Apple Shortcuts |OT| Here’s To The Lazy Ones

[lint2015]

So I've set up controlling my media stuff through a mix of Homebridge, HomeKit scenes and Shortcuts but I've come to realise that the something is wrong with the Wait action when a shortcut is invoked via Siri.

So for example, my TV is being controlled through and IR blaster and it takes a couple seconds for the TV to respond to input after powering on. So in my shortcut, I power the TV on, Wait for a few seconds, then change inputs.

If I run the shortcut using Siri, it just does nothing for a while (I assume running the Wait action first rather than in proper order, but it takes longer than if I ran it from the widget or the app) before performing the rest of the actions. So I just get a long pause where it's doing nothing before the TV switches on, and then the change input command is immediately sent while it's still powering on, causing it to be ignored.

Also, I'm surprised it's not able to query the status of HomeKit devices. Hopefully they'll add that, as well as being able to set individual HomeKit controls rather than just scenes.

Does IFTTT work with HomeKit, Siri or Shortcuts? Maybe I should look into implementing part of it in that to work around these shortcomings.

 

[infiniteloop]

real cool shortcut for Apple Music Year in Review:

https://www.macstories.net/ios/appl...istened-songs-artists-and-genres-of-the-year/

 

[Ashhong]

I'm not sure if this would be a shortcut but is there anyway to have iOS turn off wifi (from settings, not from the quick access) everytime I connect to my car Bluetooth? If not automatic then with a shortcut manually?

 

[Midnight Lunch]

I'm not sure if this would be a shortcut but is there anyway to have iOS turn off wifi (from settings, not from the quick access) everytime I connect to my car Bluetooth? If not automatic then with a shortcut manually?

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Not automatically when you connect to Bluetooth but there is a turn wifi off setting in just one step.

 

[Deleted member 9330]

I'm not sure if this would be a shortcut but is there anyway to have iOS turn off wifi (from settings, not from the quick access) everytime I connect to my car Bluetooth? If not automatic then with a shortcut manually?

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There's a "Set Wi-Fi" command, so you could have a phrase with Siri to turn WiFi off when you get into the car. Though that's already a thing ("Siri turn off WiFi"). A shortcut would let you add it in the shortcuts widget or on the home screen for quick, non-verbal way to do it. Or run it from an Apple Watch, if you're wearing one of those, and your phrase would be specific to turn off your phone's WiFi instead of the watch's.

Nothing automatic unfortunately

 

[Ashhong]

Not automatically when you connect to Bluetooth but there is a turn wifi off setting in just one step.

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There's a "Set Wi-Fi" command, so you could have a phrase with Siri to turn WiFi off when you get into the car. Though that's already a thing ("Siri turn off WiFi"). A shortcut would let you add it in the shortcuts widget or on the home screen for quick, non-verbal way to do it. Or run it from an Apple Watch, if you're wearing one of those, and your phrase would be specific to turn off your phone's WiFi instead of the watch's.

Nothing automatic unfortunately

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Thanks. I'll probably do it through Siri and my watch then

 

[Perzeval]

Is there any good way to track when I enter and leave work in the calendar and calculate hours worked?

 

[Vuze]

Is there any good way to track when I enter and leave work in the calendar and calculate hours worked?

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Definitely sounds feasible but would require some tinkering.
Conceptually you'd probably want a shortcut that you can tell that you arrived at work, that you left work and that calculates the hours worked for a period of time. Option 1 creates a new calendar entry at the time of execution, Option 2 fetches that calendar entry and modifies the end date to the time of execution, Option 3 grabs all entries of this (ideally new and dedicated work) calendar for the desired period of time and outputs the hours worked for said period.

