Here’s how to turn off those annoying banner notifications when Shortcuts automations run on your iPhone or iPad.
shortcuts
Shortcuts and Their Notifications – TMO Daily Observations 2021-08-18
Jeff Gamet joins host Kelly Guimont to discuss features that should come to Shortcuts, and how to disable some of their notifications.
4 Features Apple Needs to Add to Shortcuts
Apple’s Shortcuts is handy for automating actions on your iPhone, iPad, and soon your Mac, but there are a few features it needs to make it even more useful.
Shortcuts: Starting out, and Inspiration – TMO Daily Observations 2021-07-13
Today Bryan Chaffin and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont to chat Shortcuts, including tips on getting started and sources for “inspiration.”
Check Out These New iPhone Battery Wallpapers
Ben Vessey has released some new iPhone battery wallpapers as part of the Dynamo series. These wallpapers use shortcuts automation to automatically change depending on the state of your battery: Full, Low, and Charging. There are two new packs available: an album pack for music fans based on popular music icons; and a Mac-themed pack inspired by the Apple Macintosh. Each pack includes three sets of wallpapers optimized for the iPhone 6s and later. You install them using iCloud and Shortcuts running on iOS 14, with instructions included in the download.
iOS 15: A First Look at Automating With Shortcuts
Shortcuts is getting some new features with iOS 15 as well as appearing on macOS Monterey this fall. Here are some of the new changes.
What’s the Difference Between a Shortcut and a Siri Shortcut?
There are two different kinds of shortcuts and they can be used in different ways. You can build a shortcut and activate one using Siri.
Shortcuts to Automate Boring Stuff – TMO Daily Observations 2021-06-23
Andrew Orr joins host Kelly Guimont to discuss Shortcuts that can automate repetitive tasks, improve your security, and look ahead to macOS Shortcuts.
Photo Editor ‘Darkroom’ Adds Automated Workflows With Shortcuts
Darkroom announced on Monday that it added new shortcut actions to help automate your photo editing workflows.
You will be able to add a filter, set the filter intensity, inset on a frame, and now also crop to a preset and add your watermark to every photo or video processed. From there, you can save it out to a Files folder, upload to Instagram, you name it.
I should check out Darkroom again for this reason. And beg VSCO to add their own shortcut actions.
This iOS Shortcut Acts as a Random Username Generator
This username generator chooses a random adjective and a random noun, followed by a random number between 1 and 9,999. It then combines those into one phrase that you can use as a username. Examples the shortcut has given me include KindOven8211, TinyChild4041, ClumsyInformation5522, and BigInvestment2055.
22 New Actions Coming to Shortcuts in iOS 15
Matthew Cassinelli shared a post on his website sharing 22 new actions coming to shortcuts for iOS | iPadOS 15, and 21 Mac-only actions. The full post requires a subscription but he shared an image with details.
With the release of iOS 15 and the associated betas across Apple’s platforms, the Shortcuts app has received 2 automation types and 22 new actions that work across iPhone, iPad, and macOS as well as 21 Mac-only actions.
I think I’m most looking forward to Get Folder Contents, Rename File, Overlay Text, Extract Text From Image, and probably Get File From Folder.
Pixelmator Pro Will Support macOS Monterey Shortcuts
On Monday the team behind Pixelmator Pro announced that its Mac app will integrate with the upcoming Shortcuts app on macOS Monterey.
These Dynamic iOS Wallpapers Change Based on Battery Level
Dynamo wallpapers use automation Shortcuts to change dynamically based on your iPhone’s battery life, and when your phone is charging. Not only does this create a delightful interaction, it also improves visual communication of the charging cycle. Dynamo is available in 2 different packs, each pack contains 3 sets of dynamic wallpapers. Please note: These wallpapers need to be installed and automated using the iOS 14 Shortcuts app. This takes approx 10 minutes to setup. Video and PDF instructions are included in the download.
