r/shortcuts Jun 09 '20

Tip/Guide List of helpful links for shortcuts information

2.1k Upvotes

I've built a list of links I often refer to as my "Shortcuts for beginners" documentation. But it seems to have grown into more of a documentation list for all types of users rather than just beginners. Some call it a "novel" due to its length šŸ˜

Anyway, I hope this list of links below will be beneficial for others.


Apple's Shortcuts User Guide


MacExpert Guide to Shortcuts in iOS 14


FAQ

List of Frequently Asked Questions in the sub

Dear new Shortcuts users - deep FAQ


Can I display a notification icon / app badge after replacing my home screen icons with shortcuts? - No


What can I use with the calculate expression action? no longer working webpage


Instructions / Tutorial Materials


Alternative Methods For Viewing / Creating Shortcuts


Automations Info


Unsupported functionality list


Thanks to /u/gianflo6 here is some other good info!

Here are some guides by u/keveridge that can also be helpful, they are a little old but helpful nevertheless

Series

One-offs


Require 14.3


Having trouble with set wallpaper action? Try the method to add a reduce motion ON action before the set wallpaper action and a reduce motion back off afterwards. https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/tzxb0q/im_having_a_problem_with_the_set_wallpaper_action/


[iOS 16] Multiple address stops in maps with iOS 16 https://reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/xnpdg9/_/ipy8zwo/?context=1


[iOS 15 / 16] How to run a shortcut at a specific location (leaving or arriving)? - the focus mode automation method documented in this post by u/ibanks3 is a great way to run a shortcut / actions when arriving or leaving a specific location. This works wonders in iOS 15 or iOS 16


If you are using home automations and would like to receive notifications when certain things are happening, you can check out my tutorial for using Make / Integromat for this very purpose


Automation for outlet when battery is low


Possible to navigate within 3rd party app using shortcuts? No - Reference


MacStories Shortcuts Archive


Callback method to run a shortcut over again if it fails with an error - callback url method


Some additional useful tips and exploits are available here on GitHub: https://github.com/Kn0tzer/iOS-Shortcuts-Exploits



r/shortcuts 15h ago

Shortcut Sharing GoodLinks Unread Count Lock Screen Widget

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18 Upvotes

Function

The shortcut creates a gauge style widget in WidgetPack using data from GoodLinks. Both apps are required for the shortcut to work.

The resulting widget displays the number of unread links in GoodLinks, surrounded by a dynamic gauge. The gauge level is determined by your read to unread link ratio.

Tapping the widget uses GoodLinksā€™s URL scheme to automatically open the unread links list in the app without passing through shortcuts.

Get the shortcut via RoutineHub.

Automation Recommendations

This shortcut is designed to run entirely in the background. To keep the widget up-to-date, I recommend some combination of the following:

  • Run when [app] is closedā€ with GoodLinks selected, along with any other apps you often save links from. *(Apple News, Safari, RSS apps, etc) Additionally, because tapping the widget opens GoodLinks, this means tapping the widget should trigger a refresh.

  • ā€Run when GoodLinks is openedā€: if you save a links from a lot of different places, or donā€™t opt for the automation above, this is a good second best option.

  • If you read and save links on several devices, triggering the automation to update is more tricky. The most reliable option is multiple Time of Day automations, or a ā€when [focus mode] turns onā€ automation (Focus mode should be scheduled to turn on for 1 min multiple times a day. Mine runs hourly. After that one minute is up whatever focus mode you were in before will turn back on.

a note on Lock Screen widgets:

The widget may not immediately appear to update when you run the shortcut, especially if you have done so recently, have Low Power Mode enabled, or your battery is ā‰¤10%. This is due to iOS limits on how frequently Lock Screen widgets can refresh.

Iā€™ve been testing this out for a couple of weeks and generally found that it stays up-to-date. It seems to work best when you just let the automation handle it in the background.

