This feature in Apple’s new iPadOS is easy to miss, but it’s a killer productivity tool

Jason Aten for Inc.:

When Apple first launched iPadOS at its developer’s conference earlier this month, the overwhelming consensus seemed to be that the iPad was finally getting the operating system it deserved. The iPad Pro’s, in particular, were far more powerful than the software was capable of taking advantage of, and this update brought pretty much all of the most anticipated features.
After 10 days of using the beta version on an 11” iPad Pro, I stand firmly behind my earlier conclusion that the iPad is finally ready to replace your laptop. What I didn’t realize at the time was that there’s one feature that stands above the rest: the new Siri Shortcuts combined with the widgets on the home screen.
The newly designed home screen allows you to show widgets. Along with your calendar, weather, or any number of other widgets like your mail, you can create a widget with your top Siri Shortcuts. That means that on my home screen, I have a nice button sitting there for “New Article Setup.”

MacDailyNews Take: It’s possible that, at least for iPadOS power users (don’t snicker!), Siri Shortcuts on iPad OS are poised to be much more used and more widespread than they are currently.
Automation may be about to inch that much more closer to mainstream!
(We believe that no matter how easy Apple’s Shortcuts app makes automation easy, average users will never automate their own workflows until AI does it for them, even though spending an hour or two playing with it would save them untold hours in the future).