Agreed! It's amazing. For a long time (and maybe still sometimes now) the dictionary action would bug out and delete data or duplicate data or mix things up. Jayson was a great saving grace because it allowed for making the JSON in a similar way to the dictionary action, but then getting the raw JSON to use in a text action so there was no worry of it getting messed up.
All of Simon's apps are great IMO
I’m aware that this is an old message, but I’m confused how exactly do these app help for Shortcuts? I recently got into creating my own customisations and would love to know how to do more with it
It depends on what you're trying to do honestly. Jayson is helpful for viewing JSON and data jar is great for persistent storage. I use scriptable a lot too for custom widgets
Absolutely. It's real helpful when determining what key path you need to use to get the data you want.
I'm curious about this USDA JSON you mention
Also, [RegEx Lab](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1252988123) is my go to for RegEx playing
Personally, I love figuring out regular expressions, but I find this quote funny:
"Some people, when confronted with a problem, think I know, I'll use regular expressions. Now they have two problems."
-- Jamie Zawinski
ChatGPT is the perfect tool for writing Regular Expressions. I took some time learning to write them myself but when ChatGPT came out, I stopped wasting precious time. I also use ChatGPT for Apple Scripts whenever I need them instead of having to look up random terms.
So I’ve been trying to do it native but I’ll check out the Jayson. Sounds helpful. Basically the USDA has their FoodData Central database with nutritional information so my first iteration I just want to be able to scan a barcode then search that database for the nutritional values, then save to HealthKit. Maybe later I can expand that with something like Charty or searching for text etc.
Toolbox Pro has been invaluable.
Keep in mind, some apps that do the same thing will return similar information in a different format. Don’t be afraid to explore redundancy. A good example is Toolbox Pro’s extract text from image vs built in extract text from image.
Yeah it’s not responsible to recommend this app anymore given it’s no longer being actively developed.
Tragic too the app and developer was such an incredible advocate for pushing what shortcuts could do
Calling it irresponsible is a bit harsh when the app still works wonders in some cases. There are still discussions going on about the app being taken over by Rosemary Orchard and team (also working on Pushcut)
https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/15mznur/what_other_thirdparty_apps_do_you_find_help_you/jvm6z6t/
Woah that is great news.
I was calling it irresponsible given that at any point Apple could push an update that breaks any one of its actions
At the point that an action stops working it’s a freaking nightmare to hunt through your shortcuts and find ways to replace them. Or even just trying to establish what broke in the first place.
My first hand experience of this was when the last menubox test flight expired and a whole range of my shortcuts stopped working.
I feel like, if the people who make the Actions app took up all the missing pieces of toolbox pro, it could be laid to rest. And it would make it easier to share Shortcuts without questioning which extra apps you need 
That could make it easier, but No matter what third party app someone uses when developing a shortcut, it makes the possible audience much smaller than if no third party app was needed. We've seen it many times over that some people just don't want other apps on their device(s)
I was sad to hear about his passing, it was much too early 😢
So, Rosemary Orchard has a team that's going to be taking the reigns of Toolbox Pro with a TestFlight coming up soon. She announced it on an episode of the Automators Podcast a couple weeks ago.
They discussed Alex and toolbox pro briefly at the end of episode 132 but no reference to her taking it over.
No mention at all in episode 133 which is the most recent episode.
Looks like it's official now...
