I ❤️ Workflow

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I use Workflow many times everyday. I really like how I can build custom, well, workflows and have my phone do something that’s simple and make it even easier, or do something complex with the push of a button.

I know my phone is a computer in my pocket, but this app makes my phone really feel like a computer. Just checkout their documentation to get a sense of what Workflow can do.

I thought I’d share some of the workflows that I use pretty often.

This is easily my most used workflow. I can use this to share pretty much anything from any app using the iOS share sheet right to my blog. It’s essentially a glorified bookmarklet, the key being I can use it from any app.

Log my weight

This simple workflow lets me log my weight from the iOS today view. It simply prompts me for my weight, displaying the number pad, and logs it to the iOS Health app.

Log water

Similar to the weight workflow, this workflow lets me log my water intake to the iOS health app. Again, I can use it directly from the IOS today widget, allowing me to select from 2 pre-defined amounts (amounts I often drink), or I can select Other and input the amount through the number pad that’s displayed.

Quick reminder

This workflow lets me set a quick reminder in the iOS Reminders app. Reminders doesn’t have the best interface for adding new entries that will have either a date/time or a location associated with them. So, this workflow lets me quickly select a common location (work or home) or set a time using natural language (i.e. Tomorrow @ 10am).

New Journal Entry

I used to use Dayone for journaling, but when they moved away from allowing syncing via iCloud I decided I wanted a different solution. I decided to move to the iOS Notes app. However, I like the location and weather information that Dayone adds to each new entry. To get type of information into my journal entries I created a workflow that pulls my current location and gets the current weather from the Darksky API and copies that information to the clipboard. I can then paste that into the top of the note.

Activity Report

This is a simple workflow that will show me how well I’m doing for the day in terms of number of steps and water consumption. It shows me my average steps and water consumption for the last seven days along with today’s steps and water consumption. This is another one that works directly from the iOS today view.

Translate Selection

Some of the content I read online isn’t always in English. This workflow lets me select some text and translate it into English using the iOS share sheet..

ETA Home

I use this one to send my wife an iMessage letting her know how long it’ll be until I get home. It takes my current location and estimates the travel time based on current traffic.

So those are some of the workflows that I have and use often. I have to say I’m pretty omptimistic about Apple’s acquisition of Workflow. I hope they build some of this directly into iOS and I hope they turn Workflow into something like Automator for iOS.