Shortcuts Finally Learned How to Remember Things

How iOS 27 gives Shortcuts a memory and what you can actually do with it

My dog saw all the shortcuts I built for myself and started feeling left out, so I made one for her too.

Now every walk we take gets added to her own little dashboard.

A Shortcut that remembers every dog walk. Using the new Store Content action in iOS 27, it stores details at start and end of a walk, then updates a tracker and sends a summary when you’re finished.

My iPhone records the distance, total walk time, and my step count. Then when we finish my dog gets a walk report like she just wrapped up her shift. She’s hitting her daily goals, and now basically has better performance analytics than I do.

That dashboard exists because of a change in iOS 27: Shortcuts learned how to store information between runs.

Your Shortcuts finally started keeping records. So your automations can build systems that hold onto information from one run to the next.

Shortcuts Started Keeping Records

These new actions let a Shortcut save information, retrieve it later, and remove it when it’s no longer needed.

iOS 27 adds storage actions that let a Shortcut save and reuse information later.

Store Content saves information under a name you choose. It handles dates, text, lists, even images, whatever your workflow needs down the line.

Get Stored Content finds what you saved by name and hands it back.

Delete Stored Content clears it out when the job’s done.

Working With Stored Content

Every stored item is saved using a name.

The name is the label your Shortcut uses to find it later. Choose something you’ll recognize, like lastWorkout, parkingSpot, instagramLink, or dailyTargets.

Using the same name replaces the previous value.

Store Content only keeps one value for each name. If you store new content using an existing name, the old value is replaced with the new one.

Select information to access storage and add or edit there.

Use the storage inside the shortcut to review any stored values and save your own manually.

Turn on Global Value when other Shortcuts need access.

By default, stored content belongs inside the Shortcut that saved it. Turn on Global Value to use it across your Shortcuts.

Get Content Stored as a Global Value.

If the content was saved as a Global Value, make sure that’s is also turned on when using Get Stored Content.

Global Values Connect Multiple Shortcuts

Global Values let one Shortcut share information with another.

For example, one Shortcut reviews today’s calendar and uses AI to decide your top priorities for the day. It stores those priorities as a Global Value named dailyTarget.

Later, a different Shortcut retrieves that same value, looks at your open reminders, and uses AI again to decide which three tasks deserve your attention first.

Instead of every Shortcut starting from scratch, they work together. One Shortcut creates the information, another builds on it.

This works with much more than daily priorities. One Shortcut could store meeting notes, travel plans, AI prompts, project status, or anything else another Shortcut needs later.

Make Your Clipboard Remember

Your clipboard holds whatever you copied last, and that’s its whole personality. This shortcut turns it into a working history you control.

It starts with a menu that lets you save or copy something:

To save something you’ve copied:

1. Get Clipboard

2. Choose where it goes

3. Store Content

To get it again later:

1. Choose a saved item

2. Get Stored Content

3. Copy to Clipboard

When you want the deluxe version, add a View option with Get Stored Content plus Show Content, and a Clear option with Delete Stored Content.

From here you can save snippets you copy all day, keep a whole lineup of clipboard entries, stash code, store your go-to replies, and basically build your own text storage vault.

Get Links You Use All the Time

Someone asks for your LinkedIn and suddenly you’re opening the app, tapping through your profile, and hunting for the share button like it moved. You send that same link out at every networking event, so store it where your Shortcuts can grab it.

Start by adding your links in the shortcut storage under information (the “i” at the bottom of the screen). Use names you’d recognize, like Instagram or LinkedIn.

Then build the shortcut with 4 actions:

1. List - use this to list the same names you saved in your storage.

2. Choose from List - so you can pick the link you need

3. Get Stored Content - grabs what you saved using the selection from the list

4. Copy the stored content to your clipboard

If you’re using Global Variables, turn that toggle on so the item is accessible from any shortcut, not just this one. Check your stored content list any time you want to confirm what’s global and what isn’t.

Beyond social links, this works for Wi-Fi passwords, brand colors, company info, or any prompt you reuse constantly.

Keep a Running Record

Run the shortcut every time you try a new spot, and it grabs your location and stores it alongside your rating.

Over time you’ve got a running log you built without opening a spreadsheet once.

A record gets interesting when another Shortcut picks it up and acts on it.

Same structure works for plant watering, dog walks, medication logs, inventory, expenses, workout history, daily mood, or tracking progress on a project.

Your Shortcuts Started Keeping Receipts

Now your shortcut remembers what happened, keeps track of the details, and puts that information to work. It stores data, updates it over time, and keeps it ready whenever your automations need it.

The biggest job of all goes to your AI setup. Store your AI instructions as Global Values, meaning your prompts, your writing style, and your automation settings live under names every Shortcut can read.

Every Apple Intelligence or ChatGPT-powered Shortcut you build starts with the same information, because you handed it the same context you’d give a new hire on day two. You set it up in your own words and every automation on your phone speaks them back.

So it basically learned how to keep track of the things you actually want it to remember.

Give it a job and let it keep track of the information you need. The actions are live in the developer beta today.

Get Started with iOS 27

iOS 27 works on iPhone 11 and newer. It’s in developer beta right now, with public beta landing later this month.

To get it:

• Available now: Register as an Apple developer for free at developer.apple.com/register

• Coming soon: Sign up for the public beta at beta.apple.com once it’s live

Once you’re signed up, open your iPhone and go to Settings → General → Software Update → Beta Updates.

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If you’re building with Shortcuts, the Shortcuts Vault gives you more than 50 iPhone and Mac shortcuts to explore, customize, and build on, with free updates as I add new ones.