Alternatively I would just recommend Timelogger if you don't need the data in your calendar. Its been my go-to time tracking app for months now and works great + has a fantastic watch app. Unfortunately the developer hasn't added Siri Shortcuts support yet since he had a child shortly before and hasn't gotten around to it yet iirc

 

[Ashhong]

Does anybody use the shortcut to share apple music in song link often? I find that I have to run it twice to get the correct link copied to my clipboard and don't know why. If I just do it once it's still the previous song link

 

[Deleted member 9330]

Does anybody use the shortcut to share apple music in song link often? I find that I have to run it twice to get the correct link copied to my clipboard and don't know why. If I just do it once it's still the previous song link

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I do and yes, I have the same problem. I think there's a bug with the "get current song" action that needs to be resolved

 

[Ashhong]

I do and yes, I have the same problem. I think there's a bug with the "get current song" action that needs to be resolved

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I figured it was either a bug in the current song or the copying to clipboard. Is there a way to report this to Apple without being in the beta?

 

[GAMEPROFF]

I noticed that I get four recommentions to start action when I puil the screen down on the Homescreen. Thats Siri Suggestions, right? Is there anyway, to edit these ones? I would like to jump to the last played episode of Pocket Casts, the App seems to somehow make this an option, but I have no idea how I can place this in that screen and I really dont want a own button on the homescreen or talk to siri.

 

[Vuze]

No, hence why they're called suggestions. I've found Siri learns your habits pretty well, I 99% of the time get the actions I'm looking for. It depends on time or day, perhaps location etc. You could make the action a shortcut and add it to the widget screen. Entering the action name in the search bar should display it as well and running it from there will further train Siri suggestions naturally.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

No, hence why they're called suggestions. I've found Siri learns your habits pretty well, I 99% of the time get the actions I'm looking for. It depends on time or day, perhaps location etc. You could make the action a shortcut and add it to the widget screen. Entering the action name in the search bar should display it as well and running it from there will further train Siri suggestions naturally.

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But I have really no idea how to do that, I have not even managed to get prebaked Shortcuts from the internet to work.

 

[Deleted member 9330]

Oh hey, I forgot I made this thread.

Fuck, that means I have to update it for iOS 13

 

[flook]

I tried to get this earlier to be told it requires iOS 13.0 or later. Didn't this previously require 12.0?

 

[Zutroy]

It's a stand alone app you download on iOS12. On 13 it's built in with a lot more functionality.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

But I have really no idea how to do that, I have not even managed to get prebaked Shortcuts from the internet to work.

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So, I spend more then 2 minutes on it yesterday and now I have a sweet little shortcut in my Widgets that doesnt even has the app starting to the screen, its starts my podcast right in the background. Amazing tool.

 

[SpartyCrunch]

I haven't read much about iOS 13 or watched the WWDC keynote yet - are there any notable improvements coming to Shortcuts?

 

[Vuze]

I haven't read much about iOS 13 or watched the WWDC keynote yet - are there any notable improvements coming to Shortcuts?

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Parameter support. Full automation (like Home with more options). Redesigned app and action order. Shortcuts is now a stock app.
I have probably missed something because i havent dabbled with it much (Shortcuts edited on iOS 13 are incompatible with iOS 12 and i don't run the beta on my phone so...)

 

[Deleted member 9330]

NFC actions are gonna be huge

 

[Midnight Lunch]

NFC actions are gonna be huge

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Oh man now I want an nfc chip stuck to my bed head or something to turn off the led strip I have behind it.

Just realised I've got a cancelled credit card in my wallet I can use.

Edit: do these not work in the public beta yet? Can get it to recognise my card to create the shortcut but I can't get it to trigger

 

[Book One]

NFC actions are gonna be huge

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Lol I want a yoshi amiibo now

 

[Vuze]

Really kinda sad this only works on Xs/Xr. Would be the "even lazier than lazy" approach to triggering bedtime mode lol

 

[GAMEPROFF]

How do I do a Shortcut, that disconnects (not turns Bluetooth off!) from all/a specific Bluetooths device?