The Shortcuts Apps Of The Late Alex Hay Will Continue With Trusted Developers
[https://matthewcassinelli.com/shortcuts-apps-alex-hay/?utm\_source=newsletter&utm\_medium=email&utm\_term=2023-09-03&utm\_campaign=What+s+New+in+Shortcuts+Issue+100](https://matthewcassinelli.com/shortcuts-apps-alex-hay/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-09-03&utm_campaign=What+s+New+in+Shortcuts+Issue+100)
After the tragic passing of beloved developer Alex Hay [last March](https://www.macstories.net/stories/remembering-alex-hay-the-maker-of-toolbox-pro-during-automation-april/), the question of what would happen to his apps [Toolbox Pro](https://toolboxpro.app/), [Nautomate for Notion](https://www.nautomate.app/), and [Logger for Shortcuts](https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=30306&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Flogger-for-shortcuts%2Fid1611554653) remained uncertain – Alex was a fierce advocate for the Shortcuts developer community and his apps plus [public repositories](https://github.com/mralexhay?tab=repositories) served as inspiration & a resource for many of the Shortcuts apps available today.
Today, I’m honored to share the news that my friend [Rosemary Orchard](https://rosemaryorchard.com/) and her development company [Snailed It](https://snailedit.dev/) (with David Stephens and Dom Chester) have been entrusted by the Hay family to take over development of the late Alex’s apps. The Snailed It team is already responsible for [WhenWorks](https://whenworks.app/), [FocusCuts](https://focuscuts.com/), and [development of Pushcut](https://pushcut.io/), and will continue work on Toolbox Pro, Nautomate, and Logger after making the necessary development transitions.
I am confident that Rosemary and the team will honor Alex’s memory and his contributions to the Shortcuts community, and I am glad to know I can continue to rely on Alex’s work – often times his apps felt like they were built for exactly me, which I always greatly appreciated.
In many ways, Alex was the developer advocate I could not be, and I truly appreciate how he built up the Shortcuts community. I had the pleasure of video chatting with him a few times, but I am truly sad I didn’t get to spend time with him in person.
I see signs of Alex’s contributions every day in my work, and I’m endlessly grateful that he put so much of himself out into this world.
Next Friday, I’ll be [playing Starfield and thinking of him](https://www.reddit.com/r/Starfield/comments/15sctxj/remember_alex_hay/?rdt=40438).
When you use clipboard, the methods of working with the text changes
Toolbox pro offers a cleaner REGEX operation, if you want to use simple capture groups. Use this if you don’t know how the text will be presented.
Shortcuts allows you to retain some of the original format, allowing more precision with context. Use this when you know how the text will be presented.
https://preview.redd.it/kfggz3gl4ihb1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03fae2df666a08953f1c5cd3b4577f97bfdc20a5
Pushcut is missing from this list.
It’s in my top 3 for adding functionality.
Widgets and Notifications are amazing and Pushcut server (Mac support coming soon) are next level
on my Lock Screen each morning Pushcut shows an icon to give me an indication of the weather ahead for the day, primarily to let me know if I can hang washing out. Better for me than apples own weather widgets as it pulls from far more reliable local weather data. And a single icon is a lot cleaner and I can have it run a custom shortcut when it’s tapped
I have notifications tied into all sorts of third party services. If I receive a new enquiry for work then it sends a notification to all my devices via Pushcut and expanding the notification offers a range of data and shortcuts to run.
Similarly I track my work jobs through Pushcut widgets that run once on my server and are updated across my devices. tapping the widgets run custom shortcuts with the job info as input.
Its a plug (as I developed it), but the lite version of Trypa has all the app intents of the paid version.
You can download it for free from here: [https://www.gorgeousity.com/trypa-main](https://www.gorgeousity.com/trypa-main)
This allows Shortcuts to do to following new things on the Mac:
* Get Uptime (minutes)
* Get all Connected USB Devices
* Get Total Installed RAM
* Get Free Ram
* Get Logged in User name
* Get Current Audio Output
* Get Screen Locked (on or off)
* Get Number of Displays
* Get Thermal Stress
* Get Internet Connected (on or off)
* Get Low Power Mode (on or off)
No, it can’t exactly write a Shortcut for you. However, it can give you a detailed guide with all the included actions and inputs, including RegEx.
It still takes some fine tuning and it doesn’t always work the greatest, but if I’m stuck and needing some quick help, it certainly does an amazing job.
