Category: Siri Shortcuts

Categories
Siri Shortcuts

Announcing the Shortcuts Catalog for iOS 14, feat. 300 shortcuts & 300 actions

Jump straight to the Catalog or sign up for a membership.

It’s finally here!

Apple has released iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 to users around the world – and that means everyone who updates will have the newest version of Siri Shortcuts installed.

Alongside today’s updates, I’m releasing the following:

  • the official iOS 14 version of my Shortcuts Catalog,
  • a new “What’s New in Shortcuts” newsletter, and
  • my membership program

Let me explain it a bit before you dive into everything.

Why learn about Siri Shortcuts now?

Thanks to everything new in version 4 of the Shortcuts app, everyone can expect another leap in the automation potential of their Apple products:

  • the Siri capabilities let the power of Shortcuts extend across devices,
  • new features like folders and widgets allow you to hone in on specific use cases and surface them when needed,
  • advances in Personal Automations let you turn your device into a true computing platform, and
  • the Apple Watch app extends the entire experience right into your wrist.

My goal as an independent creator has always been to share all the knowledge I’ve learned about Shortcuts and make it free.

That’s because the Shortcuts app is free on Apple’s devices – I’ve always wanted to make sure anyone who doesn’t yet understand it could go online and learn more right away.

That desire is what got me to start my own YouTube channel, plus release my own Shortcuts Library and Action Directory on my website last fall.

But, as I got deeper into iOS 13, I realized I was sharing tons of ideas in my database, but didn’t make them very accessible on the web.

To help people to truly integrate Siri Shortcuts into their lives, I needed something more…

Continue reading “Announcing the Shortcuts Catalog for iOS 14, feat. 300 shortcuts & 300 actions”
Categories
Guest appearances Links Siri Shortcuts

Guest Spot: Sigmund Judge’s podcast Magic Rays of Light

Last week, I had the pleasure of being a guest on episode 4 of Sigmund Judge’s podcast Magic Rays of Light, a new show dedicated to all things Apple TV.

That episode is out now and available to download in your podcast app of choice.

Talking with Sigmund was a treat and we had a great conversation about:

Categories
Links News Newsletter Offsite Siri Shortcuts

Announcing my new “What’s New in Shortcuts” newsletter

As part of my new Shortcuts Catalog1, I’ve created a brand-new newsletter called What’s New in Shortcuts?.

This free newsletter is designed for anyone interested in learning more about Siri Shortcuts, covering:
* feature updates as they’re discovered,
* interesting ways to use Shortcuts related to topical stories, and
* creative new shortcuts or apps with Shortcuts actions.

In addition, What’s New in Shortcuts acts as a way to subscribe to learn about future updates to my Shortcuts Library, Action Directory, and upcoming additions to the Shortcuts Catalog.

What’s in the newsletter?

Continue reading “Announcing my new “What’s New in Shortcuts” newsletter”

Categories
Offsite Siri Shortcuts

iOS 14 Siri Shortcuts: My Feature on Rene Ritchie’s channel

The venerable Rene Ritchie was kind enough to invite me back onto his YouTube channel to talk Siri Shortcuts in iOS 14 and everything that’s new:

Play

I always appreciate the opportunity to share about Shortcuts on other people’s channels, and Rene always manages to make me look good.

As I said in the video, make sure to stay tuned for some fun new updates here on my website, as well as for my own upcoming iOS 14 video.

Watch my video with Rene on YouTube.

Categories
Offsite Podcasts Siri Shortcuts

Appearance – Clockwise #353: “Shortcuts Concierge”

I had the pleasure of being a guest on episode 353 of the Clockwise podcast from Relay FM, joining Brianna Wu, Jason Snell, and Dan Moren for a 30-minute round table discussion of the week’s news.

We talked about Apple silicon and what it means for gaming as well as whether we’ll be buying the first round of Macs, our beta-installation strategies, and how to use Shortcuts for public good.

Continue reading “Appearance – Clockwise #353: “Shortcuts Concierge””
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

New Shortcuts Directory curates links for getting started with Siri Shortcuts

Shortcuts creator and designer Brad Siefert has created a dedicated website for people looking to discover various links and creators related to Siri Shortcuts – check out the new Shortcuts Directory.

