shortcuts in IOS 15.1

tmuldner wrote: "No it’s off and the first action is still there"

That's strange. Experiment: Set that switch ON and then OFF again. Then close Shortcuts app:

Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch

...Then open Shortcuts app and see if that first action has now disappeared.

Also, your Start timer parameter is different from mine – perhaps that's causing the extra first action:

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First update to 15.7.2, it is really important for security

The articles below will tell you how to create shortcuts

All "examples" are in the gallery and n the shortcuts app

Create a custom shortcut on iPhone or iPad – Apple Support

Shortcuts User Guide – Apple Support

see table of contents

tmuldner ~ It's complicated... Siri can't accept a parameter to a shortcut because shortcuts are triggered by their name.

However, a custom shortcut called simply "Napping" which contains a "Start timer" action with the parameter set to "Ask Each Time" should work. The action then appears in the shortcut as: "Start timer for Duration minutes":

...Then:

"Hey Siri, Napping."

Siri correctly asks "What should the duration be?"

I then say "Fourty" or "Fourty minutes".

But then Siri incorrectly starts a timer for fourty SECONDS"!

Or, Siri incorrectly asks yet again: "What should the duration be?"!

(And we go back and forth like that endlessly!)

So, since that appears to be a bug in Siri, you could create multiple shortcuts each with a different name and each starting a timer for the duration required:

• Create a shortcut named "Napping 30". Then say: "Hey Siri, Napping 30."
• Create another shortcut named "Napping 40". Then say: "Hey Siri, Napping 40."
• Create yet another shortcut named "Napping 50". Then say: "Hey Siri, Napping 50."

...Alternatively, Siri will understand these without a shortcut:

• "Hey Siri, Start a timer for 30 minutes."
• "Hey Siri, Start a timer for 40 minutes."
• "Hey Siri, Start a timer for 50 minutes."

Shortcuts Directory – Curated collections of the best links about Shortcuts

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tmuldner wrote: "is it possible to use the shortcut editor to modify the existing shortcut by inserting a new action somewhere in the middle of that shortcut?"

Yes, it's possible. Go to this page in the Shortcuts User Guide:

Create a custom shortcut on iPhone or iPad

...then tap on "Create a new shortcut" to expand it and you'll see this:

"You can also touch and hold an action in the list, then drag it to the position you want in the shortcut editor."

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tmuldner wrote: "...1 the first action hasn’t been entered by me, the editor entered it and I don’t know how to remove it..."

Try this:

• Touch & hold your Napping shortcut and choose Details.

• You'll probably then see that Show in Share Sheet is ON.

• Switch it OFF.

• If any other switches there are ON, switch them OFF.

• Tap Done at top right.

...See if that first action has now disappeared.

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tmuldner wrote:

• Okay I changed it but would you please explain

since there is no action clipboard should I replace it with get clipboard? And what is it for?

• why do you have in your solution device details?

I can't explain – because I just copied your shortcut to reply to your first post today. I was wondering the same about your Clipboard & Device actions. Here's yours again:

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tmuldner wrote: "And I copied it from your post on December 20"

In the screenshots below, my suggestion (on the left) was to choose just ONE of those four possible parameters offered in the drop-down menu, i.e. the "Ask Each Time" parameter. As I wrote:

...a "Start timer" action with the parameter set to "Ask Each Time" should work. The action then appears in the shortcut as: "Start timer for Duration minutes"

You then marked my following statement as "Best answer":

That blue "Duration" means the action is already set to Ask Each Time. Touch & Hold that Duration parameter and you'll see.

...But instead of "Start timer for Duration minutes", you've got "Start timer for Shortcut Input seconds"! You should have ignored those three other Clipboard, Device Details & Shortcut Input options. Instead, you looked for actions related to those and added them to your shortcut. ...I didn't say to do that.

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Touch and hold the name (not the icon or parameter) of an action in the shortcut, then drag it to the position you want.

...So in your screenshot, tap and hold the word Get, then drag it to the position you want.

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That blue "Duration" means the action is already set to Ask Each Time. Touch & Hold that Duration parameter and you'll see.

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tmuldner wrote: "is programming shortcuts an example of event-driven programming or not..."

Yes: Apple's Shortcuts app can create personal automations triggered by various events.

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You're welcome. No, don't delay working with Shortcuts – it's by working through the bugs that you'll learn more. But do let Apple know about them via this form:

iPhone Feedback

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