iPhone Shortcut | Automation on Apple Devices
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iPhone Shortcut
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What’s a iPhone shortcut?
A shortcut is a quick way to accomplish one or more tasks using your
applications. The Shortcuts app allows you to create your personal
shortcuts in a couple of steps. For example, create a "Surf Time" shortcut
that grabs a surf report, gives an ETA to the beach, and launches your Surf
Music playlist.
The Shortcuts app
In addition to turning on the simple shortcuts suggested by Siri, you can use
the
Shortcuts app to add ready-made or custom shortcuts to your
devices. The application allows you to combine multiple steps across multiple
applications to create powerful task automation processes.
What’s an action?
The action-the building block of constructional software for short - is one
step in a task. Mix and match actions to create shortcuts that interact with
applications and content on your
Apple devices, as well as with content
and services on the internet. Each shortcut includes one or extra actions.
How shortcuts work on iPhone and iPad?
When you launch a shortcut, each action in the list of actions is launched in
order from top to bottom. Each action plays a role in the task you want to
accomplish, just like the individual steps on a factory assembly line.
Some actions bring information, either from your device or from the internet.
Some actions transform information, resize an image. Other actions share
information with shared photo albums, contacts using messaging applications,
mail or other social media services.
Navigate the action list in Shortcuts on iPhone or iPad
Actions are the building blocks of a shortcut. While adding actions to the
modified shortcut, you can view information about each action, sort the list
of available actions by category, and create favorite actions for future use.
Since many actions use other applications on your
apple device, you can
also view the actions sorted according to the application you are using.
During the creation of a shortcut, the
"Shortcuts" application predicts
what actions you may want to use next. For example, if the last action was to
make contacts, the application suggests actions such as Call or FaceTime. In a
shortcut that ends with the procedure for obtaining the current song, the menu
suggests actions such as adding to the playlist or obtaining music details.
Where are shortcuts stored?
In the
Shortcuts app, shortcuts are organized into groups in the
shortcuts screen (iOS) and the shortcuts sidebar (iPadOS):
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All shortcuts: contains all
the shortcuts and shortcuts available in the apps.
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My shortcuts: contains all
the shortcuts.
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Share sheet: contains shortcuts
available in the share sheet of another application.
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Apple Watch: contains
shortcuts available on Apple Watch.
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Application shortcuts: contains all the
shortcuts available in the applications.
When you click on a group name, all the shortcuts in this group are
displayed in a grid array. Each shortcut is represented by a round rectangle
with a title, icon and color. Press a shortcut once to launch it.
What is automation?
Autorun is a kind of shortcut that is activated by an event, and not manually.
You can
use the Shortcuts app to set up personal or home
automation and then turn on the automatic shortcut when you arrive or
leave, when you change a setting on your
iPhone, and at the time of
day.
Create a new personal automation
In the
Shortcuts app on your iOS or iPad OS device, do one of the
following:
If this is your first automation: Tap Automation.
If you’ve previously
created an automation: Tap Automation, then tap (+) in the upper-right
corner.
- Tap Create Personal Automation.
- Choose a trigger.
- See Event triggers, or Setting triggers.
- Select the options for the trigger, then tap Next.
- An empty automation appears in the automation editor.
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Tap Add Action, then browse available actions in the Categories or Apps
list, or search for a specific action by tapping and entering a
search term.
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To add an action, touch and hold an action in the list, and drag it to
the position where you want it in the automation editor.
You can also tap an action to add it to the bottom of the list in the
automation editor.
Add as many actions as you need.
-
Tap at the top of the actions browser to return to the Categories
or Apps list.
- Tap Next.
- A summary of your automation appears.
- Tap Done.
The new automation is introduced to the Automation screen.
Where do I find shortcuts?
The gallery functions a curated series of creative and beneficial shortcuts.
Explore the gallery to check out the possibilities of shortcuts and find out
how to create them. When you find a gallery shortcut you like, add it to the
collection of shortcuts with a simple click and customize it to suit your
needs
Discover shortcuts in the Gallery on iPhone or iPad
If you are looking for new shortcuts to add to your collection, or if you want
to know what is possible and how to create certain shortcuts, check out the
gallery in the Shortcuts app.
Search in the Gallery
You can look for extra shortcuts now no longer proven withinside the
Gallery.
In the Shortcuts app Gallery on your
iOS or iPadOS device, tap search at the top of the screen.
Enter a search word in the search
field.
Shortcuts that match the search term appear below the field.