Shortcuts on iOS 27 lets users create automations by describing them in plain language

Apple is adding natural language automation creation to the Shortcuts app in iOS 27.

Users will no longer need to assemble scenarios manually from individual actions. Instead, it will be enough to describe what the shortcut should do, and the system will build it automatically.

The feature is powered by Apple Intelligence. The user writes a request in plain text, and the system assembles the corresponding automation in the background.

Until now, Shortcuts has been a powerful but not particularly user-friendly tool. Building a complex scenario required understanding the app's internal logic, manually selecting the right actions, configuring conditions, and linking everything together. As a result, many users either ignored automations altogether or relied entirely on prebuilt templates.

Apple is now trying to make Shortcuts noticeably more approachable. The user can, for example, ask the app to automatically send the estimated time of arrival to a specific contact whenever the user leaves home. Apple Intelligence determines the location, calculates the travel time, and sends the message without requiring the user to configure every step manually.

In effect, Apple is turning Shortcuts from a builder aimed at advanced users into a more accessible AI tool for everyday scenarios. The shift could prove particularly useful for recurring tasks such as scheduled messages, reminders, routes, file handling, smart home actions, and other workflows that previously required manual assembly.

The feature will arrive in a future update alongside other new Apple Intelligence capabilities.