3 ms·

Shortcuts was the most exciting thing from the WWDC Keynote this year, but I still haven't really found a killer use for it yet. But I do have some simple ones,

Shortcuts was the most exciting thing from the WWDC Keynote this year, but I still haven't really found a killer use for it yet. But I do have some simple ones, such as a Shortcut I use on an image that prompts me to rename it before triggering the "Save to Files" flow (as Save to Files doesn't let you rename the image before saving). Federico Viticci over at MacStories.net did post a pretty cool one though, which adds iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max frames to screenshots you take. https://www.macstories.net/ios/adding-device-frames-to-iphone-xs-and-xs-max-screenshots-with-shortcuts/ https://www.macstories.net/ios/adding-device-frames-to-iphon... I'd love to see a version that just adds the rounded corners and the notch, instead of the full frame, but I'm a bit too lazy to figure out how to adapt his shortcut to do that (the idea being to share a screenshot that represents what's visible on the screen, rather than trying to make it actually look like the phone).

graeme 8y ago
The most recent cortex had some interesting ideas: https://www.relay.fm/cortex/75 https://www.relay.fm/cortex/75 I just made one for launching safari. It prompts me to nap, walk, go to google with a 3 min timer, or go to hacker news with a 10 min timer. Basically, I shouldn’t be on safari on my phone in most cases: it’s my #1 time sink. I’m hoping this will make me more intentional about use. The walk and nap options lead to notes I wrote to myself. I’ll eventually start having it log time and number of opens. This person has example shortcuts and other interesting ideas: https://angrybunnyman.com/blog https://angrybunnyman.com/blog Personally, I found it hard to get started with shortcuts, because it’s such a blank canvas. A more fruitful way to start might be to ask “what frustrates me about my phone” or “what do I do repeatedly”. Then see if it can be automated - a surprising number of things can be now. The subreddit for shortcuts is a great help. Seeing what cgpgrey in cortex did really opened my mind to the potential.
chris_wot 8y ago
One person has a shortcut that puts the phone into least brightness, sends a text message to a contact and switches on the front camera when the police pull you over. I tried it, but can't get it to activate when I say the phrase :(
- eridius 8y ago
  Did you actually set up the phrase, or did you just try the phrase that the author was using? Open the settings for the Shortcut (the button in the upper-right) and "Add to Siri".
mattdesl 8y ago
> but I still haven't really found a killer use for it yet I think the main "killer feature" is that it allows you to optimize the way you interact with your phone. It's obviously more useful for power users than casual users, but both could benefit since shortcuts are so easy to share. I have two Shortcuts that stemmed from real-life problems. [1] - When I'm in a bookstore, I tend to go through dozens of books looking at the GoodReads reviews for each one, trying to discover new authors that might be worth a read. I made a shortcut to turn this into a single-tap barcode scanner, instead of me typing the name of the book into Google each time. [2] - I was recently suggesting my favourite spots in NYC to a friend, and was trying to remember the streets and addresses of some of the places I took photos of. With a shortcut, I was able to easily geolocate photos in a map, and even get a nearby 360º panorama to remind me of what else was in the area. Videos/code: [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9jnhc5/scan_a_book_to_get_its_reviews/ https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9jnhc5/scan_a_bo... [2] - https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9klosk/find_nearest_google_maps_360%C2%BA_panorama_from_a/ https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9klosk/find_near...
- eridius 8y ago
  Wow both of those are very cool. I had no idea Shortcuts could even scan barcodes. I don't buy physical books any more, but I wonder if I could get the same info from whatever Books.app provides in the share sheet for the bookstore? I'll have to play with that.

graeme 8y ago

The most recent cortex had some interesting ideas: https://www.relay.fm/cortex/75 https://www.relay.fm/cortex/75 I just made one for launching safari. It prompts me to nap, walk, go to google with a 3 min timer, or go to hacker news with a 10 min timer. Basically, I shouldn’t be on safari on my phone in most cases: it’s my #1 time sink. I’m hoping this will make me more intentional about use. The walk and nap options lead to notes I wrote to myself. I’ll eventually start having it log time and number of opens. This person has example shortcuts and other interesting ideas: https://angrybunnyman.com/blog https://angrybunnyman.com/blog Personally, I found it hard to get started with shortcuts, because it’s such a blank canvas. A more fruitful way to start might be to ask “what frustrates me about my phone” or “what do I do repeatedly”. Then see if it can be automated - a surprising number of things can be now. The subreddit for shortcuts is a great help. Seeing what cgpgrey in cortex did really opened my mind to the potential.

chris_wot 8y ago

One person has a shortcut that puts the phone into least brightness, sends a text message to a contact and switches on the front camera when the police pull you over. I tried it, but can't get it to activate when I say the phrase :(

eridius 8y ago
Did you actually set up the phrase, or did you just try the phrase that the author was using? Open the settings for the Shortcut (the button in the upper-right) and "Add to Siri".

mattdesl 8y ago

> but I still haven't really found a killer use for it yet I think the main "killer feature" is that it allows you to optimize the way you interact with your phone. It's obviously more useful for power users than casual users, but both could benefit since shortcuts are so easy to share. I have two Shortcuts that stemmed from real-life problems. [1] - When I'm in a bookstore, I tend to go through dozens of books looking at the GoodReads reviews for each one, trying to discover new authors that might be worth a read. I made a shortcut to turn this into a single-tap barcode scanner, instead of me typing the name of the book into Google each time. [2] - I was recently suggesting my favourite spots in NYC to a friend, and was trying to remember the streets and addresses of some of the places I took photos of. With a shortcut, I was able to easily geolocate photos in a map, and even get a nearby 360º panorama to remind me of what else was in the area. Videos/code: [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9jnhc5/scan_a_book_to_get_its_reviews/ https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9jnhc5/scan_a_bo... [2] - https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9klosk/find_nearest_google_maps_360%C2%BA_panorama_from_a/ https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/9klosk/find_near...

eridius 8y ago
Wow both of those are very cool. I had no idea Shortcuts could even scan barcodes. I don't buy physical books any more, but I wonder if I could get the same info from whatever Books.app provides in the share sheet for the bookstore? I'll have to play with that.