Apple introduced “Siri Shortcuts” in iOS 12, which was released in 2018. In the meantime, a lot of changes have been made for the better. What was originally limited to Siri is now available as a separate native app called Shortcuts. If you are an advanced user and want to learn how to create Siri Shortcuts on iPhone or iPad, you should know you’re in the right place.
In this quick guide, we introduce you to two different ways to create Siri shortcuts on an iPhone or iPad: installing existing ones, or creating your own (from scratch). Here’s everything you need to know.
In this article, Niketrainers.com.co will tell you:
1. Use the Shortcut Gallery
With the Shortcuts app pre-installed, you can access many of Siri’s shortcuts. This part of the Shortcuts application is called “Gallery”. Follow these instructions to use it.
1. After launching the Shortcuts application, the “My Shortcuts” tab will open. The Gallery section can be accessed from the icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. The shortcut gallery contains a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts organized into convenient categories. When you find one you like, select it (to open its overview) and then press the “Add Shortcut” button.
3. After opening the library, you will find the new shortcut. Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the shortcut to see the actions the shortcut will perform. You can make any changes to modify the shortcut according to your needs.
Finally, note that you can activate these shortcuts by tapping on their icons / thumbnails. You can also say the name of the shortcut you want to activate (using Siri of course). So they’re no longer limited to just Siri, which is certainly a good thing.
2. Create your own Siri shortcuts
If you can’t find a shortcut in the Shortcut Gallery that does what you’re looking for, you can create your own from scratch. That’s how.
1. Restart the Shortcuts application. Remember to click “My Shortcuts”.
2. Tap the “+” icon on the top right corner of the screen.
3. Look at the bottom of the screen where you will find an empty field asking you to search for applications and actions. Don’t forget to tap on it and search for your preferred action / application.
4. Tapping on a specific application will display all the actions that you can perform with that application. Click the information icon to learn more about how this action works.
5. Touch an action to add it to the shortcut and continue until you add all the necessary actions. You can press and hold any action to drag it up or down within a shortcut.
6. To test your shortcut, tap the “Play” icon in the lower right corner.
7. After completing the shortcut, select “Next” (in the upper right corner). Enter a name and press Done to save the shortcut to your library.
If you’re having trouble creating a shortcut that works as expected, try searching the Gallery for another shortcut that does a similar thing. Then you can take a look at the list of activities to see how it works.
Conclusion
You will never be able to personalize an iPhone the same way you can personalize an Android device. However, with the introduction of Siri shortcuts, iPhone users now have a much higher level of control over managing common tasks. Not everyone will like them, but shortcuts can be a real time saver for advanced users.
And speaking of creating Siri shortcuts on iPhone, be sure to learn how to install third-party Siri shortcuts. Finally, here’s how to use Siri shortcuts on Apple Watch.