AWESOME HomeKit Automations & Shortcuts: Part 2 - Morning Brief + Automation Server w/ PushCuts!

Part two of our more advanced HomeKit automations and Siri Shortcuts.
00:00 Intro
00:57 Overview
02:46 Creating a Siri Morning Brief
19:45 Running an Automation Server with PushCuts
28:02 Scheduling Time Based Shortcuts
28:53 Wrapping It All Up!
AWESOME HomeKit Automations & Shortcuts PART 1
kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3PTlKl5itySocU
To Download My "Wake Up W/ Siri" Shortcut, and my other favorite shortcuts, visit:
shanewhatley.com/my-favorite-daily-shortcuts/
Documentation for the Pushcuts Automation server:
www.pushcut.io/support_automation_server.html
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#HomeKit #SiriShortcuts #PushCuts

[@ShaneCreates]

Watch PART 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3PTlKl5itySocU To Download My "Wake Up W/ Siri" Shortcut, and my other favorite shortcuts, visit: shanewhatley.com/my-favorite-daily-shortcuts/ Documentation for the Pushcuts Automation server: www.pushcut.io/support_automation_server.html

[@bydesign868]

I was so excited to implement this morning routine. It was such a convoluted mess, I gave up. Surely by now there's an easer way.

[@ModernDayTech]

Good stuff Shane. Extremely useful! I looked at Pushcuts a few months ago and never dove deep into it but I’m glad you got it all figured out. Well done!

[@ShaneCreates]

More like “just scratched the surface” but thanks! There’s a lot more I know you can do with it that I’d like to play around with.

[@ashpole20]

Spot on Shane. You took two types of Shortcuts that many others have tried to teach but I’ve seen nobody hit the bullseye like you did in this weeks video, congratulations. 👍😘

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks so much!

[@myHomeKithome]

Fantastic tips! I’ve been trying to find a workaround for running my morning my shortcut so the automation will definitely be getting some use. You’re the man!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thank you!! 😊

[@justsendit8506]

I need to create a shortcut for Sunday mornings: “Wakeup and watch Shane Whatley Video!” 🤩

[@ShaneCreates]

That would be epic. Thanks!! 😃

[@knawmean2]

Shane you’re a beast with HomeKit. I wish I can ask you to help me set up my home theater

[@evtyler]

This is a FANTASTIC tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Eric!

[@WilliamHoganDesign]

Amazing video. I can see you writing a guide or a book of some sort with all your shortcut & automation information in it. I’d pay for it!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thank you!! 🙏🏻

[@i.m.dehaan7759]

Wow, thanks 😊

[@stephenl4845]

Shane, thanks for the Pushcuts info. It inspired me to see if I could use my Homebridge setup that is running on my Mac to send alert messages & emails, the good news is that using the homebridge-messenger plugin (on GitHub) for Hombridge I can now send all types of priority messages to my phone & tablet - it even plays different sounds. Now when my siren goes off in the barn I get a message popup on the phone immediately. Keep being awesome.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Stephen! That is awesome. I'll have to take a look at that plugin. Thanks for sharing!

[@rivertonrock]

GREAT video, Shane! I have an extra iPhone 7 that I’ve been meaning to dedicate to Pushcuts Automation Server. This video has motivated me to finally do it!

[@ShaneCreates]

Awesome! Would love to hear how you end up using it.

[@jasongriswold1784]

I got all the iPad mini 3 that would work just as well been sitting around collecting dust this might be the perfect opportunity to use it.

[@Avishek.Chakravarty]

Wow!!! fantastic man. Keep the good work going and add more shortcut videos.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks!

[@michaelthompson657]

That video was totally awesome! Always wanted to mess around with push cuts but never had a clue 😂 I’m gonna have to have a good mess around now! You know how you set 2 separate shortcuts automations for the pushcuts part, do you need both to run it?

[@aalikes7]

That was a quality tutorial! Cheers!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching!

[@JoaquimRamospraia]

Thanks man, I am new on HomeKit, keep sharing Great job

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Joaquim!

[@movingloz]

Omg 😳 it’s so complex hey. Thanks for your vids on shortcuts because I’d have no idea otherwise.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Lawrence, glad I can help!

[@adiankonina]

Thanks a lot

[@sebastianszefer4106]

Great tutorial. More like these in future please

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching! Appreciate the feedback.

[@munimmorshed5742]

Nice script.. thanks!!