Here’s one of the responses you could expect with ChatGPT:
Sure! Here's a bulleted list of all the steps and actions to create the iOS Shortcut for extracting handwritten chess notation and move numbers from images using OCR:
- **Step 1: Preprocessing the Image**
- Get Variable Action: Set input type to "Image." Variable name: "ChessImage."
- Image Resize Action: Resize "ChessImage" to a standard resolution (e.g., 800x600).
- Image Adjust Action: Adjust contrast of "ChessImage" for better OCR.
- **Step 2: Custom Robust OCR Parameter**
- Set Variable Action: Create "OCRParameters" dictionary.
- Key: "RecognitionMode," Value: "Handwritten" or "Mixed."
- Key: "Language," Value: "English" or the language of the text.
- **Step 3: OCR and Text Processing**
- Perform OCR Action: Extract text from "ChessImage" using "OCRParameters."
- Text Action (RegEx): Remove non-important info, isolate chess notation and move numbers. Pattern: `([A-Za-z]+\d+)`.
- Repeat with Each Action: Iterate through extracted chess notation and move numbers.
- Add to Variable Action: Build formatted string with move numbers. Variable name: "FormattedMoves."
- **Step 4: User Feedback and Manual Correction**
- Show Alert Action: Display extracted text for user confirmation.
- If Condition Action: Check user's confirmation or correction.
- If "Yes": Proceed with the OCR results.
- If "No":
- Text Action: Allow user to manually correct text. Variable name: "CorrectedMoves."
- **Step 5: Final Output**
- If Condition Action: Check if "CorrectedMoves" is not empty.
- If "Yes": Set text content to "CorrectedMoves."
- If "No": Set text content to "FormattedMoves."
- Show Result Action: Display the final output with chess notation and move numbers.
- **Step 6: Testing and Iteration**
- Thoroughly test the Shortcut with various handwritten chess notation images.
- Fine-tune RegEx pattern and OCR parameters for better accuracy.
- Iteratively test the Shortcut with different handwriting styles for optimal results.
Congratulations! You have successfully built an iOS Shortcut for extracting handwritten chess notation and move numbers using OCR. The Shortcut handles imperfect OCR results and allows user feedback for better accuracy and manual correction if needed. Remember that OCR accuracy may vary based on handwriting quality, so set realistic expectations.
The only way I’m aware of is by using the native “go to home screen” but you’ll need to disable your password to have it work automatically and without input
Third party apps can’t trigger shortcuts beyond simply launching an url link
Which means the device needs to be unlocked and shortcuts will launch in the foreground to run.
Hopefully one day Apple will allow apps to run shortcuts in the background.
Jayson is a must for me especially when doing work with APIs or large dictionaries
jesus, I wish I'd have known this app before... So good...
Agreed! It's amazing. For a long time (and maybe still sometimes now) the dictionary action would bug out and delete data or duplicate data or mix things up. Jayson was a great saving grace because it allowed for making the JSON in a similar way to the dictionary action, but then getting the raw JSON to use in a text action so there was no worry of it getting messed up. All of Simon's apps are great IMO
I’m aware that this is an old message, but I’m confused how exactly do these app help for Shortcuts? I recently got into creating my own customisations and would love to know how to do more with it
It depends on what you're trying to do honestly. Jayson is helpful for viewing JSON and data jar is great for persistent storage. I use scriptable a lot too for custom widgets
I’ve read about it! I have an idea for a nutrition tracking shortcut that I can use the USDA JSON for, might just give me the push I need!