Continue reading “New Shortcuts Directory curates links for getting started with Siri Shortcuts”
Categories
Siri Shortcuts

Six livestreams around Siri Shortcuts to watch

For the month of May, my main public focus was publishing livestreams related to Shortcuts and my interests as a content creator.

I’ve long had a streaming setup and even covered most of iOS 13’s updates for Shortcuts in an hour-long stream last fall, but I’ve always wanted to stream more and never really did.

In these last 9 months since that stream, I’ve also seen a ton of new Shortcuts-related apps drop and for some reason I didn’t fully adopt them – I thought every one my shortcuts needed to be easily shareable, plus I was worried about depending on paid third-party apps that people would have to buy just to use my shortcuts.

But eventually, I realized I’d shot myself in the foot – these apps were necessary because of some shortcoming of Shortcuts in its current state, and by missing out on those apps I was handicapping myself in the process.

Once I started adopting the Shortcuts-related apps, my productivity skyrocketed and I realized I needed to learn these even more – enter livestreams with the developers themselves. Plus, I took the opportunity to stream with one novice user and another expert, both of which were great experiences.

Here’s the full list of videos:

Continue reading “Six livestreams around Siri Shortcuts to watch”
Categories
Siri Shortcuts

14 Accessibility shortcuts for Global Accessibility Awareness Day

On episode 30 of Smart Tech Today, I spent about 10 minutes describing a series of shortcuts I put together that take advantage of the accessibility actions found in the Shortcuts app ahead of today, May 21, which is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD).

Accessibility features are incredibly important for modern technology to provide, making it possible for everyone to utilize their hardware & software regardless of their personal situation – you either have direct accessibility needs that require specific use of your technology, you’ll one day need them yourself, or you benefit from those features anyway (think Dark mode).

The Shortcuts app has always been an Accessibility priority for Apple, with them declaring as much in their confirmation story when they acquisition of the Workflow app before it became Shortcuts1:

“The Workflow app was selected for an Apple Design Award in 2015 because of its outstanding use of iOS accessibility features, in particular an outstanding implementation for VoiceOver with clearly labeled items, thoughtful hints, and drag/drop announcements, making the app usable and quickly accessible to those who are blind or low-vision.”

In iOS 13, Apple went further and added a set of actions to Shortcuts for controlling Accessibility features, available to use inside the shortcut editor in Apps > Settings.

Continue reading “14 Accessibility shortcuts for Global Accessibility Awareness Day”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

I’m washing my hands

New shortcut: I’m washing my hands:

Sets a timer for 20 seconds so that you can wash your hands thoroughly without thinking about how long it takes.

Use this to help internalize how long it takes to wash your hands, especially amongst the Coronavirus concerns.

Get the shortcut or view a full screenshot of the shortcut.

Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Entering your home with just a tap (using NFC & iOS)

Matt Haughey, writing for his site A Whole Lotta Nothing:

As you might have guessed from a previous post, I’m not a fan of carrying keys and or even having to use them. When I moved to a new place, I knew I’d use the front door as my main point of entry (instead of a garage attached to a house), so I wanted to get it as automated as possible, where the front door unlocks as I approach it, and locks when I leave.

Matt started with an August Smart Lock and ended up getting NFC tags so that everyone in his family could tap in and out of the house. Be sure to check out the full article for all his photos of the setup too.

This bit is excellent – I’m definitely thinking about NFC “skins” instead of having white dots all over the place:

To make them blend in a bit more, I went to my local Lowe’s and bought a $5 roll of adhesive-backed shelf paper in a maple pattern that mostly matched my wood posts. I used a NFC tag as a template, traced it onto the paper, and cut out two holes, then pulled off the backing and stuck them over the tags. From a distance, you can barely tell they’re there since I put the NFC stickers over wood knots and they look like wood repair patches now.

I’ve joked before that Matt is my smart home spirit animal – he continues to fill that role well ?.

Read the full article on A Whole Lotta Nothing.

