Apple made its personal assistant, Siri more powerful in iOS 12 by launching Siri Shortcuts and the Shortcuts app on September 17. You can now choose from existing or create custom shortcuts for your device to accomplish everyday tasks. A shortcut is nothing but a quick way to get things done with your apps, with just a tap or by asking Siri.
Siri Shortcuts
Siri now learns from your phone usage and based on that suggests, simple and useful shortcuts. You can then add these shortcuts to Siri, and the next time you want to do that task, just ask Siri to do it for you by saying the phrase to run the shortcut.
Shortcuts app
Along with shortcuts suggested by Siri, you can use the Shortcuts app to automate your daily tasks. You can choose from several ready-made shortcuts or create custom shortcuts. It enables you to create personal shortcuts with multiple steps, also called actions from your favorite apps.
Shortcuts that you create or choose from the Gallery are stored in the Library section of the app. Once you have added the shortcuts from the app Gallery or created your own, you can launch them in the app, from iOS Today View, from your iOS Home screen, or by asking Siri.
Some of the things you can do with Shortcuts
- You can make animated GIFs
- Create PDFs from Safari or any app with a share sheet
- Get directions to the nearest coffee shop in one tap
- Tweet the song you’re listening to
- Get all of the images on a web page
- Send a message including the last screenshot you took
- Moving text from one app to another
- Generating expense reports
Shortcuts are getting very popular, so much so that there is a subreddit dedicated to sharing different ideas for creating shortcuts. You can get the Shortcuts app from the App Store.
Read more about Shortcuts on Apple’s official website.
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