Automation
I really enjoy automating repetative tasks, or finding small ways an automation can help me out. Because I have a lot of different types of automations, I’ve broken them out into categories below. My automation philosophy is that you can really automate most things, but you need to be careful how you automate them. If you automate too much, too quickly, then you will forget the automations that you have created and they will become useless. Here are my automation rules:
- Automations should fail gracefully.
- If the automation pertains to the physical world, a physical backup should be in place.
- Physical world automations should be able to have some sort of cutout process to physically prevent the automation from running (can be as simple as unplugging a device).
- Automations should not decrease functionality or make an existing process more complex.
- Automations should be documented so that when you need to modify it in the future you can better understand what you were thinking when you made it.
My automation rules are a dynamic work in progress. They are not set in stone, and they are something that I am working towards as I make new automations, and refactor existing automations.
iOS Shortcuts
It’s really awkward when you have someone who is not in your contacts need to airdrop you something because odds are, you wisely keep your airdrop default setting to contacts only. This shortcut will set your airdrop preference to everyone for 10 minutes (iOS 17+). For pre-iOS 17, this will set your default airdrop to everyone until you change it back. Starting in iOS 17, there is a new airdrop option to only allow everyone to airdrop to you for 10 minutes which is a welcome addition to iOS.
I did not make this shortcut, but I sure use it! This amazing shortcut written by Frederico Viticci is a must have if you need framed screenshots of Apple devices.
This shortcut accepts photos from the Share Sheet, or will ask you to select photos. After selecting photos, it will ask you what format you would like those images to be converted to. By default, iPhones do not use jpg or png files. I’ve had times where I copy or share a photo and need it in another file format and then have to find some sketchy website to convert my photo. Now my iPhone can just take care of that converstion for me before it leaves the phone!
This shortcut is so amazing when you are on vacation or in a different city where you may not know off the top of you head where to eat. I have a separate Home Screen for when I am on vacation and this Shortcut has a spot! Simply ask Siri to “Find Food” or click on it and Maps will open up with some of the near food options.
This shortcut has one job, to save your location with a note. When run, it takes your GPS location and asks you for a note. Afterwards, it saves that note to a list in the Notes app. On my Home Screen for vacations, I keep this note and this shortcut showing so that I can easily find and re-open my saved locations.
Add to Shortcuts | Documentation
Ever seen a QR or other barcode that people want you to scan and you want to know where it’s going to take you before you scan it? This shortcut will open the camera, scan a barcode, and then display the contents textually to you. After displaying the contents, you can copyo the contents, regenerate a new barcode with them (via another shortcut), or simply exit and scan the QR code.