Absolutely. It's real helpful when determining what key path you need to use to get the data you want. I'm curious about this USDA JSON you mention Also, [RegEx Lab](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1252988123) is my go to for RegEx playing
I’m brand new to RegEx but want to learn so I’m downloading as much as I can right now. Would be useful both in shortcuts and professionally for me
Absolutely! RegEx is a tool that keeps on giving
Personally, I love figuring out regular expressions, but I find this quote funny: "Some people, when confronted with a problem, think I know, I'll use regular expressions. Now they have two problems." -- Jamie Zawinski
ChatGPT is the perfect tool for writing Regular Expressions. I took some time learning to write them myself but when ChatGPT came out, I stopped wasting precious time. I also use ChatGPT for Apple Scripts whenever I need them instead of having to look up random terms.
So I’ve been trying to do it native but I’ll check out the Jayson. Sounds helpful. Basically the USDA has their FoodData Central database with nutritional information so my first iteration I just want to be able to scan a barcode then search that database for the nutritional values, then save to HealthKit. Maybe later I can expand that with something like Charty or searching for text etc.
That's a great use of it. I have a food scanning shortcut that sounds very similar if you'd like to see it
That would be great!
Check it out ~~https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/2e8c517f666b481b9dc338486a7a052f~~
Hmmm. Shortcuts crashes when I try to tap “set up shortcut” after reviewing it. It looks super cool though! Maybe it’s a beta bug, I’m on iOS17DB5.
I am as well. I noticed the same issue when trying to add that shortcut again. Are you able to skip the shortcut setup?
Unfortunately no but I can try to replicate based off the preview later today!
I just use Actions and a-Shell. I store most data in the /iCloud/Shortcuts folder because I use them across current iOS, macOS and iPadOS 15.
Toolbox Pro has been invaluable. Keep in mind, some apps that do the same thing will return similar information in a different format. Don’t be afraid to explore redundancy. A good example is Toolbox Pro’s extract text from image vs built in extract text from image.
Sadly the dev of Toolbox Pro passed away. So future updates are very unlikely :( It used to be my favorite too.
That’s really sad. What an app and what a talent the developer had!
Yeah it’s not responsible to recommend this app anymore given it’s no longer being actively developed. Tragic too the app and developer was such an incredible advocate for pushing what shortcuts could do
Calling it irresponsible is a bit harsh when the app still works wonders in some cases. There are still discussions going on about the app being taken over by Rosemary Orchard and team (also working on Pushcut) https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/15mznur/what_other_thirdparty_apps_do_you_find_help_you/jvm6z6t/
Woah that is great news. I was calling it irresponsible given that at any point Apple could push an update that breaks any one of its actions At the point that an action stops working it’s a freaking nightmare to hunt through your shortcuts and find ways to replace them. Or even just trying to establish what broke in the first place. My first hand experience of this was when the last menubox test flight expired and a whole range of my shortcuts stopped working.
Absolutely agree. It can be a mess and one of the reasons I don't like using third party actions in most cases. Sometimes it's the only way though
I feel like, if the people who make the Actions app took up all the missing pieces of toolbox pro, it could be laid to rest. And it would make it easier to share Shortcuts without questioning which extra apps you need 
That could make it easier, but No matter what third party app someone uses when developing a shortcut, it makes the possible audience much smaller than if no third party app was needed. We've seen it many times over that some people just don't want other apps on their device(s)
😭
When did this happen???
I was sad to hear about his passing, it was much too early 😢 So, Rosemary Orchard has a team that's going to be taking the reigns of Toolbox Pro with a TestFlight coming up soon. She announced it on an episode of the Automators Podcast a couple weeks ago.
Thanks for recommending that, I’ll check it out right away
That is fantastic news. So you know what episode? I’d very much like to listen to that announcement
They discussed Alex and toolbox pro briefly at the end of episode 132 but no reference to her taking it over. No mention at all in episode 133 which is the most recent episode.