[@fernandotrabadela]

Thanks a lot Shane, the video was really helpful and interesting, although after copied step by step in my phone I couldn't make it work since the weather app was unable to get my location (even though I allowed it to get in the general settings). I'm learning a lot, thank you again.

[@ShaneCreates]

Fernando Trabadela thanks for watching. Sorry you’re having some trouble. Perhaps it’s just a missed step or something. You can also download my shortcuts to play around with. That always helps me learn too.

[@amanullagkhan]

awesome, thanks for the great tutorial. one query, can we run shortcut speak to text to played on HomePod mini?

[@BigDaddyJack999]

would there be a way to get siri to read off all calender events rather than just the first one? Also is there a way to include reminders for that day?

[@ndcoach29]

Sheesh, tat was a doozy! That was pretty cool once I got mine working. I can’t wait until the rest of my bulbs come in so I can set proper automation. I feel like I’m somehow going to end up looking for a HomePod even tho I don’t listen to music in the house without my beats or AirPods, LOL!!

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice! Hopefully we'll get a HomePod mini one of these days. Would be perfect for that!

[@garrykober7056]

How do u have the mourning routine come through apple home pods or minis ? (Weather and date ex…)

[@faengelm]

How did you save you shortcut for sharing? Can you also save automations for sharing?

[@FemaleVillageElder]

How can it automatically reads any texts you’ve had overnight also?

[@jonathanfrederick847]

What if you have more than one event scheduled? Mine will read all the events and then all of the times instead of reading each event and time separately.

[@TheGlowingManYT]

Excellent video! I can’t get the current date with EEEE to say the right day for some reason.

[@Techlifeandmore]

I checked out your good night shortcut, but I cannot figure out how to get the weather conditions to an exact rounded number. I use the round number thing, but it still did not round the amount.

[@filipandreev1760]

Thanks for the awesome video Shane! Definitely helpful. I’m trying to get a shortcut created for when I set my goodnight scene, Siri will announce what time my alarm is set for the next morning (if there is one set). I can’t seem to get it to work. Please help! What should I do? Can you possibly show me how to do it? Thank you in advance.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Filip. Currently I don't think there is enough shortcut support for alarms to check to see if an alarm is set. Hopefully we'll see some added capabilities here in iOS14.

[@Suyog1405]

Hi, Can you run this entire shortcut on homepod rather than iPhone?

[@devilma2002]

could you built al shortcut library based on your personal shortcuts ...!?

[@AndrewPGovender]

Hi Shane, starting to build a smart home and your videos are amazing for a noob like me. Loving the content. I tried this shortcut. needed to google a few things to find out how to skip any "all day" events but this works brilliantly. Is there a way to get Siri on my HomePod to speak the details from the "wake up w siri" shortcut? This seems to be the only thing I'm missing... Thanks for all your content!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Andrew, I'm glad the videos have been helpful. I don't believe I was able to get that to work with this one, but I'm not sure as it's been over year since I made this one. The approach I would attempt would be to use the "set destination playback" action and see if that would accomplish what you need. Even if it worked with the audio, I still think you'd have to use the iPhone for the interactions tho on this.

[@AndrewPGovender]

@@ShaneCreates hi Shane. Really appreciate your response. I tried the “set destination playback”, but that didn’t work. Played around a little and ended up first adding the “handoff playback” from iPhone to my HomePod and then included the “set playback destination” to the same HomePod and that seemed to work well. PS... I followed this video of yours but initially tweaked it (by leaving out the interactions) as I always want to have music playing in the morning which is set up in my scene :) thanks again for the great advice.

[@rimonr]

I really like your videos, thank you for uploading them. I am trying to build a smart home nowadays, and would like to ask if there is any way to create a shortcut for opening the shutter steps. you see when my shutter is closing, lets say to 50%, the steps are closed, and when I want to open the steps I need to move the shutter to the opposite direction for 1%. so I tried to look for a way to get the current shutter position set it to variable, then add to that value 1% and set it as a control command to the shutter...... Couldn't find a way to do it. I really appreciate if you can guide me (and all your viewers of course).

[@ShaneCreates]

Hi Ronen, thanks for watching and supporting the channel. I have tried similar things in the past, like getting the state (brightness, color, etc.) of a light, adding to a variable, then applying it later in a shortcut. All seems possible accept the ability to apply the state/variable to the device. At least the last time I tried, that's where I got held up. I don't think there is a way to do that currently.

