Our Verdict
Our iOS devices are n’t build for efficiency . Unlike OS X , where we can simultaneously work in multiple apps and stance window and folders on our desktops for optimal output , Io has a far greater centering on individual tasks . Even accomplishing something as dewy-eyed as copy text from Safari and pasting it into a note command a set series of steps and hoop , and any variety of tangible multitasking is hampered by the safe-conduct Apple has built into the system .
Workflow can automatise complicated tasks and serve you forge smarter and more efficiently — or you could expend it at a restaurant to calculate out the tip .
iOS 8 has begun to castrate this line of thinking . alternatively of make isolated island , developer are now able to build span to nearby apps , eliminating the unwieldy workarounds that they were previously forced to follow up . From doodad to extensions , iOS is suddenly live with expandability and customization .
And now we have an app that brings it all together . The first true automator for iOS , Workflow($3 ) take full vantage of Apple ’s looser restrictions on sharing to add raw levels of interactivity and multitasking to our handheld machine . More versatile than the situationalIFTTTand more powerful than evenLaunch Center Pro’sslick scheme of shortcuts , Workflow ’s endlessly customizable actions integrate seamlessly into the apps you already use to help you cultivate smarter , faster , and just plain comfortably .
There ’s a delightful simplicity to Workflow ’s port that belies its power . A prompt tutorial walk you through build up an automatic GIF Almighty , and as you define up each whole tone , you ’ll observe that the app get over another element of OS X that is foreign to the iPhone and iPad : pull and fall . It micturate the creation of workflows an absolute pleasance and serves to rid of much of the requisite cognition need to set up right crosscut . Where other automating apps trust on the user ’s know - how of Python scripting or URL schemes to fulfill anything beyond the most rudimentary of tasks , Workflow has created a custom iOS framework that does most of the heavy lifting behind the scene . It ’s all a morsel like an iOS variant of Automator , and the finished products are not unlike OS X ’s “ automation recipes . ”
Take actions
You ’re not see to it things — Workflow let you drag and throw off on your iPhone .
Developer DeskConnect has loaded the app with more than 100 common actions that can be stacked and sorted in any number of ways . Things like Quick Look , Add New Event , and Send Email solve together to create tone - by - footprint processes designed to simplify and streamline the things we would otherwise turn to the multitasking carrousel to fulfill . Each action take a plain explanation of what it does , but you ’ll take better by run across them at work ; as you mix and match actions , pressing the “ run ” button will show you how they work together , and the innate quickness and intuition of the interface encourages somewhat obsessive testing . There ’s no limit to how much a work flow can do , and you may rearrange and combine actions to accomplish a whole twine of tasks ; for example , you may effortlessly make a work flow that collects your last five photos , zips them , uploads them to Dropbox , and emails you a link .
But Workflow ’s on-key beauty lie in its tremendous versatility . The universal concept can be grasped in just a few irregular , and while it ’ll take a good deal of trial - and - mistake experimentation to surmount it , you do n’t have to be an expert to find a way to equip it into your routine . A built - in art gallery helps get you started , and with an wanton sharing mechanics , it wo n’t be longsighted until websites are dedicated to supplying many , many more .
The app excels at cut down the number of steps it would usually take to schedule an appointment or delete a handful of screenshots , but its usefulness extends beyond merely confine your taps and swipes . In some case , Workflow is actually capable to add functionality that is n’t there . I ’ve always been frustrated by the inability of most text edition editor program to count the number of words in a selection , so I made a uncomplicated workflow that counts word on the clipboard and added it to my rest home silver screen . With the use of goods and services of variable star , prompts and conditional “ if ” bid , its capabilities go well beyond the countless combinations , and while I did my in force to put it through its paces , it seemed like I barely scratched the control surface of what Workflow is up to of doing .
Workflows live where you want them to — whether that ’s on your home screen , as a Share Sheet icon or in the app itself — so you ’re never far from executing one . And even though the app technically needs to launch in each of these illustration , the various options give it the quickness of a key stroke , make them seem more like lawful shortcuts than any of the other mechanization apps I ’ve used . Notably missing is a gadget that lets you run work flow via the Notification Center , but Apple ’s been a moment persnickety about that late . Hopefully one will be allowed in a future update .
When access through the iPad ’s Share Sheet , workflow almost make it seems like we ’re work out in two windows at once . Almost .
As a universal app , it ’s a minute frustrating not to be able-bodied to synchronise your workflows over iCloud , but each version volunteer unique benefits . On the iPhone 6 , it help contribute back some of the one - handed procedure lost with the larger screen , and on the iPad , the extra distance move over some workflow a multitasking flavor , such as when you use the action at law file name extension while in Safari to shop your music library .
Bottom line
Workflow influence with a decent cross - section of third - party apps like Tweetbot , Things , Uber , and Evernote , as well as tapping into iCloud Drive ’s file organisation for uploading , but I get the feeling that it will be evolve rather quickly . But even if it never figure another update , Workflow does n’t let down . Without needing to beleaguer Apple ’s formula , it ’s able-bodied to hook our iPhones and iPads to new degree of efficiency and convey us ever nearer to the post - PC promise of nomadic independency .
