Apple's latest software update brings a round of changes to the Shortcuts app, including a new automation built around the foldable iPhone Duo. The changes are listed in the Shortcuts release notes on Apple's support site, and 9to5Mac has also walked through them.

A trigger for the iPhone Duo

The headline addition is a new personal automation called "When my iPhone is opened or closed." As the name suggests, it fires when the iPhone Duo is unfolded or folded shut, letting owners chain actions such as changing a Focus mode, adjusting a setting or launching an app to the state of the hinge. 9to5Mac says the automation has already proven popular with early Duo users.

Updated automations

Two existing automations get refinements. The Workout trigger, "When I start a workout," now works with the Fitness app on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS. The App trigger, such as "When Weather is opened or closed," can now provide the name of the app that was closed, an option available on iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

A wider reach for "Use Model"

The "Use Model" action, which lets a shortcut call on an AI model, can now fetch up-to-date information from the web in more languages. Apple's notes say the capability extends beyond its earlier English-only availability, and 9to5Mac names French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish as the added languages.

Editor tweaks

The Shortcut Editor also gets small quality-of-life changes. On the Mac, users can now configure the window layout using the "Show Actions" and "Show Describe a Shortcut" menu items. On iPhone and iPad, shortcut names and icons can be edited directly from the library, without opening each shortcut first.

Context

The Shortcuts updates arrive with iOS 27.2, which began rolling out earlier this week and also brings changes to Siri AI, FaceTime and Messages. The iPhone Duo launched with iOS 27.1, and iOS 27.2 adds a couple of Duo-specific features, of which the new automation is one.

None of the changes are major on their own, but together they show Apple continuing to build automation hooks around its newest hardware while widening the languages supported by its AI-powered actions. Details and availability may vary by device and region, and Apple's support page remains the definitive list.

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