Older iCloud Links for Sharing Shortcuts Have Suddenly Stopped Working [Updated]

Sharing Shortcuts via iCloud appears to be severely affected by an issue that is stopping older links from working.

shortcut not found
All older ‌iCloud‌ links for sharing Shortcuts appear to no longer be functional, rendering it impossible to add shared Shortcuts from links that were created a while ago. It is not yet clear exactly when the cut-off date for created Shortcuts links is, but broadly, links created within the past week seem to be unaffected and continue to work correctly. Apple's own in-app gallery for downloading Shortcuts is also still working as expected.

When attempting to add a Shortcut from an affected ‌iCloud‌ link, users are now presented with an error message in the Shortcuts app that reads "Shortcut Not Found: The shortcut link may be invalid, or it may have been deleted." The change has since been flagged by users on Reddit and Twitter.

It is as yet unclear if the error is an intentional change on Apple's part, as it could have added an expiry period to the ‌iCloud‌ links to prevent them from working after a certain amount of time, or if it is simply a server-side error that has invalidated all links created prior to an internal change.

Either way, the fact that the majority of links to Shortcuts are now defunct is highly problematic for sites such as MacStories or the subreddit r/shortcuts, which are heavily reliant on ‌iCloud‌ links for sharing previously-created Shortcuts.

Update: Apple has now provided a statement to Federico Viticci of MacStories, explaining that it is aware of the problem and is working to restore the previously shared Shortcuts:

There are also now early indications that the problematic ‌iCloud‌ links to Shortcuts have started to be restored.

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Top Rated Comments

goonie4life9 Avatar
56 months ago
Not to worry folks, for the Senior Advisor I spoke to assured me this is not an issue. He stated that Apple talks to millions of customers an hour and if this was an issue, Apple would know about it before any customer knew about it. The current guidance is for customers to erase and re-install iCloudShareOS. This should be done through iTunes. If that doesn't resolve the issue, it will need to be escalated to Engineering after conducting Diagnostics, with Mail Logging enabled. Engineering will respond in 48 hr and because this is a known issue, Apple's Official Position on the matter is to keep your iCloudShareOS up to date.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
56 months ago
iCloud is annoying at so many levels its mind bending.

When trying to share several pictures it tends to send iCloud links also which are extremely inconvenient making the receiver leave the conversation to see them on a browser, for such a basic sharing interaction, even whatsapp has it right.

Also, how Apple is currently managing moving massive amounts of photos through iCloud is anything but "simple" (which sooner or later ends up leading to cloud storage issues anyways)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brandon42 Avatar
56 months ago

WTF is this? I mean, you can ask your users to keep their iOS, iPadOS and macOS updated, but asking your users to keep this... iCloudShareOS up to date??? What is this operating system to begin with? An OS inside iOS? Then, you say users must update it through iTunes, a software that is deprecated for more than a year.

Honestly all this **** shouldn’t be necessary, and you cannot ask your customers to have this level of t
technical knowledge.
I’m pretty sure the original poster is being sarcastic.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
56 months ago

Not to worry folks, for the Senior Advisor I spoke to assured me this is not an issue. He stated that Apple talks to millions of customers an hour and if this was an issue, Apple would know about it before any customer knew about it. The current guidance is for customers to erase and re-install iCloudShareOS. This should be done through iTunes. If that doesn't resolve the issue, it will need to be escalated to Engineering after conducting Diagnostics, with Mail Logging enabled. Engineering will respond in 48 hr and because this is a known issue, Apple's Official Position on the matter is to keep your iCloudShareOS up to date.
WTF is this? I mean, you can ask your users to keep their iOS, iPadOS and macOS updated, but asking your users to keep this... iCloudShareOS up to date??? What is this operating system to begin with? An OS inside iOS? Then, you say users must update it through iTunes, a software that is deprecated for more than a year.

Honestly all this **** shouldn’t be necessary, and you cannot ask your customers to have this level of t
technical knowledge.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsareveryinteresting Avatar
56 months ago
Apple will fix it by iOS 14.5.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jfunker Avatar
56 months ago
Wrong database selected, 83884092049 rows affected. Poor intern!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)