Ultimate Mac & iOS Shortcuts
Master the app & unlock the true power of your Apple tech!
The Shortcuts app provides a quick way to get things done with your apps. You can use the building blocks within the app to automate a variety of things – such as getting directions to your next event in Calendar, or instantly playing your workout playlist in Music.
Based on how you use your Apple devices, Siri will suggest simple, useful shortcuts that you can quickly tap to run, and you can also use the Shortcuts app to add ready-made or custom shortcuts to your devices. The app lets you combine multiple steps across multiple apps to create powerful task automations.
Over the following pages we’ll help you discover exactly what the Shortcuts app is capable of, providing simple steps to help you create some of the coolest shortcuts, showing you how to get easy access to your most-used shortcuts, and providing a rundown of our favourite shortcuts from the Gallery – which you can download, install and use today. Let’s get started!
Shortcut types
There are two types of shortcut accessible through the Shortcuts app: Actions and Automations. Here we explain the differences between each type.
What is an Action?
An Action – the building block of a shortcut – is a single step in a task. You can mix and match actions to create shortcuts that interact with the apps and content on your Apple devices, as well as with content and services on the internet. Each shortcut is made up of one or more actions.
What is an Automation?
An Automation is a type of shortcut that’s activated by an event, rather than manually. You can use the Shortcuts app to set up a personal or home automation, and then have the automated shortcut run when you arrive or depart, when you change a setting on your iPhone, at a time of day, and more.
10 of the best Gallery shortcuts
The following shortcuts can all be downloaded from the Shortcuts Gallery and triggered manually whenever you need them. Simply search for these in the Gallery and click the ‘+’ icon to download them.
Explore the Shortcuts Gallery
The Shortcuts Gallery is situated in the sidebar on Mac or at the bottom of the screen on iOS and it is essentially an ‘iTunes Store’ for shortcuts where you can browse and download new shortcuts.
Quickly jump to the Gallery
You can instantly jump straight to the Shortcuts Gallery or create a new shortcut without having to launch the Shortcuts app first. Here’s how…
1 Press and hold
On your iPhone or iPad, press and hold on the Shortcuts app icon on your Home Screen and a menu of options will appear. From here you can choose ‘Create Shortcut’ or ‘Gallery’.
2 Click and hold
On Mac, click and hold on the Shortcuts icon in the Dock and a menu will appear.