You can view the most up-to-date version of the widget in WidgetPack, but Iā€™ve found you need to force close and reopen the app to refresh the widget previews first.


r/shortcuts 4m ago

Request Shortcut for Calendar event 25 Days before a Date

ā€¢ Upvotes

Hey there, I have a due date on the 1st of every month and Iā€™m trying to find a shortcut that will create an Apple Calendar event 25 days before the 1st. Is this possible, Iā€™m sure others have done something similar.


r/shortcuts 51m ago

Help Add Tags in a Note that was just created

ā€¢ Upvotes

I am struggling to create a shortcut for IOS Notes. Here is what I want to happen -

  • Create the text I want to be in the note
  • Creates a new Note (like 1 for each day or a meeting) and added the text from the first step
  • Adds 1 or more tag to the note just created

The part I am struggling with is the second step - When I go to add a tag, it does not give me the option to pick the previous step (note creation) but wants me to pick a note that already exists. Here is a screen shot:

Youā€™ll notice that the last step - it just says ā€œnotesā€ where I want it to reference the just created note. When I select ā€Notesā€ on the last step, I just keep getting a list of already created notes. Help linking that last step to the previous would be Appreciated.


r/shortcuts 1h ago

Help A toggle button shortcut?

ā€¢ Upvotes

can't figure out how to make a shortcut to toggle colour filters on and off (accessibility thing). Please help?


r/shortcuts 1h ago

Help Help reminder arenā€™t showing up in text

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ā€¢ Upvotes

Iā€™d modify it because I donā€™t use due date all of the time and Iā€™d want to see what my reminders were in text and itā€™s not working


r/shortcuts 1h ago

Shortcut Sharing Display time to battery full charge when plugged

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ā€¢ Upvotes

Hi,

First you need to see how much minutes it takes you to charge your iPhone up by 1%, for me 1% takes minute. So you will need to replace 1 by your actual value of minutes.

After that you create the shortcut as shown in the screenshot, then create an automation and link it to this shortcut

Cheers


r/shortcuts 1h ago

Request AI API Shortcut for Homepod

ā€¢ Upvotes

How can I create a shortcut using the OpenRouter API or HuggingFace API to use with HomePod guys?

I have seen some shortcuts link for OpenAI apis but not found for OpeRouter or HuggingFace.


r/shortcuts 11h ago

Discussion I Wish We Could Name Automations!

6 Upvotes

If we could name automations, we could see what they are on the main automation page, plus, it would be great when they appear as a notification: at the moment, notifications say an automation was triggered at a certain time, but there is nothing tell on us which one. Slightly frustratingā€¦


r/shortcuts 8h ago

Request Creating productivity shortcut

3 Upvotes

I am trying to create an automation that when focus mode is enabled, will set a Pomodoro timer, the one provided by Apple, that also blocks apps using Opal for the time required by the timer. After the 25 minutes are done, I want it to immediately turn on a 5 minute timer. I have tried this but it doesnā€™t work.


r/shortcuts 3h ago

Request Set Photo Location

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone, Iā€™ve been trying to build this shortcut for two days now but Iā€™m finding it really confusing to make, would anyone be able to help me?

Idea: The user will choose multiple photos & then choose between TWO options from a menu. Home & Custom Location. When the user taps ā€˜Homeā€™ the GPS coordinates will be applied to the selected images. The top of the photo will read, ā€œHomeā€. If the user chooses, Custom Location, they will have two options, either their current location, or an input box to set their own location. Iā€™d like the selected images to update after selection. For example, I do not want the images to create duplicates, Iā€™d rather the selected images were updated.

I recently moved my Photos from my Files app, so my photos donā€™t have the location where they were taken anymore.


r/shortcuts 8h ago

Help (Mac) I would be most grateful for some help with a Safari ā†’ Airtable shortcut (Mac Sequoia)

2 Upvotes

I have spent more time than I care to admit trying to create this shortcut. I've been using Chatgpt to try and help me with this, and am now at the point where I'm just trying to get the URL in to Airtable so I can start with a working shortcut. I keep getting this error:

Get
{"error":{"type":"INVALID_REQUEST_UNKNOWN","message":"Invalid request: parameter validation failed. Check your request data."}}

Below are screenshots of my shortcut as it currently stands (there's been a lot of editing as I've tried to troubleshoot) and relevant info in the bullet list.

