Apple’s Shortcuts app can run a host of tasks on your iOS device in one fell swoop

You probably spend a lot of time on your iPhone or iPad running one task after another in various apps. Think about how much time you would save if you could automate those tasks, or even combine them into a single action. You can do all that and more with Apple’s Shortcuts app.

Offering several predefined actions, the Shortcuts app lets you create customized sequences. After you set up a shortcut, just tap on it, and the app will run all the assigned tasks. The app can be run on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch. However, the app requires iOS 12 or higher or watchOS 5 or higher to work.

Shortcuts acts similarly to Apple’s Workflow app, which also allows you to create and run multiple tasks in a single action. In fact, Shortcuts is the replacement for Workflow that comes with iOS 12. If you don’t already have the app, download Shortcuts from the App Store.

Getting Started With Shortcuts

You can run a shortcut a number of ways. Opening the Shortcuts app and tapping a shortcut from the main screen is the most basic way. You can also add a Shortcuts widget to your home screen to trigger the sequence quicker, or integrate the app into Siri’s repertoire. Tap on the Get Started button to kick things off.

Create a Shortcut

New Shortcut sequences can be created right from the app. At the Library screen, tap on the icon to Create Shortcut.

Choosing a Shortcut

Think about the particular task you would like to automate. You can create shortcuts to add an event to your calendar, email a contact, search for an address, play music, select certain photos or videos, and more. Even more efficiently, you can combine several of these tasks in one shortcut.

Keep in mind that actions will appear on the left-hand side on an iPad, and on the bottom of the screen on an iPhone.

For this example, let’s create a shortcut to text the latest photo from your library to a specific person. Swipe down the list of actions and tap on the one to Get Latest Photos.

Build Your Shortcut

The first time you do this, the Shortcuts app tells you it does not have access to your photos. Tap on the link to Allow Access. Choose how many photos you want to send and decide whether to include screenshots.

Next, tap on the action to Send Message. The first time you do this, the Shortcuts app tells you it doesn’t have access to your contacts. Tap on the link to Allow Access.

Finalize Your Shortcut

Press the + sign to add a specific contact to the shortcut. Choose the contact and tap on the person’s mobile phone number to select them. You can also type a message in the field below their name.

Now tap the Play button to run the shortcut. The messaging app should pop up with the photo attached and ready to send to the contact you selected. Tap the arrow to send the message.

Changing Shortcut Settings

Tap the Settings icon in the upper right-hand corner to make changes to a shortcut. At the Settings screen, tap in the Name field to give the shortcut a more descriptive name than the default, Untitled Shortcut.

Tap on the link for Icon to change the icon. You can then select the color, glyph, or a custom image you want to use to for this shortcut. Tap Done once you have made the desired changes.

Author : idelta