An iOS Shortcut for Truecaller
I am unsure whether this is new for you or something you’ve already tried. But for me, creating this shortcut on my iPhone is something I am proud of as I did it without any help or guidance.
I am an Apple fan and have a range of “i-gadgets”. I also try to get the most mileage out of all the hardware and software. Somehow Shortcuts is something I haven’t tried out too much. That has everything to do with how I see myself as an MBA and not an engineer.
It’s not that I’ve never delved into the Shortcuts App. I have tried out many shortcuts that others created and posted about in their YouTube videos or blogs or Medium.
Today was the first time I created a shortcut on my own. So here I am bragging… nay, sharing this with you.
Like everyone else, I too am a victim of spam calls. And have grown quite tired of it. While iOS has a setting to silence all unknown calls (Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Calls > Toggle On), there are days when I have to disable that option because I have to receive calls from unknown people on certain days — new team members joining, or when I am expecting service professionals or deliveries. Once activated, I do not always go back to changing the setting back which results in spam getting through.
That’s why I installed Truecaller. The app is a blessing because it flags a lot of spam calls as the calls are coming in and helps me avoid taking those calls altogether. But that doesn’t always happen. Many times I have to look up the number on Truecaller to see if I missed an important call.
The process involves copying the number from Recents, looking up the number on Truecaller and then making up my mind on whether to call back or ignore it.
As you’d imagine, I have to do this a number of times on days. So I decided to make a shortcut. Here’s the solution I created. Follow the steps below to create your own
- Open Shortcuts
- Click on the + at the top of the screen
- Click Add Action
- In the search box look for “Copy to Clipboard”. In content select “Clipboard”
- For the Next Action click the search box at the bottom of the page
- Search for Truecaller and Select the “Search Truecaller” action
- Click “Number you want to search?” and in the Select Variable option select “Clipboard”
- Give the Shortcut a name by clicking the dropdown at the top of the page. I’ve named it “Search Number”
- To take the automation to the next level, assign this shortcut to a Back Tap.
- Go into Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap
- Select Double Tap or Triple Tap based on your preference
- Scroll down to Shortcuts and select the “Search Number” shortcut
- Now you are all set. Select any spam call you’ve received. Copy the number and tap the back of your phone twice (or thrice) to see the search result from Truecaller show up on your screen.
Here’s the screenshot of the Shortcut I created:
I hope you try this out and take the fight to the spammers.
Share any ideas you have with me. I would love to explore more Shortcuts.
