The "Shortcut" app installed on the iPhone as one of the standard iOS apps. You can quickly perform frequently used tasks and multiple operations on your iPhone with just one tap or by calling Siri, making your iPhone more comfortable and convenient.
You may have an image that it is difficult to use, but the shortcut app has various functions that can be used in advance, and once you get used to it, you will be able to set it easily. Therefore, in addition to the functions of the app that you want to know and how to use them on this occasion, convenient functions and setting methods that can be used with just a simple setting from the "Gallery" where ready-made shortcuts are prepared are listed. introduce.
In addition, the contents displayed by the shortcut application differ depending on the setting status of each OS version, location information setting, etc. The flow of setting itself does not change greatly, so please try setting while trying various things.
The Shortcuts app automates basic iPhone functions and operations like keyboard shortcuts, allowing you to perform them with a single tap. The menu is roughly divided into the following three.
① "My shortcuts" for managing registered shortcuts ② "Automation" for automating frequently used functions and creating unique shortcuts ③ "Gallery" for frequently used operations and useful usages
You can register the "My Shortcuts" in (1) and save the created shortcuts all at once. You can also display it on the home screen like an app, register it with Apple Watch, give it a unique name and operate it hands-free from Siri.
From the next item, we will introduce how to use (2) "Automation" and (3) how to use convenient functions in "Gallery" with specific examples.
Check the weather and news that you do casually every day. By automating such daily routines with shortcuts, you can execute them with one tap.
Such features can be configured using Automation. In addition to specific times, you can also make detailed settings such as executing according to conditions such as "when the sun sets" or "when you arrive at a specified place", or notifying only on weekdays.
Next, let's explain the specific setting method. Here, we will explain how to display the weather forecast for the current location in the app at 8 o'clock every day as an example.
Launch the Shortcuts app, first tap "Automation" from the bottom menu and select "Create Personal Automation".
From the menu displayed in [New Automation], tap [Time] to set the time to launch the weather forecast. For [Time], you can select sunrise or sunset, or repeat timing, in addition to the specific time. After setting, tap [Next] in the upper right.
Tap [Add Action] to move to the screen for setting "Action". From the menu, enter "weather" in the search window to display related apps and actions, and select [Show weather] from there. When you tap the icon that specifies [Location], the screen switches and the current location is selected. If you want to change it, tap [Current Location] to select a different location from those registered in the weather app. If you want to check the operation, tap the play button at the bottom right to check the operation, and tap [Next] at the top right to display the settings.
When you tap [Done] in the upper right, the operation confirmed on the previous screen will be automatically executed every morning. If you don't want it to be automatic and want to confirm before running, turn on [Ask before running]. When turned off, Do not ask before running? ] confirmation screen is displayed. Tap [Done] when you are done with the settings, and tap [Back] to make corrections.
In addition, the set contents are displayed in a list in [Personal] on the "Automation" screen. Tap the action you set to switch to the [Edit Automation] screen, where you can re-edit it or turn off [Enable this automation] to stop it.
When [Enable this automation] is turned on, a notification will be displayed on the screen at the set time (the display method can be changed in "Settings"), followed by the weather app screen. . If [Ask before running] is turned on, tapping the notification screen will display the [Run] button, so tapping it will display the screen of the weather app.
In the "Gallery", there are [Starter Shortcuts] that collect basic usages, "Accessibility Shortcuts" that allow you to quickly set accessibility functions, and "Using Siri" that allows you to perform multiple operations with Siri. There are various ways to use it, such as
Frequently used operations, such as setting an alarm or exchanging messages with the same person, are automatically listed in [Shortcuts from apps you use], so first tap [Show all] to check. Let's try
For example, you can register with Siri by selecting [Show current location rain cloud radar] and tapping [+]. The shortcut name will be [Voice command:] as it is, so it will be easier to use if you change it to a name such as "Current weather" so that it can be easily called by Siri.