Categories
Podcasts Siri Shortcuts Tips & Tricks Video

“Show me this clip” for video podcasts with this Overcast to YouTube shortcut

If you didn’t already know, my podcast Smart Tech Today comes with a video feed now – you can download a full video feed in Podcasts, or subscribe to the YouTube channel to get the episodes every week, or watch live on Twitch every Monday at 4pm PST.

While the show is designed as an audio podcast, our network This Week in Tech produces the video so anyone can watch too – I have lots of fun being on camera with Mikah.

Being a podcast that’s also “video capable,” I’ve always thought it’s a shame that it’s not easier to listen when you want to, or watch when you want to, with a way to switch between both on the fly.

If you’re on Overcast user, you’re in luck – I’ve solved the problem in one direction, taking Overcast’s “Share URL with timestamp” Siri Shortcut and combining it with YouTube’s timestamps feature to let you jump into the video feed at a moment’s notice.1

Continue reading ““Show me this clip” for video podcasts with this Overcast to YouTube shortcut”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

How far did I walk today?

Today’s new shortcut is How far did I walk today? is designed for CES attendees but is also good for anyone really:

Looks at the Health app for total steps and distance for today, then formats the information to display in an alert or be spoken back from Siri.

Uses only the Apple Watch as the main source of data so no information is duplicated from the phone.

Continue reading “How far did I walk today?”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Which CES shuttle should I take?

New shortcut “Which CES shuttle should I take?“ for CES attendees:

Pulls from a dictionary of CES hotel names and their associated shuttle #s, lets you choose from the names, then tells you which shuttle to take.

Also opens your final destination in Maps so you can follow along.

Continue reading “Which CES shuttle should I take?”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Playing a podcast by time of day using “If” conditionals

This afternoon, @kcjokes asked for a shortcut that can play a podcast based on the time of day:

Continue reading “Playing a podcast by time of day using “If” conditionals”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Log your sun exposure with an Apple Watch automation ⌚️

Shows a screenshot from the Shortcuts app with “Get Current Weather,” “Get the Device name,” an “If” action set to “If Device Name contains iPad”, then “Show Result,” otherwise “Log Health Sample” and then “Show Alert.”

Here’s a Personal Automation for Apple Watch that I’m running automatically at the start of my Walking workouts – Log UV index:

Gets the current weather at the current location and logs the UV index for the hour into the Health app, then displays it or speaks it back when run via Siri.

Includes “Get Device Name” and an “If” action to account for being run on the iPad, which does not have the Health app and would otherwise fail.

Shows a screenshot from the Shortcuts app with “Get Current Weather,” “Get the Device name,” an “If” action set to “If Device Name contains iPad”, then “Show Result,” otherwise “Log Health Sample” and then “Show Alert.”

Continue reading “Log your sun exposure with an Apple Watch automation ⌚️”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Singalong

New shortcut Singalong for Apple Music users:

Turns on the Apple TV, asks if you want to Hand Off music to the TV from the current device, then opens the Music app and shows the Remote on the current device.

Continue reading “Singalong”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

2020 Meme generator

Sometimes you just have to make a meme into a shortcut:

Takes the “2020” meme with a line of text in the middle and uses a find & replace to swap out your own text, then copies it and opens Twitter. Your new input must be less than 30 characters to fit.

Continue reading “2020 Meme generator”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Twitter self-search

Self-search is a handy shortcut I built for Twitter users:

Using a Twitter username inputted on import and a keyword entered when the shortcut is run, this shortcut takes the info, URL-encodes it into a Twitter link, and opens into the app to show the results.

Continue reading “Twitter self-search”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Pick random Office episode

If you love The Office and want to have a random episode picked for you, this shortcut is for you:

Using a dictionary filled out with the season numbers and corresponding episode counts for each, this picks a random season, then episode, then displays it in an alert as Netflix opens on the Apple TV.

Works aloud when run from Siri; good for HomePod.

Continue reading “Pick random Office episode”
Categories
Links Siri Shortcuts

Move from Ulysses to iA Writer

Just created this new shortcut Move from Ulysses to iA Writer:

Gets sheets from a group in Ulysses, asks which one to use, then adds it into iA Writer via their URL scheme. Only accepts text, so you’ll have to move over any images.

Continue reading “Move from Ulysses to iA Writer”