How to Add Shortcuts to Apple Watch

The watchOS 7 update on the Apple Watch brought a few dramatic changes to the chart. Apart from a few new workout tracks, different watch faces, you can now add smart little shortcuts to your Apple Watch. The watch takes the shortcuts from the Shortcuts app on your phone. They are easy to add and execute. For example, if you need to add your thoughts directly to Notes or send a quick message to a colleague, you can do so with a simple tap.

As long as you have a few handy shortcuts on your iPhone, you can easily add shortcuts to your Apple Watch. Of course, you should remember that these shortcuts must be executable on your watch.

For the uninitiated, iOS Shortcuts is a standalone app that lets you create conditional statements. Here you need to add a trigger and its resulting action; The app will do the rest.

The Shortcuts app has several built-in shortcuts, and you can add your own to the mix. It’s fun to experiment with them. For example, we have a cool shortcut that shows us the photo details when we tap on a photo in our phone’s gallery. Exciting, isn’t it?

So, let’s see how to do it.

How to Add Shortcuts to Apple Watch

As mentioned earlier, you should already have several shortcuts on your iPhone.

Stage 1: Open a Shortcut on your iPhone and tap the three-dot menu at the top.

Toggle the ‘Show on Apple Watch’ switch. This will make that shortcut appear on your watch.

Step 2: Now on your watch, tap and hold the watch face and tap Edit to switch it to edit mode.

Swipe right until you see all the complications highlighted.

Step 4: Tap on one of the complications and choose Shortcuts from the menu.

At this point the clock will show all available shortcuts. Choose one of the shortcuts and that’s it. The shortcut in question will be added as a complication to your Apple Watch.

Now all you have to do is tap the shortcut to run it. However, you don’t need to run all the shortcuts manually.

However, it may not be possible to add all shortcuts as custom complications, as you may not have enough room for other important complications such as Rings or Heartbeat analysis.

Fortunately, there is a way to enable shortcuts so easily.

Enabling iOS Shortcuts Using Side Button

The good thing about this trigger is that you can view all the shortcuts at once. This gives you the flexibility to choose one according to your needs.

But at this point you should ensure that any shortcuts you don’t intend to use on your watch are disabled. This will save you from unnecessary scrolling.

Stage 1: Tap the Side Button of your watch to access the Added Shortcuts and turn the Crown until you see the Shortcut options.

Now, tap on one of the Shortcuts to launch it. This much.

Adding Automation to Apple Watch

Unlike shortcuts, adding personal automation rules is easy. For now, Shortcuts has a few automation routines for the Apple Watch. Not only are they fun to try, but they are simple and easy to set up.

Stage 1: Go to the Automation tab on your phone and select a trigger.

After entering the date and time details, click the Next button.

step 2: Tap Add Action and look for Watch. You will see all available automation. Now choose one of the actions and hit Next.

At this point, you can choose to disable the ‘Ask Before Running’ toggle. Press the Done button to save the settings. Now all you have to do is test the automation.

We tested a few automations, such as the Apple Watch pinging the iPhone when it receives a message, or switching to a specific Watch Face at a specific time. And it all worked flawlessly.

Automation of the shortcut also has a special Apple Watch Workout trigger. On paper, you can play a song/podcast or text anyone in your contact list when the watch detects a workout.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it to play a song from Apple Music when we set it to trigger when we start our workouts.

Choose the Smarter Route

Automations and routines are the new flavors of the day. And if you have the resources, whether it’s the smart watch on your wrist or the smart light on your patio, you should make the most of them.

However, Shortcuts is the one-tap solution for everything you do frequently on your watch.