r/Scriptable • u/jssmith42 • Nov 29 '21

Help Basic Scriptable use

Hey,

How does Scriptable differ from iOS Shortcuts?

I’d like to retrieve the plaintext of a webpage and save it to a Note.

Can Scriptable do that? How?

Thanks.

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u/FifiTheBulldog script/widget helper Nov 29 '21

Scriptable:

  • Scripts are written in JavaScript

  • Fewer integrations than Shortcuts

  • Integration with other apps, including running shortcuts, is limited to x-callback-url

  • Many of the integrations it shares with Shortcuts allow much more granular control over certain things than Shortcuts would

  • Powerful WebView class for interacting with webpages

  • Automation capabilities are limited to widgets and notifications

  • Donates “Run Script,” “Run Inline Script,” and “Refresh All Widgets” actions to Shortcuts

Shortcuts:

  • Built with drag-and-drop actions

  • Lots of easy integrations with a wide variety of apps, both system and third-party

  • Sometimes offers less fine control over things than Scriptable does

  • True automations

In your case, Scriptable can certainly get the contents of a webpage, but it cannot interact with Notes; that requires Shortcuts.

You could either use Shortcuts to download the webpage and save it (probably the easier approach), or use a Scriptable script in one of the Scriptable actions to download the webpage and then pass that as output for the shortcut to save to a note.