[@trineu]

Loved the tips! Perfect! Congratulations! I don't understand why Apple removed these features from the Automations. I hope that one day the Shortcuts can run all functions. But for now your tip will help a lot! For notifications, if the person does not have another device and does not want to subscribe to PushCuts, they can also use the IFTTT. We can make a JSON call, as you demonstrated in the video, but instead of calling the PushCuts URL, we call the IFTTT Webhook service. And in IFTTT there is an option to send notifications to ourselves.

[@ShaneCreates]

Great tip, thanks for sharing! That’s how I setup my roomba to work with shortcuts/ifttt before I started using homebridge. Did you have to connect another 3rd party service or account for sending the notifications through ifttt?

[@trineu]

@@ShaneCreates Yeah, it's true! I remember your video of triggering Roomba through the Shortcuts app. In the IFTTT there is an SMS service, but there is a message limit (100 SMS per month for US and Canada and 10 SMS per month for other countries). But there is also the IFTTT Notification service and I believe that the only requirement is to have the IFTTT app installed on the iPhone to receive the notifications. ifttt.com/if_notifications

[@ShaneCreates]

@@trineu Awesome thanks Daniel!

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

after the alarm is stopped shouldn't you wait till you get motion in kitchen before running the rest? Do you still use Pushcuts, or can this be done using Hubitat or Controller app?

[@Ccpumps]

Hi Shane Can I make an automation to play music when I get home but only if no one else is home ? Rod Australia

[@SuperKercado]

Is There a shortcut to play youtube sound from a video directly to homepod? And run it from a homekit automation?

[@felipebustamantecelu]

Excellent Shane!!! thank you very much for this useful information to use Shortcuts. Do you know if there is a way to run a shortcut with automation only once a day? For example, I want to run the good morning shortcut only once in the morning when the motion sensor in the living room is activated for the first time and not every time it is activated for a period of time for example ... is it possible? Thanks for everything!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thank you!! I believe you can do this with automations using the home +4 app using the “disable after execution” option. Also maybe using conditional automations could be an option. For example if Motion is detected between 5am and 7am and the light is off, then turn on all lights. I like using the Eve app or the Home +4 app for conditional Automations.

[@felipebustamantecelu]

@@ShaneCreates Perfect! I will try one of those options and I will tell you how it goes when I have it ready. Thank you!

[@AppleWatchPunk]

Thanks for sharing this, it might be time for me to join the Discord. Any reason you can think of why it is not speaking the shortcut? Thank you in advance I’m figuring it out, very cool but also daunting ;-} Thanks Shane!

[@kostaspittas1929]

How do we make the good morning scene?

[@shellogee]

Great info. Is there any way to make this shortcut play from my HomePod mini??

[@ShaneCreates]

Yes, just say "hey siri" and the name of the shortcut. Thanks for watching!

[@Raptors0524]

Hey Shane, I personally want to thank you for making these videos. I have been watching so many videos that I feel like I know you personally😂. I have a question for you, what would you recommend for someone who wants to learn shortcuts? This stuff don’t make sense😂. What did you use to learn? Thank you

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey Matthew, thanks for the support! 🙏 The best thing to do is just experiment. There are resources and libraries online where you can download shortcuts. Or check the Shortcuts Gallery in the app. Download some and start experimenting with them. Start small and create some that do basic things for you. Matthew Cassinelli and Christopher Lawley have very helpful KZbin channels and resources with a focus on shortcuts. There is also a whole course online called Siri Shortcuts Field Guide by MacSparky. I'm sure there are others too.

[@Raptors0524]

@@ShaneCreates Thank you!!!

[@Jotin8664]

This video just blow my mind. I have not used my iPhone to its full capacity!!

[@ShaneCreates]

Awesome. Thanks for watching!

[@bradleyclark5936]

Mac option without monthly subscription cost?

[@goodwizard8598]

