6 tricks Didn't Realize Your iPhone Could Automate
You can use your iPhone to make time-saving workflows and automation with Apple’s preinstalled Shortcuts app. If you haven’t yet dipped your toes into the planet of iPhone automation, here are six examples to urge you started.
How to Create Automations
To create an automation, launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and tap on the Automation tab. Now, tap “Create Personal Automation” to ascertain an inventory of triggers that you simply can use. it is also possible to make home automation, but we specialize in personal ones today.
Can’t find the Shortcuts app on your iPhone? It’s installed by default, but you would possibly have uninstalled it. you’ll re-download Shortcuts for free of charge from the App Store.
Once you’ve chosen a trigger, you will need to assign some actions, which we’ll protect the examples below. We recommend using the search bar to seek out triggers since scrolling through Apple’s various categories is often time-consuming.
It’s also advisable to disable the “Ask Before Running” toggle when creating your automation since your automation would require a further tap to run if you allow it enabled.
Lastly, if you’ve got an Apple AirTag, you’ll use it as an NFC tag to trigger automation within the Shortcuts app, too.
Get Mindful Reminders on Social Media Apps
Social media are often a time sink. Most folks are conscious of this but still fall victim to its addictive nature. you’ll set app limits for yourself using Screen Time which will restrict what proportion of time you’ll spend on these apps, otherwise, you could take a gentler approach with a mindful reminder instead.
This works by triggering an app-specific notification after a particular amount of your time has elapsed. this may work with almost any app, but we’ll be using Facebook for our example.
Create a replacement personal automation, choose “App” because of the trigger, and tap “Choose” to pick the app in question. confirm that the “Is Opened” condition is chosen, then hit “Next” to continue. Tap “Add Action” and add “Wait,” followed by the delay in seconds before your notification triggers (We chose 120 seconds.).
Now, hit the plus “+” button and add the “Show Notification” action. Replace “Hello World” with something like “You’ve been browsing Facebook for 2 minutes.” Then, hit “Next,” followed by “Done” to save lots of your automation (taking care to disable “Ask Before Running”).
You could expand this automation to feature another “Wait 180 seconds” action, followed by a “Show Notification” action that says “You’ve been browsing Facebook for five minutes,” then on.
Change Your Apple Watch Face
You can store different watch faces on your Apple Watch and switch between them at will. Different watch faces can serve different purposes. for instance, you would possibly want to create:
a face for work that shows your upcoming appointments, news, or stock prices.
a face for exercising with weather information and shortcuts to apps like Workouts and Timer.
a simple face that shows only the time when you’re relaxing reception.
Remembering to manually switch between watch faces may be a pain, so why not automate the method instead? it is easy to make automation that changes your watch face supported the time and day of the week, or that switches whenever you reach work or home.
To do this, start a replacement Automation and pick “Time of Day,” then tap “Weekly” to specify a time and day of the week, or use the “Arrive” and “Leave” triggers to line up a location-based trigger instead. Tap “Add Action,” then choose “Set Watch Face,” followed by the face that you simply want to trigger.
Disable “Ask Before Running” and hit “Done” to save lots of your Automation. you’ll now create similar automation for the other Watch faces that you simply might want to modify to support your routine. The “Arrive” and “Leave” triggers are perfect for tagging locations (like a gym or workplace) if your schedule is unpredictable.
Automatically Manage Low Power Mode
Low Power Mode may be useful thanks to stretch your iPhone’s battery life if you’re running low on juice. The feature disables certain features like automatic fetching of mail and reduces screen brightness to save lots of the maximum amount of energy possible. You’ll often see the “Low Power Mode” button appear next to low-battery alerts.
With Shortcuts, you’ll trigger Low Power Mode automatically when your battery reaches a particular percentage. you’ll also create complementary automation that disables the feature once the battery has recovered.
To do this, create a replacement personal automation and choose “Battery Level” because of the trigger. Set the battery percentage that you simply want to use to trigger Low Power Mode by moving the slider, then tap on “Falls Below X%” below. Tap “Next,” then “Add Action.” Then, find “Set Low Power Mode,” and confirm that “On” is chosen.
Hit “Next” and “Done” to save lots of your automation. Now, create another automation to disable the setting, ensuring to pick “Rises Above X%” for the trigger, and “Set Low Power Mode” to “Off,” too. Low Power Mode will now activate and deactivate based purely on your battery percentage.
Make Your iPhone Announce When the Battery Is Charged
We’ve already covered the way to make your iPhone scream once you connect it to power within the past. this is often a fun trick, but not as useful as automation that asserts when your iPhone has reached your required battery capacity.
Be aware that Apple’s optimized charging might delay your device from hitting the perfect 100% charge, so picking a capacity like 80% could be more useful in some instances. you’ll create multiple automation for various battery percentages if you would like.
To start, create a replacement personal automation with “Battery Level” because of the trigger. find out at what battery percentage you want your iPhone to form its announcement, and confirm that “Rises Above X%” is chosen below. Hit “Next,” then “Add Action,” followed by the “Speak Text” action.
Replace “Text” with whatever you would like your iPhone to mention now, then tap on “Show More” to ascertain further options. you’ll select a language, voice, pitch, and speed (rate). Use the “Play” button at rock bottom of the screen to preview your announcement, then hit “Next” and disable “Ask Before Running,” followed by “Done” to save lots of.
Enable don’t Disturb in Games or Other Apps
If you employ your iPhone for enjoying online games like or Fortnite, you almost certainly don’t need to be disturbed while a match is happening. That’s exactly where this don’t Disturb mode automation comes in. By default, don’t Disturb mode silences incoming calls and notifications whenever your device is locked.
With one tweak, the feature is often wont to silence all calls and notifications. to try to do this, head to Settings > don’t Disturb and enable “Always” under the “Silence” section. If you do not change this setting, the subsequent automation won’t have any effect.
Now, create a replacement personal automation with “App” because of the trigger. Choose your required game or app and confirm that only “Is Opened” is chosen below. Hit “Next,” then “Add Action,” and choose “Set don’t Disturb” with the conditions “On” until “Turned Off” to enable it indefinitely. Hit “Next” and “Done” to save lots of your automation, but close up “Ask Before Running” first.
For your iPhone to disable don’t Disturb mode when you’re finished playing, you will need to make another automation. Choose “App” because of the trigger, then select an equivalent app, and confirm that only “Is Closed” is enabled. Hit “Next,” and choose “Set don’t Disturb” to “Off” as an action, then reserve it with the “Ask Before Running” toggle disabled.
Launch Your Music App When Connecting a Speaker or Headphones
If you’ve got wireless headphones or a Bluetooth speaker, you’ll use them as a trigger whenever your iPhone connects. this is often particularly useful if you employ something like Spotify, which does not have an equivalent level of integration with the iOS OS that Apple Music does.
For Apple Music users, there are triggers to start out playing specific playlists, or if you are a podcast or audiobook fan, you’ll use this trigger to launch your preferred app instead.
First, create a replacement personal automation with “Bluetooth” because of the trigger. Select the device that you simply want to trigger your automation, then hit “Next” to feature actions. you’ll use the “Open App” action to specify your music, podcast, or audiobook player of choice.
For driving, you’ll create identical automation, except using “ CarPlay” because of the trigger (assuming that your car has CarPlay support). If you do not have CarPlay support, you would possibly want to feature an NFC trigger to your dashboard to try to do something similar.
This automation is basic but useful, and that they are often used as a start line for much more complex workflows. If you are looking for inspiration, the r/Shortcuts subreddit may be a great resource for both automation ideas and shortcut recipes.
