I was listening to the Cortex podcast 75 and CGP Grey was excitedly selling the new feature Apple Shortcuts (previously called Workflows when it was an independent company). I have to admit his home screen looked pretty cool with all custom icons so I broke my personal rule of never downloading an OS until the .01 release and got iOS 12 as well as the separate Shortcuts app.
My work phone was the first one to emerge out of the exercise. Over the past couple years I’ve developed a basic layout with my Notes app in the top left corner and Maps in the top right corner. At my new job, I’ve adopted OneNote for this function because it plays well with Windows (duh), and this shortcut automatically asks for text input before opening the file. On the phone, I use the app primarily to quickly jot things down, so I believe this will be a much better flow (as does CGP Grey, who brought up the idea). At the top right, I can open up Google Maps, but it also has a few extra items on the menu, such as automatically giving pulling up directions to my next meeting appointment.
Next to OneNote are a couple ways to automate texting / email, and next to that is a couple ways to get into the web. The basic premise of these shortcuts are to ask for what you want to do, then ask for input, then open up the appropriate app with the information prefilled from the input.
The middle row starts with a speed dial for a lot of in-house numbers in the Division, including a couple ways to call home quickly. Next, all the apps have to live somewhere and this was pleasant a location for the folder. And finally, all the remaining icons are speed dials for each of my projects, including the Agency, Architects and Contractors. Because I am pretty religious about ignoring work related emails at home, I haven’t been using the work phone much, but I suspect this will completely change the game. It will now be way more convenient to pick up the cell and make a call than using the landline at the office.
The dock has Microsoft Outlook, which plays much nicer with our state Outlook server than Apple Mail. In the middle is the Calculator and Camera. Yeah I could swipe up, but I often find myself needing these items at a moments notice when convenience is at a premium. And finally the phone app, which is also a convenient way to get to my contacts. Unlike a lot of Internet personalities, my job is being the ultimate middleman, so I do use my phone a ton as a talking device.
My personal phone is also set up very similar at the top and bottom. In the dock, I’ve replaced email with my most used app, Overcast for podcasts. The top row has all the same functions, but each of the shortcut folders are a bit more complex since this phone is a true personal computer in a way the work device isn’t. For example, my Notes shortcut now ties into both OneNote for work as well as Apple notes for home.
The coolest thing I did this weekend is buried in the web shortcut with the venn-diagram. I programed a shortcut to let me take a photo, add a date stamp to it, and then open it up in Notes where I can dump it into a log for my boardgame playing (I have to believe that at some point Notes will let me just directly dump it into a preselected file and thus be completely automated). I also did a similar shortcut for text-only logging of my meals, but I might have to consider transitioning it an image log as well.
In the second row is my WordPress shortcuts, including a couple functions to directly take a photo and then open it up as a draft. Next is the app folder; I’ve combined all the apps in part to train myself to use the swipe and search function. And the last two are basically glorified folders for video entertainment, and music which also includes direct links to play several favorite albums, beyond opening up iTunes or Spotify.
The first couple items in the final row are quite aspirational. The first is for reading materials, which will be primarily populated with direct links to favorite books in iBooks once I figure out how how to do so with Siri Shortcuts. The second is reviving Apple Health from disuse; I’m hoping to use metrics as a way to motivate myself to be healthier. The third is currently a direct link to taking videos, but I am finding it redundant with the camera app, so it may be soon replaced with Toggl Timer shortcuts (if this next new productivity kick sticks). And finally, a bunch of autodial items for the phone.
In all, as promised by CGP Grey, this has been quite an interesting exercise to rethink how I relate to the phone in terms of actual actions instead of applications. With the older 6s, there is a touch of lag when the shortcut opens up the Shortcut app to then run its function. So it’s not perfectly seamless, but I believe the payoff may be worth it, though it’s much too early to tell if I won’t just revert to the previous paradigm.