Save Time! How To Get Started With Apple Shortcuts

[@jbmanning]

I don’t know how her channel doesn’t have more subscribers. I’m only 36 years old, I am generally very tech capable, and I still watch her stuff because it’s so well explained. Thank you, Ellen!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thank you so much JB!! It makes me happy to help people like you!

[@jaestreets751]

Same here. This channel has also helped my mom a lot. 😁😅

[@davidphamusa]

Great tutor! Clear instructions make learning a breeze. Thank you, Ellen!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks so much David!

[@nickfletcher9667]

Thank you Ellen! I appreciate your calm and slow pace of your videos. However, I am still struggling to grasp the skill required in setting up a Shortcut. I do require to persevere and to keep watching your tutorials so I can feel less frustrated as I do currently.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You can do it Nick! Hopefully iOS 18 will make it easier.😊

[@dave90807]

Thanks Ellen! First time seeing your channel. I’ll watch more soon. Your explanation of the shortcuts, particularly the intro to « tracking books I’ve read » as well as the others are very much appreciated. They have served to get me started and kindled an appreciation for Apple Shortcuts. I did notice that the list of books is not editable after adding a few books. Perhaps there is a setting that needs to be found and adjusted. Way to go and I wish you success with your channel. Dave C 🎉

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks so much Dave! Apple is always making changes. It makes it hard to keep Shortcuts up to date. Sorry.😞

[@dave90807]

@@EllensTipsForiOS Hello, and thanks for your insight into why the file wasn’t imediately editable. Now after additional observation I can confirm that with the current version of Shortcuts that I’m using, it only requires me to close the Notes app after your shortcut runs and reopen it for the notes page to become editable. Also I’ve noted that if I don’t close the Notes app and run your shortcut simultaneously with the note open, the newly added line will not appear until note is closed and reopened. I hope to catch up with more of your excellent videos.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks for sharing your insights Dave! Hopefully it will help someone else. I appreciate your support.

[@MarcP5267]

Wow thanks for this Ellen. Never used shortcuts until now.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You're so welcome Marc! Hope you have fun with Shortcuts.

[@MarcP5267]

@@EllensTipsForiOS yea just added the do not disturb one you demonstrated in the video.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

There are so many good Shortcuts!! Check out the Gallery in the Shortcuts app.

[@Teresa-K]

Hi Ellen, Thanks for the lesson to set up shortcuts for certain applications. I especially like the shortcut to remind you to charge your battery. Very useful applications. Always look forward to your practical and useful videos. Kindness, Teresa

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You're very welcome Teresa! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

[@davidbarker5941]

At last, we have a sensible, mature person explaining things, rather than a overenthusiastic youth yelling at us.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thank you David!

[@zikkumzakkum5716]

Great explanation of Shortcuts…thank you!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful and thanks for watching.

[@mikefixac]

Yowza. First time. Subscribed. Thank you Ellen.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You are so welcome Mike! Thanks for subscribing!

[@leilanimr]

I dismissed Shortcuts because I thought they would be a bit over my head setting up. Thanks for this video, I believe I'll give it a go!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Great!! Shortcuts can be really fun @leilanimr!

[@v.7756]

Thank you for your calm and slow speaking! For a non native English speaker is really easy and a joy to follow your steps. I have one question because I’m struggling with this function but I can’t find a solution. Is there any way or workaround that when you run a shortcut directly from the „shortcut app“, to automatically close the „shortcut app“ after the shortcut was triggered or finished?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You're very welcome! It depends on the Shortcut! Some are run in the app and others will open other apps or services.

[@v.7756]

@@EllensTipsForiOS wow, you’re fast Ellen🤗! It’s a very simple shortcut just to switch on or off the alarm clock. The idea is to open the „shortcut app“ and as soon as I activate the shortcut (for example „switch on the alarm at a certain time“) it should switch on the alarm and automatically close the „shortcut app“. So the alarm is on and I’m back in the home screen of my iPad, whiteout having to close the “shortcut app” manually.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Are you using an Automation for that? I have an Automation that sets my alarm every night at 8pm. I never see it running but my alarm goes off every morning at 4:45.

[@DarrolandTracey]

The photo grid link takes you to the DND shortcut. Great video, thanks!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks for the info!

[@abdulazizo.alsomali832]

great video as usual, personally i use it to track my daily habits. 👍🏽 like from KSA

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks for sharing and kind words Abdulaziz!

[@deblabree4714]

Admittedly, these shortcuts are just way beyond my comprehension which is sad because I can see how useful they could be when used properly. TY for these vids.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Don’t give up on Shortcuts Deb!! Find a couple you can utilize and stick with them. Maybe try a basic Automation that will set a daily alarm on your iPhone. Let me know how I can help.

