Would you like your iPhone to automatically remind you to bring items when you walk out the door?
Issue #7
While there are many articles about what is new in iPhone iOS 17, I want to focus on the “Shortcuts” app and its features for those interested in simple ways to make your iPhone easier to use. Apple Shortcuts provides some easy ways to control iPhone settings that may be several layers deep and hard to remember. A Shortcut can even be launched with your voice using Siri by speaking the Shortcut’s name.
iOS 17 added some significant features in the “Personal Automations” area, which trigger an Apple Shortcut. A few of the features I like are using a Shortcut to provide a notification to remember to bring things when I’m leaving home and using a Shortcut when I return home to turn on the lights using Apple HomeKit Automation. Personal Automation can also be used to turn off your iPhone’s Wi-Fi to save battery life when you are away from home and restore Wi-Fi when you arrive home.
If you have never used the Apple Shortcuts app, you might want to take a look at some of the sample shortcuts under Gallery.
If you don’t see the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, you can install it from the Apple App Store .
While the Gallery tab shows you some samples you can easily add and modify, the Shortcuts tab shows the ones you have added. Note that after creating a Shortcut, you can invoke it by touch or by speaking its name to Siri.
The Automation tab contains actions you have chosen to run based on time, location, messages, networks, etc. and can be used to run Shortcuts you have already added.
A significant improvement in iOS 17 is that Automation can now be “run immediately”. In iOS 16 and earlier, you would get a notification requesting your approval to run the Automation.
Here are some of the Personal Automations I have setup
Please note that although Apple allows the sharing of Shortcuts via links such as shown below, there is no sharing of Personal Automations. In place of that, I have added a couple of pictures showing sample Personal Automations
Here are some sample Shortcuts (Be sure to edit for your location)
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/86c7a0de74bf4445866ef4f166a5872e
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/4bad40609fcc4567a96d51c903e3969a
Here are some sample Personal Automations
Note how they “Run Immediately” and include the Shortcut name as the “Do”