I really, really appreciate your making these videos. It takes an insane amount of effort to put these all together. So thank you. Now coming to the crux of it. It’s ridiculous how complicated iOS automation is. Something like this would take literally minutes to do on Tasker on Android and it wouldn’t even be this complicated. I know that’s not the point, but Apple is just deliberately killing the iOS platform by making life so difficult for consumers. Add to that this server functionality of Pushcut not being free. It’s a subscription. And even then thanks to the limitation of iOS, you’ll have to keep the app running in the FOREGROUND for it to work. This is crazy. So if you have a whole bunch of triggers, you’ll just have to buy a separate iOS device just for automation. This isn’t just ideal, it’s incredibly anti consumer. I hope Apple sees the light and opens up iOS. Because right now this is just an insane amount of work to achieve something trivial.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I understand your point. Apple makes many things more difficult for the sake of privacy or security, which results in us finding these "hacky" solutions to get around them. Honestly, it's a trade-off I'm usually willing to accept. For example I believe the reason we only have access to certain shortcut actions for home based automations is because those must all run locally...therefore we wouldn't be able to do things like "send a text message" when running a home based automation through your homekit hub. Having my smart home operate completely locally without requiring any cloud processing, is a benefit in my eyes. And for the simple ability to run a time based automation, without requiring any user input..well, that was always a pain. I understand they're thinking...not wanting all kinds of actions to happen without the user's input. Fortunately they have opened this one up coming in iOS 14 and we'll have the ability to toggle on/off "ask before running" for the time based automations, meaning they can truly run automatically without any user input. Many of us will be happy about this one.

[@zbigniewwikacz2924]

Do you think it’s possible that a text message is sent to someone if the Alarm Clock Snooze is NOT turned off? It would be a great safety automation for living alone elderly people (stroke, fall etc.).

[@normcheers1726]

I followed the steps and everthing works, however when Siri reads everything back after my alarm goes off, she sounds all broken up? Using Siri voice 4, and she sounds fine when I just play it through shortcut, it's only when the automation kicks on that it comes out sounding like a bad connection?

[@mttcrsn]

This is great. Is there a way in the morning shortcut to play my music from Spotify to my HomePod?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks! Spotify can be a little trickier. I don't think Spotify supports siri shortcuts natively still but there have been a number of shortcuts created for spotify by the community. There is also an app called shortcutify that may help you to connect shortcuts with your spotify. Or just search "spotify siri shortcuts" and you can probably find some good ones that people have made that you can download and include in your own shortcuts.

[@mttcrsn]

@@ShaneCreates Thanks for your help. I will check that out. Maybe with iOS 14.5 or even 15 they will open up the music part to Spotify.

[@ameeshlodha7954]

I created the morning brief but it plays on my iPhone and not my HomePod. Is there a way I can play it on HomePod. I have tried giving the command to connect and play on HomePod but it doesn’t work

[@gcsealey]

This video is incredibly helpful. Do you know if the PushCut Automation server could run on tvOS (Apple TV) or iPadOS?

[@ShaneCreates]

I don’t think Apple TV but I do think it will on the iPad. Although I haven’t tried and the documentation just says dedicated device “iOS 12 or higher” as far as I could find. So might be something to ask the developer if you need to be sure.

[@jasongriswold1784]

HomePod would be another good server device if it was able.

[@simonr6673]

I have an iPad Air 2 on the wall like you do. It’s always connected to power. But does the display need to be always on for the Pushcut server to work? It’s kind of a dealbreaker for me. Thanks for a lot of inspirational videos :)

[@ashpole20]

Simon R Due to a limitation in iOS 13, Pushcuts must be the active, displayed app for the Automation Server to function.

[@simonr6673]

Michael Blake Thanks for clarifying :)

[@iamsid9850]

So I’ve been looking at your videos for a little over a year now and I’ve finally bought my HomePod mini as a Father’s Day gift to myself. This shortcut is great (had to edit a bit cus of my region not allowing some features) but what I’d like to know is there anyway to have the HomePod read this out to you?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching over the past year! Yes you can get the HomePod to speak it. A couple of options. You can use the “set destination playback” action first and choose your HomePod. That should work. Another way that I like to do it is I’ll actually just use the “show result” action instead of the speak action. Then if you trigger your shortcut via Hey Siri on the HomePod, it will actually speak all the text out loud on the HomePod. Hope that helps!

[@iamsid9850]

@@ShaneCreates I’m gonna try this now. Thanks a lot for the feedback! 🙏🏽

[@felipeveraloza]

Amazing videos man. Thanks for sharing. I’m starting to automate my whole house and I have a question. I would like to put an eve button (or any other HomeKit multipurpose button) in my dishwasher along with a door sensor. The idea is to make the HomePod of my kitchen (specifically) tell me (or anybody at my home) whether the dishes are clean or dirty based on the input from the button triggered by the sensor. If the button is “off” then tell me the dishes are dirty and if it is “on” tell me the dishes are clean. We are a large family and sometimes we don’t know whether someone already run the dishwashers or not. Do you know how to do this?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching! Pretty cool idea. If I understand correctly, HomeKit buttons don't really work like that...they don't maintain the state. Not sure if you use homebridge or hoobs, but you can create virtual buttons or "dummy switches" in homebridge that can maintain the state. You could also use a smart plug and have it turn on and off. Otherwise you may just need to come up with another way. Maybe use a button to turn a light bulb green or red and you'd just have to remember to toggle the button each time the dishwasher is turned on or emptied. Just thinking out loud...

