Hey everyone! I made another Shortcut, this time for working with PDFs without needing a separate app.
It currently has six tools:
• Photos to PDF
• Merge PDFs
• Image to PDF
• Split PDF Pages
• Extract Text from PDFs
• PDF to Image (PNG)
You can also preview, rename, save, or share your PDFs, and export extracted text.
Everything runs through Apple Shortcuts. No subscriptions or additional apps needed.
🔗 Download:
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/5aaf39f580b845c39beb3aefeecf6465

Still working on improvements, so feel free to share any feedback or suggestions!

Hi

I have asked for help creating this shortcut before and it worked great until it didn’t. The shortcut logges my clock in and out in a text file just fine.

Then a Ai summary shortcut was suppose to look at all the data and summaries the total days worked, gross hours, net hours (minus fixed break) and overtime hours (Monday - Thursday everything over 7.5 hours and Friday anything over 7 hours)

However, it seems to work only with a few clock in and clock out. If there’s to much data it won’t complete the shortcut.

I have been trying to find another solution but with out luck. I was thinking maybe it’s possible to use google sheets and use that to calculate, but not sure how to automatically switch when a new month starts

My last resort hoping someone can help me create this shortcut.

Thanks
Simon

So i posted this summary of a shortcut i made when commenting on an earlier post. A few people have asked for it so thought I’d put it here.

Notes-

1. This is a skeleton version (necessary as we have different playlists, folders, notes/reminder categories, etc), so you will need to go through the various modules and customize them as you see fit (playlists, podcasts, notes/files and folders, directions home, etc) I’ve left examples where possible, to help with the customization.
2. i created this as a modular system, so youll need all the shortcuts linked in order for it to work properly.
3. i have not yet updated to iOS 27 and have heard multiple issues with shortcuts, no idea what it might break in this so YMMV.

Hope you find it as useful as I do!

Menu UI shortcut summary

I set the action button to open a scrollable menu of the following options- most lead to submenus and actions, denoted by bullets below

Maps

• ⁠search (opens Google Maps directly into search box entry)
• ⁠directions (opens Google Maps directly into destination box entry)
• ⁠home (Google Maps directions home)
• ⁠Maps (opens Apple Maps)

Music -(a scrollable list of my fav playlists and a Music app launch option)

Podcasts -(a scrollable list of my fav podcasts and a podcasts app launch option)

Strands (i find this to be the most useful section for me. Quickly using copied text to create reminders or notes without leaving the app im in. Collecting quotes, saving information in an organized manner, easily finding a saved Reddit post about where the best pizza in my area is, etc)

• ⁠creates a new Note in my Quotes folder in Apple Notes with clipboard text/pic
• ⁠creates a new Note in my Strands folder in Apple Notes with clipboard text/pic
• ⁠creates a new Reminder with clipboard text
• ⁠creates a new Reminder with copied link and asks for Reminder title text (I’ll often use this option for links to specific Reddit posts about suggested restaurants, etc.- just copy the link, activate this action, title it Pizza for example, and its saved to my Recommended category in Reminders)
• ⁠opens a new Reminder text box
• ⁠opens a new Note text box
• ⁠opens camera, picture taken will not save to phone library, but instead to a Files folder (I prefer keeping my phone library empty (everything is in albums, and are filtered from library view)

Search

• ⁠opens a text entry box, once entered, gives options to search that text in Google, DuckDuckGo, Youtube, Giphy, Reddit, or ChatGPT.

Reddit

• ⁠opens Reddit

Safari

• ⁠opens Safari

Photos

• ⁠opens Photos

Play/Pause

• ⁠as stated (super useful to me as i find ios kills the music/podcasts controls on the locksreen and notification shade much too quickly- this action will resume the last thing playing regardless.)

Next

• ⁠next track

Back

• ⁠restart track

Add

• ⁠add current track to any playlist

Apps

• ⁠scrollable menu of all apps

Record

• ⁠opens Camera and begins video recording

Memo

• ⁠begins voice memo recording

Remote

• ⁠Apple TV remote

Time

• ⁠menu options of timers (5,10,15,20,30, or custom minutes) and set alarm option

Translate

• ⁠opens text box with clipboard inserted for translation selection

Send pic

• ⁠opens camera and sends taken pic to selected contact, photo not saved to photo library

Business papers

• ⁠Notes document scanner

Torch

• ⁠flashlight

Great that it works from the lock screen and it also generally prevents the need to switch apps for saving links or other tangents, or go to the homescreen at all.

