Apple Shortcuts is already on your iPhone. Most people never open it. Here's what it does, how it works, and the fastest way to get something useful running today.
What Apple Shortcuts actually is
Shortcuts is an automation app built into every iPhone and iPad. It lets you connect your apps together and create custom actions — triggered by a tap, a voice command, or an event like arriving somewhere or opening the phone.
You don't write code. You connect blocks. Each block is an action: "Get my location", "Send a message", "Start a timer", "Log to Health". You chain them in order. That chain becomes a shortcut.
One tap runs the whole chain.
What the difference is between Shortcuts and Automations
Inside the app, there are two tabs: My Shortcuts and Automation.
My Shortcuts are things you run manually — you tap them from the app, the home screen, or Control Center. You decide when they run.
Automations run on their own, triggered by a condition: a time of day, a location, an app opening, a calendar event starting. You set them once. They run without any input from you.
Most people start with shortcuts and graduate to automations once they understand the basics.
Three things worth knowing before you start
- Every shortcut is just a list of actions run in order, top to bottom
- Actions can pass data to each other — the output of one becomes the input of the next
- You can install shortcuts someone else built — they come as iCloud links, and install in two taps
How to build your first shortcut in five steps
Open the Shortcuts app
It ships with every iPhone. Search for "Shortcuts" in Spotlight if you can't find it.
Tap the + button
Top right corner. This opens a new blank shortcut.
Tap "Add Action"
Search for what you want to do. Type "timer", "message", "note", "weather" — anything. Actions appear by function.
Add a second action
Tap the + that appears after your first action. Chain actions in whatever order makes sense.
Tap the play button to test
Runs from top to bottom. If it does what you wanted, tap Done and give it a name.
The fastest shortcut to build first
Open a new shortcut. Add the action "Get Current Weather". Add "Show Notification". In the notification action, set the text to the weather output from the previous step. Name it "Weather". Add it to your home screen.
Tap it every morning. Current conditions, your location, instant. Two actions, built in two minutes.
That's the shape of every useful shortcut. Simple input, one or two actions, useful output.
How to install shortcuts someone else built
Most shortcut sharing happens through iCloud links. When you tap a link that starts with icloud.com/shortcuts/, your iPhone opens it directly in the Shortcuts app. You see what it does before installing. Tap "Add Shortcut" and it's yours.
This is how Swiwo works. Every shortcut on this site is a free iCloud link. Download, install, use. Nothing to configure.
Start with something ready-made
Six free shortcuts to install today. Morning routine, health tracking, focus mode — each one runs in one tap.
Browse free shortcutsWhat to build once you understand the basics
The useful range of shortcuts is wider than most people expect. Here's where people tend to go once the basics click:
- Morning routines — alarm dismissed, weather read, calendar checked, timer started, all from one tap
- Health logging — water, workouts, sleep, mood — all write directly to Apple Health with a single action
- Focus automation — phone silences when you arrive at work, or during your calendar's focus blocks
- Communication shortcuts — message templates that fill in the date, location, or other variables automatically
- Finance — log an expense to a note or spreadsheet when you tap a home screen button
Any of these can be built with three to five actions. None require coding knowledge.