Quick entry shortcut

#shortcuts #productivity

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publishAt: 2025-10-30T01:36:02+01:00

There are four apps I use constantly throughout my day - 📝 Apple Notes, 🐻 Bear Notes, ✅ Apple Reminders, and 📅 Apple Calendar. I wanted a single point of entry to quickly add text to any of these apps.
I considered Drafts, but despite trying it several times over the years it has never stuck with me.

So I created a quick entry system using Apple Shortcuts and the action button in my iPhone. I have never found Shortcuts easy to use, but Gemini Ai is great at providing step-by-step instructions for creating a shortcut that does exactly what I need it to do.

Activating the shortcut prompts me to enter text.

After text is entered, a prompt appears to pick an app. After this screen, any prompt is app specific. For the notes apps, the text automatically generates a new note in my default location. For calendar and reminders I get prompts to add specific info related to the event or task.

The best part is this shortcut can be activated using the action button on my iPhone.

There’s probably a lot more I could do with this shortcut, but this simple approach works for me.

You can get a copy of this shortcut here.