iPhone Shortcuts that log a habit for you
Nine automations that remove a tap, plus the two that remove the habit entirely.
Shortcuts is the piece of iOS most people install once and then never open again, which is a shame because it is unusually good at exactly this problem. A personal automation can fire on arriving somewhere, on connecting to CarPlay, on opening an app, on a NFC tag, on an alarm being stopped, or at a time of day, and any of those can log a habit without you touching the phone.
The useful ones are boring. Arrive at the gym, log the workout habit. Stop the morning alarm, start the morning routine block. Tap a sticker on the water bottle, increment the water counter. Connect to the car, start the audiobook and log the commute reading. None of that is clever, and all of it removes the exact moment where entries get lost.
Two of them go further and remove the habit from your attention entirely, which is the goal. If the NFC tag on the bathroom cabinet logs the vitamins, you no longer have a vitamins habit, you have a sticker.
This guide has nine automations written out step by step, notes on which trackers expose App Intents that Shortcuts can call, what to do if yours does not, and the two automations that are more trouble than they are worth despite looking clever on paper.
Outline
Status: outline. The introduction above is finished copy. Everything below is the section plan for the full draft, targeted at about 1 700 words.
- How Shortcuts talks to a tracker. App Intents, donated actions, and what to do when an app exposes none.
- Nine automations, written out. Location, NFC, alarm, CarPlay, app open, focus mode, time, Watch workout, and Action Button.
- NFC tags. Where to stick them, what they cost, and the two that actually get used.
- Building a morning block trigger. One automation that starts four habits.
- Confirmation prompts. Turning them off, and when you should not.
- The two that are not worth it. Clever on paper, annoying by week two.