How to set bluetooth device with shortcuts ios 12
For Bluetooth devices in general, it seems that you are (currently) out of luck. For audio devices (i.e. speakers and headphones) specifically, there is a solution though!
You can use the command ‘Set playback destination to’ and select your Bluetooth device. Make sure it is currently connected or else it may not show up in the list.
Note that as of right now (iOS 14.0), the command is bugged and may silently terminate the execution of your shortcut unless that device is already connected (i.e. unless it does nothing). Weirdly enough, this can be fixed by simply adding the (exact same) command twice in a row. It will then do exactly what you expect: Wait for the device to connect, and then continue running the shortcut - or show an error message if it didn't work.
As of right now (November 2019), Shortcuts does not provide control over which Bluetooth device to connect to, or querying a list of available Bluetooth device, or finding out if device x is paired or unpaired.
Shortcuts currently just offers "Bluetooth On/Off". This could change in the future, but today, the situation is this.
You can set up such a Shortcut starting from iOS 14.0 in just three steps. Here they go:
- Scripting -> Device -> Set Bluetooth
Turn Bluetooth On - Scripting -> Control Flow -> Wait
Wait 5 seconds - Scripting -> Device -> Set Playback Destination
Set playback destination to <your bluetooth device>
Step 1 is obvious. Thanks to step 2 your device has time to activate bluetooth and scan for nearby bluetooth devices. If you skip this step the shortcut will likely terminate its execution with no effect. In step 3 you can choose your default playback device or select Ask Each Time option in order to select manually every time.
NOTE: Wait time from step 2 may be different for your device. I tested on iPhone SE 2020 and 5 seconds was just enough. If your device does not connect within that time then try increasing it.
BONUS: Add fourth step, which will automatically play some music.
- Apps -> Music -> Play Music
Play Music