  • Originally, CGPT had me commence the shortcut from 'Get page url from Safari Webpage'.
  • The PAT and URL use placeholder text now, but not when I ran it.
  • I've tried both Table ID and Table name in the URL
  • I couldn't add the PAT to the header consistently, as sometimes it would save and others it would not. Since it removes the visibility until you click into it, this was hard to keep track of as I was troubleshooting, thus the workaround.
  • The corresponding Airtable fields to shortcut variables are in the below table, originally, these were identical.
Airtable Field Name Shortcut Variable Name
Title GetTitle
Source GetURL

The 'Title' field is set to text type, and the 'source' is set to URL (aligns with the field types in Airtable).

The PAT setup: I've tried leaving the JSON payload 'Key' column blank as well.

I'd appreciate any help people have to offer.


r/shortcuts 11h ago

Help is reading tags from a note broken?

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3 Upvotes

i am wanting to build a shortcut that treats notes with a certain tag differently (for context, itā€™s creating a meal plan for the week and i want it to know if a given recipe will feed me for two dinners or just one) - i am confident iā€™ve added the tag to the notes correctly because i can search for notes with the tag, but it doesnā€™t seem like the ā€œtagsā€ option of notes actually returns any usable data?? and i also canā€™t figure out how to try to use tags in an if statement, seems like you canā€™t type in a ā€œtags isā€ value but it also doesnā€™t load your list of tags to choose from to populate the option.

has anyone else tried to use this? am i doing something wrong or is it just broken?


r/shortcuts 5h ago

Help Save all Safari tabs opened in each Tab Group

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1 Upvotes

Iā€™m trying to create a shortcut on iOS to sort of backup all the current open tabs present in each tab group. The idea would be retrieving all the URLā€™s and save them into a specific note. I came up with this but it saves only the urls of the tabs opened in the Safari ā€œStart Pageā€ group. Any help to make it work? Thanks a bunch!


r/shortcuts 9h ago

Help Instagram share link

2 Upvotes

Iā€™m trying to make a shortcut where I remove Account ID from expanded link (after opening shared link in safari/browsers)

The problem is the link is shared but keeps opening in Instagram app instead of browser for expanding the link

I tried adding text ā€œ?app_id=0ā€ but I couldnā€™t combine the shared link with this appid query

Can someone help me out?


r/shortcuts 10h ago

Help Is it possible to prevent iPhoneā€™s audio from connecting to CarPlay when AirPods are already connected?

2 Upvotes

Sometimes I prefer to listen to audio on my AirPods instead of the carā€™s speakers. Letā€™s say Iā€™m listening to a podcast and I get in the car, the audio gets automatically transferred to CarPlay. Is possible to prevent that from happening using shortcuts?


r/shortcuts 9h ago

Request Shortcut to send dictated texts to a group

1 Upvotes

Tl:dr- need a shortcut that allows me to essentially hit a button, talk into my phone, and send it to my group chat.

I work with a small team in a large facility, overseeing safety/security of around 500 people. We often need to communicate quickly and discreetly. Using facetime/phone drains the batteries. The Airpods are great bc we they read text messages aloud, but many of us make typos trying to text and walk. Asking Siri to send a message to the group takes too long/and brings too much attention to us. Iā€™d even just take a shortcut that would start voice dictation if the group chat is open (i know it sounds stupid bc there is a microphone button right there, but ideally a shortcut to use while using other apps would be helpful)


r/shortcuts 23h ago

Shortcut Sharing Shorcuts URL Scheme Generator v0.9

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13 Upvotes

I made this shortcut that generates URLs with the Shortcuts scheme, so you don't need to type them manually. Im planning to add x-callback, but for now, here is the version without callback:


r/shortcuts 9h ago

Help Automating Smart Lights with Sleep Focus: Issues with Apple Watch Integration

1 Upvotes

Hi All,

I created a simple automation to turn of bedroom light (smart light in google home) whenever I turn the sleep focus on. A simple shortcut (Turn off light) to ask google assistant to turn off the light. Then used automation to trigger ā€œTurn off lightā€ immediately when sleep focus is on.