In addition, when you scroll the main screen of the "Gallery", you can find shortcuts for various purposes such as [Mandatory Shortcuts] and [Morning Routine]. Tap [Show all] next to the title and select the item you are interested in from the displayed items. You can register it to "My Shortcut" just by tapping it.
Of course, it is also possible to customize the icon and name after registration, and to arrange the contents from [Run:] to make it easier to use. Therefore, when it is troublesome to create a shortcut from scratch, or when you want to know what you can do with a "shortcut" for the time being, just looking at the contents of the gallery can be a reference for how to use it.
When you want to inform the other party of your current location information, you may get frustrated with the operation only when you are in a hurry, or you may make a mistake. Therefore, if you use [Share my location] in [Quick shortcut], you can automatically acquire the map URL of your current location and send it by text message. It is very convenient because it can be done with
If you enter "location information" in the search window of "Gallery", a list of related shortcuts will be displayed, so select [Share location information] from there.
Tap [3 Actions] under [Execute:] to see the operations that will be performed. Tap [Add Shortcut] at the bottom of the screen, and if the text [Added to My Shortcuts] is displayed, the setting is complete.
If you want to edit a shortcut that has been set once, stop its function, or display it on the home screen, tap [...] at the top right of the shortcut you want to edit from the "My Shortcuts" list, and then Make settings. For example, if you always decide who you want to send messages to, such as your family, you can set them here in advance. You can see how it works by tapping the play button in the lower right corner.
As mentioned above, if you want to use it from the home screen, tap [...] in the upper right while the actions are listed, and tap [Add to home screen] from the displayed screen. set.
You can also change the icon design and color by tapping the icon image. Currently, you can change the name of the part called "Share location information", and the shortcut name can also be used as a Siri command. You can also make shortcuts available from your Apple Watch.
Many people take photos with their smartphones, such as daily records and SNS. However, since the photo size of the iPhone is relatively large, it takes time to communicate when posting to SNS. You can reduce the size of the photo in the Photos app, but it's cumbersome to repeat the operation. Therefore, I will introduce a method to automatically perform a series of operations with a shortcut, such as resizing the taken photo and saving it in the album for posting.
First, in the "Photos" app, create a folder to save the resized photos. Select [Album] in the "Photos" app, tap the [+] in the upper left that appears, select [New Album] from the displayed menu (*[New Folder] may not work properly), and then name it. to register.
Launch the "Shortcuts" app and tap [+] in the upper right from [All Shortcuts] in [My Shortcuts]. Tap [Add Action] on the [New Shortcut] screen, and enter "Photo" in the search window from the menu. Select [Select Photos] from the displayed list. In addition, tap [Increase display] of the selected action and turn on [Select multiple].
Next, tap [+] below the action, enter "image" in the search box, and select [Change image size] from the displayed list to add it. You can change the size after changing by tapping the number in the action.
Tap the [+] at the bottom of the action again, enter "album" in the search, and select [Save to photo album] from the displayed list to add it. If you tap [Recent Items] in the added actions, album names in the "Photos" app will be displayed in a list. select.
After completing the settings, tap [Next] in the upper right to register the shortcut name and icon. Shortcut names registered here can be executed simply by speaking to Siri. In this example, I named it "Resize Photo". If you tap [Done] in the upper right, it will be saved in "My Shortcuts", so you can edit it again from there.
If you set up like this, you can easily change the photo to the set size. Tap [Resize Photo] from [All Shortcuts] in [My Shortcuts], and select the photo you want to resize from the [Photos] app. Tap [Add] in the upper right to add the resized photo to the created [For Posting] folder.
Using the Shortcuts app makes the operation of the iPhone a lot easier because it reduces the hassle of everyday life. Of course, various customizations other than those introduced above are possible, and shortcuts can be set according to each person's usage. How about setting a shortcut that suits you while trying out the usability?
Text: Yuko Nonoshita