[Poll] Should Apple require that developers support Applescript in their Mac apps (in the app store)?

Should Apple require that developers support Applescript in their Mac apps?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Nobody cares anymore

0 voters

I’ll be flummoxed if Apple does’t bake in Shortcut support in the next Mac OS release and once Shortcuts hits the Mac it’s going to quickly become the preferred way of scripting apps for newer apps.

What I would really like to see is for Apple to bring Shortcuts to the Mac and give users the option to create shortcuts either visually or using code.

3 Likes

My opinion: Beyond supplying the platform, Apple should have absolutely no say in Mac development (for software distributed outside of the App Store).

IMO, if Apple was serious about automation they wouldn’t have terminated Sal Soghoian and eliminated his position, Product Manager of Automation Technologies.

So you don’t agree with the notarization concept?

But users aren’t prevented from installing non-notarized apps - it’s just a rubber stamp that Apple determines App X is “safe”, whatever that means. :slight_smile:

Yet.

20 characters blah blah blah

yes I meant Apps sold in the AppStore. Devs of apps sold outside of the AppStore should be able to tell Apple to eabod.

1 Like

Require? No. If the consumers want AppleScript, they’ll make it known by not using the app.

I disagree. I think most consumers will just accept whatever grapefruit is shoved into their face… those of us here may do that though. Evernote dropped their applescript support but I had already left when they dropped the url scheme in iOS… :grinning:

1 Like

I think that it is a fine idea, but I believe that it is not mandatory. I write a lot of software that is not (and cannot be) notarized.

1 Like

I wish I knew why I would need AppleScript :man_shrugging:

I’d say Apple already provide developers with a framework for at least 1 form of automation support that can be baked in to an app. (Applescript and JXA.)

Applescript feels outdated, and going forward I’d expect developers to pick up JXA more and more, which would be great for Shortcuts on the Mac in a few years.

But to say Apple should make it a requirement would be going too far.
The frameworks are there, and it’s up to individual developers to embrace them

And in the end it’s up to the users to choose what suits you best.
If that’s the automation friendly option then fine, if not also fine.

Have you ever written any script for macOS (AppleScript or JXA)?
  • AppleScript
  • JXA
  • What is a script?
  • Nope

0 voters

It lets you do some weird stuff in certain applications.

In DEVONthink, for example, I was using it to fetch RSS feeds - and I wanted to fetch the entire linked article as a web page rather than just getting the feed. DEVONthink could fetch the feed automatically, but not the linked articles.

So I wrote (well, found example, copied, modified, rejiggered, etc.) an AppleScript that would pull the feed, grab each item’s web link, pass that to DEVONthink, and download it.

Lots of little stuff like that once you start getting into automation.