[@felipeveraloza]

@@ShaneCreates thanks for the response. Since I started following your channel I ordered my HOOBS bridge and it arrived today. I will try to set it up and once I have it set up I will try to do the dummy switch you mentioned and create the automation with that dummy switch. Thanks.

[@Y0V0BANGZ]

Would there be a way to play the morning shortcut on a AirPlay 2 enabled speaker or HomePod? Great video as always Shane!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks! Yes just use “set destination playback” to speakers before the speak actions.

[@dr.philsforehead5290]

Shane Whatley I’ve used set playback destination and it works fine when I use the shortcut, but the automation runs from an alarm, the audio stays on my phone and won’t switch to the HomePod. Any ideas why that happens?

[@wpelingonjr]

@@ShaneCreates can you do automations strictly on having the HomePod speak? I want to put the minis in the kids room and an hour before their bedtime to clean up and go to bed spoken from the HomePod minis.

[@lassetp1]

Hi Shane. I’ve created the wake up shortcut automation. But i would like it to run on my HomePod mini instead of my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Is there a way to do that? If yes…, How?

[@iCrome]

It works but.. when I disable my alarm, I need to unlock my iPhone before Shortcut work. How can I fix it?

[@MarcERNOULT]

Hello @Shane ! Thanks for the video ! Just one question ? Which HomeKit Button did you used in this video ? Thank you ! ;-)

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Marc. That one is a wireless switch by Aqara. Last I checked it wasn't available in the US unless you go through an International seller like Bangood or Gearbest.

[@MarcERNOULT]

Thanks a lot @@ShaneCreates !

[@jorizkevinabel24]

Hey man good job. I have a question tho. Can you make homepod mini speak the morning briefing instead of the iphone/ipad? Thanks man

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks! You should be able to use the "set destination playback" action, and choose your HomePod.

[@MrRichihdez]

Hi Shane, great job on your videos, very professional and helpful I was wondering if you can help me, I'm trying to find a way to get "voice notifications" from Siri when an accessory is activated (In addition to the normal text notifications), for example when I open the garage door, Siri will speak "garage door open", or if the back door is open it will speak "back door open" Do you have any ideas on how to do this? Thanks

[@ShaneCreates]

Thank you! You want this voice notification to happen on your phone? I'm not sure if that is possible.

[@MrRichihdez]

Shane Whatley Hi Shane, correct! It would be awesome if we could get this "voice notifications" on the phone. Maybe on iOS14 they give us this access. By the way, can you do this on the home pod? Thanks and great job

[@jasongriswold1784]

Shane- on your iPad can you run this Pushcut app in the background while the Home app is in display mode? I know that you use an iPad and was wondering if you have your pushcuts server on the iPad as well at the same time?

[@ShaneCreates]

No, you have to keep pushcuts open and running in the foreground at all times in order to use the automation server. It will not work in the background.

[@jaimecunha7901]

Everything works except for some reason Siri is speaking out the high for the previous day. Not sure if you have run into this . I've gone through every setting and I still can't figure it out. She speaks out the right date and day. But I noticed that the high for the day always matches the temp for the previous day and not the present day.

[@ShaneCreates]

Hmm.. that's interesting. I'll have to look into that.

[@Rollingstone2009]

Hi Shane, for the morning brief, can you tell me how to make sure it runs on my HomePod and not on my iPhone?

[@mnamous9823]

“Set playback destination” as HomePod.

[@gnbanta]

Shane: First, great videos. I'm converting from Alexa to Homekit. I have Aqara Hub and 3 Door/Window Sensors. I can get them to alert me on open/close by just turning on notifications in Homekit. However, I have not been able to figure out to get door close/open events to trigger Siri to say something on my Homepod Minis. Can you provide any guidance. Perhaps you've done that in one of your videos and I haven't found it yet. Appreciate your expert guidance.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Glen! There are a couple of ways to do it (none of which are very straight forward), but here's how I tackled this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGPPmXp_rNd6esk

[@kevinbright5616]

Is it possible to use push cuts with time intervals of every 10 minutes to change your hue lights to certain colors for tornado warnings and other colors for hurricane warnings from a weather app or site? I’ve been trying to map this out and someone recommended raspberry pi but it seems like pushcuts might be a solution.

