
Workflow for iOS - hvpandya
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id915249334?mt=8
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Rygu
Ok, I thought it was an Apple product because of the (apple.com)

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ovi256
Frequent error with App Store links.

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calinet6
That could be resolved by clarifying (3rd party app) in the title.

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Cthulhu_
Or "Show HN:"

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michaelmior
This is assuming the OP is the creator.

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nmcfarl
Downloaded – and then tried to implement the three work workflows I use on my
iPhone all the time. (That I can think of off the top of my head).

It succeeded in two of the three cases and on the third it still reduces the
number of clicks.

1). Choose a selection of photos (of the kid) and txt them to the grandmas.

2). Take a photo, then open Swarm so I can do a photo check-in without using
Swarms photo panel.

3). Reduce brightness to the minimum, set volume to minimum, turn on Do Not
Disturb mode. This failed because Workflow has no access to Do Not Disturb. It
can act as a brightness/volume preset though.

On the whole I think that’s a fantastic success rate, and I’m already a fan.

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scrumper
I wanted to create a workflow to turn on bluetooth and turn on personal
hotspot (and vice versa), but couldn't make it do either step.

I also want a 'weekend mode' workflow which shuts off banners and lock screen
notifications for my work email (a poor man's Blackberry 'profile' feature),
but I couldn't do that either.

I'm sure I'll find uses for it but I haven't yet. It's undeniably clever and
I'll keep playing, but it's not the magic scripting bullet I've been craving.

Edit: I created "loud" and "quiet" volume preset workflows; they're pretty
heavy - tap the home screen icon and the phone launches two apps, sets the
volume, then leaves you in the workflow editor. Feels clunky for simple stuff
like that. I think it's of more use for orchestrating multi-app flows than
doing simple tasks like that. It's actually quicker to just press the volume
key a few times.

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nmcfarl
So far the double app doesn't bother me (we'll see if it gets wearing ) - but
staying in Workflow is clunky, so I finished my "Nighttime" workflow with
opening safari. There's at least some chance I'll want to do that, and it's
certainly better than staying in WorkFlow.

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e28eta
I don't see it called out in the app's marketing, but one of the neat
possibilities of having a separate app on the home screen is that you should
be able to launch a workflow through Siri. And I think that's very cool

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AriX
Unfortunately you actually can't - Siri doesn't include web clips as apps it
can launch. We're working on it.

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ZitchDog
UPDATE: I was able to get siri support by creating a contact called
"Workflows" and adding the x-callback-url as a URL for the contact. I can say
"Workflows" to Siri and she will show me a list of all my workflows, and I can
select the one I want from a list.

The only tricky part was getting the x-callback-url out of the data: URL since
the contacts app won't open data: urls. Yay!

PS. I LOVE this app so much. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!

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AriX
This is incredibly clever. We have a completely separate, but equally crazy
hack that we were thinking of using to implement this. But well done. And so
glad you like it :)

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ZitchDog
Any plans to integrate something like this into the app?

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xasos
Congrats on the launch! Ari and Conrad (founders) are both Thiel fellows and
have been working extremely hard to get this out ever since they won MHacks
III this year. Great job!

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8ig8
There's video on the developer's website that provides somewhat of a demo.

[https://my.workflow.is](https://my.workflow.is)

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tempodox
Wow, that background color rips my optic nerves apart. I feel hurt.

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ihsw
It's just blue, what's the problem?

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tempodox
No problem — if you look at nothing than a massive wall of THAT blue all day.

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beaugunderson
I missed that when you select 'Actions' to add to a workflow it's actually
just the 'suggested' list. Might improve the user experience to let the user
know there are much more than what's in that list the first time they go add
an action (or maybe that's in the tutorial--but the first thing I wanted to
see was the full list to get a sense of what was possible).

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blub
Apple delayed this app for almost two months, wonder what the developer had to
remove to be accepted.

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jbrooksuk
I see that the app lets workflows create their own apps on the home screen. I
wonder if this had something to do with it? My thought is that it's a web app
with a scheme to open a specific workflow. I bet Apple didn't like that.

