I found it one day while organizing all of the apps on my Mac, asked the internet what it was, and started using it shortly after. Oddly enough, it was Automator – not Shortcuts – that got me into digital automation on Apple devices. Now that we’ve got a basic idea of the apps we’re going to be covering in this article, it’s time to take a deeper look at each of these three apps. KEYSMITH VS KEYBOARD MAESTRO MACYou can quite literally automate anything on your Mac with Keyboard Maestro, you just have to figure out how. The result is an app that is incredibly powerful and flexible. It offers an even deeper level of control than Automator with a simplicity that nearly rivals (but doesn’t quite stack up to) Shortcuts. That said, the popularity of Keyboard Maestro is well deserved. Admittedly, it’s my favorite on this list by a mile, so I’m pretty biased. It’s been around since 2002 and has remained one of the most popular automation apps on Mac. Keyboard Maestro was not developed by Apple and is, to my surprise, the oldest app on this list. Keyboard Maestro: A third-party solutionĪnd that brings us to Keyboard Maestro. And for users running older versions of macOS, Automator will remain a favorite option. You’ll be able to import your Automator routines to Shortcuts, though, so it’s not all bad news. Shortcuts is positioned to be what Automator never could be – a cross-platform, easy-to-use automation app for the average Apple user.Īutomator is still going to be available on macOS Monterey, but Apple has stated that it is planning to phase it out in upcoming updates in favor of Shortcuts. Shortcuts has existed on iOS since 2018, was recently added to iPadOS, and was just added to macOS with the recent macOS Monterey update. In this case, Apple has gone with a replacement. KEYSMITH VS KEYBOARD MAESTRO UPDATEAnd that means it’s time for either an update or a replacement. While Automator was innovative at the time, that’s just the problem: There is nothing innovative about Automator anymore. It allows you to add options to right-click menus, automatically manage your folders, and create routines that make it easy to batch process files on your computer. It launched with macOS Tiger in 2005 and has been a part of macOS ever since.Īutomator offers a pretty substantial level of control over your Mac. So, for those that don’t know, Automator was Apple’s first foray into digital automation. I’ve been surprised to see that there are even Shortcuts and Keyboard Maestro users who have never heard of Automator – even though it’s pre-installed on their computer! It’s been shipping with every version of macOS since 2005, even if most of you have never heard of it. It is, however, the oldest automation app offered by Apple that’s still around. KEYSMITH VS KEYBOARD MAESTRO FREESo definitely feel free to explore – I’m just focusing on Keyboard Maestro as it’s one I have extensive personal experience with.Īlright, here’s a brief breakdown of each of these apps! Automator: The legacy optionĪutomator is, to my surprise, not the oldest app in this post. There are a plethora of other third-party apps, and there are several that specialize ( Hazel, for instance, is an automation app that just automates your folder management). Keyboard Maestro, on the other hand, is a paid third-party app. Two of these are built-in: Automator and Shortcuts. The best digital automation apps for macOSīelow are the three digital automation apps I see as being the most important on Mac today. So we’re going to specifically be focusing on macOS, where automation apps can accomplish far more. There are automation apps for iPhone (including the built-in Shortcuts app), but my experience has been that these apps are generally underwhelming and underpowered. To be clear, this post is going to focus on automation on your Mac. Now anyone can use digital automation to save time on their computer. And thanks to apps like IFTTT and Zapier, it’s also become way more accessible. Over the last ten years, digital automation has gotten far more complex. An even simpler example is setting an automated email reply when you’re on vacation. For instance, if you set up rules for your email inbox that automatically sort certain emails into related folders, that’s digital automation. In short, it refers to any tools or apps that can automate your computer tasks. Automator: Which is your favorite?ĭigital automation is a simple idea with a lot of applications. Shortcuts is the best option for most users.How do Keyboard Maestro, Shortcuts, and Automator stack up?.It’s the easiest way to start exploring digital automation.Shortcuts is now on Mac – and it’s pretty good.You get a deeper level of system control compared to third-party apps like Keyboard Maestro.Keyboard Maestro: A third-party solution.The best digital automation apps for macOS.
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