Intro
I’ve been doing automation for a long time, initially as a means to an end for a part of my job, and now it’s my full-time job.
A few months ago, I really started to dive deep into the art of the possible with Siri Shortcuts, and I’ve created quite a few which have garnered the attention of a bunch of people, so I thought I’d centrally write everything up - why / how I use them, where to download them, how to set them up, etc - so I can just point people at this. 😊
I’m aiming to continually update this page as I develop and fine tune things.
Changes:
2024/12/15:
For “Message ETA”, expanded to support multiple destinations.
For “Contextual VPN”, created shortcut which first ensures that the device isn't connected to the home Wi-Fi.
Added “Save To File”.
2024/12/14: For “Action Button”, fixed the initialisation of the variable for tracking the AirPods Pro’s noise control mode.
Index
Overview of and links to sections:
Shortcuts App
Before diving into each set-up, it’s useful to know a few things:
Everything is configured in the app “Shortcuts” (installed by default, but link provided in case you’ve removed it).
To modify a shortcut: Open the app “Shortcuts”, tap the tab “Shortcuts”, and tap the 3 dots on the shortcut.
To set up an automation rule: Open the app “Shortcuts”, tap the tab “Automation”, and tap the plus icon in the top right.
Action Button
Overview
I use this shortcut to make my iPhone’s Action Button contextual. As of writing, I have it configured so that:
If it’s night time and a charger is connected: Enable sleep mode.
If Dropbox is open: Run file renamer (covered below).
If AirPods Pro are connected and set at the playback destination:
If in ANC mode: Enable transparency mode and pause media.
I find this super useful in situations like when I’m waiting in line at a coffee shop.If in transparency mode: Enable Active Noise Cancellation and play media.
If none of the above: Open the camera in video mode.
Set up
Install the app “Actions” and restart.
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/399b454fb1734d639da7a33bffadf95f
In the app “Settings” → section “Action Button”, set the option “Shortcut” and then choose this one.
To reverse #1 in the morning: Set up an automation rule:
Type: “Charger”
Run: Immediately
When: “Is Disconnected”
Do: “New Blank Automation” → “Set Focus” → “Turn Sleep Off”
To support things like #2: Set up automation rules:
#1:
Type: “App”
Run: Immediately
App: “Dropbox”
When: “Is Opened”
Do: “New Blank Automation” → “Global Variable: Set Text” → “Set global text variable Open App to Dropbox”
#2:
Type: “App”
Run: Immediately
App: “Dropbox” and any others
When: “Is Closed”
Do: “New Blank Automation” → “Global Variable: Set Text” → “Set global text variable Open App to None”
Low Power Mode
Overview
This shortcut automatically enables Low Power Mode if the battery level falls below a certain percentage and you’re not at certain locations like home.
Set up
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/88dfdc70c3da44b08d64a320a1108943
Modify the shortcut setting your Wi-Fi network names.
Set up an automation rule:
Type: “Battery Level”
Run: Immediately
When: “Falls Below <your preferred percentage>”
Do: This shortcut
Message ETA
Overview
This shortcut automatically determines how long it’ll take to drive from where you are to the destination you choose and then sends that in a message to the recipients you specify for that destination.
Set up
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/7acf218513174e3aa7344de0b7df5ec6
Modify the shortcut setting your addresses and recipients.
Optional: Set up an automation rule like (the first step is for confirmation to prevent fully autonomous mode, as you won’t always want this to happen):
Type: “Bluetooth” or “CarPlay” or “NFC” (tags are super cheap - like 20p to 25p each)
Run: Immediately
When: “Is Connected” or “Connects” or tag is detected
Do: This shortcut
Save To File
Overview
Every now and again, I need to save a piece of text from my iPhone or iPad to the Files app, but - bizarrely - you can’t create a new file in the Files app, so I created this to do so for me.
Set up
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/6226119c5e4145d589d58f4085970337
Wi-Fi QR Code
Overview
This shortcuts takes your Wi-Fi network name and password and generates a QR code for other devices to scan to easily join your Wi-Fi.
This is easily triggerable if, like me, you have an NFC tag stuck in a convenient place like the coffee table.
Set up
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e87d1588f29f49c78ec604d7a68fe4da
Modify the shortcut setting your Wi-Fi network name and password.
Optional: Set up an automation rule like:
Type: “NFC”
Run: Immediately
When: Tag is detected
Do: This shortcut
Toggle Hotspot
Overview
I often have to enable my iPhone’s hotspot to connect my laptop to it, so I’ve stuck an NFC tag to it which triggers this.
Set up
Set up an automation rule like:
Type: “NFC”
Run: Immediately
When: Tag is detected
Do: “New Blank Automation” → “Set Personal Hotspot” → “Toggle Personal Hotspot”
Nest Heating
Overview
I have some shortcuts and automations to control my home’s Nest thermostat.
Set up
Install app “Thermo Watch“. This is needed because the official Nest app doesn’t publish actions for shortcuts. A bonus is that you can control your heating from your Apple Watch too!
Open the app “Thermo Watch“, sign into your Nest account, tap on the shortcuts icon on the left, and then add any automations you want. You can then say things like “Siri I’m cold” which will trigger the shortcut named “I’m cold” to run and turn the heating on.
Optional: Set up an automation rule like:
Type: “Time of Day”
Run: Immediately
When: Your personal schedule
Do: Run shortcut
Contextual VPN
Overview
I have certain apps that require a VPN connection. Mine is related to server administration, but yours might be your work Outlook or something. This set-up automatically connects and disconnects the VPN.
Set up
Install shortcut “Connect Home VPN” from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e366642bf35f44dfa2e9d2368dcb1807
Set up automation rules:
#1:
Type: “App”
Run: Immediately
App: Your app
When: “Is Opened”
Do: Run Shortcut
#2:
Type: “App”
Run: Immediately
App: Your app
When: “Is Closed”
Do: “New Blank Automation” → “Set VPN” → “Disconnect from <name> VPN”
Dropbox API
Overview
(This is probably the most complicated Siri shortcut that I’ve ever made - OAuth flow, API calling, JSON parsing, error handling, etc. While this particular use case probably isn’t interesting to you, it may provide the framework for you to create your own use case.)
With file names, the date format “<day>-<month>-<year>” has always bothered me because if it spans multiple months or years then it doesn’t sort correctly and everything gets mixed together. This is why I adopted the date format “<year>-<month>-<day>” years ago.
In Dropbox, I have a shared folder with my partner where I upload photos and videos, and this annoyance flared up again, so I wondered if I could automate the renaming of the files. It took a few hours, but I did manage it!
(Also, I tried to create one to permanently delete files, but I found that the API for doing so is restricted to business users. 😔)
Set up
“Dropbox: Get Auth String v1“. This is the one that’s responsible for getting a Bearer token from Dropbox which can then be used for calling APIs.
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/283963e7e65c41b884a1406212313541
Follow the instructions inside the shortcut.
“Dropbox: Set ISO8601 on Files v4”: Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/1c5c51d1a7514ff9acc62a7a49bf0cdf
Ask ChatGPT
Overview
With the release of iOS 18.2, this has become mostly redundant, but it could still be useful in a few ways:
If you have an iPhone older than the 15.
I implemented an option to always include a set of instructions in every prompt.
There’s the option to specify which model to use.
If / when other apps like Gemini publish actions in Shortcuts, you can effectively replace Siri and ChatGPT with this triggered by the Action Button.
It also works on the Apple Watch!
Set up
Install the shortcut from https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/adf6cacfefa14226aa05006106af1f9d.
Sign-off
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😊