On iPhone, with Shortcuts app automation, you can create personalized alerts to get better information about your device’s battery level. Here’s how to use it.
A smartphone is only useful as long as it has a battery. And since the very first iPhone, manufacturers, not just Apple, have been making sure to warn you when it’s running out. The Cupertino-based company displays a warning when the battery reaches 20%. This is an effective system, but perhaps not in all situations. 20% is not always enough for connectivity. However, iOS allows you to create your own alerts.
To do this, you do not need to change the parameter in the Settings, but configure the Shortcut for creating automation. Automation differs from shortcuts in that it is designed to run automatically based on a predefined condition. And you can create an automation that will show you an alert when your battery reaches a certain percentage.
To do this, open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, tap the Automation tab at the bottom of the screen, then select Create Personal Automation. Scroll down and tap Battery Level. There you can drag the slider to the desired percentage. In our example, we will choose 30%. You will then have three options: “Equal to 30%”, which will alert you when you reach 30%”; “Goes above 30%”, which will warn you when the level exceeds 30%”; “Drop below 30%”which will alert you when the level falls below 30%.
In our case, Falling Below is the most appropriate option, as Equal will effectively send an alert when the battery drops to 30%, and also when it reaches 30% while charging. This also means you will have a 29% alert: to actually get a 30% alert, you must select 31%. And if you care about the health of your battery and don’t want to charge it above 100%, you should select “Go Higher”to get a warning to turn off your iPhone when it reaches, for example, 80%. Once you’ve made your selection, click Next, then on the next screen, click Add Action.
How you handle this warning is entirely up to you. If you want a simple notification, search for “Show Notification”, then enter the text to display. If you click on the arrow, you’ll see other options, including give the notification a title, choose whether the notification should have a sound, whether it contains an attachment. You can click the “Play”button to test the configuration.
There are alternatives to traditional on-screen notifications. If you search for Read Text, Siri will speak what you type in the Text field when the battery level reaches a certain percentage. If you click the arrow, you can change options such as the language or Siri voice.
When you’ve made your choice, click “Next”and turn off “Ask before starting.”This setting forces you to manually approve before running the automation, which defeats the purpose of this warning. Click OK to complete the operation.
If you want to go further, you can also set up automation to automatically activate power saving mode when the battery reaches a certain percentage. You no longer have to wait for the 20% alert (or your personal alert) to remind you to activate this mode.