Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#1

Post by user0x1d » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 3:45 PM UTC

I set up an automation to "reduce white point OFF" at night and back ON in the morning, so if I pick up my phone in the middle of the night my eyes don't burn

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#2

Post by walterbell » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 5:00 PM UTC

NFC card/sticker/tag tap: vibrate-confirm with audio description of associated object for vision impaired users.

URL -> ssh -> shell script for actions not possible on iOS.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#3

Post by andrewmcwatters » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 5:10 PM UTC

I setup an automation to tell me when my battery reaches 100%.

Sometimes I want to know so I can disconnect and move about for extended periods of time ASAP.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#4

Post by wdb » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 5:12 PM UTC

Automatically battery saving mode when battery charge drops below 50%

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#5

Post by kratom_sandwich » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 5:35 PM UTC

MacOS: Combine several PDFs using Automator. Not spectacular, but always handy

iOS: Activate low power mode when battery drops below 95% - neat workaround since there is no way to have low power mode turned on permanently. Also, activate Airplane Mode from 1 am to 6 pm to save energy.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#6

Post by Obscurity4340 » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 5:56 PM UTC

kratom_sandwich wrote: post #5

MacOS: Combine several PDFs using Automator. Not spectacular, but always handy iOS: Activate low power mode when battery drops below 95% - neat workaround since there is no way to have low power mode turned on permanently. Also, activate Airplane Mode from 1 am to 6 pm to save energy.

> ...no way to have low power mode permanently

Actually, this is indeed possible. Create an automation with the trigger "Low Power mode switched off" and add a single "turn low power mode on". Every time iOS switches it off, it should automatically retoggle back on.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#7

Post by sashk » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 6:06 PM UTC

Wish I could create an automation, which would notify me when battery level in either of my AirPods drops bellow 10%... because sometimes when I put them in, they don't start charging. But nope, I cannot do it.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#8

Post by gcanyon » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 6:09 PM UTC

wdb wrote: post #4

Automatically battery saving mode when battery charge drops below 50%

I have mine set to go to power save mode whenever I unplug it. I don’t know what a non-power-save-mode phone works like.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#9

Post by gcanyon » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 6:11 PM UTC

Not an automation, technically, but maybe it could be: I have an AppleScript that is set to run every hour that grabs any files on my desktop that have been there longer than a day, and puts them in a dated folder in an archive folder. Same for my downloads.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite iOS/macOS automations?

#10

Post by nkotov » Fri, Sep 01, 2023, 6:22 PM UTC

gcanyon wrote: post #9

Not an automation, technically, but maybe it could be: I have an AppleScript that is set to run every hour that grabs any files on my desktop that have been there longer than a day, and puts them in a dated folder in an archive folder. Same for my downloads.

Could you share this? I have something similar for my own workflow but it's manual and involves a folder called "Everything".