How to Automate Your Life With Apple's Shortcuts App (2024)

You probably spend a lot of time on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac running one task after another after another across a variety of apps. Think how much time you could save if you automated those tasks or combined them into a single action. You can do all that and more with Apple's Shortcuts app.

Offering a host of predefined actions, the Shortcuts app provides access to a huge number of existing shortcuts as well as the ability to create and run your own. Shortcuts work with iOS 12 or higher, but you need to be running at least iOS 13 or iPadOS 13.1 to tap into all of the app's functionality.

You will need macOS Monterey 12.0 or higher to run shortcuts on your Mac. Meanwhile, an Apple Watch with watchOS 7 or higher can run shortcuts right from your wrist. Here's how to run shortcuts and create your own.

How to Run a Shortcut

One way to trigger a shortcut is to open the Shortcuts app on your device and tap a shortcut on the main screen. You can also ask Siri to run it for you by saying “Hey Siri, [name of shortcut].” For those just getting started, Apple has several examples under Starter Shortcuts.

If you tap Take a Break, it will turn on Do Not Disturb and set an alarm for a certain number of minutes. Choose Text Last Image shortcut to text someone the last photo or screenshot you took on your device. Pick Shazam shortcut to identify a song you are currently playing.

You can also get more information about shortcuts if you tap What's a shortcut? You can then view a list of tasks that a shortcut can perform.

As you install and use certain apps, shortcuts will automatically be generated for them. So you may find shortcuts for Books, Voice Memos, and other apps. Just select a shortcut to run it or tap its circle icon and select Run. Other shortcuts can be found if you tap Gallery in the app's sidebar.

The Gallery will have different sections with many shortcuts to try. Across the top are categories for Fun & Games with Siri, Starter Shortcuts, Shortcuts for Accessibility, Great with Siri, Wonderful Widget Shortcuts, Shortcuts for Apple Music, and Shortcuts for Sharing.

Additional categories of shortcuts exist on the Gallery page, which provide shortcuts based on the apps you frequently use, productivity, health, online tasks, and more. Tap a category and then select a specific shortcut.

Tap Add Shortcut to place the shortcut into your library under the All Shortcuts button. You can then choose a shortcut from here to run the task or go hands-free and ask Siri to run it.

How to Create a Shortcut

In addition to running a pre-existing shortcut, you can create your own. As long as you use the same Apple account on all your devices, you can sync the shortcuts you create so they are available on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Select All Shortcuts and tap the + icon to create a new shortcut.

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 much more. Even better, you can combine several of these tasks into a single shortcut.

The app displays suggested actions based on common tasks and on your history. To view additional actions, tap a specific category or select All Actions. For this example, let's create a shortcut to take a photo and then email it to someone.

Select the Media category and choose Take Photo. The action appears as the first step in your shortcut. If you are creating this on an iPhone or iPad, you can select the Camera variable and opt to use the front or back camera or have the action ask you which camera to use each time.

In the right pane, return to the list of categories and select Sharing, then Send Email. To email a new photo to a specific person each time, select the Recipient variable and type the person’s name or email address. To create a specific subject, select the Subject variable and type your text. When finished, tap Done.

To change the name of a shortcut, long press on it and choose Rename (on a Mac, right-click the shortcut and select Rename). Select the Name field to change it. From here, you can also edit any of the actions or other elements of a shortcut. When finished, select Done.

Just like a pre-existing shortcut you might find in the Gallery, you can run your custom task by selecting it from the library or saying “Hey, Siri, [name of your shortcut]."

How to Create an Automated Shortcut

You can also create shortcuts that run automatically by using the app's Automation feature. From an iPhone or iPad, open the Shortcuts app and tap the Automation tab. Here, you can select Create Personal Automation to build a shortcut that runs on your Apple device or Create Home Automation for one that runs for everyone in a household through a smart home device.

Make a selection, then choose the type of event that will generate a specific action. You can pick from a time of day, alarm, travel time, or a certain setting such as Airplane Mode being enabled or your AirPods connecting to your phone. Some events require that you actively perform a task, such as turning Focus or Do Not Disturb mode on or launching a specific app.

For this example, let's work with Do Not Disturb mode. Maybe you turn on Do Not Disturb at a certain time of day and then turn it off later in the day. Now let's say you want music to play automatically when you turn off Do Not Disturb.

Scroll to the Focus section and select Do Not Disturb. Check When Turning Off and uncheck When Turning On, then tap Next. From the Actions window, choose one of the suggested actions (if appropriate). Otherwise, tap the Add Action button to view them all. Under Suggestions From Your Apps will be suggested actions based on how you use your device.

You could run a specific app, launch a script, take a photo or video, get a location, open or edit a file, share something through email or social, or launch a web page. In this case, tap the Play Music action and then tap Next. Now, tap the Music variable and choose a specific song from your music library to play when you turn off Do Not Disturb.

At the final screen is a switch that says Ask Before Running. If this switch is turned on, you will have to tap a notification for the shortcut to run. If it's off, the shortcut will run automatically without prompting you. Try turning it off for this shortcut, then tap Done.

Test the shortcut by returning to your device's home screen. Make sure Do Not Disturb mode is on and then turn it off again. A notification should tell you that the shortcut is running, and your selected song should start playing on your device.

You can add supported shortcuts to the Share Sheet function built into iOS and iPadOS, which serves as a quick access menu. Open the Gallery in the Shortcuts app and choose the Share Sheet category. Add any of the listed shortcuts you wish.

You can also long press on a shortcut and select Details > Show in Share Sheet to add it. Now, when you open a supported app, such as Safari, you can tap the Share icon and swipe to the bottom of the menu to see your shortcuts. Tap one to run it. Similarly, Mac users can pin shortcuts to the menu bar or set one as a Quick Action.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 introduced the ability to fully customize and manage your device's widget screen. You can add add widgets for your shortcuts if you swipe to the right on your home screen until you reach the Widgets screen. Tap the Edit button at the bottom of the screen and tap the + icon at the top.

Swipe down and select the Shortcuts entry. You can then cycle through the different layouts for the Shortcuts widget, then tap Add Widget to place the format you prefer.

Run a Shortcut on Your Apple Watch

You can run shortcuts from your Apple Watch, though only some have supported actions that can run directly on the watch itself. All you have to do is open the Shortcuts app on your watch and select the shortcut you wish to run.

Individual shortcuts can be added to your watch from an iPhone or iPad by long pressing it in the app and opening Details > Show on Apple Watch. The app will tell you whether or not the shortcut uses an action that can run on the watch.

Find Shortcuts Online

You can also add shortcuts that other people have created. You can find helpful routines on such sites as Reddit and RoutineHub. Here are a few that you can download onto your device:

• The Good Morning shortcut greets you, shows the news and weather, and then finishes with the app of your choice.

• With Good Night, Siri wishes you good night and turns on Do Not Disturb.

• The Meditation shortcut allows you to set a specific amount of time to meditate. Your device will activate Do Not Disturb, vibrate to start, and play chimes when your time is up.

• Use the Download YouTube shortcut to download the current YouTube clip you are watching. You can then go to Share > More > Shortcuts > Download YouTube and save it to your photo album.

• Calculate Tip gives you a quick and easy way to figure out a tip. Run the shortcut, then enter the price of the bill and the percentage you want to leave as a tip.

• Weight Logger calculates your BMI and records your weight in the iOS Health app.