Apple appears to have quietly given its Shortcuts feature a performance boost in iOS 14.6 and iPadOS 14.6, which launched for iPhone and iPad on Monday.
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Despite no mention of the feature in the software's release notes, users on Reddit are describing speed improvements when running automations that include multiple actions.
For example, one user describes how a 700-action shortcut they designed to scrape websites is running in 13 seconds since updating to iOS 14.6, compared to around 30 seconds in the previous version.
As 9to5Mac notes, the speed improvements aren't all that noticeable for Shortcuts that don't have many actions, but for those with actions that number in the dozens or hundreds, the performance boost is a lot more obvious.
Apple's iOS 14.6 update isn't quite as significant as the iOS 14.5 update that preceded it, but it still introduces a number of notable new features, including support for Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio in Apple Music, Apple Card Family, and Apple Podcasts Subscription support.
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Edit: went looking for what a 700 action shortcut does. From the links:
It’s a daily wallpaper switcher. It pulls a random post from the 25 most popular posts of the day on r/earthporn ('https://www.reddit.com/r/earthporn'). Then it runs a shortcut that overlays a calendar+weather+reminder graphic over the image (pulls from phones info and events). That image is then set to the Lock Screen. Then the original image is blurred and set to the home screen. It has a few options (disabling calendar overlay, disabling blur).
The more I use this mini led display the more this screen blows me away, iOS 15 is going to look amazing on it.
"Despite no mention of the feature in the software's release notes, users on Reddit ('https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/nkk1rm/ios_and_ipados_146_have_made_running_shortcuts/') are...." No, it's not the Reddit users who made no mention, it was Apple who made no mention. Should be: "Despite Apple making no mention of the feature in the software's release notes, users on Reddit ('https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/nkk1rm/ios_and_ipados_146_have_made_running_shortcuts/') are...." (Sorry, folks, I'm a born editor.)