 

[FliX]

I cannot figure out how to add shortcuts to Siri in iOS 13. There is no Add to Siri option for shortcuts...?

 

[Deleted member 9330]

I cannot figure out how to add shortcuts to Siri in iOS 13. There is no Add to Siri option for shortcuts...?

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It's automatic now. The name of the shortcut is it's trigger phrase with Siri

 

[FliX]

It's automatic now. The name of the shortcut is it's trigger phrase with Siri

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Ah, great. Thanks!

 

[Vuze]

Can you not directly link a shortcut to an automation or at least name a shortcut automation in 13.1?
If I want to run an existing shortcut on a given day/time, I have to use the "Run shortcut" action which in turn will label the automation as "Run shortcut". That's just kinda convoluted and unintuitive.

Also, how the hell do you enter if conditions with this new design? If I tap "condition" I can only choose between "some value" and "no value"?
E: Okay, you need to change the data type. For some reason shortcuts defaulted to "file" for text. After I changed it, I got the usual conditions back.

 

[Kordelle]

location based automation is not yet there, or am I just too stupid to find it? :D

 

[Midnight Lunch]

location based automation is not yet there, or am I just too stupid to find it? :D

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It's in there, but I think automations aren't coming until 13.1

 

[DominicanPower]

Is there a way can I set up a shortcut where I can play multiple albums from an artist?

 

[WillyGubbins]

Is there a way can I set up a shortcut where I can play multiple albums from an artist?

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You could add them all to a playlist then play that?

 

[Deleted member 9330]

Absolute travesty that they took out the "change wallpaper" action. That was my jam.

Also I'll get around to updating the OP for the changes in 13.0/13.1... eventually

 

[DominicanPower]

You could add them all to a playlist then play that?

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I guess.

 

[Perzeval]

Ooh, nfc triggering is awesome! I'm totally gonna put a nfc chip in my bedside table for automatically enabling do not disturb and alarm clocks.

 

[Quick]

Has anyone attempted to create any automations yet?

A lot of the things I'm seeing, I can already do with minimal interactions with my phone. I might just not have ideas right now.

 

[signal]

Has anyone attempted to create any automations yet?

A lot of the things I'm seeing, I can already do with minimal interactions with my phone. I might just not have ideas right now.

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The image resize / upload to imgur one was like the most impressive I've seen so far. A lot of them I agree are just like things I can do quickly anyway. A lot of the twitter ones are terrible.

Though some mundane things are really fast in shortcuts vs. using the app. The local train app I use for example takes way longer to actually open the app and search for a connection timetable than it does to simply set a shortcut for that connection and run it.

 

[Vuze]

Speaking of Automations, it's incredibly dumb that a) they don't allow you to set certain stuff to run automatically and b) don't tell you what asks you for a push confirmation and what not. Let's find out if my night shortcut will randomly launch at 11pm today or if I will get it pushed to the lockscreen (as I intend it to have). I know there's some list floating around somewhere that presumably lists what condition does what, but come on

Offloading stuff like this to automations is a good way to free up your widget at least

 

[SnakeXs]

Is there a way can I set up a shortcut where I can play multiple albums from an artist?

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Don't see why not. Find all albums filtered by that artist, make it a list, make multiple selectable, move it to a play action.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

Is there anyway to automate a phone call on the hour, and then dial a certain set of numbers during the phone call?

this would make my life soo much easier

 

[whatsinaname]

Is there anyway to automate a phone call on the hour, and then enter a certain set of numbers during the phone call?

this would make my life soo much easier

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I think it should be doable.

trigger - there are triggers for time of day. So you can say 'run the shortcut at 3:00 PM'.

action - phone call. You can call a contact (I don't know if you can enter a number, haven't looked into that). So if you create a contact with the number and use commas as pauses followed by the number you want to enter, you can use that.

