Which tool to choose
It depends on how much you want to automate.
- For quick access and nothing more, all you need is the app's widget on the home screen: one tap and you're in the chat.
- To launch a recurring task with a voice command, use the phone's automation tool (on iPhone it's called Shortcuts, on Android the assistant or a routine app does it).
- For those who want chains of actions (open the AI, paste the copied text, send), you need the full automation app, where you build the sequence once and call it up on command.
Start with the widget: it's free, immediate and covers ninety percent of the cases. You add the automations only for the tasks you do every day.
How to do it
The widget is added in a similar way on all phones; automation changes name but follows the same logic.
- Press and hold on an empty space of the home screen until the options appear, then choose to add a widget and look for the name of your AI app.
- Choose the format: the small widget opens the chat, the large one often also shows the microphone or the camera to start on the fly.
- For the voice shortcut, open the phone's automation tool, create a new action that opens the AI app and assign it an activation phrase, for example "Hey, notes assistant".
- If the automation app allows it, start the AI already with some text. The operational syntax to paste as a text action:
You are my email assistant. Rewrite in a courteous and professional tone the text I paste below, keeping all the facts and shortening where it's repetitive.
- Test the shortcut. If it doesn't start, check that the app is granted permission to open from automation in the settings.
If you can't find the widget or automation option, ask the phone's assistant "how do I create a shortcut to open an app with a command": it takes you to the right screen of your model.
A concrete example
Davide rewrites dozens of work messages a day and every time he would open the app, type "make this more formal" and paste. He created a shortcut called "Formal": it copies the text from the message, launches the shortcut with one tap, and it opens the AI already instructed to rewrite in a professional tone whatever is on the clipboard. Now the cycle is copy, tap, read the result. He removed three steps repeated dozens of times a day.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the shortcut opens the app but doesn't start the task
Almost always the phone opens the app but doesn't pass it the text or the prompt. Insert into the automation an explicit step that pastes the clipboard's content into the message field, and put it after opening the app, not before.
If the voice command isn't recognized
Choose a short activation phrase that's different from everyday words: "launch email draft" works better than "write". Retrain the command by saying it the way you actually speak, not enunciating.
If the widget disappears after an update
It happens when the app changes version. Press and hold on the widget, remove it and add it again: a recreated widget goes back to working faster than any restore attempt.
A tip from someone who actually uses it
Create the shortcuts for the tasks you do more than five times a day, not for everything. A shortcut for every whim becomes a menu to search through, and searching for the shortcut costs as much as doing the job by hand. Three or four automations on the truly repeated actions are worth more than twenty you can't remember.
Frequently asked questions
Do the shortcuts work with the free AI app too?
Yes for the quick opening with the widget and for the commands that launch the app. Some advanced automations, like automatically passing a text or receiving the reply in another app, depend on the AI app and sometimes on the paid version. For the basic case, the free version is enough.
Can I start the AI with a single gesture, without touching the screen?
Yes, by linking the voice command to the phone's assistant or to a physical button (on some models the side button is programmable). That way you launch the task while your hands are busy, in the kitchen or in the car.
Do automations slow down or drain the battery?
A shortcut you launch on command doesn't run in the background and doesn't weigh on the battery: it activates only when you call it. The myth is that every automation "is always listening": that only applies to keyword voice commands, which you can turn off when they're not needed.