If you aren’t familiar with iOS shortcuts, you might as well take a peek at how they can help you save time every day. Don’t worry Android users, there are also similar applications for your phone and google devices as well. Because we are so obsessed with saving time and energy, we scoured the internet to compile a list of our favorite iOS shortcuts. Here are the topics we will cover:
- What are iOS shortcuts anyway?
- How to get started with Apple shortcuts?
- A list of our favorite shortcuts
- Where else can I find popular shortcuts?
- What are Automations?
Apple Shortcuts have been available for a while now, but they are starting to become more and more powerful with recent iOS updates. With the iOS 13.1 update, Apple has built-in the shortcut functionality in the iPhone itself.
The recent update has also made the shortcuts more user-friendly with additional settings that haven’t been available to the public. This will now give everyone the ability to create, share, and leverage the automation feature with their favorite iOS shortcuts.
What are iOS shortcuts anyway?
If you click on the ‘Shortcuts’ application from the iOS 13.1+ update, you will see three options to help save you time every day:
- My Shortcuts – This will let you create shortcuts and run them from this tab
- Automation – This will let you create automated tasks that can incorporate shortcuts
- Gallery – The gallery will let you choose from Apple’s pre-built favorite iOS shortcuts
In the ‘Shorcuts’ tab, you can create a list of actions that you want the phone to complete by the click of a button. These can be simple or as complex as you would like. Some of our favorite iOS shortcuts have over 100 tasks that are accomplished when ran!
How to get started with Apple shortcuts?
The easiest way to get started with apple shortcuts is to download a shortcut from the selection from the ‘Gallery’ tab. These shortcuts are built by Apple’s team and can be trusted to be safe from doing any harmful automated tasks (ie gathering personal data from another user).
Another way to obtain your favorite iOS shortcuts is by downloading a shared shortcut from a friend or online. In order to do this, you must enable untrusted shortcuts from your phone’s settings. If you don’t do this, you will get the following message because homemade shortcuts are considered unsafe.
[Can’t be opened/downloaded because it is from an unidentified developer…]
Here is a step by step guide to downloading a shortcut from an icloud link:
The third way to obtain new shortcuts is by creating your own. This can be challenging but it has become a rewarding hobby for us.
Here’s a list of our favorite iOS shortcuts
Note: We didn’t create these but found them from other resources and creators from across the web.
The ‘Pulled Over by Police’ shortcut will automatically text a loved one, dim the iphone screen, and start a video recording once it is initiated.
The ‘On This Day’ shortcut will find a memory photo on your phone from exactly one year ago.
With the ‘Dictate To…’ shortcut, you can speak and have the dictated text sent to a note or text message.
Your ‘Pizza Assistant‘ can order a pizza from the nearest pizza shop and it will also remind you to pick up the pizza as soon as it’s ready.
‘Garage Park’ will remind you exactly where you parked so you don’t have to go searching for your car.
With the click of a button, you can use ‘Take Me Home‘ for quick directions to your home. This will be much faster than clicking through the map application.
After turning your alarm off, the ‘Wake-up Routine’ shortcut will automatically give your battery level, weather, and news for the day.
This ‘Fortune Cookie‘ shortcut will open up a virtual fortune cookie and give you a fun daily fortune.
Where else can I find popular iOS shortcuts?
The best place we have found so far is the subreddit called /shortcuts. Here you can join a strong community of automation fanatics. Some will even take you down the rabbit hole of using NFC stickers to make things even more simple for your daily routines.
You can also peruse through these resources below (this is how we came up with our list of favorite iOS shortcuts):
There are also plenty of Facebook and other social media groups out there.
What are iOS Automations?
The last tab under the Shortcuts app is designated for ‘Automations’. This area will let you create automated tasks to run in the background with your permission.
For example, you can have a shortcut run automatically when you turn off an alarm or if you are leaving a specific zone or location. When I wake up every morning, my routine will automate as soon as I turn off my alarm. I do tell my phone to wait 60 seconds so I don’t get bombarded though!
The common complaint about iOS automations is the fact that Apple will not give you the option to run tasks without your permission. So technically, the actions will only be fulfilled when you do something to trigger the automation (ie click the off button for the alarm).
Even though the functionality isn’t 100% automated, having access to these tools is incredible to say the least.
If you have any favorite iOS shortcuts that are worth sharing, please comment below. Also, we are always here to help with any questions or support you may need to get started with these shortcuts.
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