All iPad shortcuts to build Siri Shortcuts

Although Shortcuts is primarily a touch-based system, in which you drag and drop actions to create your own scripts, there are some shortcuts for iPad users to speed up the creation experience and manage Siri Shortcuts.

Whether you're opening Gallery to see proposed shortcuts, searching for a shortcut in the list or quickly controlling parts of the shortcut editor, these simple shortcuts are worth learning.

Some of these shortcuts are only available in iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 (there will be clear notes in each section). Screenshots in this tutorial are from iOS 13 / iPadOS 13, but the steps will be similar in iOS 12.

Apple occasionally provides updates for iOS, watchOS, tvOS and macOS as a developer or public beta preview for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac (sadly, no public beta). declare for Apple Watch).

Although these beta contains new features, they also contain many bugs that can prevent the use of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV or Mac as usual, and are not intended for everyday use. Main equipment.

That's why you should stay away from developer previews, unless you need them to develop the software and use these public beta carefully. If you depend on your device, wait for the official release.

"My Shortcuts" view

While viewing the list of shortcuts in the main tab of the application, you have two shortcuts available: Search ( ⌘ + F ) and Create Shortcut ( ⌘ + N ).

1. Search by using Command + F to immediately enter the search field, enabling you to start typing queries to filter results from My Shortcuts. For iPad users, this allows you to avoid having to use the keyboard only to click the Search field , which is always a plus when using the vertical screen. ( Note : Command + F to search is also available in Gallery view).
2. Create Shortcut using Command + N (available in iOS 13 / iPadOS 13) to add a shortcut to the end of your shortcut list, take you immediately to the shortcut editor and give it a new name like "New Shortcut" or "New Shortcut 2" if you have an unnamed shortcut.

Although they are quite simple, iPad users can use a combination of both with Spotlight search. From any application, press ⌘ / Command + Space will open the search field in Spotlight, so you can enter "Shortcuts", then use the arrow keys to navigate to and open the application, then Quickly find the right shortcut.

Searching for Spotlight + Shortcuts takes only a moment to reach the keyboard at the end to run the shortcut and create a new shortcut that will take you to the editor, also has its own shortcut.

The shortcut editor

Once you've found your shortcut and clicked the "." button to open it, you'll be in the shortcut editor, where you can see all the included actions, add new and open actions. Details view mode to change the shortcut's settings.

In the editor, you have 7 shortcuts available:

1. Details (Details): ⌘ + ,
2. Run shortcut (Run shortcut): ⌘ + R
3. Stop shortcut (Stop shortcut): ⌘ + .
4. Search actions : ⌘ + F
5. Undo : ⌘ + Z
6. Redo: ⌘ + ⇧ + Z
7. Close shortcut (Close shortcut): ⌘ + W

Change the settings in Details: Press Command and the comma key , will open the "Details" view of the shortcut, in which you can adjust settings such as shortcut names, icons and colors, using Add to Home. Screen , turn on Show in Widget or Show in Share Sheet , add Import Questions or quickly open Shortcuts Help.

Note : Details are still in beta and will be released in iOS 13 / iPadOS 13.

In addition, if any action is used or used, it should be decentralized, they will be listed here.

Although the Details view does not have any keyboard shortcuts, it's great that Apple accepts a shared shortcut shared with macOS - ⌘ + , often opening the Preferences or Settings menu of the Mac application.

Run and stop shortcuts : If you want to control the shortcut's progress manually, you have two shortcuts at your disposal: "Run" and "Stop". This allows you to use Command + R to quickly launch your shortcut at any time, like "Build & Run" for Xcode developers, and while the shortcut is running, you can use the key Command + . to stop shortcut.

Run and Stop are very useful when you build new shortcuts and try to figure out what's going on, because you can quickly check the results, plus the ability to stop everything midway if it doesn't. expectations.

However, you cannot "stop" at times such as selecting from a menu or a list.

Search for action : When you are ready to add a new action to the shortcut, you can use the same Search shortcut from the main My Shortcuts view - press Command + F will allow you to find any action. by name and filter list.

For users who want to build their own shortcuts, this shortcut can be quite useful to take advantage of - go to Search and enter a few letters to the exact action you want to follow to help speed up the process.

