Multi-step shortcuts

Do much more with a single spoken command

The third-party app called Workflow, which Apple bought in 2017, has been renamed Shortcuts and gained new

capabilities. Other apps expose to it actions that can be taken within them. You stitch together a sequence of actions, potentially involving multiple apps, to achieve a task.

These sequences can be run within Shortcuts itself, from the Share Sheet, from a Home screen icon, from Shortcuts’ widget in the Today view, or – like the one-step shortcuts that iOS itself suggests – by saying your chosen phrase to Siri.

1 The gallery

Not sure how to use the app? A good way to learn is by example. Tap Gallery in the bottom bar to browse premade shortcuts you can download. Tap one, then Show Actions to see what it can process and the steps it takes to fulfil its purpose.

2 Download & edit

Tap Get Shortcut to download an example from the gallery. Tap Library in the bottom bar to find it. If you tap a shortcut’s tile in the library, it’ll run right away. Tap the ellipsis (…) in the top-right corner of a tile to open the shortcut for editing.

3 Action details

Action names should give you a fairly good idea of how a shortcut does its job. For a slightly more detailed description of an action, what input it can process, and what it outputs, tap the icon at its top-left corner.

4 Actions library

On iPhone, drag up from the search bar to see commonly used actions, or tap the search bar to browse all actions by category. On iPad, this panel is always open on the left when you’re editing a shortcut. On either device, drag an action from the panel to the desired position in your shortcut, or tap it to insert it at the end.

5 Personalise it

Tap the icon of two switches to make the shortcut available in various places in iOS and set a voice command. For the Share sheet, what you specify the shortcut accepts determines where it’ll be available for use.