"12345678900,1000" - will call 1 (234) 567-8900, pause for 2 seconds and enter 1000.

alternatively,

"12345678900;1000" - will call 1 (234) 567-8900, will create a button "1000" and wait for a manual button press from you.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

I think it should be doable.

trigger - there are triggers for time of day. So you can say 'run the shortcut at 3:00 PM'.

action - phone call. You can call a contact (I don't know if you can enter a number, haven't looked into that). So if you create a contact with the number and use commas as pauses followed by the number you want to enter, you can use that.

"12345678900,1000" - will call 1 (234) 567-8900, pause for 2 seconds and enter 1000.

alternatively,

"12345678900;1000" - will call 1 (234) 567-8900, will create a button "1000" and wait for a manual button press from you.

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Is there a way for it to just run every hour, because right now I have to tell it what time it sets as the alarm instead of having the time implied every hour on the dot.

Right now, if I set the shortcut, it calls the number immediately and creates the alarm, so my thinking is I need to set it to call on the hour, based on the alarm.

it does not currently trigger at any set time, I don't see a function to do that.


my thinking is

if time is x=*:00,
Then call *,*
The automated phone I have to call will then end call after a second and a half.

 

[whatsinaname]

Is there a way for it to just run every hour, because right now I have to tell it what time it sets as the alarm instead of having the time implied every hour on the dot.

Right now, if I set the shortcut, it calls the number immediately and creates the alarm, so my thinking is I need to set it to call on the hour, based on the alarm.

it does not currently trigger at any set time, I don't see a function to do that.


my thinking is

if time is x=*:00,
Then call *,*
The automated phone I have to call will then end call after a second and a half.

Click to shrink...

In the automation tab at the bottom, one of the events I see is time of day. Create a shortcut from there instead of from the My Shortcuts tab.

I was thinking you could just set 8-10 shortcuts, just duplicate them one per hour.

 

[Tobor]

Hi all, hoping for some assistance. I'm trying to set up a shortcut to tun on the lights when I stop the alarm. I had it on a timer but didn't like how the lights would turn on before i had turned off the alarm. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I have the shortcut created and figured out how to add the action from the home app, but only one of my available scenes is available to choose as an action. How do I add more scenes to the list? Is there a setting within the Scene that makes it show up in the action list in Shortcuts?

 

[whatsinaname]

Hi all, hoping for some assistance. I'm trying to set up a shortcut to tun on the lights when I stop the alarm. I had it on a timer but didn't like how the lights would turn on before i had turned off the alarm. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I have the shortcut created and figured out how to add the action from the home app, but only one of my available scenes is available to choose as an action. How do I add more scenes to the list? Is there a setting within the Scene that makes it show up in the action list in Shortcuts?

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Only my favourite scenes show up in the default action list. But if I go to 'Control my Home' as an action, the other 'Scenes and Accessories' lists all my scenes. Could that be the difference?

 

[Tobor]

Only my favourite scenes show up in the default action list. But if I go to 'Control my Home' as an action, the other 'Scenes and Accessories' lists all my scenes. Could that be the difference?

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It's weird because the missing scene was already set as a favorite, but anyway "control my home" worked! Thanks so much!

 

[Infinity Times Two]

Speaking of Automations, it's incredibly dumb that a) they don't allow you to set certain stuff to run automatically

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Is that why my automation to start playing a radio channel scheduled for mornings don't work? It pushes a notification but I have to manually press it everytime.

 

[Tobor]

Is that why my automation to start playing a radio channel scheduled for mornings don't work? It pushes a notification but I have to manually press it everytime.

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I did notice there is an "Ask Before Running" button in the "Edit Automation" page. Do you have that turned off?

 

[Infinity Times Two]

I did notice there is an "Ask Before Running" button in the "Edit Automation" page. Do you have that turned off?

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That option does not appear if I set it up based on time.

I can sorta make it work automatically based on alarm (turn off alarm), then the option appears. Would've been better to skip the annoying alarm noise and go directly to radio. Nicer way to wake up, but oh well.