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Stephen Robles

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Deep dive into Automatically summarizing email attachments

This new feature allows you to create a powerful automation that automatically summarizes attachments from incoming emails. Instead of manually downloading and reading lengthy reports or documents, Apple Intelligence can now extract the key points and present them to you instantly. This saves significant time and helps you quickly grasp the essence of important files right from your inbox.

What's new

With the latest update, the Shortcuts app now allows you to build automations that trigger when you receive an email. By setting the automation to Run Immediately, you can have it process email attachments in the background without any manual confirmation. The key is to pass the Attachments from the Shortcut Input directly into a summarization shortcut, which uses Apple Intelligence to generate a concise summary of the document's contents.

How to use this feature

  1. Open the Shortcuts app and navigate to the Automation tab.
  2. Tap the + button and select Create Personal Automation.
  3. Choose the Email trigger and specify filters like a sender or subject.
  4. Enable the Run Immediately option so the automation works in the background.
  5. Add a Run Shortcut action and select your 'Summarize Doc AI' shortcut.
  6. Tap the input field on the Run Shortcut action and select Shortcut Input.
  7. Tap the Shortcut Input variable again, and change the property from 'Email' to Attachments. The automation will now automatically summarize any attachment from matching emails.
Documentation image
Documentation image

Key capabilities

  • Process any email attachment that contains text, such as PDFs, Word documents, or plain text files.
  • Customize the summarization prompt to get different outputs, like a 3-sentence summary, key bullet points, or both.
  • Run automations silently in the background, delivering summaries via notifications.
  • Filter which emails trigger the automation by specifying a sender, subject, or recipient.
  • Chain actions to save the summary to Apple Notes, create a reminder, or send it to another app.

Tips for getting the most out of this feature

For a more focused workflow, create a specific email filter in your automation. For instance, only summarize attachments from your boss or emails with 'Report' in the subject line. This prevents your device from processing every single attachment you receive. You can also modify the final step of your shortcut to save the summary to a specific note or app instead of just showing it as a notification.

Summary

Automatically summarizing email attachments is a game-changer for anyone who deals with frequent reports, documents, or long-form content via email. By combining a powerful email trigger with Apple Intelligence, you can create a 'set it and forget it' workflow that delivers essential information directly to you. This feature turns your iPhone into a proactive assistant that helps you stay informed and efficient.

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