Andrew Robertson

iOS Shortcuts

Shortcuts (née Workflows) for iOS are little strings of commands that make your device do repetitive things for you. Here, I’ve collected some useful shortcut scripts that I’ve created.

Installation Instructions

  1. In order to install these shortcuts, you need to enable shared shortcuts.
  2. Optionally, you can also add shortcuts to the home screen.

Adding Outside Shortcuts

To add these shortcuts, tap their link and tap “Get Shortcut” on the page that opens. This opens Shortcuts. Here, you can give the shortcut a name, peruse its contents to make sure it won’t do anything untoward, and tap “Add Untrusted Shortcut”.

Add Shortcut Sheet: 1. Choose a name. 2. Scroll down.
Add Shortcut Sheet: 2.5 Peruse. 3. Add.

System Requirements

iOS or iPadOS with Shortcuts installed and access to iCloud.com.

Shortcuts

Classify Photos

Sorts all your photos into three albums: Portrait, Landscape, and Square. Before running for the first time, these albums may have to be created by you. This shortcut works best from the home screen (it can freeze if run from Shortcuts).

Use

Make sure these albums, with these exact names, exist: Portrait, Landscape, and Square. Run from home screen.

Save as URL

Saves the current open webpage as a URL file after asking where to save it.

Use

Open from Safari share sheet.

Google it

Searches the web for the selected and then shared text using the search engine chosen at install time.

Use

Select text and choose Share… in its flag menu. Run from there.

Open URL

Opens the selected and then shared text as a URL, if it is one.

Use

Select text and choose Share… in its flag menu. Run from there.

Dictionary (Define)

Looks up words in the Oxford Dictionary (3rd edition). I put this on my home screen so that I have a Dictionary “app” like on macOS.

Use

Run from home screen (recommended) or inside Shortcuts.