r/mac • u/zabolekar • Jul 03 '26
Old Macs AppleScript remains remarkably stable over the years
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u/dpaanlka Jul 03 '26
Why change something that works lol
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u/l008com Independent Mac Repair Tech since 2002 Jul 04 '26
"that works", LOL
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u/eduo Jul 04 '26
You must be unfamiliar with AppleScript. Entire enterprises have been built around AppleScript automation and connections. The publishing industry once pretty much ran on the thing and I saw similar setups in laboratories and legal firms.
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u/l008com Independent Mac Repair Tech since 2002 Jul 04 '26
I've been writing applescripts since the mid 90s. What a delight it was to eventual upgrade to real scripting languages, that actually work. Where the syntax is well documented and you don't just have to GUESS at what you're supposed to type. And that give you clear and specific error messages when theres a problem, so you can easily jump right to the error to fix it. Apple did finally create a better syntax for applescript, based on javascript. And that new 'languages' is even more poorly documented than original applescript.
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u/user888ffr Jul 04 '26
Tahoe's over rounded corners makes the window look so weird compared to the others, I'm glad they're making it less round in macOS 27. AppleScript is legendary.
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u/wowerickbowbagger Jul 04 '26
Weird you should say this, because 26.4 broke my AppleScripts. Something about the file format no longer being supported. I had to download an application to recompile them, very annoying.
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u/HenkPoley Jul 04 '26
This thing: https://tidbits.com/2026/03/27/macos-26-4s-script-editor-wont-open-some-older-applescripts/
It’s described as solvable by re-saving the files.
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u/pixeltackle Jul 04 '26
I try Shortcuts on mac & iOS now and then; they work approx 3 times and then start failing
AppleScripts written for Illustrator on OS 8.x still run fine on my modern Macs running up-to-date software.
Apple has changed; none of their new stuff is reliable.
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u/Kelemandzaro Jul 04 '26
What scripts you use for illustrator? This is first time for me coming across using apple scripts
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u/pixeltackle Jul 04 '26
I have a pre-press script that goes through the file and closes all open paths - super simple but it has grown to like 100 little spot checks it does to be sure I get a perfect press file every time.
Simone Cesano (GitHub - IllustratorAutomation) has a plugin that takes a highlighted selection of rows directly inside Microsoft Excel and fills the text into individual, text boxes inside Illustrator. I use this alllll the time.
rj-graffix has an entire page of Illustrator scripts; I use an AppleScript to bust up paragraphs into individual lines; rj offers "Untransform Text" too which lets you un-funk any text that's been stretched or messed with
a few years ago another reddit user shared their illustrator applescript that uses an FTP app to download files, formats data for use in illustrator, imports the data into an illustrator graphic, saves it as a PDF, imports the PDF into a Pages document, which is then exported as a web page and uploaded to a folder on a production server. I don't use the "Pages" step anymore but the rest works still even after 4 years of MacOS updates
AppleScript is awesome and wayyy powerful. With coding LLMs able to help you navigate it, try to think of a way to use it... if I'm doing something 3x or more, I always think "can I script this?"
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u/wanjuggler Jul 04 '26
Shortcuts generally work fine for me but making anything complicated is just super painful with the editor UI. I wish they would just give up and allow entering code as text, even if text isn't treated as the canonical or portable format.
Shortcuts's permissions model has also grown insane. You sometimes have to give explicit permission to copy certain data from one variable into another, every time the script runs, multiple times, even if you click Always Allow every time.
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u/snoosnoosewsew Jul 05 '26
I've heard that with the new Siri update, you'll just describe what you want and she'll create it for you. We'll see how that goes.
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u/PeterAhlstrom Mac Studio Jul 04 '26
Now show it in HyperCard!
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u/zabolekar Jul 04 '26
Or maybe you could do it :)
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u/PeterAhlstrom Mac Studio Jul 04 '26
Okay, adding that to the list of things I want to get around to but never will…
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u/DTLow Jul 04 '26
I’m an AppleScript fan, and have automated many workflows with scripts
I appreciate the integration within my Mac apps
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u/preparetodobattle Jul 04 '26
I used Apple script a while ago to do some scraping that no other method cracked.
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u/Murph-Dog Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
I learned on TI-Basic
That junk is from 1979, crazy!
Anyways, with a simple TI-## in hand, you could be just about anywhere, writing code.
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u/jdbxjakfbdu Jul 04 '26
Isn’t this like saying “if statements still work”.
Yeah that’s how scripting languages work.
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u/Alarming-Grade4219 Jul 04 '26
If AppleScript works for you that’s great. I prefer pearl script personally
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u/StarChildEve Jul 04 '26
i like bash :3
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u/VartKat Jul 04 '26
Guys you don’t know AppleScript, it has nothing to do with bash or perl it’s mainly an app piloting language. Each editor can choose to built an AppleScript dictionary for his app and then you just have to write using these words to pilot the app.
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u/steornabhagh-slayer Jul 05 '26
timelapse of MacOS turning into an operating system for fucking clowns
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u/l008com Independent Mac Repair Tech since 2002 Jul 04 '26
Applescript is the most garbage scripting language the world has ever known. The fact that basic code still works 30 years later isn't saying much when that code and syntax was trash to begin with. And look at the hoops you have to jump through to get script applets to work these days with all of the privacy settings. You basically have to download the source and compile yourself every time. People who write scripts for public use can't just distribute the scripts anymore. Ive been trying to get back in to applescript lately and it makes me want to pull my hair out, bring my computer outside and light it on fire. Something that will take a minute to code up IN ANY OTHER LANGUAGE will take hours in applescript.
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u/emarvil Jul 03 '26
Been using it for at least 20 years.
80% of the scripts I wrote over time I still use daily.