7 useful tasks your phone can handle automatically

Seven mobile phone automation tasks make life easier!

(This article has been updated and was originally published on February 27, 2018)

Smartphones are designed to simplify life, and automating various tasks is one of the best ways to achieve this promise of convenience. With the following seven automated commands, you will be able to reduce the time you spend on your device and spend more time on what really matters.

1. Location-based reminder

Timed reminders are very convenient, but they are more significant when they pop up when you are about to pass the grocery store. When your phone knows your location, it can remind you to buy milk on your way home from get off work, or to clean up the loft when you get home.

On iPhone, launch the "Reminders" app, click the "New Reminders" button, and enter the text you want to see later. Click the Details button under New Reminders, turn on the Position switch, and select the location where you want the reminder to be triggered. You can select any saved (pinned) location, select your current location, or click Custom to access the search box to find another address.

On Android phone, open the Google app and click on your avatar (top right corner of the screen). Select "Reminders", click "Create" (bottom right corner), and enter the text for the reminder. Finally, select the check box next to Location. The app will only provide a list of your saved locations for you to choose from, so if you can't find the exact location where you want to trigger a reminder, find it on Google Maps. Then, use the menu that appears at the bottom and click "Save". Return to the Reminders menu, select a location from the drop-down menu (this should include any of the most recently saved places), and finally click Save.

It's it - when you arrive at the designated location, your phone will automatically remind you of what you need to do.

2. Automatic silent mode

During your day, you will enter and exit the conference room, visit quiet places such as libraries, participate in theater performances, and other activities that require your phone to keep silent. Constantly switching silent mode can quickly become frustrating. Thankfully, your phone can do the job automatically.

On iPhone, open Settings, click Focus, and then click Do Not Disturb Mode. In this menu, click the button marked "Add a schedule or automation" and you can set the time period for your phone to remain silent. For example, mute it during the period when you work or sleep. You can also set it to activate when you reach a specific location.

On Android device, open Settings, select Sound and Vibration, and select Do Not Disturb. The next screen allows you to set the time to activate Do Not Disturb mode – click on the Timetable to see which days it will start, as well as the start and end times. To edit these details, click the gear icon next to each schedule. You can also choose to start mute mode at any time by simply flipping the phone screen down – select Flip mute in the Timetable menu to set it up.

During mute, notifications and alarms will still be communicated, but no sound or vibration will be made. This way, you don't have to waste time or worry about forgetting to return to the normal alert scheme after you're done.

3. Apply shortcuts

When you open an app, it displays its default screen. For example, clicking on the Instagram icon will take you to the homepage where everyone's posts are displayed. However, on iOS devices, you can change what you see first.

Long press and hold the screen (tactile touch or 3D touch if you are more familiar with old terms) and you can bring up some app shortcuts. For example, using this feature on Instagram, you can jump directly to creating a new post or toggle between multiple accounts. Or press the Info icon to write new text now or select from some suggested contacts.

On Android, press and hold any blank space on the home screen and select Widgets from the menu that appears. On the next screen, you will see a list of apps on your phone with available tools and shortcuts – click on any one to see available content. For example, for platforms like WhatsApp, you can add shortcuts to your home screen, pointing directly to a specific chat or in-app camera feature. Select the shortcut you like and move it to the position you want without raising your finger. Release your finger to complete the operation.

4. Automatic backup of photos

There is almost nothing on your phone that is more precious than photos and videos. So, by automatically backing them up to the cloud, saving the effort of manually copying them to your laptop or cloud storage service.

Google Photos (for Android and iOS, free) is one of the best automatic backup apps. The platform will store your images in high resolution (storage space saver) or fast quality, depending on your choice. But remember that every file you upload takes up space in your Google account, whether it's the 15GB free space the company offers for its free users, or any extra storage space you purchase using your Google One plan ($20 per year or Starting from $3 per month).

To turn on automatic backup, open the app, click on the avatar in the upper right corner of the screen, select "Photo Settings", and then select "Backup and Sync". There, turn on the toggle switch at the top to enable automatic backup. You can also select Free device storage from Settings to delete all images and clips that Google Photos has transferred to the cloud, making more space on your smartphone.

iOS users can use iCloud automatic backup instead of Google Photos: You can get 5GB of free space, then start at $1 per month and get 50GB of storage. Turn on Settings, select Photos, and turn on the iCloud Photos switch. Your phone will now sync your digital files to the network.

5. Reply safely when driving

Your phone can detect when you are driving in the car and send custom SMS replies on your behalf. This feature can really save your life: it eliminates the temptation to reply to messages when you should pay attention to the road.

On iPhone, go to the Settings app and select Focus. Click the “Driving” option and find the “Auto Turn on” title. Click this option to select whether this feature is activated when your phone detects that you are driving, or when connected to the car's Bluetooth, and several other options. Then return to the main "Driving" focus menu and click "Auto Reply". Now you can choose to send a preset reply to your favorite contact or to anyone who sends you a text message or iMessage. Use the Auto Reply Information field at the bottom of this screen to write the Auto Reply Information, or leave the default information.

On Android, you could have used the mobile Android Auto app to do this in the past, but Google has since dedicated this platform to cars. When driving a vehicle with less advanced technology, users can rely on the driving mode of Google Assistant. This feature does not allow more of you to automatically reply to all incoming text while driving, but you can reply with just voice (perhaps to explain your current situation).

6. Automatically unlock smartphone at home

The lock screen on your smartphone can protect your device and its data security. However, when you are at home, you may want to disable the standard security settings for easy access to your app. Android allows you to do this automatically, but currently there are no similar options on iOS.

Open Settings, click Security, then click Advanced Settings, and then click Smart Lock. You can choose to automatically unlock the screen by location, device, voice or face. It can even make Android try to detect if your phone is actually on your body, rather than on a desk, although the accuracy of this detector may vary.

In this case, we want to disable the usual lock screen while at home. Select Trust Location, then select Add Trust Location, and select the location of your home on the map. If you have set a home address in Google Maps, it should appear as an option in the list – so you don't need to set it manually.

Alternatively, you can use a Bluetooth connection, such as a connection to a Google Home device, to disable the lock screen. To do this, select Trusted Devices and select Add Trusted Devices. At this point, you will see a list of the recently connected Bluetooth devices from which you can select the desired device.

7. Record the time you spend in your workplace or anywhere else

Your smartphone will follow you around, which means you can use its location detection feature to automatically record the time you spend in your workplace, in the gym, or anywhere else. To do this, you also need to use the If This Then That or IFTTT app (for Android and iOS, free), which converts the location of your phone into a trigger for various actions.

If you have never used this service before, please register an account through the app first. Then click the Create button in the lower left corner, then click Add and select Location (If you can't find this option, search for this option). Now select "You Enter Area" and select the desired location on the map. When you bring your phone to this location, the automatic routine (recording how much time you spend here) should start.

To set up the routine, click Add next to "Then", then select "Google Sheets", and then select "Add Rows to Spreadsheets". This records the time you entered the location in a spreadsheet in Google Drive. If you prefer, you can choose other methods, such as email logs. After setting this, click Continue and then click Finish to enable the automatic routine.

To record how long you left the location, you need to perform the same steps to add an action triggered by another location. IFTTT can automate a variety of other actions to create routines that start when you arrive at a specific location, receive a text message, or when the weather changes. To understand the possibilities, check out some other established options for Android and iOS.

The above is the detailed content of 7 useful tasks your phone can handle automatically. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!