[@bonnieherrmann5481]

Great tutorial, however the iPhone setup for a shortcut is completely different Do you have a different one for the iPhone

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Sorry Bonnie I don’t! Thanks for watching.

[@sharonroushdy698]

I'm going to try all the shortcuts in this video. Thanks! But, I'm stumped on one thing: I'd like to use the Make PDF shortcut, but when I run it, it wants me to "make sure to pass an item to the Make PDF action". I don't know what this means. Any tips?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Sorry Sharon let me see what I can find and I’ll post here.

[@KKLeung]

Thanks for sharing your experience. How can you add a circle pointer to display and navigate the actions in the ipad.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

I’m using a Bluetooth mouse attached to the iPad. Hope that helps.

[@KKLeung]

@@EllensTipsForiOS Hi Ellens, thanks for your reply. What is the brand of the mouse and does it work for IPhone? Thanks

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

KK it’s a Tecknet Bluetooth mouse very inexpensive and purchased from Amazon. Yes it works on my iPhone and iPad.

[@KKLeung]

@@EllensTipsForiOS thanks for your reply. I got it.👍

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You’re welcome!!

[@earlbaron]

the link to find “Books I’ve Read” doesn’t work and comes up with the message: The operation could not be completed. (NRSURLError domain error 400.) It is a shame because I wanted to give that shortcut a go as you described!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

I’m not sure why you’re receiving this error. I checked on an iPad and iPhone and didn’t have a problem. What device are you using?

[@lorenz681]

Is it possible to make a shortcut to toggle call forwarding to a prescribed number on and off?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Sorry as of now there doesn’t appear to be a shortcut for call forwarding.

[@Steve-b7t7y]

As others mentioned, I never considered using shortcuts until your video. Very informative video and surprisingly useful tool. Love the DND shortcut you featured, but DND automatically turns itself off shortly after I click the shortcut on my iPhone even when I am stationary. Location services is toggled on for the shortcut. Would love to use this feature at the movies, Dr office, etc. Any idea why the shortcut would turn itself off when I haven’t left the location where I turned it on?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Hi Steve, are you sure it’s turning off? It shows up briefly in the Dynamic Island then you should see a half moon icon next to the clock? I just tried it on my iPhone 15 pro and it worked fine. Keep me posted so I can help.

[@Steve-b7t7y]

The half moon shows up briefly like you mention, then goes away after 3-4 seconds with a note telling me DND is turned off. I have an iPhone 8 running iOS 16.7.10, so that may be the issue. Love your videos and thanks for your response.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

I wonder if it has something to do with the Shortcuts app or that you have an older iPhone.

[@Steve-b7t7y]

I created the DND shortcut on my wife’s new iPhone and it works perfectly. My iPhone 8 has obviously aged out. Looks like Merry Christmas to me 😮. Keep up the great videos. You are keeping me moving forward with these useful tools and tutorials.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Great to hear Steve!!

[@stach306]

Can you make a folder for contacts

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You can create lists of Contacts in the Contacts app but I don’t believe you can create folders.

[@MarkTriplett]

Hi Ellen! I setup the books I've read shortcut, but when the book info is written to my Apple Notes, it doesn't do it as a clickable URL, only just as text. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Thanks for a great video!

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Hi Mark! Mine is the same! It started with iOS 17. I’m hoping Apple will fix it with an update. For now I copy the URL and add it as a link. Although that really isn’t a shortcut is it!

[@sf9530]

Another great video. On my iphone, I have shortcuts to dial my friend's numbers. How can I share these icons with a friend? Would air drop work? Thanks.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks S F! You can share a shortcut by pushing and holding on the shortcut until the pop up menu appears. Choose share and then send it. The person receiving the shortcut would then have to configure the shortcut with the information they need to use it. Hope that helps.

[@carlcheng4151]

Thank you for sharing this, Ellen. I was trying to create a shortcut to join a Zoom meeting. Even though I have the meeting ID and passcode in the action, it didn’t join the meeting when I ran it. I am new to this, so I didn’t know what I might have missed. Do you have any suggestions?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Hi Carl without seeing your shortcut I’m not really sure what’s happening. Sorry!😞

[@carlcheng4151]

@@EllensTipsForiOS Thanks for your quick reply. After seeing the error message, I figured it out. I needed to open Zoom first, then the shortcut would fill the meeting ID and passcode for me.

