Workflow cofounder and Shortcuts engineering manager departs Apple

Shortcuts has become one of Apple’s most-loved apps, allowing users to create powerful automations on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Shortcuts is built on the foundation of Workflow, a third-party automation app that Apple acquired in 2017.

Now, Workflow cofounder Ari Weinstein has announced that he is leaving Apple.

Weinstein co-founded Workflow in 2013 and turned it into a powerful automation tool for iPhone, despite the limitations Apple imposes on third-party apps. When Apple acquired Workflow in 2017, Weinstein joined Apple as a software engineering manager working on Shortcuts and other intelligence and “proactive” features for Apple platforms.

Weinstein announced his departure in a thread on Mastodon yesterday:

I left Apple this month after 6 years (9 including Workflow!)

When we made the Workflow app at a hackathon, I never dreamed that it would be preinstalled on every iPhone, and power systems like Shortcuts and App Intents. I’m so grateful for this journey and for our team.

I’ve loved Apple and its products since I was a kid, and getting to work there, along with so many talented people, has been a real honor, and a lot of fun.

So it’s really tough to leave, but I’m excited to take some time off, and build something new!

Apple has received quite a bit of recognition from users for how it handled the Workflow acquisition. Initially, Apple turned Workflow into a free app, and it remained available via the App Store. It also continued to receive updates and new features, despite initial concerns to the contrary.

With the release of iOS 12 the following year, Apple debuted its all-new Shortcuts app, building on the basis of Workflow. Moving inside Apple allowed these types of automations to become more powerful and advanced, removing the limitations that Worfklow had to build around as a third-party app.

At a glance, Weinstein’s departure from Apple might seem bad for the future of Shortcuts. But while it’s certainly a loss for the company, my understanding is that Shortcuts has a lot of support inside Apple and the company is more than committed to the app’s future. Outside Apple, there is a huge community of Shortcuts fans who have created some impressive libraries of Shortcuts for anyone to try.