Apple's best AI idea looks a lot like vibe coding
Apple's most interesting new AI feature is hiding inside the Shortcuts app, not Siri. Users describe an automation in plain English and Apple Intelligence assembles the workflow, an approach The Verge compares to vibe coding. The shortcut still lands inside Apple's normal visual editor, so people see and adjust every step rather than trusting a black box.
Key Takeaways
- Maybe Apple Shortcuts are the future after all.
At WWDC 2026, Siri AI and Image Playground got the hype, but Apple can actually make our lives better in Safari and Shortcuts.
- A chatbot you can ask questions; quick ways to create or summarize text; bizarre, borderline creepy image-generation tools.
The company spent most of its WWDC keynote playing catch-up with the state of the AI art, announcing Siri features you can already find on Android phones and in the Claude and ChatGPT apps.
- Apple Shortcuts has always been a good idea in desperate need of a simpler interface.
It's a hugely powerful tool, essentially a way for users to visually create scripts that take actions automatically and across apps.
- I asked for a shortcut that would turn on Do Not Disturb automatically when I opened the Kindle app and instead just got a shortcut that turned on Do Not Disturb whenever I tapped the shortcut.
I asked for one that would put my device into Do Not Disturb, and start a 30-minute timer with " Stop Playing " as the setting in the "When Timer Ends" section, but the key "Stop Playing" step didn't work even after some follow-up requests.
- It's not flashy or overwrought, and it's not AI as an entirely new revolutionary interface that will change how you do everything forever and just trust me bro AI is the new UI.
Stats & Key Facts
- #by David Pierce Jun 9, 2026, 1:34 PM UTC Link Share Gift Part Of WWDC 2026: All the news from Apple's developers conference see all updates David Pierce is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech.
- #But a few minutes after I downloaded the first developer beta of iPadOS 26 (I didn't want to risk it on my Mac or my iPhone, both of which are too important to my daily life to install one of Apple's notoriously buggy and battery-crushing first betas), I found one of the few ways in which Apple can make a genuinely better AI product.
- #I asked for one that would put my device into Do Not Disturb, and start a 30-minute timer with " Stop Playing " as the setting in the "When Timer Ends" section, but the key "Stop Playing" step didn't work even after some follow-up requests.
Maybe Apple Shortcuts are the future after all. At WWDC 2026, Siri AI and Image Playground got the hype, but Apple can actually make our lives better in Safari and Shortcuts. Tech AI Apple Apple's best AI idea looks a lot like vibe coding Siri AI and Image Playground will get all the hype, but Apple can actually make our lives better in Safari and Shortcuts.
by David Pierce Jun 9, 2026, 1:34 PM UTC Link Share Gift Image: Apple Tech AI Apple Apple's best AI idea looks a lot like vibe coding Siri AI and Image Playground will get all the hype, but Apple can actually make our lives better in Safari and Shortcuts. by David Pierce Jun 9, 2026, 1:34 PM UTC Link Share Gift Part Of WWDC 2026: All the news from Apple's developers conference see all updates David Pierce is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Most of Apple's current AI ideas are roughly the same as everyone else's AI ideas. A chatbot you can ask questions; quick ways to create or summarize text; bizarre, borderline creepy image-generation tools. The company spent most of its WWDC keynote playing catch-up with the state of the AI art, announcing Siri features you can already find on Android phones and in the Claude and ChatGPT apps.
For more details please read the original article at The Verge AI.
Continue Learning
Comments
Comments appear only after moderation. Your email identifies your submission to the moderator and is never displayed here.
No approved comments yet.