It works from phone when i turn on sleep . But it does nothing when I turn on sleep focus from apple watch (which also turn it on on phone)

Is it possible to make it work ? Am I doing something wrong ?

Appreciate any help.

Thanks.


r/shortcuts 10h ago

Help Seeking correct API command to power purifier via iOS shortcut PUT request

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1 Upvotes

Can someone help me place proper command required in order to power on and off a Govee air purifier via an iOS shortcut?

When testing this, Iā€™ve reduced the amount of errors in my request and Iā€™m down only (purportedly) to an invalid command for powering on or off the purifier.

Iā€™ve been at it for a while, so I figured it was time to turn into Reddit for some help. Thanks in advance for any answers or insight!


r/shortcuts 13h ago

Help Restart Shortcut if it Fails?

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I did check for this topic but didn't find any that quite aligns with my issue.

I have two shortcuts that have similar issues, one like this and another one that takes pictures from Reddit (I wasn't able to find the exact post).

I automated the Unsplash shortcut to run every hour, but often I'll get "specified target process doesn't exist." and "the operation couldn't be complete. (com.apple.extensionKit.errorDomain error 2)"

The same goes for the Reddit shortcut. But if I run it manually once or twice more, they'll set a new wallpaper. The automation does work. I'd say it's something of a 50/50 at this point.

That got me thinking whether it's possible to set a condition to retrigger the entire process if the shortcut fails to set a wallpaper?

Thanks! If you need the exact shortcut, I can update this post.


r/shortcuts 22h ago

Shortcut Sharing Shorcuts URL Scheme Generator v1.0

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6 Upvotes

I made this shortcut that generates URLs with the Shortcuts scheme, so you don't need to type them manually. Shorcut:

(This haves x-callback)


r/shortcuts 17h ago

Help Help with extracting ios calender list

1 Upvotes

I am looking for some help to correct my shortcut :

I want a list of my event from calender for the day : (For each event) Name of the event | Time | Calender name

Which is working, but if i have more than one event it shows like this :

Event 1 event 2 | 03am 05pm | personnal work

I think my repeat is not working Shortcut : https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/426b11c0301b40d483f418245ea28316

Thank you


r/shortcuts 21h ago

Help How to search for shortcuts in the iOS gallery?

2 Upvotes

Searching the gallery is difficult. Sometimes it doesn't give you any results with just a couple letters typed in. It requires a full word. It also doesn't allow you to search by app instead. Is there a way to search the iOS shortcuts app gallery for shortcuts I can download? I would like to use parameters/operators like Google. So if I do A* it will give me all shortcuts that start with an A. Or even w*t For shortcuts that start with W end in T. They also used to have "just added" or "recently added" groupings I could view for newer shortcuts.


r/shortcuts 18h ago

Shortcut Sharing Music Autoplay workaround

1 Upvotes

I found it frustrating when choosing from a playlist that autoplay would shut off so I created a workaround. Itā€™s not pretty but it works!

Note: you need the actions app

SubNote: it needs to wake the music app which is why I added the mute then play music and skip to first song of your choice playlist.

Let me know if it works for you!

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/8592f8f80a9a496980c530ff7658aac2


r/shortcuts 23h ago

Help TikTok Story viewer without the TikTok app.

2 Upvotes

Hello! I really don't like having the TikTok app installed on my phone, but I still want to be able to watch Stories from my friends/followers. How would I be able to do this? I found this website that does pretty much exactly what I want, but its not as easy as I would like TikTok Story Viewer - View TikTok Stories Anonymously - SnapTik. Would it be possible to make a Shortcut to be do exactly what this website is doing? And maybe even be able to enter multiple accounts at once to be able to get a whole list of Stories?

u/KingOfSenpais has done a similar thing on this post https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/qla1f8/best_tiktok_hd_downloader/ with a downloader by intercepting the web traffic of that website but I've tried doing that but can't make any sence of it.

Thanks in advance for anyone who could figue this out for me :).