you’re ready to save the shortcut, click the Save button.
Once you’ve saved the shortcut, you’ll notice its trigger on the left side of the screen. You may access the shortcut or trigger settings at any time by clicking on it. If you ever need to get rid of a trigger, just click the X next to its name.
To have any of your shortcuts automatically run upon login utilizing Shortery’s login trigger, you must schedule the application to do so. To do this, open Shortery’s preferences by clicking the cogwheel in the upper-right corner, and then selecting the Start upon Login checkbox.
It goes without saying that you’ll need Shortery active in the background for it to carry out shortcuts on your behalf.
Automate the Execution of Macintosh Shortcuts
The ability to automate shortcuts on a Mac can be really helpful. The Shortery program enables this by letting you set conditions under which shortcuts on your Mac will be executed automatically.
You may now use Shortery to set off actions in the Shortcuts app, whether you’ve found an existing one or made a new one. After then, Shortery will carry them out mechanically when their triggers are met.
While preparing this article, we ran into a few issues with Shortery, so keep that in mind. In some cases, we were unable to undock Shortery from the dock, and in others, we couldn’t get the app back from its minimized state. However, as this is the very first release of the app, these issues should be addressed in a future update.
Visit Shortery.com.