That’s convenient, but it’s not where the real power lies.
At a basic level, you can assign a custom Siri phrase to open a specific screen or feature of PCalc, such as the tape or registers. Let me give you some examples of what you can do with shortcuts and PCalc 3.8. As in previous versions of the app, PCalc offers base x and y variables in iOS 12, both variables can also become native shortcuts, which opens PCalc to some fascinating automation possibilities with the Shortcuts app. Upon creating a shortcut, PCalc 3.8 lets you choose whether it should perform an operation based on a number contained in the clipboard you can also decide to save the result to the clipboard (overriding what you previously copied) or a variable. Head over to PCalc’s own preferences, open the ‘Siri Shortcuts’ section, and you’ll be presented with a dashboard featuring activities you recently performed in the app (such as calculations or specific functions), shortcuts you’ve already assigned to Siri, and other custom shortcuts you can configure manually. But this isn’t what I want to highlight for this update. PCalc 3.8 supports both styles of shortcuts in iOS 12, and the way Thomson implemented creation and assignment of shortcuts from within PCalc should be a template for other developers to follow.Īs you start using PCalc 3.8, operations you recently performed in the app will be suggested in Settings ⇾ Siri & Search ⇾ All Shortcuts you will also be able to search for PCalc-specific shortcuts by title in Search. In iOS 12, both types of shortcuts are available from Search, the lock screen, and the Shortcuts app they can also be assigned a custom voice phrase to be triggered from Siri. Basic “activity” shortcuts (based on the existing user activity framework) can launch apps into specific screens or activate specific features more advanced app shortcuts (based on custom SiriKit intents) can perform native actions in the background without launching the app at all. Even more than the app’s excellent widget, shortcuts have enabled me to integrate PCalc features into different aspects of my daily workflow, including conversations with Siri via my HomePods.Īs I will detail in my upcoming iOS 12 review (and as I explained in a story back in June), there are two types of system shortcuts apps can donate to iOS 12. I’ve been testing PCalc 3.8 for the past couple of months on my devices running iOS 12, and it features one of the best implementations of Siri shortcuts I’ve seen from a third-party developer yet. PCalc, James Thomson’s advanced calculator for iPhone and iPad, has been updated this week to version 3.8.
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