Waking up and starting the day smoothly can set the tone for everything that follows. With Apple Shortcuts, you can automate a series of actions that trigger automatically when your alarm stops, when you open a specific app, or at a set time. This article walks you through building a practical morning routine using the Shortcuts app — no coding required. You'll learn how to chain actions like reading the weather, playing a podcast, adjusting smart lights, and sending a morning briefing to your email. By the end, you'll have a personalised automation that saves you time and mental energy every morning.
Why Automate Your Morning Routine?
Automation reduces decision fatigue and ensures consistency. A 2019 study by the American Psychological Association found that routines lower stress and improve productivity. Apple Shortcuts, available for free on iOS 13+ and macOS Monterey+, lets you create custom workflows that execute multiple steps with a single tap or trigger. The app is preinstalled on iPhones and iPads; on Mac, it's available from the App Store. With over 300 built-in actions and the ability to integrate with third-party apps like Philips Hue, Spotify, and Todoist, the possibilities are vast.
Getting Started with Apple Shortcuts
Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap the Automation tab at the bottom, then tap Create Personal Automation. You'll see trigger options like Time of Day, Alarm, Sleep, and more. For a morning routine, the most common triggers are:
- Alarm: When you stop an alarm, the automation runs.
- Time of Day: At a specific time, e.g., 7:00 AM.
- Sleep/Wake: When your Sleep schedule ends (requires Health app setup).
Choose your trigger, then tap Add Action to build the workflow. Actions are organised by app. For example, the Weather app provides current conditions, hourly forecast, and more. You can also use variables like Current Location to personalise the output.
Step 1: Create a Weather Briefing
Start with a simple automation that reads the day's weather aloud. After selecting the trigger, add the Get Current Weather action. Then add Speak Text and type a phrase like: "Good morning! The current temperature is [Temperature] and it's [Condition]. Today's high is [High Temperature]." Tap the variable placeholders to insert the relevant data. You can also include a Show Notification action to display a summary on your lock screen.
Example workflow:
- Get Current Weather (location: Current Location)
- Speak Text: "Good morning! It's [Current Date] at [Current Time]. The temperature is [Temperature]°C and it feels like [Feels Like]°C. Today's high is [High Temperature]°C."
- Show Notification: title "Weather Briefing", body "[Condition] - [Temperature]°C"
This takes about 30 seconds to set up and runs every morning after you dismiss your alarm. For more complex integrations, consider using IFTTT weather alerts to get push notifications for severe conditions.
Step 2: Play Your Morning News or Podcast
Next, add an action to start playing audio. Use the Play Podcast or Open URL action to stream a news briefing. For example, you can play the BBC World Service podcast or your favourite Spotify playlist. The Shortcuts app supports direct integration with Apple Podcasts, Apple Music, and Spotify (via URL scheme).
To play a specific podcast episode:
- Add Open URLs action with the podcast's RSS feed URL (e.g.,
podcast://...). - Alternatively, use the Play Music action and select a playlist from your library.
If you use Spotify, you can use the Open URL action with a Spotify URI like spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DXcBWIGoYBM5M (Today's Top Hits). Note that this opens the Spotify app, so ensure it's installed.
Step 3: Control Smart Home Devices
With Apple HomeKit, you can automate your lights, thermostat, and blinds. Add a Control Home action to set scenes or individual accessories. For example, set a scene called "Morning" that turns on the bedroom lights to 50% brightness, sets the thermostat to 21°C, and opens the blinds. You'll need HomeKit-compatible devices; popular brands include Philips Hue, Eve, and Lutron.
If you don't have HomeKit, many smart plugs support Shortcuts via their own apps (e.g., Wemo, TP-Link Kasa). Use the app's Shortcuts actions to turn on a lamp or coffee maker. For more advanced automation, you can combine with Zapier Google Sheets to log your wake-up time.
Step 4: Send a Morning Summary to Slack or Email
For those who want a text-based briefing, add actions to send a message via Slack, email, or even a note in Notion. Use the Send Message action with Slack (requires Slack app installed) or Send Email via the Mail app. Compose a message that includes the weather, your calendar events, and a to-do list.
Example email body:
Good morning!
Weather: [Temperature]°C, [Condition]
Today's events: [Calendar Events Summary]
Reminders: [Reminders Summary]
To get calendar events, add Get Upcoming Events action (set to 1 day). For reminders, use Get Reminders (set to Today). Combine them with Text actions to build the message. If you use Notion for task management, you can log your morning routine via the Notion dashboard template.
Step 5: Log Your Morning Routine to a Spreadsheet
Tracking your routine can help you identify patterns. Use the Append to Note action in Apple Notes or Add Row in Numbers. For cloud-based logging, integrate with Google Sheets via the Get File or Open URL actions — but note that direct Google Sheets integration requires third-party apps like Zapier email automation. A simpler method: send an email to a Zapier webhook that adds a row to a sheet.
Alternatively, use the Create Note action in Notion. Notion's API is accessible via Shortcuts using the Get Contents of URL action with proper authentication. For a ready-made system, check the Notion project management article for setting up databases.
Step 6: Combine Everything into One Automation
Now, bring all steps together in a single automation. In the Shortcuts app, create a new Personal Automation triggered by your alarm. Add actions in this order:
- Get Current Weather
- Speak Text (weather briefing)
- Control Home (set morning scene)
- Play Podcast (or open Spotify)
- Get Upcoming Events
- Get Reminders
- Send Email (morning summary)
- Append to Note (log wake-up time)
Test the automation by tapping the play button. Adjust timing or actions as needed. If you use multiple alarms, you can duplicate the automation for different days. For a deeper dive into linking automations across services, see the complete guide to Dutch productivity.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Some actions may require permissions. Ensure Shortcuts has access to your location, microphone, and HomeKit data. If an action fails, check the app's settings. For example, Speak Text needs the speech synthesizer enabled in Accessibility settings. If your podcast doesn't play, verify the URL scheme is correct. For HomeKit, confirm devices are added to the Home app.
If you want to trigger the automation without an alarm, use a time-based trigger. However, note that time-based automations require you to confirm before running (on iPhone) unless you set up a Home Hub (Apple TV or HomePod) for home automations.
Expanding Your Routine with Third-Party Integrations
Shortcuts can interact with thousands of apps via URL schemes and webhooks. For instance, you can send a tweet using the Open URL action with a Twitter intent: twitter://post?message=Good%20morning!. Or log your mood to a journal app like Day One. For social media scheduling, consider IFTTT social media automations.
If you rely on Slack for team updates, use the Send Message action with Slack to post a morning check-in. The Zapier Slack integrations article covers advanced workflows like sending daily stand-up reminders.
Related Articles
- Notion Dashboard Template
- Zapier Email Automation
- IFTTT Weather Alerts
- The Complete Guide to Dutch Productivity
- Zapier Google Sheets