[@ShaneCreates]

I'm not sure about tying in emergency weather warnings. It may be possible but not something I've done yet. That would be awesome though.

[@MSDaytona]

F A N T A S T I C !!!!

[@brucedelacruz9973]

Hey Shane! Love your videos! I tried your morning brief with the alarm automation and it didn’t quite work. The Siri shortcut works great but when I added the alarm Siri never read it out loud. So The automation still worked but I would like for Siri to still read out loud the morning brief. Any thoughts?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Bruce. So the shortcut reads out loud when you run it manually but not when the automation triggers it? What happens when the automation runs?

[@brucedelacruz9973]

@@ShaneCreates Yeah when I say “hey Siri, start my day” it will read out loud. But using the alarm automation it runs the shortcut, but Siri just doesn’t read out loud. Which I would like it to. Is that possible or am I missing a step?

[@ShaneCreates]

Did you use the “speak” actions like in this video? If you use Siri to trigger a shortcut by voice, it will always speak everything back (best she can anyways).

[@gamerworld6724]

Hi Shane the link for the morning shortcut is not working, would really appreciate if you can fixed it! I tried to replicate but I'm struggling 😢

[@TheVizear]

Shane, quick one please. Do you know how to put a statement in automations when you put you phone on charge after 23:00 the Goodnight automation in HomeKit activates? Thank you in advance.

[@ShaneCreates]

Probably by creating a new personal automation > when phone connects to charger > if formatted date is between... > control home. I did a video on time based automations also that may help if you need help with that part.

[@Follow_thedopamine]

“Speak text” is missing from my shortcut options. I can’t select it it doesn’t exist? Help please SOS

[@Polkster13]

Would there be a way to run something like Pushcuts on a Homebridge to get this functionality of which you speak? Just trying to limit the number of "things" I have running all of the time. Being a former Systems Analyst, I can see that the "old iPhone" running in the background is the weak link and could be a system that is subject to fail. If it does, then you loose all of it's capabilities. Other than that, this was a great video and I am glad you left in the "errors" so you can show people what happens when you don't get it exactly right and then how to fix your errors. Well done!

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey Frederick, thanks for watching. Those are good points. There may be some functionality you can get using homebridge and certain plugins, it probably just depends on what you want to do. Unfortunately I don't know of another way to gain access to the entire shortcuts library of actions (when setting up a home automation). The good news though is that starting in iOS 14 we'll be able to run time-based-shortcuts automatically (without requiring input).

[@Polkster13]

@@ShaneCreates Good to know about iOS 14 running time-based shortcuts. Is there anything else that Pushcuts server does that iOS cannot do? I have an old iPhone 5S and I am trying to decide if I want to pull it out and set it up or just wait for iOS 14. Thanks for all you do and for taking the time to answer our questions.

[@davidbarnes2615]

Hello Shane. With WWDC coming up what kind of changes do you think we will get in HomeKit. Also what is you wish list as well.

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey David, there are a couple of new features that I’m excited about. but it doesn’t take much to please me. Any improvements or attention to HomeKit makes me happy. I’ll be joining a few others in the next few days for a special recording to discuss expected updates, HomeKit wish lists, etc and I’ll be sure to share across all my social channels. 👍🏻

[@SyncdDesign]

I've been making my way through all your videos and they have helped A LOT... I do have a question and I'm sure it must be possible, but I can't work out how to do it. As Part of my "Good Morning" alarm which is currently as follows: Switch dim'd light on, say the time and date, upcoming events, weather update (I added a nice, "you need a jacket" if statement based on temp"), then it puts the radio on my homepod and finally after 5mins it switches on the bedroom lights... ok, so the bit I'm stuck with... Before the radio comes on I would like a news update verbalised by my bedroom homepod, just like the one you can ask Siri for form your local news provider (in my case BBC). Any help would be much appreciated

[@ShaneCreates]

I haven't really done this but my guess is you need to use an rss feed for siri to verbalize the headlines. Lots of news apps probably have siri shortcut capabilities but I'm not sure how easy it would be to get Siri to speak that out.

[@SyncdDesign]

​@@ShaneCreates Thanks for the reply... It seems crazy that you can ask Siri / HomePod for the news headlines, but there's no way of triggering a Siri question in shortcuts. In other news I'm trying Harmony Hub to control the TV etc... It's not a good as I was hoping, lots and lots of issues so far

[@garyschoolcraft4797]

So I just got my HomePod minis and I’m starting to build by smart home set ups. For the start my day shortcut, I was wondering if there is a way to just have Siri get the weather forecast instead of going through all the separate steps?

