Sky: Former Shortcuts Creators Unveil AI-Powered Mac Assistant

The Birth of Sky: A New Era of Mac Assistance

Ari Weinstein and Conrad Kramer, the minds behind the popular automation app Workflow (which later became Apple's Shortcuts), have unveiled their latest creation: Sky. This AI-powered assistant for macOS is poised to revolutionize how users interact with their Macs, offering a level of integration and understanding previously unseen in desktop AI applications 1

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Unparalleled Integration with macOS

What sets Sky apart from other AI assistants is its deep integration with macOS. The app uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to comprehend which windows are open on the Mac, their contents, and the potential actions that can be performed based on those apps' contents 2

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. This level of awareness allows Sky to perform complex tasks across multiple applications with simple, natural language commands.

Built-in Tools and Custom Capabilities

Sky comes equipped with a collection of built-in "tools" for popular macOS applications such as Calendar, Messages, Notes, Safari, Finder, Mail, and screenshots. These pre-configured tools allow users to immediately start leveraging Sky's capabilities out of the box 1

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For power users, Sky offers the ability to create custom tools. These can combine custom LLM prompts with actions powered by Shortcuts, shell scripts, AppleScript, and custom instructions. In the future, Sky plans to incorporate MCP (Mac Catalyst Platform) into its toolkit, further expanding its capabilities 1

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Simplifying Complex Tasks

Federico Viticci, who had the opportunity to test Sky, provided an example of how the app simplifies tasks. Instead of going through multiple steps to share a link from Safari, users can simply tell Sky to "send a link and a summary to [person]." Sky will then get the link, summarize the webpage, and send an iMessage to the specified person, all with a single command 2

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AI Flexibility and Customization

Sky offers users the choice between GPT 4.1 or Claude as its underlying LLM. However, its deep macOS integration allows it to perform tasks beyond what these LLMs can do alone. The app also supports creating custom tools using natural language, making it accessible to users of all technical levels 2

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Launch and Availability

Sky is set to launch in the summer of 2025. While pricing details have not been announced, the developers have hinted at a free component. Interested users can join a waitlist by submitting their email on the app's website 1

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As anticipation builds for Sky's release, many in the tech community are noting that this level of AI integration feels like functionality Apple itself should be building into its platforms. The success of Sky could potentially influence the direction of AI integration in future versions of macOS.