Apple Highlights 10 iPhone Shortcut Hacks to Expand Action Button, Battery Alerts and CarPlay
Updated
Updated · Lifehacker · May 15
Apple Highlights 10 iPhone Shortcut Hacks to Expand Action Button, Battery Alerts and CarPlay
6 articles · Updated · Lifehacker · May 15
10 shortcut ideas show how Apple’s iPhone automation app can handle everyday tasks, from expanding the Action Button to saving locations, downloading X videos and identifying songs.
2018’s Shortcuts app links triggers such as alarms, battery levels, leaving home or connecting to CarPlay with actions like playing music, showing travel time, logging locations or issuing custom alerts.
Several picks focus on customization: a multi-function Action Button uses volume-key combinations, MusicBot adds Apple Music controls and mixes, and Low Battery Announcement uses ChatGPT-generated spoken warnings.
Other examples turn Shortcuts into practical utilities, including RSS-to-Notes news summaries, a leave-home battery check, a post-alarm commute routine and automatic podcast-plus-weather playback in the car.
As AI makes shortcuts more powerful, how will Apple ensure they remain simple and reliable enough for everyday users?
Could our growing reliance on smart automation subtly diminish our own cognitive skills and ability to solve problems independently?