[@patriciawirry818]

A friend and I have an Apple Watch and try to keep them charged to ensure most of our activities, including our sleep metrics, are logged. We should have our watches charged to at least 50% before going to bed. The Apple Watch gives you a warning when the battery dips to 10%, but if it does that right before bed there's not enough time to get it appropriately charged for that night's sleep. We were talking about this issue yesterday. How could we set reminders to charge our watches when the battery dipped below 50%. We didn't come up with a good solution. Until now. Thanks so much for showing the reminder to charge shortcut. That's exactly what we needed. I followed along with you and created the shortcut. I can't wait to tell my friend to watch your video so that she can create the shortcut too. Thanks so much for your great KZbin channel.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

I’m so glad to help Patricia! Thanks for sharing your story!

[@sbeckas]

Many of use dark mode and when you show yellow text on a white background it is visually very challenging. Perhaps you could consider using black text?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Hi sbeckas! I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I don’t use any yellow text. Let me know what you mean.

[@sbeckas]

@@EllensTipsForiOS time stamp 17:17 Books I've read under folders yellow highlight box and yellow text on white background. I am on my Mac laptop using Ventura

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Now I understand!! So that’s the default highlight color in Apple Notes. You can’t change it on the iPhone or iPad but I can change it on my Mac and it will change it on the iPhone and iPad.

[@sbeckas]

@@EllensTipsForiOS Thank you for listening to my feedback-visual challenges can be made easier sometimes by just color changes. Your videos are very helpful to many of us.

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks for the suggestion and for watching the videos.

[@skoobygeek]

Was wondering if I could use the Books I read in DayOne instead of a note?

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Great question! See if you can alter the steps in the shortcut. I’m not sure if it’s possible. If I come up with a solution I’ll post it here.

[@skoobygeek]

@@EllensTipsForiOS I will try it here at my end too

[@Izzyic7505]

Hi Ellen, I find the whole shortcuts thing overwhelming, as in I don’t know what I’d use them for, and when I look into it, it just seems 😱. However, after watching this video, I’ll have another look. I know you’re only an email away 🤩. I do appreciate how much work it is to do what you do, so thank you. Nope, still totally confused on how to run a shortcut. I looked at a preset ‘news’ shortcut, clicked the 3 dots, but don’t know how to make I show me news 🤷‍♀️🥵. I need help 🤣🤯

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

It can be overwhelming Isabel! Maybe try just a couple to start out with. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@Izzyic7505]

Ellen, I just updated my reply. I’m 🤯

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Have you added the Shortcut to the Shortcuts app?? If you have you just need to tap on the Shortcut and you will be prompted to do something. You don’t need to tap on the three dots.

[@Izzyic7505]

@@EllensTipsForiOS Elle, I tried the low battery shortcut, for my Apple Watch. Chose device - watch - added automation and when run it says ‘time to charge watch NO’. Is that because my watch is currently fully charged or .?? I feel really stupid 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Please Isabel you are far from stupid! If you setup the automation correctly it should trigger when the Watch drops below the battery level you set.

[@mohamdy8950]

How practical u r❤

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks so much!!

[@RobertSlockbower]

God bless I could never do! If they are short cuts why do they take so long to explain

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Well Robert once you take the time to set them up you will receive the benefits of the shortcut!

[@Trackhoe075]

So wait lemme see if I understand you need to make shortcuts to these manual tasks that let’s face it are super simple to do without this app manually? I’m sorry I just don’t see the point of this app! Maybe it helps with more complex tasks but to be honest who wants to sit there and try to develop all the steps to do the task when instead just do it manually! I am to busy for this dealing with everything else I do appreciate your efforts and it’s very well explained but I come from of a belief to “ keep it simple” This is just too frustrating for me ! I don’t need a automation to tell me the weather I just open the shades I’ll be able to figure it out pretty efficiently Your video was certainly very well done

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Thanks for taking the time to comment! The key for me is setting it up once and then not having to do it again. I agree that it works much better for complex tasks. But beginners need a place to start.

[@Trackhoe075]

@@EllensTipsForiOS absolutely!!! I just have difficulty logically figuring out the next steps so for me it’s a simple shortcut and then it becomes eh I’ll just do it manually the way I always have for 68 yrs

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Don’t fix it if it isn’t broke!😊

[@RobertSlockbower]

I am deleting the app

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

You’re missing out on the best part of iOS!!

[@misiy.01]

Thanks a lot ma’am, u ar gorgeous. But please make a videos about How to record this ipad like this. And how to edit videos. THANKS MA’AM 🤍🫶🏻🫶🏻

[@EllensTipsForiOS]

Sorry Zan! That’s not what my channel is about. I can tell you I film and edit in Screenflow. The iPad comes in as a camera and then I use a mock-up of on iPad so it looks like you’re seeing the device. Hope that helps.