Shortcutie

^{Requires macOS 15.2 or later}

The app provides lots of powerful extra actions for the Shortcuts app on macOS.

While my free Actions app provides useful functionality for the Shortcuts app through the App Store for macOS, iOS and visionOS, Shortcutie is a Mac-only app that offers more powerful system-level features by operating outside of Apple’s restrictions. This enables capabilities like changing system default browser (without a prompt), getting the active browser tab, clearing notifications, etc. - things that wouldn’t be possible under App Store rules.

Restart your device if the actions do not show up in the Shortcuts app. Also try setting a different device language and then back.

Included actions

Get Active Browser Tab Gets the URL and title of the active browser tab Supports Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Arc, Orion, and any Chromium-based browser. Firefox and Firefox-based browsers (including Zen) are not supported as they do not implement the required AppleScript interface for getting tab info.
Run JavaScript on Active Browser Tab Runs JavaScript code on the active browser tab and returns JSON Supports the same browsers as “Get Active Browser Tab”.
Get Active Browser Gets the frontmost app if it’s a browser
Get Selected Text Gets the currently selected text from anywhere on the system
Clear Notifications Clears system notifications
Get/Set Default Browser View or change the system default web browser
Set Grayscale Mode Makes screen display in black and white
Is Screen Being Watched Detects if the screen is being recorded, mirrored, or shared (Zoom, Teams, etc)
Open App (Extended) Options to pass in URLs, activate, force new instance, hide, launch arguments, and environment variables
Set Folder Color Change the color of folders
Hide All Windows Instantly hides windows for all apps
Quit All Apps Closes all running apps except menu bar apps
Eject All Disks Safely unmounts all external drives
Show Desktop Temporarily moves all windows aside to see desktop
Empty Trash Permanently deletes items in trash
Get/Set Desktop Widgets Visibility Show, hide, or check visibility status of desktop widgets
Get/Set Function Keys Mode Toggle or check if F1-F12 keys operate as standard function keys or media keys
Clear Recent Lists Clears recent items (files, apps, and servers) from menus
Open System Setting Opens Hide My Email, Private Relay, or Apple Account Subscriptions settings directly

And many more planned!

Frequently Asked Questions

I have a feature request, bug report, or some feedback

Click the feedback button in the app or send it here.

The actions don’t show up in the Shortcuts app

This is caused by a macOS bug.

Some things you could try:

Restart your device.
Change the device language to something else and back.
Add this shortcut, run it once, and see if the actions show up in the Shortcuts app after that.

I get a “errorDomain error 2” error when running an action

Same solution as above.

Why is this not in the App Store?

Much of the functionality would not be possible in the App Store because of sandboxing.

Why is this paid when your Actions app is free?

Unlike Actions which uses public APIs, Shortcutie relies on many private APIs that require constant maintenance as macOS evolves. The app targets power users who value these advanced capabilities, and the pricing helps ensure sustainable development while keeping the support burden manageable.

Can I have this installed together with the Actions app?

Yes, they are complementary.

Can you support iOS?

No. The app relies on macOS-specific system features that aren’t available on iOS and requires capabilities outside of App Store restrictions. Check out Actions for iOS shortcuts functionality.

Do I need to keep the app running for the actions to work?

No, once installed, the app’s actions are always available to the Shortcuts app.

I can already do some of these actions with AppleScript and the command-line, why use this app?

Yes, but the app packages these capabilities into maintained, ready-to-use actions that integrate perfectly with Shortcuts. This lets you focus on building workflows instead of writing and maintaining scripts.

What’s up with the app icon?

Whimsy makes software more human and approachable. Even Apple uses a smiling Finder icon to this day. Good software can be both powerful and fun. And since the icon is only visible in the App Store and as a tiny icon in Shortcuts, its design has minimal impact on the actual utility of the app.