It’s likely many users still use Automator (which is from 2005). Removing it could break workflows for many people if removed. There’s a bunch of older apps in macOS like this. The latest version of macOS still has AirPort Utility, for example.
Airport utility has a hidden wifi strength measuring tool, which is super useful!
I use it often at work e.g. for developing a embedded Linux device that has a wifi dongle in the case.
I just wish these features could be updated and integrated into the OS or new app instead all these vestigial apps hanging around.
Like bringing the airport utility’s functionality into the OS proper should be part of the OS updates.
But instead, the network section in system prefs somehow gets MORE obtuse over time while good functionality languishes in a forgotten app and major OS updates are now primarily new emojis for messages.
Well, Shortcuts comes from the iOS world and is a relatively recent addition to macOS. Automator originated in macOS and I don't think it has made it over to iOS at this point?
That's not even the full extent of it though. Before Automator, there was Script Editor, which could also create script applications, but that doesn't seem to work so well anymore. Automator has become the preferred approach for that. But Script Editor is still around and is useful for looking up AppleScript dictionaries. These tell you if a given application offers special scripting support, and there are also a few general dictionaries like StandardAdditions that are worth a gander. I wish AppleScript existed for iOS.
And then there's the command line approach of using crontab to open your files with the open command. And osascript lets you run any AppleScript from the command line.
Shortcuts comes from the iOS world
I think this might well be the answer to my question. Shortcuts for Mac feels almost like an afterthought, as if they've just adapted the iPad version to run on macOS, but they've stripped out automations ability presumably because it wasn't compatible with the OS. As a result, we've got two apps that do more or less the same thing, but one is better suited to the complexity of macOS while the other is content carrying out basic tasks.
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