10 Cool Tricks You Can Do With Your iPhone’s Shortcut App

You may have ignored the workflow app in your iOS phone just because at first look you cannot decide that what this app is actually about but with the release of iOS 14 this app is renewed and renames to the Shortcut app. You can create custom app icons with this Shortcut app and also it will help you perform several complicated tasks in the background without you knowing. You can use the pre-made shortcuts or you can also customize them for yourself and can use them by tapping into any area of your screen.

If we talk about customization option, it allows adding endless widgets to your screen and it is going very well with old iOS phones and we hope to look it good with the newly announced all new iPhone 12.

There is lot of cool stuff which you can do with you Apple Shortcuts app and it can save you from many hectic and tiring situations. You just need to understand how these shortcuts work and how you can customize them.

Install Shortcuts:

Before using cool shortcuts make sure that you have Shortcut app installed in your phone. If you are having and iOS 12 and later you can install the app from the App Store. For iOS 13 and later this app comes built in your iPhone.

After installation make sure that you add it to the Today View Widget. You can do it easily by swiping to the right on your iPhone’s home screen and tapping on the Add Widget which is at the bottom of your screen. There you’ll find a green plus button next to Shortcuts, tap on it and done.

Untrusted Shortcuts:

With lot of pretty cool shortcuts available, there are many untrusted shortcuts. You have to be aware of them. Go to the settings and tap on Shortcuts. Then turn on the option named as untrusted shortcuts from there.

Once you have enabled untrusted shortcuts option, it doesn’t mean that it will block you from using any shortcut; it will only give you a reminder before adding any shortcut that it may be an untrusted third party shortcut. By this you can make your phone secure from malwares.

Here are some of our handpicked cool iPhone tricks for Apple shortcuts app:

1. Custom app icons:

The most popular thing about iOS 14 now a day is its feature of customized app icons. This feature can be enjoyed using Shortcut app. You can customize your app icons and combine them with widgets to make your home screen portray a mood or a theme. It will also go well with recently launched iPhone 12.

2. I’m getting pulled over:

There can be an emergency situation where you are unable to contact your trusted contacts. For such times, this shortcut is really useful. You can add trusted emergency contacts and in case of emergency tap on the shortcut or simply say Siri, “I’m being pulled over” and your iPhone will send your current location to already added contacts. Another great thing is that it will automatically begin recording from the front camera of your phone.

You can later use that recording for a legal proof or just for showing your boss that you were actually stuck in a traffic jam.

3. Spell Checker:

With many other replacements, phones also replaced need of dictionaries and replaced with autocorrect is nice, but you cannot trust autocorrect every time especially while working on an assignment or important document.

By using Check Spelling shortcut, you can be confident about your spellings. For this you simply have to copy your text and paste it to the Check Spelling Shortcut. It will check spelling errors and and will give you the solution by writing a new text with corrections.

4. Amazon Deals Check:

Amazon puts its products on sale from time to time, but it’s nearly impossible to keep a check on all rates and determine when it’s right time to buy a product. This problem of you can also be solved with Apple’s Shortcut app. CamelCamelCamel is a website we use to keep a track of price history of items. With the help of this shortcut, you can get alerts when the price of an item drops to your specified price.

You can do this when you’re viewing an item on Amazon, simply tap the Share button and select CmlCmlCml from your list of shortcuts.

5. Do Not Disturb timer:

Setting do not disturb mode on iPhone is like going to settings and then making adjustments. Shortcut app made it easier too. By using “do not disturb” shortcut, you simply have to enter that for how long you need rest and Shortcut app will manage the rest of settings for you.

If you are tired, instead of taping on the shortcut you can simply tell Siri “Do not disturb timer” and it will set a timer for you. Then waiting for what, add it to your shortcuts today and enjoy it.

6. Low Battery Shortcut:

Long Battery life is considered as basic need of today. To manage your low battery, Reddit introduced a Shortcut for you. This shortcut uses your current battery percentage, and compares it with predefined settings of your phone and manages the performance of your phone in such a way that its battery life can last a little more.  You can use this shortcut directly from the Shortcuts app or you can also access it from the Today View widget.

7. Shoot a GIF:

Enjoying the moment and want to use it as GIF later? No worries, you can now shoot a GIF for you buy using “Shoot a GIF shortcut”. It opens the Camera app and allows you to take four photos by default. After clicking the last photo, these photos are combined together into an animated image resulting on your favorite GIF. You can change the number of allowed photos according to you.

This shortcut can be accessed using Siri or Today View Widget.

8. Make a PDF:

PDF is considered as a standard for sharing any professional document as it doesn’t mess with your format. Now using Shortcut app and adding “Make a PDF” shortcut, you can make a PDF out of any document or website within few taps. Not only making, you can then save and share that PDF to any platform easily by using “Make a PDF”.

If you’re a student or a person who had to deal with documents all day, this shortcut is really a life saver for you.

9. Directions to Your Next Calendar Event:

Worried about location of an upcoming event? Shortcut app, by adding a navigation shortcut, eased it for you.

You simply have to attach a location to your calendar events and shortcut will direct you to navigation app and gives you direction towards your destination and also it will give an estimated time to reach there.

It is like a two way shortcut, it can give you directions to selected event and it can also display you the events which are going to start in next minutes or hours. So if you’re bored, you can navigate nearest events and can get the directions to there.

You can use it on your Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad.

10. Download YouTube Videos:

Downloading a YouTube video is still a difficult task for many. But if you’re an iPhone user with Shortcut app, you can do it with few taps.

You simply need the URL of the video you want to download. Copy the URL and tap on the Download YouTube shortcut and it will start the download process.

After downloading, you can save and share the video.

If you’re unable to find video after downloading, locate it in Photos app of your phone.

11. Make Your Own Speed Dial Menu:

Calling a person daily or twice a day and dialing their number every single time can be tiring. For this use the Speed Dial shortcut and add those numbers to a Speed dial menu and store it in Today Widget. If you store more than one numbers, Shortcut will give you a choice while calling. Add it to your Shortcut app or Today Widget for using it.