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I've heard quite a few times now that some of the reasons these automations aren't completely automatic is to avoid them being abused by people with bad intenti

I've heard quite a few times now that some of the reasons these automations aren't completely automatic is to avoid them being abused by people with bad intentions. Say for example someone setting one up on someone else's phone (without their knowledge) to run every X minutes and using it to track someone's location, without them ever knowing about it. I'm not entirely sure that's the real reason behind these notifications, but it does seem plausible.

mbolton12 7y ago
Apps already do this in the background without end users knowledge. Not saying this is right but it seems odd that it's okay for an app to do this to its users but not a user doing this to themself? It would be nice if these automations could run automatically but perhaps, notify the user that said automation has run and allow them to easily disable the automation.
barkerja 7y ago
I don't think it's so much a privacy concern (it certainly is), but more with regards to accidental triggers by actions that are passive and flaky. Location accuracy isn't always the greatest, particularly indoors; in-and-out connections to wifi/bluetooth are possible when you're on the fringe of its range. These issues need to be addressed in some form before _true_ automation is given to them.
kstrauser 7y ago
I would be perfectly happy to receive a popup that an automation had just run. Also, Apple has been pushing for self-adjusting notification preferences. Imagine a popup like: "The shortcut 'Foo' wants to run. Do you want to allow it? - Never - Not this time - Run once - Always" Put an icon next to each shortcut showing whether it's always (or never) allowed, and it seems like the problem would be largely solved without asking much from the end user.
- philo23 7y ago
  This sounds like a very reasonable solution. I kinda hope this is the way they end up solving it, if this really is the reason they're not truly automatic.
- extrapickles 7y ago
  The malicious person would then click "Always Allow" while they are setting up the shortcut. It might be better if it worked like the location/bluetooth prompt, where some time later, it would prompt you if you still wanted that action to occur.
  - MaysonL 7y ago
    Make the allow and always allow options require Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode…
    - extrapickles 7y ago
      You don't need them to authenticate again, as the phone would be already unlocked. What you want to do is periodically (at a random time each time) ask the user if they still want it to do the privacy sensitive action still. This way, it vastly increases the chances of detection if the action was added by a third party.
skinnymuch 7y ago
I agree with one of the replies that a pop up of some sort saying a shortcut has run is good. They could also do what Gmail and possibly others do when forwarding is added. An obnoxious red colored warning at top of Gmail for 7 days about new forwarding. iOS could do that in some fashion.

mbolton12 7y ago

Apps already do this in the background without end users knowledge. Not saying this is right but it seems odd that it's okay for an app to do this to its users but not a user doing this to themself? It would be nice if these automations could run automatically but perhaps, notify the user that said automation has run and allow them to easily disable the automation.

barkerja 7y ago

I don't think it's so much a privacy concern (it certainly is), but more with regards to accidental triggers by actions that are passive and flaky. Location accuracy isn't always the greatest, particularly indoors; in-and-out connections to wifi/bluetooth are possible when you're on the fringe of its range. These issues need to be addressed in some form before _true_ automation is given to them.

kstrauser 7y ago

I would be perfectly happy to receive a popup that an automation had just run. Also, Apple has been pushing for self-adjusting notification preferences. Imagine a popup like: "The shortcut 'Foo' wants to run. Do you want to allow it? - Never - Not this time - Run once - Always" Put an icon next to each shortcut showing whether it's always (or never) allowed, and it seems like the problem would be largely solved without asking much from the end user.

philo23 7y ago
This sounds like a very reasonable solution. I kinda hope this is the way they end up solving it, if this really is the reason they're not truly automatic.
extrapickles 7y ago
The malicious person would then click "Always Allow" while they are setting up the shortcut. It might be better if it worked like the location/bluetooth prompt, where some time later, it would prompt you if you still wanted that action to occur.
- MaysonL 7y ago
  Make the allow and always allow options require Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode…
  - extrapickles 7y ago
    You don't need them to authenticate again, as the phone would be already unlocked. What you want to do is periodically (at a random time each time) ask the user if they still want it to do the privacy sensitive action still. This way, it vastly increases the chances of detection if the action was added by a third party.

skinnymuch 7y ago

I agree with one of the replies that a pop up of some sort saying a shortcut has run is good. They could also do what Gmail and possibly others do when forwarding is added. An obnoxious red colored warning at top of Gmail for 7 days about new forwarding. iOS could do that in some fashion.