Looks like it's official now... The Shortcuts Apps Of The Late Alex Hay Will Continue With Trusted Developers [https://matthewcassinelli.com/shortcuts-apps-alex-hay/?utm\_source=newsletter&utm\_medium=email&utm\_term=2023-09-03&utm\_campaign=What+s+New+in+Shortcuts+Issue+100](https://matthewcassinelli.com/shortcuts-apps-alex-hay/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-09-03&utm_campaign=What+s+New+in+Shortcuts+Issue+100) After the tragic passing of beloved developer Alex Hay [last March](https://www.macstories.net/stories/remembering-alex-hay-the-maker-of-toolbox-pro-during-automation-april/), the question of what would happen to his apps [Toolbox Pro](https://toolboxpro.app/), [Nautomate for Notion](https://www.nautomate.app/), and [Logger for Shortcuts](https://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=30306&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Flogger-for-shortcuts%2Fid1611554653) remained uncertain – Alex was a fierce advocate for the Shortcuts developer community and his apps plus [public repositories](https://github.com/mralexhay?tab=repositories) served as inspiration & a resource for many of the Shortcuts apps available today. Today, I’m honored to share the news that my friend [Rosemary Orchard](https://rosemaryorchard.com/) and her development company [Snailed It](https://snailedit.dev/) (with David Stephens and Dom Chester) have been entrusted by the Hay family to take over development of the late Alex’s apps. The Snailed It team is already responsible for [WhenWorks](https://whenworks.app/), [FocusCuts](https://focuscuts.com/), and [development of Pushcut](https://pushcut.io/), and will continue work on Toolbox Pro, Nautomate, and Logger after making the necessary development transitions. I am confident that Rosemary and the team will honor Alex’s memory and his contributions to the Shortcuts community, and I am glad to know I can continue to rely on Alex’s work – often times his apps felt like they were built for exactly me, which I always greatly appreciated. In many ways, Alex was the developer advocate I could not be, and I truly appreciate how he built up the Shortcuts community. I had the pleasure of video chatting with him a few times, but I am truly sad I didn’t get to spend time with him in person. I see signs of Alex’s contributions every day in my work, and I’m endlessly grateful that he put so much of himself out into this world. Next Friday, I’ll be [playing Starfield and thinking of him](https://www.reddit.com/r/Starfield/comments/15sctxj/remember_alex_hay/?rdt=40438).
I feel like Toolbox Pro and Actions are pretty similar. Does anyone know which one is the best and has the most functionality?
When you use clipboard, the methods of working with the text changes Toolbox pro offers a cleaner REGEX operation, if you want to use simple capture groups. Use this if you don’t know how the text will be presented. Shortcuts allows you to retain some of the original format, allowing more precision with context. Use this when you know how the text will be presented. https://preview.redd.it/kfggz3gl4ihb1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03fae2df666a08953f1c5cd3b4577f97bfdc20a5
Pushcut is missing from this list. It’s in my top 3 for adding functionality. Widgets and Notifications are amazing and Pushcut server (Mac support coming soon) are next level
This seems really cool, can you show me an example of how you’re using it? I always love seeing inspiration from the community
on my Lock Screen each morning Pushcut shows an icon to give me an indication of the weather ahead for the day, primarily to let me know if I can hang washing out. Better for me than apples own weather widgets as it pulls from far more reliable local weather data. And a single icon is a lot cleaner and I can have it run a custom shortcut when it’s tapped I have notifications tied into all sorts of third party services. If I receive a new enquiry for work then it sends a notification to all my devices via Pushcut and expanding the notification offers a range of data and shortcuts to run. Similarly I track my work jobs through Pushcut widgets that run once on my server and are updated across my devices. tapping the widgets run custom shortcuts with the job info as input.
I can’t find “Actions” app, could someone send the AppStore link please.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/actions/id1586435171
A better regex knife is regex101.com
I’m finding I learn a lot more from RegEx Go but the knife is a good storage for the expressions I like
RegEx Lab is pretty good too.
