The best automation app on mobile

Posted by Campbell Bird on February 2nd, 2016
+ Universal & Apple Watch App - Designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

Have you ever found yourself getting frustrated at the amount of navigation or tapping you have to do when doing some tasks on your mobile device? If so, you've probably looked into getting an automator.

These apps are specifically designed to reduce the overall amount of navigation that comes with an app-centric ecosystem by executing strings of tasks or specific functions that you do regularly in a single tap.

We've scoured through the mobile app stores to bring you these best automation apps out there.


The best

Shortcuts

+ Universal & Apple Watch App - Designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
Released: 2014-12-11 :: Category: Game

FREE!

Workflow is probably the best automator out there because of all of the options it provides to users.

Although setup of your workflows - as with just about every automator - requires you to have some patience and dedication, it's friendly user interface will allow you to send text templates, create gifs, save photos to Dropbox, turn webpages into pdfs, and more in no time.

Workflow also has an edge here because you can turn any workflow into a button to add to your home screen, so you can go crazy with how you want to customize your automations without having to dedicate so much time in the app itself.

The rest

Launch Center Pro - Icon Maker

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-06-21 :: Category: Game

FREE!

If you are interested in replacing the navigation on your mobile device with a series of actions, Launch Center Pro is probably your best bet.

The app can do just about everything Workflow can, but the design of its interface is much more focused on having you quickly navigate between actions within the app.

While this is definitely a neat feature that could potentially transform the way you use your phone, I've found Launch Center Pro mostly useful for just a handful of regularly scheduled actions that I receive via push notifications.

Alloy - launcher and automator

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2015-03-23 :: Category: Game

$9.99

Alloy is a very strong automation app that has the potential to be more powerful than either Launch Center Pro or Workflow because of its sophisticated task creation tools and favorites folder that updates based on what you use the most.

The problem with the app as it currently stands is that its action creation tools aren't particularly user-friendly, its app integration is currently not very robust, and I've had more stability problems with it than other automators I've tried.

My hope is that this is just because Alloy is new on the scene and that these kinks get worked out over time.

Have any other automation suggestions for us? Share them in the comments!

Posted in: News, Lists
Tagged With: List, Launch center pro, Workflow, Automation, alloy
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