7 Workflows we cannot live without
Workflow is an iOS app, which was released in November 2014. We think it still has undiscovered potential outside of the tech community. To give you a starting point we curated our seven favorite workflows.
Workflow is an app, which connects apps and actions to automate your daily iOS tasks. You can alter text, links, images or videos and perform various actions on them. Take an amount of money to figure out on how to split bills. Browse a website in Safari and send it as PDF. Take a photo of your kid and automatically post it to different social media platforms.
We discovered Workflow in 2015 but until you find a good stream of workflows to work with, it can be cumbersome to create your own. At times it is overwhelming to even come up with ideas as the possibilities are endless. A couple of months ago we discovered a website called workflow.directory, which has an extensive list of ready-to-go workflows. The in-app gallery contains a growing list of options, too. To help you get started, we curated a list of our seven favourite workflows.
1. File Downloader
Downloading files from the Internet can be a challenge using standard iOS tools like Safari. If you want to download files from other apps like Tweetbot or a message a friend sent you, the chances are high you could make use of this workflow. It accepts any URL and offers to save it to another app. You can also add multiple other steps to modify the downloaded file afterwards, e.g. download a Zip file, unzip them and save them to Dropbox. Things impossible with the onboard tools.
2. Make PDF
Sometimes it can be handy to save an article you read on the Internet as PDF. Imagine you wrote a note using the built-in Notes app and want to send it to a friend as a PDF. Things again impossible until Apple adds export as PDF to AirPrint. But Workflow has you covered here with the make PDF action. This action accepts Rich Text, Text and URLs. It can be triggered from the standard iOS share action. You can save the resulting PDF or send it off directly via Mail or Messages.
3. Days Between
Ever wondered how many days are between two dates? There is a workflow for that. I personally used this a fair bit to see how many nights we have to book a Hotel for or to see how many days are left this month. This workflow can be triggered from the Today Widget or from your Apple Watch. Very handy in conversations and quick interactions. You can change this workflow to always use the current date as the start instead of asking for it every time.
4. Delete latest screenshots
Is your iCloud storage running low on space again or is your photo stream full of screenshots and you would like to clean up a bit? Sure, you could go through the Screenshots photo album and select every screenshot to be deleted. You can also let your iOS device do the hard work for you and carry on with your day. This workflow asks you for the number of screenshots you want to delete and goes through your screenshots with you. It lets you skip multiple photos, if you want to keep some of the precious screenshots. All options can also be disabled making sure you get rid of your photos fast and easy.
5. Get current price of an app in the App Store
If you are as excited about productivity apps as we are, chances are you want to tell someone else about them. The first question that usually comes up is how much the app costs. But since you already own the app, the App Store is hiding the price from you. Once again a workflow to the rescue. Trigger this workflow directly from the apps App Store page and it will tell you the current price in a blink of an eye.
6. Direct Dropbox Link
There are times in a life of a human being where it is necessary to get directly to something. Sharing files in Dropbox is one of them. The Dropbox app and website only give you links that result on a website which has the file embedded. Worry no more. This workflow gets straight to it. Trigger it right from the Dropbox app and it will copy a direct link to your clipboard. Perfect for embedding an image in a website or to use it in the file downloader action from the beginning of this article.
7. Cross-Post
If you are like me and you have different groups of friends on different social media channels it is time consuming to cross post a photo on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Luckily we now have Workflow, which comes with a cross-post workflow. It lets you choose a photo or a video and provide a catchy caption and off you go. This one can also be easily altered to accept links you see on Safari as well.
Conclusion
We think there are endless possibilities in the Workflow app. More people could take advantage of this app and use it on a regular basis. It is updated regularly updated to better integrate with other apps and services like Ulysses or iTranslate. The provided Today Widget, Action Extension and Apple Watch app enable you to have a workflow for everything.
Workflows are what we knew as apps in 2008 when the App Store launched. Making it possible to create your own small apps without the need to know how to code.
Workflow is available in the AppStore and costs $ 3.99. An absolute bargain if you ask me.