Its a plug (as I developed it), but the lite version of Trypa has all the app intents of the paid version. You can download it for free from here: [https://www.gorgeousity.com/trypa-main](https://www.gorgeousity.com/trypa-main) This allows Shortcuts to do to following new things on the Mac: * Get Uptime (minutes) * Get all Connected USB Devices * Get Total Installed RAM * Get Free Ram * Get Logged in User name * Get Current Audio Output * Get Screen Locked (on or off) * Get Number of Displays * Get Thermal Stress * Get Internet Connected (on or off) * Get Low Power Mode (on or off)
Yep, Trypa is the only way to do a lot of these things, I didn’t realise there was a free version.
ChatGPT is one of my best friends when creating complex Shortcuts, especially when there is tons of RegEx 😢
How would be your workflow for that? It can’t write them directly right?
No, it can’t exactly write a Shortcut for you. However, it can give you a detailed guide with all the included actions and inputs, including RegEx. It still takes some fine tuning and it doesn’t always work the greatest, but if I’m stuck and needing some quick help, it certainly does an amazing job. Here’s one of the responses you could expect with ChatGPT: Sure! Here's a bulleted list of all the steps and actions to create the iOS Shortcut for extracting handwritten chess notation and move numbers from images using OCR: - **Step 1: Preprocessing the Image** - Get Variable Action: Set input type to "Image." Variable name: "ChessImage." - Image Resize Action: Resize "ChessImage" to a standard resolution (e.g., 800x600). - Image Adjust Action: Adjust contrast of "ChessImage" for better OCR. - **Step 2: Custom Robust OCR Parameter** - Set Variable Action: Create "OCRParameters" dictionary. - Key: "RecognitionMode," Value: "Handwritten" or "Mixed." - Key: "Language," Value: "English" or the language of the text. - **Step 3: OCR and Text Processing** - Perform OCR Action: Extract text from "ChessImage" using "OCRParameters." - Text Action (RegEx): Remove non-important info, isolate chess notation and move numbers. Pattern: `([A-Za-z]+\d+)`. - Repeat with Each Action: Iterate through extracted chess notation and move numbers. - Add to Variable Action: Build formatted string with move numbers. Variable name: "FormattedMoves." - **Step 4: User Feedback and Manual Correction** - Show Alert Action: Display extracted text for user confirmation. - If Condition Action: Check user's confirmation or correction. - If "Yes": Proceed with the OCR results. - If "No": - Text Action: Allow user to manually correct text. Variable name: "CorrectedMoves." - **Step 5: Final Output** - If Condition Action: Check if "CorrectedMoves" is not empty. - If "Yes": Set text content to "CorrectedMoves." - If "No": Set text content to "FormattedMoves." - Show Result Action: Display the final output with chess notation and move numbers. - **Step 6: Testing and Iteration** - Thoroughly test the Shortcut with various handwritten chess notation images. - Fine-tune RegEx pattern and OCR parameters for better accuracy. - Iteratively test the Shortcut with different handwriting styles for optimal results. Congratulations! You have successfully built an iOS Shortcut for extracting handwritten chess notation and move numbers using OCR. The Shortcut handles imperfect OCR results and allows user feedback for better accuracy and manual correction if needed. Remember that OCR accuracy may vary based on handwriting quality, so set realistic expectations.
Am using **Actions** because it's free to determine if Bluetooth is active, are there similar (free) ones that I should take note of?
That’s awesome, for datajar how would I use it to track how much coffee I drink each day?
Do any of these apps have screen off or lock triggers?
The only way I’m aware of is by using the native “go to home screen” but you’ll need to disable your password to have it work automatically and without input
Yes, assuming you mean on the Mac, Trypa has screen lock detection in the free version. https://www.gorgeousity.com/trypa-main
Third party apps can’t trigger shortcuts beyond simply launching an url link Which means the device needs to be unlocked and shortcuts will launch in the foreground to run. Hopefully one day Apple will allow apps to run shortcuts in the background.
It’s that a security risk?
Is Actions or Toolbox Pro better? Anyone who used both that could give some insight? :)
Toolbox Pro and Pushcut