Yesterday, I was playing around with my phone and got stuck on how to make a shortcut for an app that wasn’t on the list. It was driving me nuts!
So, I started by opening up the Shortcuts app, you know, the usual way. I tapped the plus button to create a new one, and then I hit “Add Action.”
Normally, I’d just search for the app I want, but this time, the app I needed was nowhere to be found. I scrolled through the whole list, but nope, nothing. It was like the app didn’t even exist in the shortcut world.
- I tried searching for it by name.
- I looked in different categories.
- I even restarted the Shortcuts app, just in case.
Still no luck. It was super frustrating.
Then, I remembered something about scripting. Maybe, just maybe, I could force the shortcut to open the app using some kind of command. I’m no coder, but I’m not afraid to try things out.
I started messing around with the “Scripting” options. There were a bunch of things in there, like “Open App” and “Run Script.” I played around with “Open App” first, but that was the same dead end – my app was not on the list.
So, I dove into the “Run Script” thing. It looked complicated, with all that code stuff, but I found an option that said something about opening a URL. And that’s when it hit me!
I figured that every app must have some kind of unique identifier, like a URL scheme. I did a quick search online for “URL schemes for iOS apps” and found a bunch of websites that listed them. It was a total shot in the dark, but I hunted for my app’s URL scheme.
After a bit of digging, I found it! It was something weird-looking, like “appname://” or something like that. I copied that thing and went back to the Shortcuts app.
I pasted the URL scheme into the “Run Script” action, where it asked for the URL. Then, I saved the shortcut and gave it a cool name.
And guess what? It worked! When I ran the shortcut, it opened the app, just like I wanted. I was so pumped! It felt like I had discovered a secret passage or something.
So, yeah, that’s how I figured out how to make a shortcut for an app that wasn’t on the list. It took some trial and error, and a bit of luck, but I got it to work. It’s like a gray area of the shortcut. Pretty cool, right?
