Underrated iPhone apps that will make your daily life easier

Shortcuts is Apple’s automation app that can be used in virtually unlimited ways. For example, I often lose track of where I parked my car, so I created a shortcut that lets me save my parking spot with one tap. To do this, open the app, tap the “+” button in the top right corner and press “Add action”. Among the various actions you can add to your new shortcut, divided into several categories that include all other apps on your phone, you’ll find one called “Parked car settings” (including a “Location” action). I found the action and saved it. Now, when I park to go hiking, I open the app and tap a shortcut to avoid returning to the wrong trailhead.

Tip: Shortcuts you create can be saved to your home screen, so you don’t need to open the app to use them.Press the shortcut and from the drop-down menu[共有]Tap[ホーム画面に追加]Scroll down until you see the options.

The main limit to what you can build is your imagination. But even if you don’t have any, you can search the app’s “Gallery” to find pre-built shortcuts.

My favorite is called “Directions to Events” and it lists all the events in your calendar with an attached address. Tap an event to instantly see Apple Maps directions.

Things get really interesting when you start adding multiple actions to a single shortcut. We’ve created a shortcut that lets you find Spanish, Japanese, and other non-English text, translate it, and speak it out loud in English. I started with the “Take Photo” action and then added the “Extract Text” option. It recognizes text in the photos you take. Next, I added a “Translate text” option, and then a “Read text aloud” option. A complete set of movements is very useful while traveling.

The Automation section allows you to run shortcuts automatically. I use this to feed my cat Mila. She always complains that I’m slow at feeding her so I set an alarm for her feeding time. Using my location data, the shortcut disables the alarm when you leave the house and re-enables it when you return. This prevents the alarm from going off in the middle of a very important taproom conversation, for example.

Of course, these are all just examples. The best thing about shortcuts is that you can build whatever you want. Almost as important? You won’t need programming lessons and will feel smugly tech-savvy.