[@ShaneCreates]

Are you trying to create a shortcut to do various things? Or do you just want Siri to recite the weather forecast? If you just want the weather, there is not need to create a shortcut just for the weather, you can simply ask Siri "what's the weather?" and you'll get a response.

[@garyschoolcraft4797]

@@ShaneCreates I’m planning to do a shortcut/scene/automation. I was going to see if I could set my alarm to go off at say 7am, then a timer to stop the alarm, then have Siri turn on a bedside lamp, raise the window blinds, tell me good morning, today’s forecast and my schedules and reminders. Still need to get a smart bulb for the lamp. Living in an 80 yo farmhouse and trying to drag it into the 21st century. I’ve got an iPad, Mac mini, two HomePod minis and an eufy doorbell.

[@Dwarister]

hey i try to create a shortcut: if my bedroom window is open (i've contact sensor eve on it) i want to notify me on my devices at 8:00pm. i don't know how do this shortcut

[@ShaneCreates]

Sending notifications on a personal device, like an iPhone, isn't something that is possible with a homekit automation. You could do something like turning a light a different color, or something like that, if the window is open at 8pm.

[@michaelthompson657]

Also would you care to do a guide that goes fully in depth on how to get pushcuts working? I couldn’t really find any videos, or a link to somewhere with videos?

[@ShaneCreates]

I’ve just scratched the surface of pushcuts myself. I’ve still got a lot to learn. I may share more as I go if that’s what you guys like.

[@michaelthompson657]

Shane Whatley cool sounds good, good luck!

[@misaelantunes3640]

If I use an iPad as my only Homekit Hub, can I use Pushcut on it or will the Hub not work properly? (Google Translation)

[@ShaneCreates]

Mizzy Antunes you mean using the iPad for the automation server in Pushcuts? I think it should still work as your HomeKit hub but I haven’t tried that exact scenario.

[@jonathanfrederick847]

What if you have multiple events scheduled? Mine reads/ speaks it all to me but every event is mentioned then every time. I want it to be event + time one event at a time.

[@ShaneCreates]

I haven’t done that yet. Mine just gets the first event and the time.

[@jonathanfrederick847]

Shane Whatley thank you for taking the time to get back to me.

[@MorganSellersTL]

I can't for the life or me find that Aqara switch, assuming that particular one has been discontinued?

[@ShaneCreates]

That one isn't available in all regions (it's not in the US). Last I checked you'd have to order this one from an international reseller like GearBest or Banggood.

[@brandonballard11]

Very nice! A while back I utilized homebridge and powershell to send a text message when a contact sensor was triggered

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

[@theorangecircle1066]

Can I have some help from someone. (I'm blind) I appreciate all these videos, and they are very helpful. Attempting to re-create the Aqara button and text message automation. I have all the pre-requisite applications like Pushcut and Shortcuts, and have installed all the necessary add-ons. I have created my text message shortcut within the shortcut app. I have ensured that my Pushcut server is running, and my server actions are updated. I select the Aqara button single press option within the home app. I tap on "convert to shortcut" option. I insert the "URL" action and paste my URL into the edit field. I add "get contents of URL" action (below the URL action), and ensure that the "get" option is selected. I test my shortcut, but I get a failure message from Pushcut. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I am very frustrated. Thank you for the help anyone can provide.

[@askanthonyy]

I’m trying to figure out how to get it to read me the headlines from an RSS feed in one of these shortcuts but it doesn’t seem to be an option :/

[@ShaneCreates]

Sure, you should be able to use “get items from RSS feed” action.

[@martialb3662]

Hi Shane, if you're looking for ideas for the part 3, here's one : using variables in shortcuts to make advanced automations : a variables couting loops to turn off a light after a precise number instead of a duration. I'm trying on my side but to difficult with my skills :p And go on with your vids, you're doing great job and very great tutorials !

[@ShaneCreates]

That sounds like a tough one for my skills too! lol. I appreciate the suggestion. Might be a cool one to figure out. And thanks for the support!

[@01bigtrev]

Has anyone got any good sensor shortcuts? I’d ❤️ home to be able to send me a text message if one of my doors open. The only thing I’ve done Is set up automation so if the door opens or shed door opens between 11pm to 6am I get a imperial siren play on my HomePod to alert me possible breaking in.