Shortcut links

Main Menu shortcut

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/347e4253ed294a1595ee4aeaeb4dc7d4

Associated required shortcuts

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/1561b7a40e2f47aaad919944703416f0

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e382cfd6e4b24d66a6a3c38b5d8764df

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/6d4f8af80cac417ea4e6b0b27fff8888

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/a71a6191c49d48a7a901cea41cbd8c3b

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/0a339219f4ca4441a61bf40d814253e4

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/355153e2695e4a57a802d869f57b1551

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/7c73f49e2ade4a728fbeffe0d17ab13e

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/b068e26bd43e4f56a82e04ed34674684

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/ac31d74e038f4ad4820d9148b1716839

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/800a4f3a10fa4ed28556c1f84d5f5f73

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e77736cc376d4ef595c0e85cc761aefej

Edit-
Last link wasnt working, new link-

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/cdf78466421b443999f022d614961fb6

If I'm not mistaken, used to be able to disable an automation in Shortcuts. Now in iOS 27 I don't see the option given that they combine Shortcuts and automations into one category (which I think was a very dumb idea).
I didn't see the answer in Apples new guide for shortcuts.
Did they just remove the option to disable an automation that you made? I don't want to spend a bunch of time creating an automation and then have to delete it anytime I don't want it to run.

I go through phases where I make a bunch, then delete a bunch. I started doing it even when it was still the Workflow app.

I do have a few folders. But when I get past 30 or so it feels a little overwhelming. I'll forget I have some, or some are variations and I can't remember which did what and so on LOL.

Then on MacPowerUsers this week one of the hosts said he has hundreds, and the other host said he has over 2000 iirc?!

How does that even work? How do you remember what you have, what they're for etc.?

I have to think my mental model is incorrect for thinking about this?

Interested in everyone's thoughts here.

Just want a simple shortcut as above. I used Siri but it’s not working and I can’t figure out why. Does any one know what the problem could be?

Is it feasible to create a shortcut that would open the Facebook app then navigate to the Friends tab and then the All page?

I looked around with the search function and have not been able to find a shortcut that simply toggles "hey siri" on/off. The use case is that when I am at my desk I want to be able to hands free my phone to play music or respond to messages or emails. Whenever I try to create one myself it keeps telling me a shortcut can change settings. Ideas?

Disclosure first: I make an expense tracking app called Finny, and most of the logging runs through Shortcuts automations.

Before iOS 27 the only useful trigger for this was Wallet "Transaction". Works for Apple Pay, but that's it. Bank transfers, physical card swipes, transit fares, all had to be logged by hand.

iOS 27 added "When I receive a notification". So you pick which apps it watches and the shortcut gets the notification text. And then my bank's "you paid" alert and my train fare after I tap out on the MRT (Singapore's subway, the fare comes as a notification from the SimplyGo app) both log on their own. I don't open anything.

Few things I ran into if you're messing with this trigger:

• Imported automations come with Automation switched off. They won't run until you turn it on.
• If your bank also sends a notification for Apple Pay taps and you're using the Wallet trigger too, every tap logs twice. Pick one per bank.
• If you import the same shortcut twice to cover different apps, choose Keep Both. Replace deletes the first one. That's how I get my MRT fares on the right card, one copy just for SimplyGo.
• Transfers between my own accounts log twice, since both banks send an alert. I just don't watch both banks for those.

Finny also has actions for Back Tap screenshots and manual logging, but the notification one is the new thing.

App's at getfinny.app if anyone wants to try it.

How do you figure out which shortcuts would actually be useful in your daily life?
Hey everyone!
I keep reading about Apple Shortcuts, and I’m always impressed by what people come up with. I’d love to get into it myself, but I struggle to figure out where to start and what would actually be useful for me.
I’ve spoken to a few people who use shortcuts, but I’m still missing that connection between “this is a cool tool” and “here’s something in my own life I could use it for.”

