Shortcuts Creators Unveil New AI Helper for Mac

Shortcuts Creators Unveil New AI Helper for Mac

Ari Weinstein and Conrad Kramer, two of the creators behind Shortcuts have unveiled their latest project, called Sky, an AI helper that can help Mac users with their tasks on their computer. Shortcuts, originally called Workflow, was purchased by Apple in 2017 which deeply integrated the app in iOS and macOS.

Sky is an AI-powered assistant that can perform actions and has the ability to answer questions related to any window or app you have open on your Mac.

Sky floats over what you’re doing so AI is always at your fingertips. Whether you’re chatting, writing, planning, or coding, Sky understands what’s on your screen and can take action using your apps.

Sky can work with both Claude and GPT 4.1, and while it first appearsto be just another app launcher or a Large Language Model with a desktop app, it can do so much more.

Sky floats over whatever you’re doing, while staying out of the way until you summon it. Pressing a hotkey makes a small floating user interface appear. The app is aware of what you have on your Mac’s screen taking actions based on what apps you have on your Mac. Users can customize the app using shortcuts, prompts, and scripts.

The app has built-in integrations for Calendar, Messages, Notes, Safari, Finder, Mail, and screenshots integrations. This allows the app to perform tasks like setting a calendar event for a meeting, based on conversations you’ve had, taking into account all of the information it’s been provided when performing a task.

MacStories‘ Federico Viticci has tested Sky, and he says the app will change his macOS workflow and how he will automate his day-by-day tasks.

If this sounds too good to be true, well, let me explain and show you how it works. Let’s say that you’re browsing the web and come across an article you want to share. Typically, you’d open the macOS share sheet, select Messages, pick a recipient, and send a URL along with some of your thoughts about it. Here’s how it works with Sky: you invoke it with your preferred hotkey and type something like, “send a link and summary of this to John.”

In a couple of seconds, Sky understands everything that means. It gets the link from whatever browser you’re using (I tested it with Vivaldi), summarizes the contents of the page using an LLM (I used it with GPT 4.1), understands who a specific contact you want to text may be, and knows how to send a message using the Messages app. And it does so remarkably quickly, all while parsing a command typed in natural language – possible typos included.

Sky is expected to launch this summer, and if you’re interested, you can sign up to join the app’s waitlist.