If you’re anything like me and keep your phone on silent pretty much all the time, at some point you missed those battery notifications your iPhone gives you when you hit 20%, 10%, and 5% charge. This can be quite problematic if you suddenly pick up your phone and it’s only 3% left, and I’ve often wondered if there’s a better way to be notified of battery life when your iPhone is on silent. state.
Likewise, I’ve often felt that even the earliest 20% warning can come a little late if you know you need to charge later – for example, if you have a long commute later in the afternoon, you might find it helpful to have a 30% or 40% warning, so make sure to charge in advance.
Well, perhaps unsurprising given the iPhone’s status as one of the best phones out there, it turns out that Apple has come up with a simple solution to both problems. By using a personal automation in the Shortcuts app, you can have Siri verbally warn you when your battery reaches a certain percentage, even if your iPhone is on silent.
Here’s how to set up custom battery alerts with iOS shortcuts.
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Set Custom Battery Alerts with iOS Shortcuts
1. Open the Shortcuts app† If you don’t know where it is swipe up from the center of the screen to open Spotlight and then search for “shortcuts”† When it appears, tap the app icon†
2. Tap Automation at the bottom of the screen. Then tap Create personal automation†
3. Scroll down and tap Battery level to start creating a new automation that will activate based on your iPhone’s battery level.
4. Move the slider to the battery percentage you want to be notified verbally† This could be a low number if you keep missing the standard alerts. Or it could be a higher number, if you want to be warned in advance.
You can choose to receive a notification when your battery equals the percentage, when it goes above the specific percentage (if you want to stop charging, for example), or when it drops below the specific percentage. Once you have selected, press Next†
5. Now tap Add action to tell your iPhone what to do once it reaches your chosen charge percentage. Tap the search bar that pops up.
6. Type “speak” in the search bar, then tap Speak text†
7. Tap Text† utilities enter what you want Siri to announce and tap Done†
8. Tap the blue chevron to see spoken options, including the speed (or speed) at which the text is spoken, the pitch of the voice, and Siri’s language and voice.
9. Tap the play button bottom right to hear the text read aloud. Tap Next when you are happy.
10. Toggle Ask Before Running To† A pop-up warning will appear asking you to confirm your choice. Tap Don’t askthen tap Done†
And you’re done! Now, when your battery reaches the specified level, Siri will notify you aloud. Be careful not to ask Siri to say something too rude, as this automation works whether or not you’re in silent mode.
If you’re looking for more iPhone hints and tips, we’ve got a series of handy iOS themed guides, including: how to identify plants on iphone† how to stop spam texts on iphone† how to edit PDFs on iPhone and iPad and track flights on iPhone†