How To Instantly Become Productive on iPadOS
Over the past month, I've been using the Shortcuts app to improve my productivity. Here's how I did it and what I've learned.
Introduction
One of the main factors discouraging people from using an iPad as their main computer is the lack of productivity apps available on MacOS. One of these apps is Alfred, a productivity tool on MacOS that makes it easier to quickly search through your computer and work on repetitive tasks.
In fact, my inspiration for writing this article comes from this very problem. A while ago, I watched a video from Ali Abdaal in which he mentioned how the productivity disadvantages of using an iPad made him prefer a MacBook for work. He even specifically discussed the lack of an Alfred alternative on iPadOS.
Recently, however, I watched a video from Christopher Lawley about creating an Alfred alternative on iPadOS by using the Shortcuts app. Using a combination of his shortcuts and custom shortcuts I made, I've been building and using this "Alfred alternative" for the past week. Here's what I've learned:
How It Works
First, let's talk about how this Alfred alternative works.
With the Shortcuts app, users can write custom shortcuts to do an action or series of actions.
For example, I made a shortcut called "Fast Charge" (inspired by this article). With this shortcut, I turn WiFi and Bluetooth off, turn Airplane Mode, Low Power Mode, and Reduce Transparency on, and set brightness and volume to 0%.
After I tested out the Shortcut, I realized that reversing this process is too cumbersome. I decided to make a shortcut called "Slow Charge" to combat this issue. With Slow Charge, I turn WiFi and Bluetooth on, turn Airplane Mode and Reduce Transparency off, and set brightness to 50%.
With this shortcut, I can easily switch into and out of a battery saving/fast charging mode. But that's not the best part. While I this shortcut does let me save battery, I assume that I'll be too lazy to actually go into the Shortcuts app and activate this fast charging mode.
Instead, I can activate Spotlight Search (type Command + Space) and type the name of the shortcut ("Fast Charge" or "Slow Charge"). After the shortcut shows up in Search, all I have to do is press enter or tap on the result to activate Fast Charge or Slow Charge.
And that's where the true power of the Shortcuts app is revealed. After you create a custom set of actions, all you need to do is the type the title into Spotlight Search and your shortcut will be executed.
How I Used It
Now that we've discussed how we can use the Shortcuts app to mimic Alfred, let's talk about how I've been using it.
Over the past few weeks, I've been using this Shortcuts alternative to see how I would use it throughout my day-to-day life.
I found that the Fast Charge shortcut I mentioned above was one of my best shortcuts. It saved me 24 seconds (yes, I measured it) each time I used the shortcut. In addition, it saved me even more time by increasing the charging speed for the iPad (I haven't officially tested this, but I would assume this works).
I also frequently used Dark Mode and Light Mode shortcuts. These shortcuts were simple: they switched between Dark Mode and Light Mode. While these shortcuts saved very little time (they may have even wasted time), it is nice to have a typed option to toggle between these two settings.
The Possibilities
Personally, I'm not a hardcore iPad user. My main tasks on my iPad include:
• Coding
• Blogging
• Notetaking
• Using Notion
• Emailing
• Advertising
Other than system-wide shortcuts (like the Fast Charge shortcut I've previously discussed), most of these tasks aren't the type of work with which shortcuts can be frequently used.
For example, with blogging or advertising, the most I can do is build a shortcut which sets up a "workstation" for me, which I've already done. For my advertising work, the shortcut I use opens up my advertising dashboard in one Safari tab and a client's website (depending on the shortcut) in a background tab.
But for the other types of work, there may be other shortcut ideas which could save significant amounts of time. And for all I know, I might be missing a few shortcuts ideas for my specific use cases.
In addition, I haven't had the opportunity to take a couple hours to sit down and explore the Shortcuts app. With winter break coming up, I'm planning to find some time to do this and see if there's any opportunity to increase my efficiency.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this use case for the Shortcuts app is a huge step in the right direction for iPadOS. While this may not be a new feature, it may be one that many have never heard of. And in that case, setting up custom shortcuts could be an incredible opportunity to boost productivity.