Later, you can even find the letters to enter for a particular action, when there are verbs used in the name of an action - for example, with "Set Variable", search with the word "Set" will return a lot of results, so you can try "Variable" or any other noun in the name of the action.

Undo and Redo: When you add actions and move them, you may encounter situations where you want to reverse your steps (or redo them) - thankfully, Apple has used the keyboard shortcut Undo and Redo. for physical control purposes in the shortcut editor.

Here, Shortcuts use Command + Z to "undo" and Command + Shift + Z to "redo".

Shortcuts will move back or forth through your previous steps, delete or add actions in the order you made them. However, it should be noted that this does not apply to editing text within fields - you cannot enter certain content, exit the text field and then undo or redo what you have entered. Undo / Redo only applies to sequential movements and positions of actions.

Close the shortcut editor : The last shortcut for the editor will close the shortcut appropriately, allowing you to press Command + W to exit edit view and return to My Shortcuts.

This is another small but welcome feature, so you don't have to go to the top right to press "Done" before quickly leaving the shortcut. Combined with Search in My Shortcuts , you can quickly get rid of a shortcut and find another shortcut. In addition, this follows macOS ⌘ + W convention to close the active window of the Mac application currently in use.

Hide shortcuts

In addition, there is another subtle and useful shortcut: Use Return on the input alert.

For actions such as Ask For Input where you are entering a field and have the "OK" button , you can press the Return key to enter information and it will continue to the next step (press Return on iOS 12 will work downstream, but in iOS 13, it's just a warning confirmation).

However, since confirming information using the Return key, you will have to hold down the Option / phím key plus the Return key down the line inside the text field.

But this is just another point that keyboard users can speed up their experience of building Shortcuts and avoid having to touch the screen.

Recommended shortcuts for Shortcuts

Although Shortcuts has a handy list of shortcuts that make the user experience smoother, there are many improvements that can be made to enhance the iPad Pro experience to another level.

Right now, there are only two shortcuts available from My Shortcuts mode. Many people want more keyboard navigation. For example, using a shortcut like ⌘ + 1 and ⌘ + 2 to switch between My Shortcuts and Gallery will be great.

However, a big change will be adding shortcut navigation to My Shortcuts and Search results. It's great to use the arrow keys to move the selection cursor like in Spotlight, and press Enter to run the shortcut or Shift + Enter to open the editor.

Not only will this result in better Search results, iPad users can also run or open any shortcut without touching the screen.

Being able to run a shortcut without lifting your hands off the keyboard increases productivity when working on an iPad, but it is even more useful to select and open a shortcut for the editor to look at details inside and create change. Also, once you're in the shortcut editor, you also want improved navigation capabilities in the action pane, as well as the list of currently used actions.

In the shortcut editor, users will be able to find, select and add an action from the action pane with the keyboard, in addition to selecting an action, moving up and down to change the order and even move parameters or enter / exit text fields, without lifting your hands from the keyboard.

Shortcuts such as ⌘ + ↓ to start moving through actions from the top of the list, ⌘ + ↑ from the bottom and add Shift to use the selected action and ⌘ + ⇧ + ↑ / ↓ to move would be an option, plus use the Tab key to move the action parameters, such as ⌘ + Enter to swap any switch switches and other options using the arrow keys .

The ability to control the full keyboard of Shortcuts will be a great advantage for shortcut creators. Many of these start building libraries with hundreds of shortcuts, each with hundreds of actions - all created manually. Although the touch-based model of Shortcuts is undeniably simplified compared to traditional programming and is extremely accessible, iPad Pro users cannot achieve the best performance if they have to lift their hands. Leave the keyboard thousands of times to use everything on the screen.

Physical key on touch device

Although the iPad is a touch-screen tablet, it shines thanks to the ability to work well in all settings - taking advantage of shortcuts when using something like Smart Folio Keyboard is definitely part of the spread. "Pro" experience.

Apple's professional applications for iPadOS follow the software suite, extending the options found in current Shortcuts and further in making the user experience truly great all the time. Accepting or setting industry standards is a great start, and then, iPad Shortcuts users can expect the same experience as using a Mac.

Shortcuts for your shortcuts in the Shortcuts app are definitely worth learning, to make the most of this new creative experience on the iPad.