Import any .shortcuts file you want into the Shortcuts app with Importcuts

The Shortcuts app is especially useful when you want to make certain behaviors easier, or even automate them. Unfortunately, Apple exercises a level of control over this feature that some users might find intolerable.

An image of an icon for Apple's Shortcuts app, set against a dark blue background

A great example would be when Apple stopped allowing users to import .shortcut files starting with iOS & iPadOS 13, a move that continued to haunt users up until iOS & iPadOS 15, which finally brought users the ability to import signed .shortcut files.

While importing signed .shortcut files is better than not being able to import anything at all, it’s still more restrictive than being able to import any .shortcut file you want. Consequently, iOS developer 0xilis released a new and free jailbreak tweak dubbed Importcuts to counteract this change

If it wasn’t already evident based on the context, Importcuts simply lets jailbreakers who install the tweak to import any .shortcuts file they want to their Shortcuts app.

In removing those limitations set by Apple, users have more freedom to do what they want with their own device, and furthermore, it’s easier to share shortcuts between devices without an iCloud account.

Our best speculation regarding why Apple killed the ability to import unsigned .shortcuts files in iOS & iPadOS 13 is to prevent users from falling victim to potentially malicious shortcuts. Of course, some users would have appreciated the ability to bypass this — especially advanced users — but they never got it.

Those interested in giving Importcuts a try can download the tweak for free from zachary7829’s personal repository via their favorite package Mauser app. The tweak supports jailbroken iOS & iPadOS 13 and 14 devices on which .shortcut file importing is disabled by default.

Anyone why isn’t already using zachary7829’s personal repository can add it to their package manager app of choice by using the URL provided below:

https://zachary7829.github.io/CydiaRepo

Do you plan to remove the Shortcut importing limitations imposed by Apple with the Importcuts tweak? Be sure to let us know why or why not in the comments section down below.