[@ShaneCreates]

Not a simple solution, but that's essentially what we did in this video using the automation server with pushcuts: 19:45

[@jasongriswold1784]

Shane after working with pushcuts it appeared great was able to get a text but only using my iOS 13 device. My iOS 12 would not work with the newer shortcuts at all. Sad to say their support for IOS 12 is not compatible. Also you cannot create shortcut in iOS 12 either. So sad, was hopeful but looks like a no go for me

[@ShaneCreates]

Oh man that’s too bad. I thought it would work with ios12 and later. Sorry to hear that.

[@jasongriswold1784]

Shane you couldn’t have known. Just sharing what I found so others trying would see from my comments.

[@kevincheetham7952]

Any way to do this with Homebridge instead of using an extra IOS device?

[@ShaneCreates]

Not that I know of. The extra device is require to actually run the shortcuts since personal automations/shortcuts require the device to run.

[@jezper1000]

Hey Shane, Is it possible to give access to only one room for eg a child in the homekit. So the child can only control his own room, without being able to control other rooms in the house? p.s. I watch all your videos with great pleasure.

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey Jesper, thanks for watching. Unfortunately no, it's not possible to restrict users to certain accessories or rooms in the Home app currently. Really hoping they change that.

[@christiannielsen3863]

I don't find "Ask before running". Does anyone know why?

[@christiannielsen3863]

Oh it's there if I select an alarm event but not if I select "if I receive an email"?

[@djjluvv]

Hey Shane is there a way for this to work on my homepod now we can have alarms on them?

[@ShaneCreates]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way to use a HomePod alarm as an automation trigger.

[@djjluvv]

@@ShaneCreates maybe soon thanks for the reply! Keep up the great videos

[@ShaneCreates]

@@djjluvv thanks!

[@Kgharney427]

Not sure why I don’t get these to work. I created my shortcut and it’s fine. When I go to create an automation I can’t run a shortcut. There is no command available for that. Also my shortcuts only run for me not anyone in the house. How do I make it so all can use it?

[@ShaneCreates]

Shortcuts are device specific and only run on your devices. To run on others’ devices you’d need to share the shortcut with them. Home automations work for anyone with access to that HomeKit home.

[@Sarah_C68]

HELP ME SHANE ! :) Why cant I see my Yeelight App when Im trying to make a shortcut?. I hit + and then search but its not there .

[@ShaneCreates]

Have you added a light or scene to shortcuts via the Yeelight app? If so, try running the shortcut a number of times. Then see if it shows up when creating a new shortcut.

[@Sarah_C68]

@@ShaneCreates YAAAAYyyyyyy it worked ...thanks !

[@anatoliyefimov4984]

how would you exclude all day calendar events?

[@ShaneCreates]

That's something I haven't done yet, but been meaning to setup. One viewer commented on here to use “if x is Not All Day” ...seems like that is a good place to start.

[@anatoliyefimov4984]

@@ShaneCreates I tried, If the event is "Not all Day"... that didn't seem to get it... :-)

[@J39444]

@@ShaneCreates any update / work around on this Shane?

[@Trackhoe075]

Gee can I wear my hat backwards too? Lol

[@jdb6284]

For god sakes why is this not available on MacOS already! it's such a pain making these on a damn phone rather than a real computer.

[@ShaneCreates]

I'd love to be able to make these on a Mac. One day...

[@leonbaldridge9976]

How do I use the shortcut on my HomePod

[@ShaneCreates]

Just say "Hey Siri" and the name of your shortcut

[@Leonbaldridge]

@@ShaneCreates doesn't work I used to always be able to do that on my big one bought a few minis & it works on none :/

[@Wesley.Wilkinson]

I can't get my siri to read the work except. Everything works fine besides that! lol

[@pawjeppesen-ifttttricks605]

I made the morning rutine, that only runs in the morning, by checking the time of day, 'cause I don't want it to run, if I'm having a nap in the afternoon. //Paw

[@ShaneCreates]

Very cool!!

[@jarheadeason99]

They need to include a file browser for shortcuts like they have in Halo for custom games lol

[@russellmclean6770]

How do I have the calendar announcements ignore my all day events? “Your first event to day is Flag Day”

[@russellmclean6770]

I figured in out. I have to look for a start date that is greater than 00:00.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice workaround. Good to know! 👍🏻

[@russellmclean6770]

Shane Whatley I found that “if x is Not All Day” works better.