Everything You Can Do With The Shortcuts App On IPhone

The Shortcuts app on the latest iPhones is very powerful and handy. It makes it simple to navigate apps and content quickly, with either a single tap or even a summon of Siri. The idea behind Shortcuts is to help you automate different tasks, like directions to a certain destination, based on different factors and inputs. You might want to automate a grouping of tasks. Perhaps you’ll call a Shortcut “Gym Time,” and it plays your Apple Music workout playlist and boots up your Fitness app.

Shortcuts work for both Apple and compatible third-party apps, automating various tasks and functions, including everything from apps on your phone to connected and compatible smart home devices.

iOS 17 review: The bubble is now greener on the other side

Apple is embracing its tight ecosystem with this release, further alienating Android users in the process.

Creating an iPhone Shortcut

To create an iPhone Shortcut, go to the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, then go to All Shortcuts.
Tap the plus (+) button towards the top right corner.
There, you’ll be asked to Add an Action. This would the first thing you want to happen when you trigger this new shortcut. You can choose your own or peruse the Action Suggestions provided. You can also type a search term into the Search bar at the top.
For example, here, I have searched Giphy.
Then, select your second action. Here, I have chosen Share. You can continue to add actions as desired, repeating these steps.
After doing this, whenever I select this Shortcut, the phone will automatically open Trending Giphy GIFs and allow me to share them.
Tap Done.
The Shortcut will now appear in the menu. Tap and hold it and select Rename to name it whatever you want.
Once you want to use one of the Shortcuts, select it, as I have done here with the Giphy shortcut.
Choose the GIF you want (in the case of my example), and it will automatically move to the next step selected in sequence, which, in my case, is to share the GIF.

Creating an iPhone Automation

You can also use the Shortcuts app to create an automation, which is triggered by a specific event, versus manually going to this shortcut. This is useful for smart home gadgets if you want specific actions to occur when you arrive home or leave, for example, if you change a setting on your iPhone at a specific time each day, and so on.

To create a personal automation on an iPhone, tap Automation in the bottom menu of the Shortcuts app.
Tap Create Personal Automation.
Select the desired Event, Travel, Communicationsor Settings trigger.
Tap Next.
Select Add Action. Choose the Action you want, like Play Music. Or you can search available actions by category, app, or a specific action using the Search bar.
Repeat for as many actions as you want to be triggered for a specific automation.
You can set it to Ask Before Running or simply have the automation trigger automatically.
Select Done.
Here’s a second example of a separate Action I created to open the Waze app every morning before I leave for work.

Use the Gallery for useful pre-defined Shortcuts

If you’re not sure where to start and what would be some Shortcuts you might find useful, you can turn to the Gallery to find some common ones. This is a good place to start if you’re new to Shortcuts.

Select Gallery in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a curated selection of shortcuts placed into different categories. Essentialsfor example, include things like animating text within a GIF, creating meeting notes, silencing the phone during a meeting, and so on. Collaboration Shortcuts can include sharing your availability and compressing files for sending, while Photography Shortcuts range from removing backgrounds from portrait images and AirDropping screenshots.

Writing Toolbox Shortcuts include things like tagging notes in bulk and translating text. On the Interweb involves tasks like downloading files and shortening URLs, and Work From Anywhere includes setting break timers, configuring apps on the phone for home and away settings, and more.

Other options include Morning Routine (timers for brushing teeth, logging caffeine, logging water, for example); Quick Shortcuts (markup and send, waking Apple TV, speed dialing); and Featured (timers and music for washing your hands through the day, Shazaming and saving a song, for instance.) There’s also Explore Apple Music, Stay Healthy (like logging water intake), and Put in on the Calendar for keeping track of your day. The productivity ones continue with Read It Later, Do More with Omnifocusand Around the House for tasks like setting a timer for the washing machine.

Finally, there are additional Shortcuts in the Gallery for Tools for Making Music (like saving a song to learn how to play it later), News Buffs for exploring sites like Twitter or Top News sites, and fun ones like Learn Something New for a single tap to a word of the day. Or, you can leverage ones like Use Your Clipboard to copy something across all devices in one click, All the GIFs! for easy, one-step making and/or converting images to GIFs, and Evernote for various utilities relating to that productivity app.

When you find a Gallery shortcut you like, tap Add Shortcut or Set Up Shortcut if it’s an app that requires additional steps. If it’s the latter, follow the instructions, then Add. Here, I have chosen the Log Water Shortcut.

Press and hold to rename as with any other Shortcut.

How to run Shortcuts

Once you have a selection of Shortcuts set up, you can run them at any time right from the Shortcuts app. You can also run them from Spotlight Search by typing their names in the search field. Alternatively, you could add a shortcut to your Home Screen for quick access. To do that, follow these instructions:

Press and hold the Shortcut icon.
Select Share.
Select Add to Home Screen.
Confirm the Home Screen Name and Icon and select Add.
The app will now appear on your Home Screen.

You can also use Siri to call up a Shortcut by voice. For example, with the Log Water Gallery Shortcut, simply say, “Hey Siri, Log Water,” and it will add the details to the Apple Health app.

Note: you may receive a message saying Shortcuts do not have access to your water data or whatever data you are trying to call up with the Shortcut. If so, do as follows:

Select Show on the pop-up.
Select Allow Access to permit the logging of the detail in question.
Select if you want Shortcuts to be able to write and/or read data from this feature.
Tap Allow at the top, right.
Select Done.

If you want to personalize the Home Screen icon using custom icon packs for iPhone, so these Shortcuts are more easily identifiable and personal to you, you can do this as well.

Shortcuts meet the Action button

If you’re an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max user, then you can rely on the Action button to run a shortcut. To do so:

Launch the Settings app.
Go to the Action Button section.
Scroll horizontally until you reach the Shortcut option.
Tap on Choose a Shortcut.
Select the shortcut you want to run whenever you tap and hold on the Action button, and you’re good to go!

Action button alternative

If you use an older iPhone that doesn’t have an Action button, you can still make shortcuts more accessible, thanks to the double and triple back-tap gestures. Though, your device must be an iPhone 8 or a newer model for this to work.

Launch the Settings app.
Go to the Accessibility section.
Tap on Touch.
Scroll down and go to the Back Tap section.
Go to either Double Tap or Triple Tap section, based on your preference. You can also set a unique shortcut for each of the two, enabling you to double or triple tap the back of your iPhone to execute either shortcut.
Once you’re in the Double Tap or Triple Tap section, scroll to the very bottom and choose the desired shortcut from the list.

Which iPhones can use the Shortcuts app?

iPhone Shortcuts are available for all iPhone models running at least iOS 13, including the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max. The feature even translates over to the Mac where you can use tons of great shortcuts on macOS when working on the big screen. It’s worth exploring all the options in the Shortcuts Gallery as well as different custom Shortcuts you can set up to make your life easier and more convenient.

18:04