How romantic are iPhone shortcuts?

Since Apple acquired workflow in 2017, shortcuts (shortcuts) have existed in the iOS system for more than 2 years. However, because Apple has not promoted this feature much, shortcut commands have always been a feature that some users have fun with, but most ordinary users are confused about.

In fact, if you just want to try using shortcut commands, there are now a large number of shortcut command communities on the Internet where you can download shortcut commands made by experts. But if you can make some simple and easy-to-use shortcut commands according to your own needs, it is also very fun to improve the usability and playability of the iPhone.

This article will briefly introduce the simple usage and demonstration of shortcut commands from the beginning. It is only used as a starting point. Students who are interested in this in the future will definitely be able to create better works!

First of all, let’s clarify a few concepts, from the definitions on Apple’s official website:

What are shortcut commands?

Shortcuts let you quickly complete tasks in apps with just a tap or asking Siri. Shortcuts can automate various tasks. For example: get directions to the next event on Calendar, move text from one APP to another and generate expense reports, etc. Based on how you use your iOS device, such as app usage and browser, email, and message history, Siri can suggest simple and useful shortcuts that can be run with a quick tap. You can also add shortcuts to Siri to summon Siri directly, then speak the shortcut command to run it.

What is an operation?

Actions are part of shortcuts. Each shortcut command is composed of a series of operations, and each operation is a step to perform a specific function. For example: Get the latest photos - mask images - send messages

Let's start with the most "interesting" one, changing the APP icon

Many friends may be envious of Android phones that can You can change the theme of the system at will, and you can also change the commonly used APP icons to a matching set of icons. After iOS14, various small components can be added to the desktop to make the desktop settings more personalized. If the APP icons can also be customized and changed, then some interesting desktops can be created. Now using shortcut commands, you can easily change the icons of commonly used apps to your favorite pictures.

For example, if you want to replace the WeChat icon, first, we create a new shortcut command

Select Add Action

Then select Script

Choose from the menu Select to open the app

Then select WeChat in the list, you can search directly

You can also continue to click the plus sign to add other operations. Here, the operation of lowering the volume at the same time is added to prevent inadvertent Click on some voices. . .

Then click the share button below

Select Add to Home Screen

Change the icon to the one just now

Click Add and you're done La

The disadvantage is that every time it is started, it will jump to the shortcut command and then start the corresponding app, but it can easily customize the icon, so this small problem is acceptable. .

Shortcut commands that can be executed fully automatically

In iOS14, shortcut commands also add a new automation function, turning operations that needed to be started manually into ones that can be started based on preset conditions. , such as time, date, location, battery level, APP startup or shutdown, etc. Automatically start shortcut commands in scenes to achieve some convenient fully automatic operations. For example, the power saving mode automatically starts when the battery is low:

The power saving mode of the iPhone is very effective, but you need to manually click the reminder to set it every time the battery is low, and the power saving mode is not entered until 20%. .

Is there a way to make the phone automatically switch to power saving mode when the battery is low?

Select the middle automation in the bottom bar of shortcuts, create a new automation, and create a personal automation

Select the battery level in the list

Set it here to less than 30%< /p>

The next step is to add a script and choose to set low power mode

Then choose Don’t ask when running in the next step, then click Finish and you’re done!

In this way, every time the battery power is at 30% (or other preset capacities), the power saving mode will be automatically activated. There is no need to wait until 20% or manually click every time. . The power saving mode of the iPhone is also very powerful and will not affect its use. If the iPhone can enter the power saving mode earlier, it will be of great help to battery life.

There are also many ways to play automation. If you are interested, you can try it yourself and find the configuration that best suits you based on your personal usage habits and patterns.

What I often use is to automatically lower the volume when starting the video player to prevent sudden high volume from affecting others; and when starting Genshin Impact, automatically switch to power saving mode and do not disturb mode. (Do Not Disturb mode is set in advance to answer all calls), so that the game runs more smoothly and saves power, and will not be disturbed by push messages from the APP. Then add a function to turn off Genshin Impact and then turn off the power saving mode and Do Not Disturb mode. Automated operation, so that it is fully automatically set every time.

After you have mastered the basic operations, you can play some advanced games if you are still interested.

Variables and conditional statements

Yes, it is the most basic level of programming, but don’t worry, the preliminary advanced gameplay can only be done if you have a certain preliminary understanding of these concepts in the shortcut commands. It’s enough to understand. Beginners can also write some interesting shortcut instructions. If you are still interested in trying it, let’s continue:

Variables:

Because variables allow you to They are useful because they can be given a short, easy-to-remember name for each piece of data you intend to use in your program. In short, variables are simple tools for tracking almost any type of information.

Conditional statement:

A conditional statement is a statement that executes different codes based on conditions. If the condition is met, a piece of code will be executed, otherwise other code will be executed. Conditional statements can be thought of as being somewhat like causes and effects. What is used here is basically a single-format IF statement: if. . . but. . . otherwise. . .

Many advanced methods of shortcut commands are implemented using variables and conditional statements. Here we will briefly introduce a shortcut command to set up and view system information.

These are the main functions used

Get system parameters and set variables.

There is a very convenient way to set variables in the shortcut command. This is a magic wand-like icon on the keyboard, which can automatically select and identify the content that can be set as a variable for selection. When we configure the shortcut command , this operation will be used frequently.

Then continue to add operation steps, select Script-Mathematics-Calculation

The reason for this is because the screen brightness obtained by the system is a value between 0-1, such as the brightness value 0.31415926 , not easy to understand. So for the convenience of reading, we use this current brightness as a variable, multiply it by 100, and then choose Add Script-Math-Round the number to one place, and then it can be displayed as a percentage.

Finally add the manuscript-text, describe it as you like, select the corresponding variables, and after editing the content, add the manuscript-preview-display the results

In this way, the final running effect is as follows As shown in the picture, you can also add reading text to let the system read the content aloud.

These are some simple attempts to use variables. If you cooperate with variables, conditions and control flow, you don’t need to have much programming foundation. As long as you have a certain understanding of variables and conditions, you can do it. There are many more complex and completely personalized shortcut commands.

For example, we can use the control flow-menu to make a selection menu, and set the text, variables and display text under each menu option, so that we can get a shortcut command with options.

This is the final effect

What if you add a conditional statement:

Add a new item to the initial menu, system volume

< p>It is still the same to get the current volume, calculate and round

Then add a conditional statement: If

After setting it like this, two types of values ??will be returned according to the different system volume when running. The result

When the system volume is less than 80%, it is displayed normally, and when it is greater than 80%, a reminder message is displayed

The above is some basic introduction to shortcut commands, and you are familiar with variables and conditions. After the statement, if you are interested, and with the automation function, you can write a fully automatic shortcut command that is most suitable for your own use!

The set shortcut commands can not only be placed on the negative screen, but also some different startup methods can be set:

iOS14 also adds 2 taps and 3 taps on the back of the phone. To activate some functions, you can use this function in conjunction with shortcut commands. For example, tap the back of the phone twice to automatically launch some shortcut commands you have written to complete a series of operations.

In this way, you only need to tap the back of the iPhone 2 or 3 times to quickly launch the corresponding shortcut command, which is also very convenient.