How to start shortcuts automatically when you open an app on iPhone or iPad – Guide

If you’re like most people, you spend a lot of time on your iPhone or iPad using various apps. Wouldn’t it be great if you could automate these tasks or even combine them into a single action? You can do all this and more with Apple’s Shortcuts app. After configuring up a shortcut, just tap on it and it will perform all assigned tasks. ..

If you’re running iOS 12 or later, you can use a shortcut to run the Notes app. If you’re running iOS 13 or later, you can use a shortcut to add an action to your shortcuts.

automation triggers

The three types of automation are:

  • Events: These are triggered by something that the user does, like connecting their iPhone to their CarPlay-enabled vehicle or touching an NFC tag.
  • Travel: These are triggered by something that the user has done in the past, like going on a trip.
  • Settings: These are triggers that are inactive, but can be changed or enabled through a setting, like turning on Airplane Mode.

When your trigger is activated, you will get a notification. Tapping on that notification will show a “Run” button. Tap on it and your automation will run.

Events:

time of day:

A passive trigger that activates at a certain time of day, optionally on a certain day or days of the week.

Alarm:

If you stop an alarm on your iPhone or iPad, an active trigger is started that will cause the alarm to sound again if it’s not stopped. ..

Apple Watch Exercise:

When you start a workout on your Apple Watch, an active trigger starts the automation. This means that the watch will start tracking your workout and sending you notifications about your progress. ..

Travel through:

To arrive:

A passive trigger to get to a location can be anything that makes the player feel like they need to go there. This could be something as simple as a prompt to enter a specific room, or as complex as an event that triggers when the player enters a certain area.

To go out:

A passive trigger to leave a location can be a frustrating experience, as it can make it difficult to continue exploring the area.

Before travelling:

A passive trigger that can be set to activate before or during normal travel time for home or work. This would allow authorities to intercept any potential terrorist threats before they reach their targets. ..

CarPlay:z

If you successfully connect to CarPlay, your car will start automatically. ..

Settings:

Airplane Mode is an active trigger that starts your automation when you turn it on or off.

Wi-Fi can be a passive trigger that activates when you join a specific Wi-Fi network, such as your home network.

Bluetooth is a passive trigger that activates when you connect to a specific Bluetooth accessory.

When you turn Do Not Disturb on or off, your device will not be disturbed by any notifications.

Low Power Mode is an active trigger that starts when you turn Low Power Mode on or off.

NFC technology is used to activate your automation when you touch an NFC tag or sticker. By using NFC, you can easily activate your automation without having to remember every command.

Open app: A trigger that starts your automation when you open an app and interact with it.

iOS 14 adds several new trigger options:

With iOS 14, there are new sleep features that allow users to control when they fall asleep and wake up. Sleep is a passive trigger that can be triggered when the Wind Down process begins, when bedtime begins, or upon waking up. ..

A passive trigger that activates when you receive an email that meets certain conditions, such as sender, subject, or the account you received it from.

A new messaging app is coming soon that will allow users to send and receive SMS and iMessages. This app is likely to be popular with people who use these types of messages frequently, as it will save them time compared to using email or other traditional methods. ..

If your iPhone’s battery level falls below a certain threshold, an automation will activate. You can set this threshold to help you conserve your battery life. ..

An iPhone charger is an active trigger that starts an automation when you connect or disconnect your iPhone from a charger.

How to create a shortcut automation

Building automation is just like building shortcuts - you choose your trigger, and the automation will do anything a standard shortcut can do.

An NFC tag is a small object or sticker with an embedded digital signature that your iPhone recognizes when you bring it closer to a sticker. In the case of shortcut automation, your iPhone reads information that identifies the specific sticker or tag and takes an action based on the tag you read. For example, if you have an NFC tag for your car, your iPhone would read “Car” and would take action like turning on the car’s headlights or starting the car.

NFC works with iPhone X or later.

Since NFC is being used, the instructions will be specific, but setting up triggers is pretty self-explanatory when you start.

There are a few shortcuts you can take on your iPhone to make your life easier. Open Shortcuts is a new app that lets you create custom shortcuts for any app on your phone. You can create a shortcut for anything, like calling a friend, sending a text, or setting an alarm. ..

The Automation tab contains a variety of tools that can help you automate your work. You can find tools to help you manage your work, track your progress, and more.

If you don’t have a automation, add one.

Create a personal automation account to automate your work.

Touch the NFC trigger to start the camera.

Touch Scan on NFC tag to read the contents.

With the iPhone’s built-in NFC reader, you can easily scan your tag to access information like the product name and price. ..

NFC tags can be given names to make them easier to identify. This can be helpful if you have more than one NFC tag and want to keep track of which one is associated with which app or action. ..

After you tap OK, the instructions generally apply to all automation. ..

To search for an action, tap on the “Search” button.

To add an action to your automation, tap on the “actions” button. From here, you can add new actions or edit existing ones. ..

Tap a blue parameter to change its value.

Please enter a value for your parameter.

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Tap any parameter or buttons to change them.

If you want to add more actions to your shortcut, click the + button.

When you’re finished adding actions, tap Next. ..

If you want this automation to run without any additional input after enabling it, tap the Ask Before Run button (if available) to the gray “on” position.

Don’t ask if you tapped to hang up. Instead, just hang up. ..

Final note

How to start shortcuts automatically when you open an app on iPhone or iPad If you’re like most people, opening an app on your iPhone or iPad can be a bit of a hassle. You have to remember to hit the home button to get back to the home screen, then open the app and start typing in its name. Sometimes it’s hard to remember which app is which, so we’ve put together a guide that will help you start shortcuts automatically when you open an app. First, open up System Preferences and click on the General tab. Here, you’ll find a list of all your apps. If there are any apps that are always opened by default (like Facebook), then they’ll be listed in the “Always Open” section. If there are only some apps that are opened automatically (like Twitter), then they’ll be listed in the “Automatic Apps” section. Now, click on one of the apps in either of those sections and select “Start Shortcuts.” This will create a shortcut for that app in your Always Open section and also create a shortcut for it in your Automatic Apps section. Now just double-click on either of those shortcuts and they’ll take you right back to where you were before!