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nmcfarl
For informational purposes:

The way it lets workflows create apps, is that it creates a data url, that it
opens in safari, and l has you bookmark that URL to your home screen. When
opened as one of those safari web apps, the javascript on the page auto clicks
the only link in the page - one to a URL formated like this:
workflow000000://x-callback-url/run-workflow?id=HEX, and bounces you into
Workflow

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Someone
What are the security implications of that? Does that mean that any web page
can run a random workflow on your iPad, or are the hex strings so long that it
is as good as impossible to guess one, or (way worse) is the hex string an
encoding of the steps to run?

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nmcfarl
I don't have them in front of me right now but the hex is long. I have no clue
if they encode something, but I remember thinking "UUID".

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conradev
The hex in the scheme is one of a list of preconfigured colors for the purpose
of theming the launch image. The hex in "id" is indeed a UUID. There is also a
"name" parameter.

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manuelsp
Oh well, pretty interesting app

The workflow I've created let me send the full list of phone numbers or email
addresses of a single contact, plus the name, using a plain text SMS

In hope of improving that, I've tried counting the number of items (phones or
emails) of the Contact: if 1 then the SMS is create right away, if > 1 then I
can select which item(s) I want to send

However if I want to detect the case when the Contact doesn't have email
address (for example) I got a error message, not nice at all

It looks like trying to use "Get Email Addresses from Input" \--> "Set
Variable" \--> "Count" does not support an empty list... anyone can help
please? :)

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ultrafez
Did iOS 8 add something that allowed this app to be created? Tasker has
existed on Android for years, so I assume that there had to be a technical
limitation as to why a comparable app wasn't created for iOS.

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TruthSHIFT
Yes! iOS 8 added App Extensions:

[https://developer.apple.com/app-extensions/](https://developer.apple.com/app-
extensions/)

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xenadu02
What's the over/under on when App Review yanks it from the store?

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AriX
Workflow guy here - you have nothing to worry about, we've been in contact
with App Review for months.

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christiangenco
Commenting here for posterity. My money is, unfortunately, on Apple screwing
you guys over within the next year. Likely right before they launch a tool of
their own that only does a fifth of what Workflow does.

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0942v8653
This app is amazing. If you have Pythonista[0] (a somewhat similar app, but
with Python scripting) you are in for a pleasant surprise. It's integrated
through the URL scheme.

Get both, even if they seem similar. It's like the combination of shell
scripting and Automator for Mac, except better than Automator and easier than
shell scripting.

This is also featured as an Editor's Choice, which means it doesn't look like
it's going away.

[0]: [http://omz-software.com/pythonista/](http://omz-
software.com/pythonista/)

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granto
Great functionality goes way beyond IFTTT. Question: why doesn't the list of
apps in Open App action include all my apps? Really wanted to include my
Harmony Logitech app.

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cmsj
Likely because they can only open apps that implement URL schemes.

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cmsj
Would be awesome if beacons could trigger workflows :)

Very impressive app though. My first workflow was a Share Extension to print
stuff to PDF and save it into iCloud Drive.

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sourc3
Downloaded right away! Great for submitting expense report emails and I don't
have to push all that data to the IFTTT now.

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sravfeyn
To develop an app like this one needs to know right interfaces that iOS
Developer library offers to control other apps.

Suppose I had this idea, how can I figure out the correct API reference
documentation. I tried it with various keyword searches and I couldn't find
it. I find this the case on any other platform - Windows, Android, and OSX. I
wonder how others solve this problem - finding the right reference among ton
of documentation.

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1_player
Does anything similar exist for Android?

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tekacs
Tasker, for one: [http://tasker.dinglisch.net/](http://tasker.dinglisch.net/)
You can make apps of tasks and so on, too.

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cstrat
looks very interesting, a local device version of 'if this then that'... i
will give it a try.

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bake
Yes, but with more DIY options - 'Share Availability' is interesting, which
loops through calendar invites on a specified day and grabs start and end
times

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dl8
Was this built in Swift or Obj-C?

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conradev
Lots and lots of Objective-C

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tempodox
This is not available in Europe (yet?).

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jdimov
I just downloaded it from the UK. Works just fine for me.

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CmonDev
UK is not Europe.

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dblacc
Not.. sure.. if.. trolling.. or.. not..