Shortcuts and Automations – TMO Daily Observations 2021-03-26
Andrew Orr and Dave Hamilton join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the Shortcuts app on iOS, and branch out into HomeKit Automations as well.
Back Up Your Shortcuts Using iCloud Links With This Shortcut
Apple had some kind of issue on their end that caused iCloud links for shortcuts to stop working. Since shortcuts no longer rely on files within the Shortcuts folder in iCloud, the only way to back up your shortcuts is by generating an iCloud link. The links are working again but only for new iCloud links. Old links don’t work anymore. I’ve been using two shortcuts that I created as a backup. The first one will generate a link for every shortcut you have and create a note in Apple Notes with the links. The second one can back up a single shortcut at a time and appends it to that same note as well as a text file. They can, and should, be modified to fit your own needs and file system. Update: Multiple reports on Friday suggest that old links are working again.
4 Plain Text Shortcuts to Use for Data Portability
Plain text is one of the most common, open file formats in computing. Andrew has been using four plain text shortcuts on iOS.
Transfer Spotify-Exclusive Podcasts Back to Apple Podcasts
I hope I don’t ruin a good thing by calling attention to it, but this amazing shortcut shared by u/AnthropicMachine can transfer your Spotify-exclusive podcasts back into the Apple Podcasts app. Thankfully, only one of the shows I listen to moved to Spotify. I don’t use Spotify for anything else so now I can delete the app again.
This iOS Shortcut Gives You Permanent Low Power Mode
iOS has a feature called Low Power Mode you can turn on to conserve your battery life. It automatically turns off once your battery capacity reaches 80% but you can keep it on with a shortcut. Or rather, an automation. It’s simple to do because it only uses one action. This is especially helpful for older iPhones whose battery life has shortened.
Using iOS Shortcuts to Quantify Your Self
Jackson Dame shared how he uses iOS shortcuts and an Apple Watch for lifelogging. I experimented with lifelogging back in 2014-2015, but I gave up after a while. Shortcuts would’ve made it a whole lot easier. Mr. Dame shares a list of all of the data he collects and what tools he uses to collect it, like Data Jar (love this app), Timelines, iA Writer, Charity, Microsoft Excel, and more.
This Shortcut Lets You Download Podcasts
The Podcasts app lets you save podcast episodes to listen later or to archive them, but they remain within the app. What if you want to download podcasts and save them elsewhere, like the Files app? This shortcut lets you do that. I’ve only used it once so far but it worked like a charm. It’s a nice way to archive episodes that you find particularly interesting.
The Shazam++ Shortcut Improves Your Music Recognition
Shazam++ is a shortcut that helps you take action after you use Shazam to identify a song. Use the shortcut to automatically get the link on your favorite music streaming website, and use features like lyric service, album and artist information, see your recent Shazams, and more.
NOW w/ IOS 14 Support, Beautiful Menus and Shazam History!
Use This Shortcut for Real and Fake Art in Animal Crossing
Redd is a character in Animal Crossing: New Horizons that runs the Treasure Trawler. He visits your island every so often to sell you paintings and statues for your art museum. However, sometimes the art is counterfeit, and this shortcut can help. It uses Polygon’s art guide but since it’s a shortcut you won’t have to browse through a long article.
iOS 14: How to Copy and Paste Actions in Shortcuts
iOS 14 brought many improvements to the Shortcuts app, including a way to copy and paste actions and duplicate them.
Here’s How to Replace the iOS 13 Favorites Widget on iOS 14
We all know how much I like shortcuts, and Juli Clover came up with a clever way to replace the iOS 13 Favorites widget that was removed in iOS 14.
Why the Favorites widget was removed is a mystery and it could be a simple oversight with Apple planning to reintroduce it later, but for now, those who relied on the widget can recreate its functionality with Shortcuts. It takes some effort, but it may be worth the time investment if you often relied on your Favorites.
As my image above suggests, it’s only the widget that was removed. You can still add favorites in the Phone and Contacts apps.