We experience in an age of super - smart technology built to make our lives easier , so do n’t struggle with the lowly chores of the day when your earphone could be doing the job for you . Here are some of the good automation you could set up on your phone , free you from the task and giving you more time to do something else more interesting instead .
Automate your text messages
Whether you ’re hitting the route or just find replying to your friend too much effort , you may lay aside your fingers a small bite of typecast by automate your text messages — or at least the SMS replies you want to send out .
When it hail to iOS , you need to spark Do Not Disturb ( of which more later ) to reverse your text auto - answerer on . From options , choose Do Not commove and scroll down to the Auto - Reply selection : you’re able to pick which contacts get an auto - reply and what the content in reality says . This then kicks in whenever Do Not Disturb is automatically or manually enabled on your machine .
Text car - respond is part of the drive mode in Android too , but you still postulate to bug to confirm the SMS gets send . For a truly automatise process , get the freemiumAuto Reply Text Messageapp installed . It exploit just like an out - of - authority subject matter on your e-mail , and you could set up dissimilar profiles too ( one response for meetings , one for vacation , one for drive , and so on ) .
Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)
Automate your photo and video backups
Backing up your exposure and videos is an essential job to get done if you want your precious digital remembering to last even if your sound gets lost or destroyed , and thankfully it ’s now easy than ever — it does n’t take long to define up your phone to be beaming pictures and videos back to the cloud whenever you ’re on a wifi connection .
Google Photos is usable onAndroidandiOS : You get 15 GB loose ( across all Google serve ) , with more costingfrom $ 2 a month . If you do n’t mind your photos being resize down to 16MP and your videos down to 1080p , or you own a Pixel phone , you’re able to have unlimited storage for liberal . add the app then check options then Backup & sync to ensure everything is being copied to the cloud .
Apple ’s option is iCloud Photo Library , which gives you 5 GB of place in the swarm for liberal and charges you$1 a month and upfor more . From configurations on your iOS machine , wiretap your Apple ID name , then iCloud , then exposure to turn automatic backing on . You ’ve got several other options here too , including Dropbox and OneDrive .
Automate your typing
You might be surprised at how much time typewriting takes up in your day . Set up mechanization for your telephone ’s keyboard and you could typewrite out phrase you use a batch — like your home address or apologies for track down belatedly — with just a few characters .
On iOS , what you need to do is open up configurations then choose General , Keyboard , and Text Replacement . The CRT screen that then appears before you permit you sum new keyboard macros ( two model are included for you)—tap the Plus icon then embark a phrase and a shortcut . Use the cutoff when typing , and the phrase appears as an choice in the predictive textbook list .
For those of you on Android , mind to configurations then take System , Languages & comment , Virtual keyboard , Gboard , Dictionary , and ultimately Personal lexicon . Select your linguistic communication then the Plus button to add together a phrase and a crosscut . The next sentence you ’re typecast , tap out the cutoff then tap the phrase .
Automate your phone’s quiet hours
The problem with taste to remember to put your phone into restrained mode is that you inevitably forget more often than not , which precede to your smartphone ’s mortifying ringtone veer through the muteness at your next office confluence or church service service . It ’s a far better idea to let your phone organise this on a schedule .
On iOS , you could open up place setting then pick Do Not Disturb and Scheduled to set your subdued times — unfortunately you could only set up one block of time per day here . If you longsighted - press on the Do Not Disturb push inControl Center , you may also set the still modality to last for an minute , until the even , or until you pass on your current location .
On Android , choose Sound then Do not upset from options . Pick Turn on mechanically to localize the time when Do Not Disturb is set off without any manual input from you — you could fructify these catamenia base on prison term in the sidereal day or events in your Google Calendar , and pick multiple blocks in every 24 hour if need .
Stop audio playback automatically
If you care to drift off to log Z’s to some tunes or a couple of podcasts then you may have your phone mechanically stop playback after a sure amount of time has glide by . Some apps , like the podcast player Pocket Casts , already have a sleep timer build in ( although Spotify does n’t , as yet … ) .
If you ’re using an iOS equipment you may get the Clock app to do the job . Switch to the Timer tab key , select your desired continuance , and then beg When Timer Ends — choose Stop play from the bottom of the list , and when the timekeeper run out , any audio that was work on your phone is silenced .
It ’s a ignominy that Android ’s default Clock app does n’t have the same function , but you’re able to secure the interruption with a third - political party app . There ’s a enough identification number of sleep timer apps to pluck from on the Google Play Store , so have a browse and see which one you like good , but we appreciate the simplicity and efficiency ofSleep Timer .
Turn off wifi and mute your phone when you leave the house
If you ’re on Android , you could make use of goods and services ofIFTTT(If This Then That ) to perform all kind of automated conjuring trick based on earpiece events or your phone ’s positioning . The servicing join all sort of apps and platforms together , and is free to employ .
In the interest of security , bombardment living , and peace of mind , for model , you might need toturn off wifiandmute your phonewhen IFTTT detect it has leave home or arrived at work . When you get back in the evening , IFTTT is able tounmute your handsetandturn wifi back onautomatically .
That ’s just a taste of what IFTTT can do : It allow you lumber notification or texts in a spreadsheet , turn on your smart ignitor at the same time as your alarm , mechanically exhibit directions to an event in your calendar , set off playing music when a Bluetooth equipment is detected , post to social metier , and much more .
Tell others when you’ll be home
GetShortcutsby Apple ( formerly Workflow ) installed on your iOS gimmick and you may automatise a bunch of tasks — or , more specifically , combine a host of action that get carry out with a individual rap or Siri mastery .
In this fussy case we ’re highlighting the shortcut that allow you apportion your approximate metre of reaching with someone else . The steps to add are , from the top , Street Address ( record your place address here ) , Get Travel Time , and institutionalize Message — in the last block tap the Travel Time push button to inclose your ETA into the text edition . peck contacts for the Recipients subject and you ’re done .
Tap the Gallery push in Shortcuts to see some of the other ways the app can automatise your life : you may pinch out the song you ’re listening to , progress grid of Instagram picture , send the contents of the clipboard to Dropbox , sprain Live Photos into GIFs , browse the latest intelligence stories , and so on and so on .
Taking your automations further
If you ’re really serious about this automation business , and you own an Android earphone ( Io does n’t really offer the necessary deep hooks for third - political party apps ) , thenTaskerhas been the gold touchstone for mechanisation apps for a long time now . It ’s not the easiest app to use ( though it ’s improving ) , but you ca n’t argue with its capableness .
Tasker can interface with all kinds of system apps and system setting on your phone , whether you need to rick on the torch , control media playback , toggle airplane mode , place a schoolbook , check the battery level , or open up a function . machine-driven tasks can be launch with a hydrant or based on a clip , an event , or a location .
you could automatically check into Foursquare when you arrive somewhere , for instance , or automatically text your wifi computer code to any incoming SMS with the Holy Scripture “ WLAN ” in it . suss out out theofficial undertaking listfor more illustration of what Tasker can do .
Android
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