“Fans of macOS automation features like Automator and AppleScript feared the worst this week as it transpired that head of the automation technologies division, Sal Soghoian, had left the company and the whole unit inside Apple had been closed down,” Benjamin Mayo reports for 9to5Mac. “This fuelled speculation that Apple was abandoning a core power feature of the pro Mac user’s wheelhouse.”
“A 9to5Mac reader (who asked to remain anonymous) emailed Apple software exec Craig Federighi about the future of automation on the Mac,” Mayo reports. “Federighi responded with a definitive reply that Apple “has every intent” to continue supporting automation on macOS.”
“Craig Federighi’s reply says that Apple will at least continue supporting the automation workflows for the foreseeable future,” Mayo reports, “although it doesn’t necessarily promise the systems will receive any new major features.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is great news for power users!
SEE ALSO:
Why the hell would Apple terminate AppleScript and Automator guru Sal Soghoian? – November 17, 2016
Correction. This is lukewarm news for power users. No warm fuzzies that the automation tools will continue to be supported and evolve.
I remember the days of HyperCard. Apple just left it in the dirt when they could have evolved the code into AppleScript and gently pulled us into the future instead of leaving all that legacy code with no place to go.
“until we kill the desktop”
Read, we won’t remove it but we will not make any effort to keep it working after this version of the OS.
Told you so
True.. Just yesterday.
One mistake of Apple’s still feels wrong after all these years was the abandonment of HyperCard and its HyperScript programming language. AppleScript’s structure was a poor replacement for the ease of use for non-programmers that HyperCard represented. HyperCard was supposed to get folded into Quicktime, which would have been amazing.
Or, more likely, would have been a total hash.
I liked Hypercard, a lot. Used it for prototyping UIs. It was easy and fast. That doesn’t mean it would be great to integrate with Quicktime.
Applescript and automation tools in general could definitely benefit from some greater love from Apple. I can see how it doesn’t quite fit with their design ethos, but it’s wrong to handicap a computer by not allowing it to rise to its potential to eliminate tedious tasks by making the greatest possible use of automated tools. Craig, if you’re listening, help us out.
The halcyon days of Apple are over. Mac lovers need to look elsewhere for the tools we need to do our work.
Apple is an iOS company now and if you need more than the half-baked, stripped down, cumbersome touch-based iOS you will have to look elsewhere.
Who knows, perhaps Linux on the desktop will make a resurgence…
IOW: Apple “has every intent” to continue STAGNATING automation on macOS.
BTW: Sal Soghoian’s list of incredibly informative and useful Mac automation websites is here:
https://macosxautomation.com
https://macosxautomation.com/about.html
You’re going to learn stuff there that Apple never told you. Why, I’ll never know.