Without warning, Apple has started blocking shortcut links in the Shortcuts app on iOS and iPadOS. This means that if you try to install one with an iCloud link that has not been created recently, you will see a notice in the app that says something like “the creator has stopped sharing this shortcut” , which is not true. in most cases, since it has been Apple that has prevented this action. What is the reason behind this? Are you trying to prevent some danger from the iPhone? We analyze it.
Why has Apple blocked these links?
At the time of publishing this news, there is no official information about the reason why the Californian company has blocked the oldest links. If a link to one of these is now created, even if the shortcut itself is old, there will be no problem. The error comes when the link was created a long time ago, which can be annoying if it is downloaded from a website that was uploaded a long time ago.
In this writing yesterday we experienced this problem in our own flesh. First when one of our editors tried to download a shortcut for his own use and found that it was not possible for him. On the other hand, some readers alerted us that some shortcuts shared on this website a few months ago had stopped working. After this we decided to inform ourselves on social networks and forums, discovering that these were indeed being blocked by Apple itself.
We do not know if it is an error on the part of Apple , which without its claim has blocked these links, which could be solved in the next few hours or days. However, there is another current of opinion that leads us to think that the blockade may be caused by security reasons . It is not known if any of those thousands of links to shortcuts have been able to infect an iPhone or iPad, something improbable a priori, but not impossible and that would explain this sudden blocking by the company.
If you are experiencing these issues, we are sorry to tell you that there is no apparent solution at this time. The only thing that could help you is for the person who shared the shortcut to create a link to it again and, if you are the one who created it, to generate it again. We insist on emphasizing that the problem comes with old links and not with those that are created from now on.
Do this if you can’t share the new ones either
If you are experiencing the problem even with new links, check that you have enabled the permissions to install third-party shortcuts , since this option is disabled in iOS and iPadOS by default. You must go to Settings> Shortcuts and activate the “Allow unreliable shortcuts” tab. After that, you should be able to install these shortcuts on your device without any impediment.
We will be attentive to any new information that clarifies what is happening in these cases and if a short-term solution is envisaged, either by Apple or a third party.