You probably do some of the same tasks on your iPhone every day. When you get into the car, you want to play your driving playlist. While taking your dog out for a walk, you start listening to your favorite podcast. On your way home, you always text your significant other your arrival time.

These are repetitive tasks all of us do on our iPhones. Wouldn't it be great if you could automate them? Well, thanks to Personal Automation in your iPhone's built-in Shortcuts app, you can do just that. Let's look at some of the best iPhone shortcuts you can use.

11. Convert Video to GIF

convert video to gif iphone shortcut

GIFs are fun to use as responses to a text message or an interesting post you come across on social media. Creating a GIF is the tricky part for many people, though.

Thankfully, there's an iPhone shortcut that helps you trim and convert a video you want into a GIF. You don't need to download a third-party app or access a desktop site to create the GIF.

For this shortcut, just pick a video you want to convert to a GIF file. Then, drag the black arrows on either end to specify the section of the video you want to use for the GIF. Afterward, tap Save and wait for a few moments. Once the GIF is created, save it to your Files or Photos app so you can reuse them in the future.

Download: Convert Video to GIF (Free)

10. Set Multiple Alarms at Once

Multiple Alarms shortcut

If you need three or more alarms to wake up every day, it makes sense to create a shortcut that sets multiple alarms at once. Using the Multiple Alarms shortcut, the Toggle Alarm action first enables an alarm you've already created, and then the Create Alarm action does just as it sounds.

In this example, a 5:45 AM alarm was toggled, and a 6:00 AM alarm was automatically created. After downloading this iPhone shortcut, you can customize the times to suit your needs.

Download: Multiple Alarms (Free)

9. Start a Timer

Start Timer shortcut

Timers come in handy every day for doing the laundry, brewing coffee, boiling pasta, and more. If you find yourself having multiple coffees a day, then you will benefit from this coffee-related shortcut, which you can trigger from the Shortcuts widget, or Siri.

For example, you could have a four-minute coffee timer that you trigger by simply saying "French press" to Siri, so that you can continue with other errands while waiting.

Download: French Press Timer (Free)

8. Play a Playlist

Play Playlist shortcut

You likely have playlists set up for different activities, like working out, driving, showering, or relaxing. The Play Playlist shortcut is a cool automation for your iPhone that comes straight from the Shortcuts Library, and it's quite simple. Just pick one of the available playlists to start enjoying your songs.

To choose Repeat or Shuffle options, tap to edit the shortcut, tap the arrow for the Play Playlist action, and then select your preference from there. If needed, you can activate it with your voice by saying, "Hey Siri, play playlist."

Download: Play Playlist (Free)

7. Start a Podcast With Sleep Timer

Overcast Timer shortcut

If you have a habit of listening to podcasts when you go to bed, then you'll benefit from a useful iOS shortcut built using Overcast, one of the popular podcast apps for iPhone.

When evoked, this shortcut will automatically resume your last-played episode and will trigger the sleep timer that you last used. This shortcut is super useful for those moments where you're in bed, sleepy, and don't want to have to look at your screen to find the podcast episode you were last listening to. However, take note that it only works if you use Overcast on your iPhone.

Download: Overcast Timer (Free)

6. Turn Off Wi-Fi for Real

Turn Off Wi-Fi shortcut

When you turn off Wi-Fi from the Control Center, it doesn't stay off completely. The next morning at 5:00 AM, it re-enables automatically. This iPhone shortcut completely disables Wi-Fi from the settings so that you're definitely disconnected and won't be distracted by online messages popping up whenever you're trying to focus on work or get to sleep.

Download: Turn Off Wi-Fi (Free)

5. Quickly Send a Predetermined iMessage

Predetermined text shortcut

Using the Send Message action in Shortcuts, you can send a predetermined message to one or more contacts using the Messages app. After adding the Send Message action, add recipients and text. Disable the Show When Run toggle to make this a background process.

If you routinely send the same text message over and over to certain contacts, then this iPhone shortcut can be a huge time saver. Rename the shortcut to a Siri phrase you'd like to use to activate this shortcut without even touching your iPhone.

Download: Predetermined Text (Free)

4. Add a Song to Your Playlist

Add to Playlist shortcut

When you're exploring Apple Music and come across an awesome song, you usually have to tap quite a bit to add it to one of your favorite playlists. But an iPhone shortcut makes it easier.

Initiate this shortcut when you're playing the song, pick the playlist, and you'll add it to the end of the list. You can also read our guide to Apple Music playlists for more tips and tricks that help you to save time and make Apple Music better.

Download: Add to Playlist (Free)

3. Calculate a Tip

Calculate tip shortcut

Calculate Tip shows you just how useful the Shortcuts app is. One of the best iPhone automations out there, this shortcut can replace a tip calculator app or a bit of back-of-the-napkin math, making everyday calculations easier and faster when you're in public. Avoid any awkwardness by smoothly calculating the required tip for your server.

Download: Calculate Tip (Free)

2. Set a Custom Do Not Disturb Mode

Do Not Disturb shortcut

iOS offers several ways to enable Do Not Disturb on your iPhone, such as enabling it for an hour or until the evening. But what if you want to set it for 15 minutes, or an hour and a half, without having to manually turn it off or go through the hassle of setting up a Focus schedule? With this iPhone shortcut, you can.

Initiate the shortcut, type in the relevant number of minutes or hours, and Do Not Disturb will activate for the set duration.

Download: Do Not Disturb Timer (Free)

1. Get Ready for Bed

Power Down shortcut

You should build this iPhone shortcut yourself, depending on your nighttime routine. You might do one or all of the following tasks when you go to bed:

  • Turn on Do Not Disturb mode.
  • Turn off cellular and Wi-Fi.
  • Start playing a podcast.
  • Turn off your smart lights.
  • Listen to some calming music.
  • Something else entirely.

You can load all of the above into a single shortcut. Create a new shortcut and search for the above actions, like Wi-Fi, Do Not Disturb, etc. Then, name it "Good Night" or something similar to easily activate it with Siri.

Next time you go to bed, just tell Siri "Good Night" and watch as it does everything in your iPhone shortcut one by one.

Utilize iPhone Shortcuts and Other Hidden Features in iOS

The Shortcuts app and automation features in iOS are not often talked about, and if you haven't used the app before, you might think they're complicated because you need to understand what each action does and how a shortcut works to create one.

Luckily, there are lots of free shortcuts that have already been created by others and that you can add to your iPhone easily! The above are just a select few we have covered. We hope these iPhone automation examples help make your life easier and perhaps give you more ideas for your own iPhone shortcuts.