I have ADHD, and sometimes I find it difficult to imagine the possibilities from scratch. I get excited about the idea, but when I try to come up with my own use cases, my mind goes blank.
So I’m curious: How do you go from noticing something in your daily routine to thinking, “I should make a shortcut for this”?
Do you have a simple process, a few questions you ask yourself, or examples of small shortcuts that made a surprisingly big difference?
I’d love some inspiration, but also a little guidance on how to spot those opportunities myself. Even a walkthrough of “here was my problem, here’s how I approached it, and here’s what I built” would be really helpful.
Thanks!

Hello, I’m currently looking to do a simple meal log tracker in the Notes app that lets me log what I eat and what time for categories like breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks and allows me to do multiple entries under the same categories at different times (i.e. I can logged multiple items under snacks at different times of day without creating a new snacks section in notes). See pic 1 for reference

Setting up the categories from a “choose from” menu is easy for me. Where it gets tricky is when I’m inputting multiple lines, only the first line item gets indented as a bullet point (see pic 2 for reference).

In addition, if I’m logging new items under the same category at different points of the day, it doesn’t add the items under the category, only makes a full new one (see picture 3 for reference).

The 4th image is what my shortcut currently looks like. I would love support on what I’m doing incorrectly when it comes to multiple lines not indenting and items not appending to the right categories.

(Please know I’m not a tech person and very new to this)

EDIT: I would like for this tracker to be updated on a daily basis with these infos

I have a small obstacle here somewhere in the system

I would like, if focus x or y or z is active, the device does not output anything except the message. So it’s quiet.

And if the focus is not activated accordingly, of course the speech output is executed next to the message

Thank you

Hi all,

Wondering if this is possible via AppleScript or similar. Would be very useful to be able to keep signatures synced between accounts without needing to manually update them.

This is a new avenue for me that I just figured out. I have a project for searching movies and tv shows in ChatGPT. In the project instructions, I told it to include a link to a specific shortcut at the end of the results. It has become quite handy!

So the prompt gathers specific movie details including a url link, then provides text of the details to copy. I click copy, then click the shortcut link, and it saves to my movie list.

I had originally tried to do it all from the Shortcut but the prompt was way to detailed.

Ask Siri AI to create an automation that runs when I join my gym WiFi but it doesn’t work and throws up an error “This action could not be run with the current user interface.” What’s the point of Siri making an automation it should know can’t run!?

I’ve set up automations for her meds so it can verbally remind her to take her pills and speak the time. Any other suggestions?

My mailbox is across the street about 80-100 feet from my house. The post office does not use the flag where I live as part of their policy. The door is in the front and flips down to horizontal. I have tried an Aqara door sensor on HomeKit to no avail. Any shortcut suggestions?

In case you're not aware, Instagram Media Saver is a shortcut I created and have been maintaining over the years. This shortcut downloads media from Instagram. Full instructions are available on the RoutineHub page.

It's been a long time coming but I have finally decided to update Instagram Media Saver to v2.00

This version brings some subtle changes to the flow of how execution works.

Changes from previous version

• Stories now perform a full story type download and lets you choose which items from the story you'd like to save
• Implemented a workaround to getting flagged as a bot / suspicious activity, which gets users banned or temporarily restricted

Removed Features

• Multi-post download feature - due to lack of use and the complicated method
• Follower Analysis

Safe usage

From my extensive testing and a few beta testers' feedback, API abuse is no longer being flagged by Instagram and while the shortcut still relies on Scriptable, it appears to be a safe method moving forward.

As always, let me know if there are any issues you encounter.

You can get the shortcut at the links below:

• RoutineHub
• Shortcuty

I was getting the (The file "settings.json" couldn't be opened.) error before so I deleted the shortcut and file from “Files” and now I’m getting the following error

(-- No media downloaded, {Out} is empty --)

Is anyone familiar with this and how to resolve the error on iPhone?

Does anyone know if it is possible to have different focus modes dictate app limits?

For example if I have work focus on, I can only open apps A B & C but if I have fitness fitness on, I can only open apps X Y & Z?

I can only work out a way to have all apps for all focus modes

I want to use a shortcut to change the DNS. I’ve searched, but I only found shortcuts for changing the VPN.

Hi! I need an automation that, from Monday to Friday, at 06:45, if the phone is charging, read the text: it’s time to go. Thanks!!

I’m trying to create a shortcut that starts a training when a get to the gym automatically but keeps sending me an error is there a way to make it work ?